ASHE COUNTY — Two Ashe County farmers have been named winners in a grant program aimed at supporting family farms. Melanie Jordan of Fleetwood and Russell Barr of West Jefferson were among 68 individual growers earning grants of between $1,000 and $8,000 from NC AgVentures Farm Grant Program.
The competitive grants – administered by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, with funding provided through the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission – are awarded to innovative projects aimed at diversifying, expanding or implementing new entrepreneurial plans for farm operations.
Melanie and her husband Scott both grew up in farming families. Together they started raising cattle in 2017. Jordan received funds to install a cattle sweep system that would aid in loading and unloading new and existing cattle as well as make it safer on the livestock and those working the cattle.
Barr Evergreens is a third generation family farm started by Wilson Barr in 1960. His son Russell and daughter-in-law manage the farm operation. They grow 500,000 field Fraser fir for cut Christmas trees. Barr was awarded funding to provide more growth for their Fraser Fir plugs in the greenhouse with evaporative cooling.
The North Carolina General Assembly created the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission in 2000 to lessen the financial impact to farmers and tobacco-related businesses caused by the sharp decline of tobacco in the agricultural economy.
Cooperative Extension is an educational partnership of the state’s two land-grant universities, North Carolina State and North Carolina A&T State University, county governments and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Its mission is to deliver education and technology that enrich the lives, land and economy of North Carolina.
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Thanks to modern technologies, you and more people are reading the Watauga Democrat than ever before. Freedom of the press is essential to preserving democracy: But a free press isn't free. It takes significant resources for Mountain Times Publications' 8 full-time journalists and editors to provide credible, fact-based and ethical journalism in the High Country. So, we are asking you to join our advertisers and print subscribers in supporting local journalism with your dollar. Your financial support will help sustain these services that you use to inform your decisions and engage with your community.
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