North Carolina Specialty Crops Program

Specialty Crops are new crops that have not been commerically grown in a particular region. Ranging from exotic purple potatoes to more commonly known crops like lettuce, producing specialty crops generally introduces farmers to a new way of growing. The North Carolina Specialty Crops Program was a multi-agency, statewide program dedicated to new crop development. It operated from 1997 to 2008 under the leadership of Barclay Poling (1997-1999), Jeanine Davis (1999-2007), and Bill Jester (2008). The program has now ended due to lack of funding, but Jeanine Davis has agreed to maintain the website with the historical information from the program and to continue to serve as a resource on new and specialty crops for farmers, entrepreneurs and consumers.

News: Herbicide Carryover in Hay, Manure, Compost, and Grass Clippings: Caution to Hay Producers, Livestock Owners, Farmers and Home Gardeners (PDF)

HIGHLIGHT ON

Organic Winegrape and Wine Production in NC

Above image from http://ncsmallfruitsipm.blogspot.com, a blog by NCSU entomologist, Hannah Burrack

Presentations from the 1st Sustainable Viticulture Conference (2011) in NC:
http://jeweloftheblueridge.com/2011SustainableViticulture
Presentations.htm

Sustainable Appalachian Viticulture Institute. Contains a wealth of information and an extensive list of links to more on sustainable wine grape production, organic wine production, and other relevant topics:
http://grapesavi.org/

2010 Organic Grape Production Guide from Cornell:
http://nysipm.cornell.edu/organic_guide/grapes.pdf

Production Information on Organic Grape Production from ATTRA: http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/grapes.html

Sample Cost to Produce Organic Wine Grapes. This publication is from California, so it is not directly applicable to North Carolina, but it is a good starting place to help you determine what it will take to make a profit from organic grapes:
http://coststudies.ucdavis.edu/files/grapeorgnc05.pdf

Nice article on a California Organic and Biodynamic Winegrape Producer:
http://www.winemakermag.com/stories/grapes/article/
indices/22-grape-growing/334-growing-organic-grapes-tips-from-the-pros

Jewel of the Blue Ridge Consulting
Chuck and Jeannie Blethen are leaders in promoting sustainable and organic winegrape production and mountain muscadine production in North Carolina. http://jeweloftheblueridge.com/

HOT CROPS

Mushrooms

There is a resurgence of interest in mushroom production and consumption across the state of North Carolina. For
the past 25 years, when farmers asked about growing mushrooms, they were usually referring to shiitake mushrooms grown on oak logs (http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/agpubs/ag-478.pdf). But recently, inquiries are coming in on a wider variety of mushrooms including oyster, reishi, and truffles. 

To see what a few of the North Carolina mushroom growers are doing, visit these pages:

• Rose Mountain Farm in the High Country grows shiitake mushrooms. http://rosemountainfarm.com
• Garland Truffles in the piedmont produces truffles. http://garlandtruffles.com
• Keep Your Fork Farm in the piedmont grows truffles. http://www.keepyourforkfarm.com/
• Piedmont Valley Truffles produces truffles in the piedmont. http://www.nctruffles.com/index.html
• Landis Gourmet Mushrooms, also in the piedmont, produces several kinds of oyster mushrooms http://www.localharvest.org/landis-gourmet-mushrooms-M25735
• Deep Woods Mushrooms in the Southern mountains grows shiitakes and reishi mushrooms. http://deepwoodsmushrooms.net
• The NC Mountain Mushroom Cooperative in western NC produces shiitakes and oysters. http://www.ncmountainmushroom.com/index.html

Hops, An Up and Coming Crop in North Carolina

• The NC Hops Project http://nchops.soil.ncsu.edu/: A very cooperative project led by Rob Austin and Scott King in Soil Science and Jeanine Davis in Horticultural Science.
• We now have a research hop yard at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station in Mills River! Follow our activities there on the NC Alternative Crops and Organics blog.
• WNC Hops – NC Cooperative Extension Agent, Sue Colucci, built a hops page just for WNC.
• Field Guide for Integrated Pest Management in Hops (PDF) Produced by Oregon State University, University of Idaho, USDA - Agricultural Research Service, and Washington State University

More information about hops and other hot crops

The Medicinal Herbs for Commerce Project

This project aimed to provide North Carolina farmers an opportunity to explore the economic feasibility of medicinal herb production. There is valuable information on this website for medicinal herb growers.

Farm Prosperity Project

Dr. Jeanine Davis received a four year grant from the USDA National Research Initiative on small farms and rural communities to study farmland preservation techniques and new crop/new agricultural enterprises as a way to enhance small-farm prosperity. This was a cooperative project with Land of Sky Regional Council, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, American Farmland Trust, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, and Warren Wilson College. For project results and additional information, visit www.NCherb.org/prosperity/

2012 Vegetable Crop Handbook
for the Southeastern US

Locations of Some Specialty Crops Research Projects that Were Conducted in North Carolina

From 2002-2004, the NC Specialty Crops Program received funding from the GoldenLeaf Foundation to support a large number of research projects and educational programs throughout North Carolina. Reports on many of these projects can be accessed from this interactive state map.

Archives for the N.C. Specialty Crops Program Newsletters

A feature of the SCP website, newsletters provided information for growers and others interested in new crops.

You will need the free Adobe Reader program to view Adobe PDF formatted publications.

The Specialty Crops Program was funded in part by grants from:
Golden Leaf Foundation | NC Rural Economic Development Center | USDA

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