Source: NCDA&CS, 8/25/17


The N.C. Board of Agriculture on Aug. 23 adopted permanent rules for the Animal Shelter Support Fund.

The rules define eligible expenses and establish application guidelines for the fund. Temporary rules have been in place since November 2016.

The General Assembly established the fund in 2015 to reimburse local governments for expenses related to their operation of a registered animal shelter due to the denial, suspension or revocation of the shelter’s state registration or because of unforeseen catastrophic disaster at an animal shelter.
In other action, the board:
• Voted to begin the process of incorporating new federal food-safety rules into the state’s rules. The rules are the result of the Food Safety Modernization Act passed by Congress in 2010. The state rules will be posted for public comment before coming back to the board for adoption. 
• Voted to begin the process of readopting state forestry rules that were deemed necessary following periodic rules review. The rules will be posted for public comment before coming back to the board for readoption. 
• Readopted rules restricting the dispensing of raw milk by dairy farms. The rules restrict dairy farms to dispensing raw milk to a permitted milk hauler or processing facility. Farms also may dispense raw milk for use as animal feed. The rules were readopted following periodic rules review. 
• Readopted rules for nematode advisory services offered by the Agronomic Services Division of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The rules were readopted following periodic rules review. 
• Approved a request from the department’s Plant Industry Division to modify the sampling procedure for bags of fertilizer. The modification will align the division’s procedure with recommendations of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists and the Association of Plant Food Control Officials, which is allowed by state law. The modification is consistent with other state sampling procedures. 

Two new board members were sworn in at the meeting. Jose Calderon of Wake County and Scott Tyson of Nash County were sworn in by N.C. Supreme Court Justice Barbara Jackson. They were appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper, who attended the ceremony.
Calderon is sales manager with Farm Pak Products Inc., one of the world’s largest growers, packers and shippers of sweet potatoes. Tyson is president of Oakland Grove Farming, a family farm that produces tobacco, sweet potatoes, soybeans, wheat and cucumbers.