NC Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler: NCDA&CS Launching “Farm Feature Fridays”

Posted on Posted in Daily Ag Summary, Featured Stories, NC Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler, Top Ag Headlines

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has an active social media presence, and it’s a great place to go to keep up with what’s happening in agriculture, upcoming meetings and events and even where Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler is visiting or meeting. And beginning March 27, NCDA&CS will add another intriguing feature to its social media repertoire.

  • So many people are on social media these days, including my department. You can find the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
  • We also write a blog called “In the Field,” where we highlight programs and services of the department through short articles and videos.
  • I mention these sites this week because of an upcoming project that we will launch on March 20.
  • National Ag Week runs March 22-28, with National Ag Day being March 24. In celebration of the week and the day, we will launch the Farm Feature Friday, where every Friday for a whole year, we will introduce you to a North Carolina farmer and their farm.
  • We are excited to highlight 52 farmers from the mountains to the coast, and staff members have been busy collecting their stories and preparing them to share.
  • As more and more people are several generations removed from the farm, they have less awareness about where their food comes from.
  • By highlighting a farmer every week, our goal is to show the dedicated and hardworking men and women who produce the food, fiber and products that we enjoy.
  • Hopefully, the non-farming public will also see they share more in common with farmers than they might think.
  • We also hope to showcase the diversity of North Carolina agriculture through these profiles.
  • I know that we already have stories on beekeepers and honey (Rocky River Bees in Chatham County and All American Bee Company in New Bern), a beef cattleman (V. Mac Baldwin in Yanceyville), strawberries, mountain trout, sprouts (Sunny Creek Farms in Black Mountain), blackberries (Faith Farms in Shelby), turkeys (Toy Farms of Keener), grapes, watermelons (James and Courtney Sharp in Wilson) and agritourism.
  • We are the fourth most agriculturally diverse state in the country, so you can bet you will see even more commodities talked about.
  • It’s hard to predict what will connect with people, but based on our recent Facebook engagement numbers it looks like a lot of our followers like cabbage.
  • We shared a story from WITN TV on the youth winner in the Bonnie Plants big cabbage contest. The third-grade winner from Pink Hill grew a 46 pound cabbage.
  • Our shared post reached over 17,000 people, and it was shared 475 times.
  • Another post we did in mid February highlighting facts about cabbage reached over 10,000 people and had 48 shares.
  • I like cabbage, but who knew cabbage was so popular?!?
  • I hope you enjoy reading about North Carolina farmers and learn a little more about our $91.8 billion agriculture and agribusiness industry.
  • I encourage you to share these stories with your Facebook friends and let’s spread the message about all the good work happening to grow local foods.
  • You are welcome to send us a message on social media if you know a farmer we should highlight.