WNC AgOptions Announces Grant Program for Regional Farmers

Mountain farms will soon benefit from N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission's recent funding of WNC Agricultural Options. With support from the Commission, WNC AgOptions will award area farmers a new round of $3,000 and $6,000 grants, for a total of $145,000. WNC AgOptions is accepting applications until November 16.

WNC AgOptions, a program of N.C. Cooperative Extension and WNC Communities, continues its nine-year history of helping farmers diversify their businesses. "I am excited that the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission funded this program again this year," said Ross Young, Madison County Extension Director and WNC AgOptions steering committee leader. "There is no doubt that agriculture in Western North Carolina has become stronger because of WNC AgOptions and we expect the 2013 program to continue with outstanding applications from farmers hoping to keep their farms strong in these ever-changing times."

WNC AgOptions awards farmers who propose diversification projects that will help their businesses grow and succeed. The seed money offsets the risk of trying something new and gives farmers the chance to demonstrate new farming techniques and marketing tactics to the agricultural community. Applications are available at www.wncagoptions.org and at local Cooperative Extension Centers. Interested applicants should contact their local Extension Agents by October 12 to notify them that they intend to apply. The application postmark deadline is November 16.

Eligible farms are in: Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey counties as well as the Cherokee Indian Reservation. The WNC AgOptions steering committee strongly encourages eligible farmers who have never received grant funding to apply.

The administrator of WNC AgOptions is WNC Communities, a non-profit organization that has roots as far back as 1947 and hands in the development of such influential regional projects as the N.C. Arboretum, the WNC Agricultural Center, and, most recently, the WNC Regional Livestock Center. WNC Communities is dedicated to providing a unique forum for leaders in western North Carolina to carry out innovative programs to improve the quality of life for rural communities and to enhance the agriculture economy.

Members of the WNC AgOptions steering committee include: representatives from N.C. Cooperative Extension, N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services–Marketing Division, WNC Communities, Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project and other leaders in agribusiness. RAFI-USA's Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund manages a similar grant program for farmers in the Piedmont, Central and Coastal regions of North Carolina. For more information, see the following: WNC Agricultural Options: www.wncagoptions.org; N.C. Cooperative Extension Centers: www.ces.ncsu.edu; N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission: www.tobaccotrustfund.org; WNC Communities: www.wnccommunities.org.

Hitchhikers in your Firewood?

From the US Forest Service's Forest Health Highlights from 2010:
The full report can be found by clicking HERE

Got Trees???

Shiitake Mushroom Workshop, February 22

There must be something intriguing about growing mushrooms in logs, because even after more than seven years of offering workshops in our area, we still get requests for more information on the subject. For this reason, Cooperative Extension will offer an evening workshop on successfully inoculating and cultivating shiitake mushrooms on natural logs in outdoor environments. The workshop will take place at the Watauga County Cooperative Agricultural Conference Center on Tuesday, February 22, from 6:00-8:30 PM.


The workshop will consist of presentations of both basic mushroom biology and cultivation techniques, plus a hands-on demonstration of the tools and process for drilling, inoculating, and waxing the logs for successful production. The mushroom workshop is FREE and open to the public, but we do ask that you RSVP with the Watauga County Center of NC Cooperative Extension so that we can be sure that enough hand-outs and other supplies are on-hand. To register, call Watauga County Cooperative Extension at 828-264-3061.

Does Your Forest Talk Money?

North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service will host an evening workshop titled “Does Your Forest Talk Money?” on March 8, from 6:00--9:30 pm.  Forest land owners, farmers, wild crafters, and food entrepreneurs are invited to participate in the event at the Agricultural Conference Center here in Boone.  Featured speakers include Jeanine Davis, Ph.D., a horticulturist with the Special Crops Program of NCSU, Caroline Edwards, Non Timber Forest Products Advisor of NCSU; Michael Cheek and Brian Schneider of the NC Division of Forest Resources, Alyx Perry, Director of Southern Forests Network.

Limited quantities of FREE Ginseng Seeds 

and Books: “Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal &Other Woodland Medicinals” by Persons and Davis.  

Please call the Watauga County Extension Service at 828) 264-3061 if you will attend, so that handouts will be sufficient. No registration fee. Light snacks will be provided.

Looking for Laricobius

The US Forest Service is trying to determine if breeding populations of a beetle known as Laricobius are establishing themselves on adelgid-infested hemlocks. The beetles are natural predators of the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) and are found on western hemlocks on the west coast. Local entomologist, Dr. Richard McDonald, has been collecting Laricobius beetles for the Forest Service to release them here in our adelgid-infested mountains. The Forest Service has established several sampling sites to try and capture the beetles to prove that they are setting up shop, feeding on adelgids, and reproducing on their own.

County Director, Jim Hamilton, has accompanied US Forest Service Intern Bill Sweeney on several sampling trips to a stand of hemlocks adjacent to Valle Crucis Community Park. Pictured below are Sweeney (right) and Brian Chatham from Watauga Soil and Water checking a "beat board" (where foliage has been shaken to see what falls out!). Since Laricobius beetles hatch from eggs laid in the litter below trees, collection traps are placed into the soil in an attempt to capture them as they crawl out of the soil to seek out adelgids. While a few beetles were found in the foliage of these hemlocks earlier in the year, their offspring have yet to be detected in the traps this fall.

State Champ Butternut??

I'm pretty certain that Watauga County can add a state champion butternut (Juglans cinerea) to its list of champion trees.  On the way out to a site visit at David Yates' property in the Cool Springs community, Soil and Water Technician Brian Chatham mentioned that Mr. Yates had a big butternut on his property. He wasn't kidding!! The tree measured 22 feet in circumference at chest height and has a crown spread of over 100 feet. PRETTY IMPRESSIVE.  Unfortunately the picture doesn't really do it justice. We will definitely be nominating the tree into the North Carolina Champion Big Tree program. Currently Watauga County holds claim to the state champ sugar maple and weeping willow.

Ramp Research with National Agroforestry Center

Spring is the season for many forest herbs. From a culinary perspective, ramps are high on the priority list this time of year! On Thursday, April 15, the National Agroforestry Center visited several sites in Watauga County to gather environmental data on ramp habitat. They collected elevation & aspect, forest & soil type, and associated plant data. The National Agroforestry Center is interested in putting together information for private forest landowners on suitable site considerations for ramp production and cultivation. Extension, NRCS, and Watauga Soil and Water district identified several sites around the county for inclusion in the database and accompanied the group to several locations in the county.

Forestry Students Visit High Country

Jim Hamilton, Watauga Extension Director, and Brian Chatham, Watauga Soil and Water District, recently hosted a class of 14 forestry students from Haywood Community College. The students are participating in a soils and hydrology class and toured the Beech Creek Bog, the Boone Stormwater Wetland, and other sites in the county. Harry Yates of Yates Christmas Trees and Landscaping provided the class with a background on the Christmas tree industry and soil fertility issues.