Century Farmers Serious About Keeping the Land for Next Generation

How long have you owned your property? 20 years, 30? How about owning land that was granted to your family by the King of England in 1746? Sandra Garner is the 6th generation to farm Rainbow Meadow Farms near Snow Hill, and it’s a point of pride to be a steward of land whose ownership goes back to before the birth of the country:

“A big part of the land through this area belongs to people who have owned their land just like we have. A lot of the people are kin to me, there is quite a bit of the same family. Here in Greene county there are quite a few members of the Century Farm Group.”
 

Garner explains that responsibility for the land isn’t taken lightly:

“Farming has been in our family through the Civil War and through the Depression. We don’t feel that it’s our farm to lose.”
 

Century Farms has been managed by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture since 1970.
 

Funding for Bio-Defense Facility a Must
 

Insurance. Most of us hate paying for it now, but we’re sure glad we have it when we need it. American Farm Bureau Federation’s Public Policy Specialist Dale Moore explains how an animal disease outbreak can cause big economic problems:

“Most countries have a contained control process which gives you a boundary around where the disease has been discovered. And then any animals that are susceptible, swine, cattle, etc are destroyed so that the disease cannot spread. That has an economic consequence for each citizen out there as well as for the nation. Other countries that we rely on to buy our products, either because of concern or because they want to take advantage of benefiting their own producers, will use it as a non-tariff trade barrier.”

A new bio-defense facility is like an insurance policy against diseases that could wreak havoc on public health and the economy.
 

The Role Agriculture Plays in the Workforce & Society

The rallying cry for education in agriculture continues after a blog posting proclaimed agriculture one of the most 10 useless college degrees. But, you don’t have to have a college education to play a vital role in the ag world, as Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stresses the importance of a system of education that acknowledges the role of agriculture in society. “One out of every 12 jobs in the U.S. is connected to agriculture."
 

Public Outcry Shutters Meat Processing Facilities
 

The top U.S. producer of lean, finely textured beef that critics called "pink slime" has announced it will close three of its four plants after sales dropped and did not recover following recent attacks on the product.
 

Beef Products Inc (BPI) will close plants on May 25 in Amarillo, Texas; Garden City, Kansas; and Waterloo, Iowa. Its South Sioux City, Nebraska, plant will continue to operate at a reduced capacity.
 

More than 650 people will lose their jobs when the plants close, the South Dakota-based company said. Sales dropped when consumers became aware of the common process in the industry, despite U.S. Agriculture Department and industry experts saying the beef was safe to eat.