Source: PRESS RELEASE, 1/23/12
 

The N.C. Board of Agriculture will meet at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, in the Martin Building at the State Fairgrounds. The meeting is open to the public.

The board will consider requests from the N.C. Potato Association and N.C. Cattlemen’s Association to conduct referendums among farmers.

If approved by the board, the Potato Association referendum would allow growers to vote this year on whether to continue an assessment of 1 cent per hundredweight of potatoes sold by growers. The assessment would be used for promotions, marketing and research for North Carolina’s Irish potato crop.

The Cattlemen’s Association is seeking board approval to conduct a referendum this fall on whether to continue an assessment paid by cattle farmers. The six-year assessment would be $1 per head of beef and dairy cattle sold in the state. The money would be used to support youth involvement, promotion, research, education and issues management for the state’s cattle industry.

The board also will consider a request from Allen Harim Farms for exemption from the state inspection fee on animal feed. State law requires manufacturers of animal feed to register their products with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and pay a fee of 12 cents per ton. The law allows a fee exemption for companies that manufacture feed for use by their contract growers.

The Board of Agriculture is a policy-making body that adopts regulations for many of the programs administered by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Its 10 members are appointed by the governor. The commissioner of agriculture serves as chairman of the board.