Exclusively funded by the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission

2016 Recipient: Green Family Tree Farm

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 >>

2008 Recipient: George Frady

George Frady of Jackson County is turning a portion of his Christmas tree farm, formerly just for wholesale, into a choose-and-cut operation. George needed to expand his farm after the company he worked for in Transylvania County closed.   Jackson … View >>

2006 Recipient: Diane Cornett Deal

  Agri-Tourism With the WNC Ag Options Grant, Diane Cornett Deal will be able to expand services offered at her choose and cut operation in Watauga County. Equipment purchased with the grant includes a “tree shaker” to remove excess needles … View >>

2005 Farm: Doug Clawson

  Doug Clawson is a full time farmer who grew tobacco for 14 years on his family’s 75 year old farm. Mr. Clawson diversified his farm operation with cattle and Christmas tree production in the past decade. As opportunities in … View >>

2004 Farm: Frank Payne

Frank Payne is a member of the Watauga County Nurserymen’s Association and active participants in the county’s Choose-and-Cut industry. He has been working to develop more effective ways to market the “Choose-and-Cut Experience” to prospective clients from North Carolina and … View >>

2004 Farm: Jim Bryan

  J. Bryan will expand an adjacent 2 acres into a parking area to offer better traffic flow to the farm during the peak harvest season. The grant will be used to cover some of the labor and material costs … View >>

2004 Farm: June Hawkins

  J. Hawkins is a full time farmer who has grown tobacco since 1967. The farm is transitioning from tobacco income to an agritourism business with a corn maze, pick your own Pumpkin Patch, choose and cut Christmas tree farm … View >>

2004 Farm: Nathaniel Maram

  Nathaniel and his wife moved to Watauga County in 1998. They are interested in diversifying the production of their farm and exploring agritourism through their contacts in the Choose-N-Cut industry. The Maram’s plan is to propagate seeds of native … View >>

2004 Farm: Waightstill Avery

  W. Avery owns a large Christmas tree farm that offers choose and cut from November to January. With the help of their local extension agent, W. Avery’s family will create a 3-4 acre corn maze marketed at new and … View >>