Last week Orange County held its annual agricultural summit. Here are some of the highlights from the speakers:
Karen McAdams gave an update on the Breeze Farm 'new farmer' incubator. Like a small business incubator, it gives farm entrepreneurs a space to begin their farm career, advice and equipment sharing opportunities.
Andrew Brannan with the NC Farm Transition Network discussed his work in matching older farmers with new farmers. High land costs are the major obstacle to new or young farmers.
Alanance County commissioner Dan Ingle brought the group up to date on the value added center located in Hillsborough. It will be on line in 2010 to be used for canning, freezing, processing facilities for the use of local farmers.
Sue Gray with the NC Horse Council discussed challenges horse owners are facing, including access to hay and zoning issues with towns as they expand their territorial jurisdiction. Sue reminded attendees that equine activities have become a huge revenue boost to our economy, creating jobs in the medical, retail and building industries.
Perhaps the speaker who spoke to the issues those of us in real estate are most interested in was Steve Troxler, NC Commissioner of Agriculture. He reminded us that agriculture is a $70 BILLION industry in the state. Most of these agricultural jobs are as recession proof as jobs get. In addition, agriculture has two new revenue arms that are will grow in importance in the next few years. These are biofuels and biomed industries.
One statistic commissioner Troxler quoted that is startling is this: for every family that moves to NC, two acres are used to support them. That includes their home lot, and the school, hospital, fire department, etc. land needed for infrastructure for their needs. It is easy to see how the tug of war for land begins. People want to move here for the weather and the semi rural feel close to amenities and jobs.
This IS a great place to live and the summit impressed me once again with how many creative, bright people live here, working to keep the state a great place to live.
