Some farmers see industrial hemp as an opportunity to transition away from tobacco. Hemp is widely grown worldwide as a source of both fiber and oil seed. Harvesting equipment and dryers used for tobacco can also be used to harvest and cure hemp, allowing farmers to repurpose equipment they already own. North Carolina legalized hemp production in 2014 as part of a pilot program. Brandon Batten is one of the farmers producing industrial hemp as part of this program.
Read MoreIt’s August in North Carolina and I’m here with Marlowe Vaughan and her father Bob Ivey at Razorback Farm, a family-owned pig farm in Goldsboro.
Read MoreAccording to the US Department of Agriculture’s census of agriculture, women now make up 36% of farmers and 56% of farms have at least one woman farmer. But this isn’t a surprise to today’s guest, Gwen Pitt of Pitt Family Farms in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
Read MoreAt Middlecreek Farms, hurricanes shape the way Dawson Pugh farms his land. His property lies just two feet above sea level, and managing water is his biggest challenge.
Read MoreWe’re talking today with Bob Ivey and his daughter, Marlowe Vaughan, owners of Razorback Farms in Goldsboro where they raise pigs as a contractor for Maxwell Farms. Ivey and Vaughan closely follow the news, debates, and lawsuits over pig manure lagoons, odors, and water safety concerns, and they welcomed the opportunity to talk about their own farm operations, and they believe in the value of open communications.
Read MoreToday we’re talking with Gwen Pitt at the Pitt Family Farm located in Macclesfield, North Carolina, a rural city in Edgecombe County with a population of just 477 people. Gwen is the scout at the Pitt Farm. She scours cotton and sweet potato fields on the 1100 acres she farms with Burt Pitt, her husband of 40 years, looking for insects and testing the soil.
Read MoreMore than 90% of farms in the US are small or family owned and operated businesses. These farms play a vital role in our economy and help to maintain rural populations. But small farms face many challenges, including encroaching urban development, dramatically changing weather patterns, young people moving to urban areas for work, low commodities pricing, and farm financing. What’s more, our farming core is aging. The average age of farmers in the US today is 58. Today we share the story of Bert and Gwen Pitt, seventh generation farmers in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
Read MoreJamie and Amy Ager, and their extended family, co-own the Hickory Nut Gap Farm business, and the brand Hickory Nut Gap Meats. Both are graduates of Warren Wilson College, and the couple took over running the farm in 2006 with a vision to achieve environmental sustainability through regenerative grazing. What began as a dream is now a thriving business built on relationships, environmental stewardship, and no small amount of courage.
Read MoreWe speak today with someone whose work is credited with preventing 400,000 cases of blindness and saving as many as 1 million deaths per year.
Read MoreHow should society balance people's needs and wants for meat and eggs against the needs and wants of farmers and farm animals?
Read MoreCan some foods have addictive properties? We all have cravings for some things--chocolate, let's say? But can food really hijack the brain much as happens with classic substances of abuse?
Read MoreEver heard the term supertasters? Have you wondered why some people love broccoli and others find it very unpleasant?
Read MoreDid you know that most church land holdings are not located in high-priced cities? Instead, they're in countless rural locations from Maine to California, with land deeded over in wills by former parishioners or purchased over the years by church leaders.
Read MoreYou have likely heard the saying “You are what you eat.” But what if I told you that how well your parents were eating in the days and months before you were conceived may actually help to determine how your body works—at the cellular level—for your entire life?
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