As an economist whose specialty is tobacco and peanut policy, Dr. Blake Brown is well aware of how the role tobacco plays in North Carolina's economy has changed in recent years.

Indeed, Brown, Hugh C. Kiger Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, has seen the writing on the tobacco curing barn wall.

"If you look at North Carolina agriculture, we have transitioned from a tobacco-based economy," says Brown. He points out that in 1983 tobacco accounted for 27 percent of total North Carolina farm cash receipts. In 2003, tobacco provided 9 percent of cash receipts. While tobacco is and will likely continue to be an important part of North Carolina's agricultural economy, many farm families who have relied on tobacco can no longer do so.

But there are other agricultural options, and Brown is working to make sure those options are readily available to North Carolinians who wish to pursue them. Brown has been working in recent months to support efforts in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and North Carolina Cooperative Extension that focus on value-added and alternative agricultural enterprises.

Brown's long-term goal is the creation in the College of a Center for Value-Added Profitability. But creating a center is a bureaucratic endeavor that can take time. So in the meantime, Brown is content with, as he describes it, working to focus College resources to help Extension specialists and agents help North Carolinians develop value-added and alternative enterprises.

"We have a lot of activity (focusing on value-added and alternative enterprises) in the College on campus and in the counties," says Brown. "A lot of this is grassroots in nature."

Brown, in conjunction with the Department of Communication Services, has developed a Web site (http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/value-added) that will feature information on value-added and alternative agriculture programs and resources that may be used to develop value-added enterprises. In early March he organized a meeting that brought together Extension specialists, agents and others to discuss value-added activities. He is paying for these and other activities with a $245,000 grant from the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.

Brown is using some of the Tobacco Trust Fund grant to hire a person with business management and economic assessment expertise for a year. The person in this master's level position will be available to work with Extension agents and specialists who are helping farm families develop value-added and alternative enterprises.

"I hope we can bring more focus to value-added and alternative enterprises by trying to bring resources to bear in terms of business management and economic assessment expertise," says Brown. "These seem to be missing pieces."

He adds, "Campus and field faculty increasingly rely on external funding for their value-added and alternative agriculture programs. The Tobacco Trust Fund grant will also enable us to provide assistance to field and campus faculty in writing grants" that focus on developing value-added and alternative enterprises.

At the same time, Brown is working to try to make sure that Extension agents in particular are aware of successful value-added and alternative programs across the state. That was the impetus behind the March meeting.

In early March, Brown invited agents and others to attend a two-day meeting on value-added and alternative programs at Camp Carroway in Asheboro. A steering committee of 14 extension agents and specialists helped plan and implement the event. Seventy-two agents and others attended the meeting, during which agents who have developed successful programs gave presentations on those programs. The meeting also featured a presentation by Rob Holland of the Center for Profitable Agriculture, an effort by the University of Tennessee to aid agricultural entrepreneurs in developing value-added enterprises.

Brown called the meeting "kind of a kick off" for the value-added effort.

- Dave Caldwell