Agriculture needs a farmhand.

• Position: Statewide

Despite hype surrounding energy, finance and technology, farming is still the backbone of North Carolina's economy. The agriculture industry contributes more than $70 billion annually, and it's still growing. Cash receipts have nearly doubled over the last two decades and increased by 7.2% between 2010 and 2011, the most recent data available. Poultry and hog farming are leading that growth. Both have become less risky for farmers because processing plants underwrite their operations in exchange for a set price.

But the industry faces challenges. North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation Inc., the Raleigh-based nonprofit that promotes the industry, released a report that says 60% of farmers have a hard time finding documented workers. One in five farms would close if they have to use E-Verify, the Internet-based system that checks employment eligibility. The General Assembly recently passed a bill requiring employers with more than 25 workers to start using it by July 1. Says Farm Bureau President Larry Wooten: "We're talking billions of dollars and tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of jobs lost from our state's economy."

Top 10 counties in cash receipts 2011 Livestock Crops Total Duplin $1.0 Sampson $198.3 Duplin $1.1 billion million billion Sampson $835.6 Mecklenburg $146.3 Sampson $1.1 million million billion Union $332.2 Johnston $139.3 Union $436.8 million million million Bladen $314.5 Robeson $117.3 Wayne $390.6 million million million Wayne $275.9 Wilson $117.1 Robeson $369.1 million million million Wilkes $268.4 Wayne $100.9 Bladen $368.3 million million million Robeson $234.9 Union $100.9 Wilkes $276.2 million million million Randolph $156.4 Nash $98.7 Johnston $264.4 million million million Lenoir $150.4 Henderson $92.8 Lenoir $215.8 million million million Anson $131.4 Edgecombe $81.5 Greene $196.0 million million million COUNTY INDEX 1. Alamance (13.3)% 2. Alexander...