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

Non-Timber Forest Products

The recently completed Western North Carolina Forest Products Marketing Project created many useful tools, publications, videos, and an ebook for non-timber forest products producers, buyers, and consumers. This project was funded by federal stimulus funds in the form of a grant.

WNC Forest Products Marketing Project Website

Also check out the new eXtension Forest Farming website. It is chock full of information on growing and marketing forest products of all kinds:

eXtension Forest Farming

Thank you to the Friends of the NC Alternative Crops and Organic Program:

• Dave Slater, Tryon, NC
• Laura Kaderabek, Chapel Hill, NC
• Nan Covert, Lake Lure, NC
• Golden Needle, Candler, NC
• Susan Coleman Fedor, Columbia, SC
• Rita Pelczar & John Wright, Marshall, NC
• Howard Covington, Greensboro, NC
• Judith Rybicki, Miami Beach, FL
• Thomas G. Miller, Fayetteville, NC
• Red Moon Herbs, Asheville, NC
• B-Hoppy Candy, Bob Bero, Lowellville, OH
• Kenneth Spapola, Pine Bush, NY
• Trent Gilland, Townsend, TN
• Curtis Meissner, Bostic, NC
• Steve Propst, Concord, NC

Thank your for your support!

If you would like to donate to our program, too, please fill out this form and mail it in with your check.

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 (Our new shiitake publication). 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

Hops, An Up and Coming Crop in North Carolina

• There are over 75 craft breweries in North Carolina and more than 80 farmers across the state are now growing hops for this new industry.
• Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Oskar Blues are all building breweries in western North Carolina!
• The NC Hops Project http://nchops.soil.ncsu.edu/: A cooperative project led by Rob Austin 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.
• 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/

2013 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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