Press Releases

Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced that farmers in 11 additional counties are eligible for the Western N.C. Agricultural Crop Loss Program for damages and losses due to flooding and excessive rain from Tropical Storm Fred and an April 2021 freeze and frost. The deadline to apply is Aug. 31. A total of $10 million is available. Counties include:

The following are winners in the State Farmers Market Watermelon Contest held July 28:

The N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund recently awarded more than $10 million to help communities across the state protect farmland and promote agricultural enterprises. More than $9.5 million went towards obtaining conservation easements on 4,377 acres of land across the state. This includes over $600,000 in funding for 316 acres of easements in priority areas in the Upper Cape Fear River Basin for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

The State Farmers Market will host its popular Taste of Summer Event  Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with guest vendors, live music, face painting and plenty of fresh farm and seafood products for purchase.

The N.C. Board of Agriculture will hold a meeting Monday, Aug. 1, at 1 p.m. in the training room of the Steve Troxler Agricultural Sciences Center in Raleigh.The board will take up the following items:

The N.C. Pesticide Board recently approved the following settlement agreements for cases in Alleghany, Guilford, Orange, Pender, Perquimans and Robeson counties. Settlements involved cases of pesticide drift damage and a worker protection violation. Settlements are listed by county below:

Giant watermelons, watermelon royalty and free slices of the summertime fruit – what’s not to love about Watermelon Day Thursday at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh. Activities including a giant watermelon contest, visits by the N.C. Watermelon Queen Emory New and the National Watermelon Queen Bethany Barfield, live music and face painting will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the market’s event center located between the farmers building and the retail building. 

Blue ribbons are waiting at this year’s N.C. Mountain State Fair. If you think your artwork, crafts, baked foods, landscaping, honey, livestock and more are ribbon-worthy then don’t miss this year’s deadlines to enter. The Mountain State Fair is even adding a new competition this year for youth cavies or guinea pigs.

Stormberg Foods LLC of Goldsboro is voluntarily recalling chicken strips and chicken crisps products for dogs due to potential contamination of Salmonella. These products were distributed nationwide between June 8 and July 6 and sold at retail facilities and online.The products are sold under the brand names: Beg & Barker Chicken Breast Strips Dog Treat, Billo’s Best Friend Chicken Breast Strips Dog Treat and Green Coast Pets Chicken Crisps Dog Treats

The North Carolina Forest Service is now accepting orders in its annual tree seedling sale. With an average annual production of 15 million seedlings, the Nursery and Tree Improvement Program produces enough native and genetically improved tree seedlings to plant around 30,000 acres of land each year.