Agritourism

• Emily Odom and her husband from Goldsboro operate an agritourism farm that produces strawberries in the spring, sunflowers and a CSA in the summer and a corn maze in the fall. With the grant funds they plan to build a better packing facility with a walk in cooler.

Livestock and Poultry

• Justin Strickland from Rural Hall will use the grant funds to expand his beef production sales using e-commerce.
• Paul Johnson from Bunnlevel will use the grant to upgrade old poultry houses to produce a top quality bird in a safe environment.
• David Pflugfelder from Lillington raises poultry and pork. With the grant funds he will purchase equipment to expand his pastured raised hogs operation.
• Rondal McLamb from Dunn produces and processes grain fed cattle and hogs. He will use the grant funds for a dual chamber high volume vacuum.
• Joshua and April Phillips from Kenly will use the grant funds to build an animal barn and expand their livestock for their agritourism business on Sonlight Farms.
• William Byrd from Smithfield will purchase equipment to expand his cattle and hay production.

Produce

• Natalie Sevin from Winston-Salem is a small scale specialty producer that sells vegetables and herbs at two farmers markets in Winston Salem. She will use the grant funds to erect a innovative high tensile slanted fence to discourage the deer.
• Charles Tart from Dunn will use the award to purchase a new pea/bean Sheller that will be used for their crops and customers who bring in unshelled beans.
• Cameron Ennis from Garner will purchase a flatbed truck for hauling watermelons and small grains to market.
• Rooks King Wells from Rose Hill grows 40 acres of organic produce. He will use his grant funds to purchase an agricultural flame weeder.
• George Jenkins is a producer from Tarboro. He plans to purchase plasticulture equipment with his grant funds. He farms over 1000 acres and some of his crops are GAP and Organic Certified. Plasti-culture will keep produce cleaner in the field and cut down on weeds so less of the organic chemical applications will be necessary
• Timmy and Roxie Creech from Kenly plan to purchase irrigation equipment to expand their vegetable crop production.
• Richard Barrow from Clayton plans to expand his organic vegetable production and will use the grant funds to purchase a vacuum planter and drip irrigation.
• Ricky and Scarlett Joyner are a father daughter team from Mt Olive. They plan to turn an old tobacco greenhouse into a microgreens operation.
• Stephen Lilley from Williamston will use the grant award to purchase a pull-type spreader to apply “gin trash” on their field to improve yields.
• Bobby Coltrane from Reidsville plans to expand his production of Day Neutral Strawberries that will provide winter season strawberries on Thanksgiving, Chirstmas and Valentines day.
• Jeems Farm in Pinnacle has been in the family for over 100 years and was tobacco land until 1995, when they transitioned to tomatoes. With the grant funds Michelle Masten McKinney will add a processing facility and dehydrator to make tomato chips from over production and tomato seconds.
• RomaReady is a new farm on old tobacco land in Pilot Mountain that produces fresh chemical free vegetables for local restaurants. Augusto and Jamie Renzi will use the grant funds to scale up their pilot production of Kalettes, a new vegetable that is a cross between Kale and Brussel sprouts.
• The Sanderson farm in Four Oaks encompasses 950 acres of cropland. Over the last three years the farm has gone from having no issues with feral wild hogs to having whole field destroyed overnight. With the grant funds Matthew Sanderson will purchase a Boarbuster Trapping System to help his farm and others in surrounding counties.
• Planters Produce (Walker Shelton and Thomas Webb) from Stantonsburg grew up working on their family’s tobacco farm. In 2014 they started growing cucumbers and in 2016 they added peppers. The grant funds will be used to purchase and set-up a two hundred foot greenhouse that will used for raising quality pepper transplants.
• Chad and Brenda Blake from North Wilkesboro will use the grant to convert three tobacco greenhouses for hanging baskets and bedding plants.

Specialty Crops

Jason Bunting from Oak City received a hemp license, and will use the grant award to convert poultry houses into an indoor year-round hemp production facility.

Brenda Sutton and her husband Rex Inman from Reidsville grow specialty mushrooms. They plan to use their grant funds to develop the Fogwood Mushroom Trial through 20 acres of woodland.