Source: NCDA&CS, 3/13/18

Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler recently named Kaleb Rathbone as the new director of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Research Stations Division.

“Kaleb has been a longtime employee of our department, said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “Since 2010, he has been superintendent of the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville. His management experience at the station level coupled with his knowledge of agriculture makes Kaleb a great choice for the role of director.” 

Rathbone began as a summer worker at the Mountain Research Station in 1999. He has served in several different capacities at the station since that time.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in soil science and a master’s degree in agriculture and natural resources management from the University of Tennessee.  

He has served on the Board of Directors for Carolina Farm Credit since 2012, and is a member of the North Carolina Cattlemen’s Association, North Carolina Farm Bureau, Goodness Grows in North Carolina, the Gideon’s International, Research Centers Administrators Society and serves on several other local and state boards, associations and committees. 

Rathbone is a native of Haywood County, where he grew up working on his family farm, raising cattle and growing tobacco. He and his wife, Monica, live in Waynesville with their four boys, Mason, 9; twins, Grant and Reid, 6; and Joe, 2. The family operates a working farm in Haywood County, where they raise beef cattle, hay and corn. Rathbone is also an active member and deacon of Antioch Baptist Church.