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 provides crop production information, marketing reports and links to articles published online. We are a resource for farmers, entrepreneurs and consumers within the specialty crops market.

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

HOT CROPS

Seedless Table Grape
Cultivar Trial

A study was initiated in 2005 to look at the possibility of growing seedless, fresh market table grapes (Vitis labrusca) in the northern Piedmont of North Carolina. Research done on these grapes is scant and to my knowledge, no one has grown these grapes on a commercial scale in the NC Piedmont.

A local specialty crop grower, Doreathy Booth, who farms north of Oxford, was looking for a high value horticultural crop that she could gain additional income from. I suggested that she take a look at seedless table grapes, since no one was growing them locally. I thought it would be a high-value horticultural crop that could be added to her crop mix of blackberries and blueberries.

Read the full report

Hops, An Up and Coming
Crop in North Carolina

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

hops yard in Haywood County
Above: A WNC grower in his new hops yard

More Hot Crops

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

Mountain Farmers Eligible for
Funds to Diversify Operations

Grants totaling $225,000 are available to western North Carolina farmers who are diversifying or expanding their operations in 2010. WNC Agricultural Options, which will award approximately 45 farmers in 17 counties and the Cherokee Reservation $3,000, $6,000 or $9,000 each, released its 2010 applications on August 4, 2009.

Managed by the N.C. Cooperative Extension County Centers in the West District, the WNC AgOptions program works with producers who demonstrate ways to increase farm income to other transitioning farmers, particularly tobacco growers. WNC AgOptions works in partnership with RAFI-USA’s Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund, and the NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission sponsors the program.

Interested applicants should see the agricultural agents at their local Extension Centers by November 23, 2009, and can visit www.wncagoptions.org to download an application. Projects should increase the sale of farm products and lead to the long-term sustainability of the farm business. The postmark deadline for applications is January 8, 2010.

Read the full WNC AgOptions announcement

Grants for North Carolina Farmers in the Central Region

Through its Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund, the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (RAFI-USA) is offering cost-share grants of up to $10,000 for individual farmers and up to $30,000 for farmer groups. The Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund provides cost-share support for farmers to try new production, marketing, and processing strategies in order to earn more income on the farm.

Deadline for applications is November 11, 2009. The application process is competitive. High priority will be given to innovative projects which show farmers a new direction or opportunity. All farmers who make an income from agriculture in the central region counties are eligible to apply. How-to-apply workshops will be conducted in 12 counties.

Read the full RAFI-USA announcement

Events Calendar

Statewide and National Events for Alternative Crops, Herbs, Organics, Specialty Crops, Vegetables

Free Grant Writing Assistance

Working on an application for a grant opportunity? If this opportunity is in value-added or alternative agriculture and in some way assists North Carolina tobacco farm families transition to or add new enterprises, then assistance in writing and putting together the grant package is available to you.

To obtain assistance, contact Blake Brown, blake_brown@ncsu.edu, (919) 515-4536. To find additional information and to check out current grant opportunities in the value-added and alternative agriculture area go to www.cals.ncsu.edu/value-added

2009 Vegetable Crop Handbook for the Southeastern US

ASAP Matching Funds for Southern Appalachian Farmers

Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) is making matching funds available to farmers through a program funded by the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. Farmers can apply for matching funds that will enable them to conduct promotions and develop materials that identify their products as local. ASAP will offer approximately $50,000 total to Southern Appalachian farmers to help them market and promote local foods.

Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) Funding Opportunities

Specialty Crops Newsletters

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

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/

The Medicinal Herbs for Commerce Project

This project aims to provide North Carolina farmers an opportunity to explore the economic feasibility of medicinal herb production.

Locations of Some Specialty
Crops Research Projects
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.

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

Updated November 2, 2009