Farmers adapt to new conditions, livelihoods

Waking up with the sun, cooking breakfast, feeding the animals and tending the fields is a life most North Carolinians have only heard about.

But not long ago, it was the way of life in the Tar Heel state.

Farmland has decreased during the past several years, and so has the money farmers make. The state's economy and job market once hinged on agricultural industries such as farming, tobacco and textiles, but they are changing, and new ones are claiming power.

"The family farm is much more a part of history than you'd like to see," said Brian Long, public affairs director for the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

But many of those who have stayed in the business are embracing changes and finding new ways to make a profit.

Agritourism is an emerging market in North Carolina, started by farmers who saw the desire among urban-bred people to experience farm life firsthand and opened their working farms to the public, Long said.

Goat Lady Dairy in Randolph County is one of many such attractions.

The 60-acre family farm, which is more than 200 years old, opens its doors to groups several times each year so they can tour the farm and see what it takes to keep one running - a process quite different from maintaining a quarter-acre lot found in suburban neighborhoods.

Other farmers transformed their land into attractions, such as Christmas tree farms, where many people will go this holiday season to choose that perfect tree and cut it down themselves.

Still, there are some who continue to work their own land and sell the product on the market just as they've always done.

"Agriculture is in a period of transition," Long said. "But agriculture and agribusiness ... still equates to about $60 billion to the state's economy every year."

Michael Walden, professor of agriculture and resource economics at N.C. State University, said less of that money now is coming from the state's farms, and more comes from the other steps of production.

North Carolina now is No. 1 in the country in total tobacco production, as well as the production of flue-cured tobacco and sweet potatoes.

Walden said the changes in agribusiness now include all steps of production - from the farm to transportation to stores and markets.

"There has been a shift in the parts of business," Walden said, adding that families also have changed and now want to buy food in a more prepared state than before.

And Long said some farmers are changing their products altogether to contribute to a new market, such as raising catfish or talapia.

"Farmers are moving out of row crops and into fish farming," he said.

The increase in fish farming has brought the state to No. 5 nationally in catfish raising.

Linda Weiner, assistant secretary of communications and external affairs for the N.C. Department of Commerce, said the state's textile industry also is finding niche markets, such as the production of disposable diapers and surgical gowns.

But many farmers find it easier to give up farming altogether.

The tobacco buyout, recently approved by Congress, presents farmers with options. Many older farmers will retire, and the younger ones might start to farm something other than tobacco, Long said.

"Money talks," he said. "Farming never has been easy as a profession."

Farming quotas have dropped and developers' demand for land has increased, so Long said many farm owners sell their land to make room for more communities and shopping centers.

The average age of a farmer is 59, Long said, so when farmers' children do not want to continue the business, eventually they will sell.

"We hate to see that, because less food and fiber are being produced in the state," Long said.

But with many agriculture jobs still disappearing, new jobs are needed for displaced workers.

In an attempt to help bring more jobs to the state, legislators voted this month to bring Dell USA to the Triad - an area suffering many job loses. But economists say those jobs do not necessarily fit for people losing jobs in agriculture.

Mitchell Renkow, agriculture and resource economics professor at N.C. State, said these people have three choices: move, get a new job where they live or retrain in a different field.

"It is more likely (they will move or retrain) in a period of transition," Renkow said. "But it usually balances back out."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.