New NC State CALS Dean Travels State

Dean Richard Linton has hit the road to get to know North Carolina and how the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is making a difference every day in the lives of the state’s people. Over six days, he’ll be meeting with North Carolinians and exploring communities across the state. Check back here to get a glimpse of what he’s seeing during his travels. Mills River, Smyrna, Morehead City, Goldsboro, Clinton, Greenville, Columbia and Wilson are just a few stops on Linton’s six day tour that concludes in Raleigh on Tuesday.
 

American Soybean Association Discusses Ag Issues with Presidential Candidates
 

Election Day is Tuesday – and one commodity group recently quizzed Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney about several key agricultural issues. The American Soybean Association posed several Ag-issue related questions to the two men seeking the nation's highest office. ASA President Steve Wellman notes the candidates responded to questionnaires on everything from foreign trade to infrastructure concerns..

“People can read through their answers and get information on what the candidates are thinking and be more informed before they go to the polls. We asked specifically about the farm bill and crop insurance, the estate tax, bio diesel, trade research, regulations and our transportation infrastructure.” 
 

While both candidates responses were a little lacking on specifics on many issues – Wellman says there were some topics that elicited more in-depth replies. He says the Farm Bill was a major topic of discussion…

“Both candidates expressed their desire to get a new farm bill passed this year. Both were fairly common in their response for continuation of written management programs that compliment the crop insurance program along with some expansion of the crop insurance program, including some areas that weren’t covered before.”

Hurricane Sandy Slows Field Work in North Carolina

And in the latest crop progress report, released yesterday, two days late due to Hurricane Sandy says most of the state received above normal temperatures  again for the week ending October 28th. Hurricane Sandy reached the coastal  areas of NC over the weekend bringing high winds and several inches of rain.  Total impact to the area will not be known for a few more days.  There were 5.7 days suitable for field work, compared to 5.3 days the  previous week.  Statewide soil moisture levels were rated at 1% very short, 13% short, 76% adequate and 10% surplus. Farmers will be determining damage to the crops and  waiting to see when they can return to their fields. Joey Knight with  Caswell County Extension reported that tobacco growers rushed to  get the remaining crop harvest In during the week knowing the cold front would bring a big frost. And Paul Westfall of Granville County reported that most wheat following tobacco was planted and soybean harvest should Start soon.

For more of the crop report click here

Workshop for Beginning Farmers Offered
 

On Wednesday, November 28th, from 9:00 am until 4:30 pm AgSouth Farm Credit, ArborOne Farm Credit, the Clemson Institute for Economic and Community Development and the SC New and Beginning Farmers Program are excited to offer a workshop on financial management and estate and tax planning to new and beginning farmers.

The focus will be on getting your farm financial statements in order, how to use these statements in strategic business management, estate planning fundamentals, and income tax planning fundamentals. The workshop will be held at the Sandhill REC Lake House, 900 Clemson Rd., Columbia. Cost is $10 to $30, and deadline to register is November 19th. For more information, click here

Ground Breaking for Incubator Farm Coming Up
 

A group known as Lowcountry Local First is hosting a groundbreaking of an incubator farm, DirtWorks, at Rosebank Farms on Johns Island on Monday, November 5th at 10:00 am
 

Dirtworks is designed to provide low-risk business incubation for small and emerging farmers interested in entering the farming industry. DirtWorks will provide new farmers the opportunity to share equipment and resources as well a the mentorship of a farmer during a three-year incubation period.
 

To learn more, click on the links below:

IncubatorFarmGroundbreaking_Alert

LLFIncubatorFarm_FactSheet

PackingShed_Rendering 

South Carolina’s Latest Crop Report
 

In South Carolina’s latest crop report, released Wednesday instead of the customary Monday due to Washington closures in the wake of Hurricane Sandy; Coastal rainfall from hurricane Sandy was the only source of moisture for the State during the week. This favored harvesting, but the drying soil conditions have caused some farmers to delay fall seeding. Crop and livestock conditions declined from the previous report. Soil conditions dropped from the lack of precipitation and warmer than average temperatures and were rated at 12% very short, 43% short, and 45% adequate. There was an average of 6.7 days across the State that suitable for fieldwork. Cotton bolls were reported at 94% opened, four points behind last year, and five behind the five-year average, and 87% of the soybean crop has turned color with 54% leaf drop, and 40% maturity and 17% of the crop has been harvested.