Connecting Small Farmers to Big Data
From crop rotation and machinery to chemistry and genetic modification, farmers have relied on technology to improve their harvests.
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Year: 2024
Unlocking the Secrets of Climate-Smart Sheep
The Florida Cracker sheep is a survivor.
Descended from the sheep brought to North America by the Spanish in the 16th century, this mid-sized breed thrived in the pastures and piney woods of Florida. For four centuries these feral sheep foraged in the wild for food, dodged alligators and bobcats, and endured the ranchers who rounded them up twice a year to shear them of their wool.
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Growing a Niche for Specialty Crops
Obed Quaicoe has a big heart for small farmers, no matter where in the world they labor for a living. As a young man growing up in Ghana, he witnessed first-hand how hard they had to work to make ends meet. His father and grandfather both worked the family farm.
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N.C. A&T to Lead “Ag Tech Corridor” Project with $1M from National Science Foundation
As North Carolina’s top economic driver, agriculture is practiced in every corner of the state. But most of the research and technological innovation that could be available to the $103 billion industry comes from companies and universities in the comparatively small, urban areas of the Triad and Triangle.
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Ginger Takes Root in Carolina Soil
In 2016, Guochen Yang, Ph.D. decided to spice up North Carolina farming by testing ginger as a new niche crop for small-scale growers. Yang knew from his childhood in rural China that ginger was both tasty and medicinally beneficial, and as a horticulture professor in the United States, he has watched its popularity grow as both a spice for cooking and a desirable natural remedy for colds, aches and pains.
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