Agriculture's Impact on North Carolina
A new report lays out the value of agriculture in North Carolina: nearly one million jobs and $117 billion in economic activity.
North Carolina State University Agricultural Economist Jeffrey Dorfman prepared the report that measured the state's agricultural crops, livestock, forestry operations, textile production, food manufacturing, garden centers, grocery stores, and restaurants.
"For this report, I am defining agriculture as the food, fiber and forestry sector," Dorfman told North Carolina State Extension. "The economic impact includes all the stages from growing and raising farm products until we eat, wear or use them. This definition is the one that NC State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have used for more than 40 years."
How Much of North Carolina's Economy Is Agriculture?
North Carolina's overall economy is $844 billion, so the various aspects of agriculture hold a sizeable share of that total.
Dorfman said that he wanted the report to include more than just production agriculture. He wanted it to reflect the extended reach that agriculture has in the state.
His report included, "...input suppliers, such as tractor dealers and fertilizer sellers for production agriculture, as well as processing of the commodities produced, including turkey, pickles, cotton fabric, cigarettes, and wood and paper products, among others," he said.
Why include a wider look at agriculture?
"If we looked at production agriculture alone, that would eliminate the food processing and restaurant industries that supply many of our meals," Dorfman said, "But since almost none of us grind our own flour or eat only whole fruit picked from a tree, that doesn't provide a complete picture of how food moves from the field to our plates."
RELATED: A North Carolina man's legacy to support rural families continues even though he lost his life last year after he reconnected to his farm roots.
How Are Veterans Getting Involved in Farming?
Farms need support. Veterans deserve opportunities. A North Carolina program connects both by teaching agricultural skills to veterans thanks to assistance from a state grant.
The program, Veteran's Farm of North Carolina, aims to help veterans transition back into civilian life and workforce. That not only provides a vital bridge, but it also expands the potential pipeline of workers into agriculture at a time that the average farmer is nearing 60.
The organization said that it has helped 1,000 farmer veterans since 2015.
Robert Elliott launched the organization after serving in the Marine Corps and U.S. Department of Defense. He struggled with the post-military transition and discovered farming.
"I started going down to a really dark place in my mind," Elliott told North Carolina Health Care News. "A lot of folks that get out of the military in the first year, statistically speaking, wind up having really hard transitional issues."
What Strain Do Farming and Military Service Share?
Elliott said, unfortunately, the military and farming have a troubling similarity: they both see too many people taking their own lives.
"The same issues that veterans face that are leading to the suicide statistics in the veteran community are the same exact things, just in a little bit of a different format, that farmers are facing now," Elliott told North Carolina Health Care News.
Elliott's work and the new experience of farming could provide new hope and a new future for veterans seeking their next mission.
RELATED: Tom Dent, a cattle and bison rancher in Washington who also serves in the state legislature, wants to encourage more people to talk about mental health to prevent more instances of suicide. Dent told American Farmland Owner how he tries to educate his legislative colleagues, so more people understand the high stress of ranching and farming.
