N.C. small-grain growers to vote on assessment Aug. 7

A farmer referendum on whether to continue an assessment on sales of seven types of grain will take place Aug. 7, the N.C. Small Grain Growers Association has announced.

The assessment amount would be half of 1 percent on sales of wheat, rye, oats, barley, rapeseed, canola and grain sorghum. The assessment period would run from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2019.

All North Carolina small-grain growers who are at least 18 years old by Aug. 7 are eligible to vote during regular business hours at their local N.C. Cooperative Extension office. For more details, contact Dan Weathington, executive director of the association, at 919-809-8657.

"This assessment is important to the small grain growers of North Carolina to continue the work of the association in grower education, research, marketing and enhancing ways to grow small grain more profitably for farmers in North Carolina," said Clifton Paul of Grantsboro, the association's president.

The N.C. Board of Agriculture approved the association's request for the referendum at its Feb. 26 meeting.