A GUIDE TO THE AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY IN NORTH CAROLINA.

• Author: Blake, Kathy

Agriculture and agribusiness account for 17% of all jobs in the state and an annual economic impact of $91.8 billion, according to state officials. Across North Carolina, farms are incorporating innovative practices to evolve as the agribusiness industry has over the decades.

This section explores just a few of the business changes that farms are making.

PLAYING WITH FOOD

With the North Carolina Food Innovation Lab's pilot plant expected to open in early March, the state could see some new developments with local crops.

Food from a lab isn't necessarily a bad thing, according to those working with the North Carolina Food Innovation Lab in Kannapolis.

The venture is six years in the making and provides a spot for fruit and vegetable farmers, food processors, entrepreneurs and major-label companies looking to create, test and market plant-based foods. The lab's open house was held last November and those involved, including managing partner N.C.

State University, believe it will eventually have a global impact.

"The product development and test kitchen have opened, and the pilot plant should open in March," says director Bill Aimutis, a 30-year veteran of food research and development. "We're still awaiting the arrival of equipment, and then we'll go for our licensing, so the pilot plant should be open [this month]." The pilot plant will be used by food manufacturers to test out new ingredients, formulations and processes.

The NCFIL supports product research and development, pilot plant production, workshops and food-industry consulting. It is equipped to process fruits, vegetables, raw plant materials and grains, as well as test and develop ideas in a food-scientist staffed test kitchen. The layout also includes collaboration space, a wet-processing pilot area, research pilot plant, Good Manufacturing Practice regulations pilot area, extracting room, dryer room, cold rooms, cold storage and an office area.

"Business in North Carolina is very friendly," Aimutis says. "We have a well-trained, available workforce. And as we identify sites to develop food plants, we have access to water, access to highways and railways. Frankly, we have a food-processing-friendly environment in the state, because we do a lot of it already."

N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler says the open house and ribbon-cutting were a defining moment. "I have said many times that we need to focus on our strengths as we look to grow our economy, and [the] agriculture and agribusiness [industry] is a strength in North Carolina. It is the leading industry at $91.8 billion."

Agriculture and agribusiness account for 17% of North Carolina jobs, according to N.C. State statistics. North Carolina farmers harvested 102,000 acres of peanuts in 2019, 4,000 acres more than the year before, according to recent USDA research. The state produced 53.2 million bushels of soybeans from 1.52 million acres, up 3% from 2018. North Carolina is one of the nation's largest sweet potato producers, with 1.7 billion pounds grown annually, according to N.C. State. Add in 149 million pounds of cucumbers--N.C. ranks fifth nationally for production--and top-10 yields of squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes and pumpkins, and you have a robust agribusiness economy.

The lab could benefit farmers in all regions by introducing manufacturing value into the crops. Richard Linton, dean of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences at N.C. State, uses beans as an example. String beans by themselves might not have a lot of value for farmers. If you can find a way to make string beans into a shelf-stable product, their value increases.

Linton, alongside other researchers at...