Extension and Research Farm Pavilion opens doors, ushers in new season of growth for farm

“A dream 20 years in the making” was realized at N.C. A&T’s 492-acre farm on Sept. 21 as local, state and national dignitaries lined up to cut the ribbon and open its Extension and Research Farm Pavilion.

The $6 million, 17,000 square foot facility, built with funds from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, will be used to conduct research and deliver educational programming to students, farmers and community members. It includes a 500-seat auditorium, classrooms, labs, a conference room and a kitchen.

“This is a big moment in the life of our university, because what we do here today, in opening this facility, is symbolic of our role as a land-grant university,” said Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr., Ph.D. “The farm has been a critical research and educational asset to the university since its inception in 1904. This is an expansion of that role.”

Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan, N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler and District 1 Councilwoman Sharon Hightower joined Martin; Mohamed Ahmedna, Ph.D., dean of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences; Andy Perkins, associate vice chancellor for facilities; Leon Moses, farm superintendent; and animal sciences student Tahirah Jones, president of the university’s chapter of the national association Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS), in opening the state-of-the-art Pavilion.

“This Pavilion makes this beautiful farm not only the university’s largest classroom and largest laboratory, but also its largest community engagement space,” Ahmedna said. “As the largest college of agriculture among 1890s universities, we take our commitment to research, teaching and Extension very seriously. This building demonstrates that commitment.”

The Pavilion’s opening also marks a major step in a building boom at the farm, Ahmedna said. In the next years, NIFA will provide financial support for additional projects planned for the space, including an amphitheater; a community and urban food complex with a dairy, research labs, classrooms; and a small business incubator. The dairy unit’s planned expansion will allow it to create such A&T-branded products as “Aggie Ice Cream”, milk and butter.

Already, the college has opened student and community gardens near the Pavilion as part of the planned expansion.

These projects will be important economic drivers for east Greensboro, said Vaughan.

From left, Leon Moses, farm superintendent, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan, Steve Troxler, NC Ag. Commissioner, A&T Chancellor Harold Martin, Mohamed Ahmedna, dean of the CAES, Greensboro City Councilwoman Sharon Hightower, Tahirah Jones, CAES student representative, and Andy Perkins, associate vice chancellor for facilities prepare for the CAES Extension and Research Farm Pavilion Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Tuesday morning, September 21, 2021 on the campus of North Carolina A & T State University.

“N.C. A&T and the city of Greensboro are intertwined,” Vaughan said, “In a city challenged by food insecurity, to be able to have a land-grant institution like A&T right here with the innovations they’re making, are all going to have a major impact on the city.”

Originally opening in 1904 to be a source of food and milk for the campus cafeteria, the farm has “produced” ever since, generating not only food for the community – last year, the farm donated a record 21,500 pounds of vegetables to four area food pantries – but also research on sustainable agriculture and natural resources conservation, such as swine waste research and soil conservation; animal science, such as research into food animals’ likelihood of contracting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease; and potential new crops, such as ginger, truffles and industrial hemp, that have the potential to improve farmers’ bottom lines and boost the state’s $95.9 billion agricultural impact.

And the farm helps to feed hungry minds. Most years, more than 1,000 school-age children tour the farm; it’s also a source of internships and work-related research for university students.

“The college is to be commended on opening this building, which will be so important in helping to deliver programs to stakeholders across the state and the nation,” said Jewel Bronaugh, Ph.D., USDA deputy secretary of agriculture, who praised the college in recorded remarks at the opening ceremony.

Steve Troxler, N.C commissioner of agriculture, thanked the college and the farm’s staff for its excellence

Steve Troxler, NC Ag. Commissioner, brings remarks during the CAES Extension and Research Farm Pavilion Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Tuesday morning, September 21, 2021 on the campus of North Carolina A & T State University.

“This farm is the best in North Carolina. I ought to know because the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services runs 18 research farms,” Troxler said. “When I came and toured the farm recently, I was blown away. I congratulate A&T for its work with small farms and for our work together.”

The new building projects will be watched closely by Farm Superintendent Leon Moses, who started working at the farm when he was an undergraduate student. Earlier this year, he celebrated 45 years of engagement with the farm.

Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan brings greeting during the CAES Extension and Research Farm Pavilion Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Tuesday morning, September 21, 2021 on the campus of North Carolina A & T State University.

“This building is a dream 20 years in the making,” said Moses. “When I think of how many people the farm has changed, and of all the people who have become great by first stepping foot on this land, it makes me proud. I’m proud of the entire university, but I’m the most proud of this place and the direction in which it’s growing.”