Podcast Topic: North Carolina
The Leading Voices in Food
Podcast Topic: North Carolina
E64: Technology, Transition and Family at Triple B Farms
November 18, 2019
Today I’m talking with Brandon Batten of Triple B Farms, a sixth generation farmer in Johnston County, North Carolina. Brandon’s passion for agriculture comes from growing up on the farm and learning the ropes from his late grandfather. A graduate in biological and agricultural engineering from North Carolina State University. He advocates for using farm level research to make sure that the latest technology and advancements in all aspects of agriculture to reach the farmers that need them.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Climate Change, Environment & Food | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E62: Bert Pitt on Today’s Farming Challenges
November 11, 2019
At the age of 68, Bert Pitt is lean and tan, with Robert Redford blue eyes and a working man’s hands. He’s a seventh generation farmer, raising cotton and sweet potatoes now, and lives in his family’s ancestral home in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Farming is both his job and his heritage, and he passionately believes in the value of small family farms.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E60: A Visit to Middlecreek Farms in the Blacklands of North Carolina
November 4, 2019
Driving along the North Carolina coastline protected by the Outer Banks barrier islands, I pass swamps, canals and fields. I’m visiting an agricultural region called the Blacklands. The soil is black and fertile and the Blacklands range across eight counties. I’m visiting Middlecreek Farms, a family operation in Engelhard, North Carolina, now run by Dawson and Bethany Pugh. The day’s plan to begin harvesting corn has been scrapped in the aftermath of a heavy rain and the farm crew works in the shop making repairs and doing equipment maintenance.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Climate Change, Environment & Food | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E68: Tobacco, Hemp & Trade Wars
October 29, 2019
Some farmers see industrial hemp as an opportunity to transition away from tobacco. Hemp is widely grown worldwide as a source of both fiber and oil seed. Harvesting equipment and dryers used for tobacco can also be used to harvest and cure hemp, allowing farmers to repurpose equipment they already own. North Carolina legalized hemp production in 2014 as part of a pilot program. Brandon Batten is one of the farmers producing industrial hemp as part of this program.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E58: Pig Farming Family Style at Razorback Farms
October 28, 2019
It’s August in North Carolina and I’m here with Marlowe Vaughan and her father Bob Ivey at Razorback Farm, a family-owned pig farm in Goldsboro.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E56: Gwen Pitt on the Changing Roles of Women in Farming
October 21, 2019
According to the US Department of Agriculture’s census of agriculture, women now make up 36% of farmers and 56% of farms have at least one woman farmer. But this isn’t a surprise to today’s guest, Gwen Pitt of Pitt Family Farms in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
Related podcasts: North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E54: Farming with Hurricanes in the Blacklands of North Carolina
October 14, 2019
At Middlecreek Farms, hurricanes shape the way Dawson Pugh farms his land. His property lies just two feet above sea level, and managing water is his biggest challenge.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E52: Hogs and Hurricanes in North Carolina
October 7, 2019
We’re talking today with Bob Ivey and his daughter, Marlowe Vaughan, owners of Razorback Farms in Goldsboro where they raise pigs as a contractor for Maxwell Farms. Ivey and Vaughan closely follow the news, debates, and lawsuits over pig manure lagoons, odors, and water safety concerns, and they welcomed the opportunity to talk about their own farm operations, and they believe in the value of open communications.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Food Waste & Implications | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E50: Gwen’s Cotton
October 2, 2019
Today we’re talking with Gwen Pitt at the Pitt Family Farm located in Macclesfield, North Carolina, a rural city in Edgecombe County with a population of just 477 people. Gwen is the scout at the Pitt Farm. She scours cotton and sweet potato fields on the 1100 acres she farms with Burt Pitt, her husband of 40 years, looking for insects and testing the soil.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E49: Pitt Family Farm Story
September 26, 2019
More than 90% of farms in the US are small or family owned and operated businesses. These farms play a vital role in our economy and help to maintain rural populations. But small farms face many challenges, including encroaching urban development, dramatically changing weather patterns, young people moving to urban areas for work, low commodities pricing, and farm financing. What’s more, our farming core is aging. The average age of farmers in the US today is 58. Today we share the story of Bert and Gwen Pitt, seventh generation farmers in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |