Tagged: Farming

Farmers in North Carolina and around the country are keeping their eyes on Washington, where Congress is crafting a new Farm Bill. 

The Senate's version cuts more than $2 billion in agricultural spending per year, but includes about $100 billion in subsides over the next five years.  President Obama has asked Senators to find more ways to save money, including cuts to a farm insurance program.

The cold, damp weather so far this spring is causing problems for North Carolina farmers trying to get crops into the ground.  Farmers say they can deal with the rain because of the most recent drought, but the cold is a problem.

Roy Thagard is a Field Crop Agent at the Greene County Cooperative Extension Office.  He says farmers haven’t been able to get the soil weeded and prepared for planting corn and tobacco.  Thagard says the soil needs to be 55 to 60 degrees for plants to germinate or sprout.

Starvation is often considered a problem distant from the American experience. But for many United States citizens, hunger is a way of life. And many of them live right here in North Carolinians.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 636,000 households in the state have been labeled “food insecure” within the past year. This means that over 17 percent of our families lack consistent access to nutritious food. Families hit hardest by food insecurity are Black, Latino and homes led by single mothers.

North Carolina has a significant number of local, niche and pasture based meat producers and consumers, but it lacks enough processors to make the farm to market meat supply chain run as smoothly as possible. On December 3rd and 4th, people involved in all aspects of the meat business in North Carolina will gather in Bermuda Run to work on streamlining the process during the Carolina Meat Conference.