TheFirstFurrow

The following appears courtesy of NC State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Agriculture and agribusiness — food, fiber and forestry — make up an $84 billion a year industry in North Carolina, contributing one-sixth of the state’s income and employees, according to the latest figures from NC State University economist Mike Walden.

In calculating value-added incomes for 2014 (the latest year for which figures are available), Walden found that food, fiber and forestry industries contributed more than 17 percent of the state’s $482 billion gross state product.

These industries also accounted for 686,200 of the state’s 4 million employees, according to Dr. Walden, a William Neal Reynolds professor and North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist. That’s up 23,000 from the previous year.

Walden said that overall value-added income from the state’s agricultural and agribusiness sector grew by 10 percent from 2013, when it contributed $76 billion to the state’s economy.

Walden says that the rise in North Carolina agriculture and agribusiness coincides with overall national economic growth of 2.2 percent in 2014, with much of the increase coming from the processing sector.

“Both tobacco product and food processing had big gains in value-added, the value of production at the processing level, in 2014. This reflects the rebound in those sectors consistent with a general economic rebound,” he said. “There was also a more modest improvement in wood product processing.”

Last week, we talked about the benefits to consumers of buying farm products locally at farmers markets and roadside stands. Today, we’re going to discuss a couple of ways farmers can benefit from selling farm products locally.

Love fresh produce? With more than 250 farmers markets and roadside stands opening this spring, there are plenty of opportunities for you to purchase fresh groceries. Let’s take a look at five reasons you should support your local farmers market or roadside stand.

Nearly everyone who has traveled a North Carolina highway has been behind a log truck or seen trees being cut down. Maybe this drums up thoughts of a forest industry working to provide everyday items like paper towels and toilet paper, toothpaste, paints, furniture or 2x4s for your next home improvement project. On the other hand, maybe it brings to mind questions about how many trees are being cut down and how this affects the environment. Since yesterday was “Forestry Day in the Legislature”, we’ll take a look at five things that everyone should know about North Carolina’s forestry sector and hopefully debunk a few misconceptions along the way.

The North Carolina Legislative “Short Session” is underway! As legislators settle in for the session, the timing is perfect to talk about the significant role agriculture plays in North Carolina. Today, we’ll highlight a few key facts about North Carolina agriculture and try to make some interesting comparisons along the way.

Download PDF: NC Farm Bureau – NC Agriculture by the Numbers

Sources: NCDA&CS, USDA NASS, NCSU CALS

Last week, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in US Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc. The case is significant for a number of reasons: it could have major implications on how landowners are allowed to use their property; it could strike a blow to regulatory overreach by government bureaucrats; and it could provide insight into how the Court will view environmental regulation in future cases.

We’ve all been there. You’re cruising down one of North Carolina’s many rural highways or secondary roads, perhaps off to vacation at the beach or in the mountains, when all of a sudden you come up on a tractor or some other piece of farm machinery on the road. To many motorists, this is frustrating —a brief slowdown on an otherwise smooth journey. But to farmers, traveling on roads and highways can be a dangerous yet necessary part of the job. And with the arrival of spring and the beginning of the busy season for many of North Carolina’s farmers, you’re a lot more likely to encounter farm equipment on the road.

Last week we told you about the difficult year North Carolina farmers had in 2015. This week we want to show you how that bad weather has converged with a few other factors to put many farmers in a really tight spot as they prepare for the 2016 growing season.

First of all, weather is always a wild card in agriculture. Here’s a chart (Figure 1) showing how weather events have affected US corn production over the last 50 years. Nearly every decrease in crop yields can be attributed to some adverse weather event. Farmers certainly understand this and do everything they can to manage risk, but there’s only so much they can do when extreme events occur.