Exclusively funded by the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission
Paige Witherington and Justin Dansby, Pitch Pine Farm Root Vegetable Harvesting Equipment Grant Award: $6,000 From farm analyses of their root vegetable production, it was identified that over ¾ of Pitch Pine Farm’s time is spent harvesting. The purchase of … View >>
Dietrich Blum, Blooming Branch Farm Bulk Substrate Steam Pasteurizer for Mushroom Production Grant Award: $6,000 Dietrich is building a bulk substrate steam pasteurizer that allows him to produce wholesale quantities of oyster mushrooms as well as fruiting columns and fruiting … View >>
James Moore Edwards, Edwards Farm Grass-Fed Cattle Grant Award: $6,000 James is diversifying his vegetable operation with grass-fed cattle. He purchased seven calves to pasture on 16 acres. He feeds them on grass until autumn before slaughtering them for sale … View >>
Bill Weeks, Exotic Natives Nursery Expanding Markets and Increasing Manageability and Sales of Native Azaleas Grant Award: $6,000 Bill has made critical changes at his nursery to sell off his current inventory of field-grown azaleas, which are mostly native to … View >>
Matthew Cooper, Lively Up Farm Mushroom Production Grant Award: $3,000 Matthew has constructed a hoop house for the propagation and fruiting of shiitake, oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms. The house allows for the ongoing propagation of mushrooms, while reducing input … View >>
Burl Jonathan Greene III, Green Family Tree Farm Farm Diversification Grant Award: $6,000 Burl has diversified his Christmas tree farm with berries and pumpkins to offer products and services year-round. He recently added 20 acres of land, which has 235 … View >>
Holland Whitesides and Andrew Bryant, Against the Grain Sorghum Molasses and Mushrooms Grant Award: $6,000 Holland and Andrew are creating a multi-use facility that houses a sorghum press, furnace and broiler. With this new building, they no longer need to … View >>
Travis Cornett, High Country Ginseng Continuing Processing and Storage Facility Grant Award: $6,000 Travis has built a drying system and storage area to complete a processing facility for High Country Ginseng that he constructed with the help of a 2015 … View >>
Todd Combs Green Dragon Ginseng Farm Grant Award: $6,000 Todd is growing a trial acre of organic ginseng, testing out a new organic product, Root Shield, which contains a beneficial fungus that eats problematic fungus. Typically ginseng growers need to … View >>
Allen Frost, Cosmo Farm Poultry Processing Building Grant Award: $6,000 Allen has constructed a dedicated poultry processing building to expand his non-GMO pasture-raised broiler operation. With the new building, he can process more birds in less time and during inclement … View >>
Curtis Burnside, Sospiro Ranch Rabbit Processing Facility Grant Award: $6,000 Curtis and Susan have built a FDA-compliant processing facility to prepare meat rabbits to sell to Asheville area restaurants. The 18-foot by 12-foot building allows for on-site slaughter, dressing, packing, … View >>
Linda Ann Davis Goat Milk Soap-Making Workshop Grant Award: $3,000 Linda is constructing a workshop dedicated to the production of goat milk soap. The insulated 10-foot by 12-foot wood frame structure consolidates all phases of the soap making operation, including … View >>
Gabriel Noard, Pangaea Plants Medicinal Herb Processing Grant Award: $6,000 Gabriel has built an herb dryer and processing area so that he can sell medicinal herbs throughout the year, benefiting from the higher market value of herbs in the non-harvest … View >>
Jon D. Klimstra, TK Family Farm High-Density Trellised Apple Orchard Grant Award: $6,000 Jon has diversified his 15-acre farm with a high density trellised apple orchard. This orchard style allows for higher yields in a shorter amount of time than … View >>
Starli McDowell, Altapass Orchard Serving the Good Stuff Lunch Wagon Grant Award: $6,000 Altapass Orchard, a 280-acre historic farm on the Blue Ridge Parkway that provides apple sales, tours, trails and events to the public, has built a food service … View >>
Rodney Buchanan, Buck’s Tree Farm Alternative Fraser Fir Transplant Production Method Grant Award: $6,000 Rodney is producing Fraser Fir transplants for his Christmas tree farm, growing them in containers instead of using the traditional lineout bed method to deter root … View >>