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Springtime means new beginnings…and Small Farms Week
Story Date: 3/4/2021
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Source: NC A&T UNIVERSITY, 3/3/21
Spring is a busy season for Cooperative Extension at A&T, and the highlight is always our annual Small Farms Week, a chance to recognize the small-scale farmers who are the backbone of our agriculture sector.
This will be the second year of Small Farms Week as a virtual event and our 35th annual celebration. Our theme this year—35 Years: Resilience, Strength, Diversity.—is appropriate for times marked by pandemic and economic struggle. Small farmers live with uncertainty all the time. They persist because they love what they do. As Extension professionals, we are committed to helping them, making them and their farms more resilient, giving them the tools and knowledge to sustain and thrive, and encouraging them to grow the great variety of agriculture products our land can support.
Our program this year will offer information on topics that are always popular, such as farm management, plant and livestock production, and high tunnel production. We will also offer sessions aimed at coping with trying times, such as exploring the health benefits of community gardening and learning how to boost your immune system during the pandemic. And just as we have every year since 1987, we will name a Small Farmer of the Year, a person, couple, or family who represents the ingenuity, work ethic, and commitment to community of North Carolina’s small farmers. In honor of our 35th anniversary, we are also looking back at past winners of the Small Farmer of the Year award. We’ve contacted many of these past winners, reflected on their accomplishments, and whenever possible, provided updates on their farms. This Small Farmer of The Year “scrapbook” will be a printed publication that documents the stories of past award winners and illustrates the depth and breadth of their work.
I hope all of you will join us for Small Farms Week and will tune in to Facebook Live on Wednesday, March 24, for our live announcement of the 2021 Small Farmer of the Year. Small farmers are the engine of North Carolina agriculture. All of you help to keep that engine running smoothly. I sincerely thank you for your efforts and encourage you to visit the Small Farms Week web page to register for this year’s events.
Let’s spring forward with hope, energy, good ideas, and good will!
With Aggie Pride,
Rosalind Dale, Ed.D.
Extension Administrator and Associate Dean
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