Published by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Got to Be NC
Show Pig Sale
June 9
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SHOW PIG SALE
The 4th Annual Got to Be
NC Show Pig Sale will be held
June 9 at the Johnston County
Livestock Arena at 520 County
Home Road, Smithfield. The
show will start at 9 a.m., with
the sale to begin at 1 p.m.
“This sale features top
quality hogs for youth interested
in show-quality animals,” said
Billy Lewis, livestock market¬
ing specialist with the N.C.
Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services.
At this year’s sale, fair
youth participants are eligible to
enter a drawing for a purebred
gilt that will be given away after
the sale. The gilt is provided by
(See Pig Sale, pg. 2)
On-farm review program aims for compli
ance with Food Safety Modernization Act
The Food Safety Moderniza¬
tion Act (FSMA) was signed
into law in 2011 to improve the
safety of all foods regulated by
the FDA, including fruits and
vegetables. FSMA establishes a
“farm to fork” approach of ensur¬
ing the safety of our food supply
with a focus on preventing food
safety issues.
In 2015. FDA issued the Pro¬
duce Safety Rule which details
science-based minimum stan¬
dards for the growing, harvesting,
packing and holding of fruits and
vegetables. Farms that produce
fresh fruits and vegetables com¬
monly consumed raw may be
subject to the PSR. Farm eligi¬
bility to the PSR is detailed and
includes several size and activity
based exemptions and exclusions
that farmers need to understand
before inspections begin in early
2019.
Under the leadership of Ag¬
riculture Commissioner Steve
Troxler, the department worked
with the National Association of
State Departments of Agriculture
to establish the Produce Safety
Consortium. This group of state
and federal partners was tasked
with establishing produce safety
programs, resulting in the devel¬
opment of the On-Farm Readi¬
ness Review to assist farmers
with FSMA and PSR compliance.
Troxler recognized early on that
the farming community would
need assistance in order to be
successful in implementing these
new and far-reaching food safety
standards.
An OFRR is an anonymous,
voluntary, non-regulatory visit
conducted by produce safety pro¬
fessionals at the invitation of the
Firmer. The goal of the OFRR is
to help farmers determine if they
are exempt from the Produce
Safety Rule, assess current farm
readiness for PSR compliance and
provide farmers with information
to help them in their prepara¬
tions to meet the requirements
of the PSR.
An OFRR is not an audit, nor
is it a pre-inspection - the farm
is provided with resources and
information to assist their food
safety efforts. NCDA&CS, in
collaboration with N.C. State
University Cooperative Exten¬
sion. is signing growers up for
On-Farm Readiness Reviews
for fruit and vegetable farms
potentially impacted by the
PSR.
“I strongly encourage all
fresh fruit and vegetable farm-
(See On-farm review, pg. 2)
NCDA&CS encourages WNV and EEE vaccinations
Agriculture Commissioner
Steve Troxler is encouraging
horse owners to have their ani¬
mals vaccinated against East¬
ern Equine Encephalomyelitis
and West Nile Virus. “April until
November is prime mosquito¬
breeding season in North Caro¬
lina and when horses are at risk if
not properly vaccinated,” Troxler
said. “EEE is fatal 90 percent of
the time in horses and WNV has
a fatality rate of 30 percent. Both
diseases are preventable by vac¬
cination.”
There were six recorded cases
of EEE in horses in North Caro¬
lina in 2017, but the mild winter
could cause that number to go up
this year, State Veterinarian Doug
Meckes said. Meckes recom¬
mends that equine owners talk to
their veterinarians about an effec¬
tive vaccination protocol to pro¬
tect horses from mosquito-borne
diseases. The combination vacci¬
nation initially requires multiple
injections for horses, mules and
donkeys that have no prior vac¬
cination history. Meckes rec¬
ommends a booster shot every
six months.
Symptoms of EEE include
impaired vision, aimless wan¬
dering, head pressing, circling,
(See WNV and EEE, pg. 2)
Don’t Miss a Single Issue of the
Ag Review !
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You can also make address
changes at this site.
From the tractor
by Agriculture Commissioner
Steve Troxler
Many colleges and universi¬
ties have recently turned out this
year’s brand new crop of gradu¬
ates, and I hope as they look to
begin their careers some will con¬
sider jobs in agriculture.
I can remember graduation be¬
ing an exciting and nervous time,
leaving the structure of college
classes and schedules for your
first real job.
I was lucky because I knew
what I wanted to do and where
I was going to work, but many
graduates leave school and start
the process of looking for a job.
Some people may be surprised
by all the opportunities available
in agriculture and agribusiness.
Often when people think of ag¬
riculture, they only think of a
farmer, but in reality there are a
lot of people who support the ef¬
forts of farmers. Agriculture and
agribusinesses employ about 16
percent of the state’s workforce
or 686,000 people
At the department, we have
scientists, agronomists, foresters,
engineers, truck drivers, market¬
ing and public relations special¬
ists, veterinarians, environmental
Commissioner Troxler
specialists, accountants, human
resources specialists, computer
technicians and more.
Many of these same kinds of
jobs, plus more, exist at farms
and agribusinesses. I would en¬
courage young people who are
beginning to look for jobs to
consider agriculture as a career.
I believe agriculture has a bright
future ahead, as the population
continues to grow. Agriculture
provides us with the essen¬
tials - food, housing and fuel.
That means it is an industry
that we will continue to need.
Agriculture is going to
(See Troxler, pg. 8)
