We Are Agriculture is a year-long series that will highlight the hard-work done by employees across the Department of Agriculture. Tracy Taylor, Superintendent of the Upper Mountain Research Station in Laurel Springs, is one of those employees. Stay tuned each...
Like any other farmers, Christmas trees growers in western North Carolina are always looking for ways to grow more and better product.
In mid-December, the N.C. Department of Agriculture lost an employee who not only meant a lot to the research station where he worked but to the community around the station. Dale Sheets had worked at the Upper Mountain Research Station in Ashe County since 2013, but he had a much longer, rich heritage with the […]
A Christmas tree from North Carolina is now on display as the official White House Christmas tree and the centerpiece of the home’s Christmas decorations. The Fraser fir from Peak Farms in Ashe County is in the Blue Room. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden officially revealed the decorated tree along with the other White House […]
Less that 24 hours after remnants of Tropical Storm Fred flooded areas of western North Carolina, staff at the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville began mobilizing to help farmers who needed a hand to recover. The flooding rains came on a Monday. On Tuesday, the aid effort began. “The morning following the flooding, we started […]
One of the things in N.C. agriculture that is helping 2021 feel a little more normal is the return of field days at the state’s agricultural research stations. During 2020, several of the field days were cancelled, and others switched to a virtual online format. This year, the calendar has a few field days that […]
Growing tobacco in North Carolina is nothing new, but tobacco that can sell for nearly $6 per pound certainly is. The recent norm for the state’s traditional flue cured or burley varieties is close to $2 per pound. However, some work at the state’s agricultural research stations means the jaw-dropping $6 figure may become more […]
A farmer’s work is never done, even in what’s sometimes called the “dead of winter.” The same is true for North Carolina’s agricultural research stations. They operate as working farms with a platform for agricultural research. So even if there’s not as much activity as the summer, the state’s 18 research stations are far from […]
For the third year, the Upper Mountain Research Station served as a staging ground for Trees for Troops. The station collected more than 300 trees to be delivered by FedEx to military families at Fort Gordon Army Base in Georgia. This program is supported by the N.C. Christmas Tree Association and their member farms, with […]
Each week we round up the latest N.C. agricultural headlines from news outlets across the state and country, as well as excerpts from the stories. Click on the links to go straight to the full story. “FDA halts food imports from affected area of Japan,” Charlotte Observer: The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it […]