Source:  NCDA&CS, 8/11/21


With agriculture being our state’s number one industry, North Carolina is well-known for its beautiful acres of farm land and variety of crops. The blacklands, an area of the state often overlooked when discussing agriculture, is actually one of the largest crop producing regions of our state. The blacklands encompass the following eight counties in North Carolina: Beaufort, Washington, Hyde, Tyrrell, Dare, Pasoquotank, Carteret and Pamlico.

Originally the blacklands were known as swamp lands until the 1960’s when various farmers from across the nation came in, drained the land and cleared the trees for agricultural use. Today, many crops are grown in the rich and nutritious soils of the blacklands, including corn, soybeans, wheat and chipping potatoes. The NCDA&CS Tidewater Research Station in Plymouth grows and researches these crops each year to better help farmers in the area understand the soil, manage weather conditions and improve upon the crops each year.

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