Tag Archive for: #granvillecountycooperativeextension

TownTalk: Voluntary Ag Districts Benefit Local Farmers

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Statistics back up the anecdotal evidence – rural landscapes, once dotted with crops and livestock pastures, are changing. The seemingly endless rows of corn, cotton or tobacco have been replaced with homes and subdivisions right here in our own back yards.

North Carolina has a program that serves to protect and preserve existing farmland. Of the state’s 100 counties, 90 have established voluntary agricultural districts as a way to preserve farmland and to let prospective neighbors know what it means to live near a working farm.

Granville County is one of the newest participants in the VAD. Kim Woods spoke with John C. Rose on Monday’s Town Talk to share details about the program. Woods said that North Carolina ranks in the top five states in the nation in terms of loss of agricultural land in recent years.

Woods is the livestock agent for N.C. Cooperative Extension in Granville and Person counties. The Granville office is the lead agency for establishing the VAD, she said. The former unit director started the process, and after he retired, Woods said she continued to work with the local advisory board to finish the process.

Many North Carolina counties have a rich history of agriculture and farming, and VADs are a way “for counties in North Carolina to promote and enhance agriculture,” she said. There’s a pride factor involved, too, in promoting the importance of agriculture.

“Agricultural land provides our food and fiber that we need to survive,” Woods said. It also preserves desirable greenspace in the landscape, she noted.

In addition, the VAD offers some protection of farmland, ensuring that it will remain in use as productive farmland. But a VAD also serves to inform people who may be looking to purchase property in the county just where those farms are located.

Woods has lived on a farm her whole life and she and her husband currently live on that farm in nearby Orange County. And she well knows that farming is not an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. proposition – the drone of irrigation pumps running late into the night to deliver crop-saving water, she said, is just one of the many sounds a farm may produce. The dust from tractors in the summertime, bawling calves at weaning and other sights, sounds and smells that emanate from a working farm are just part of the territory.

“I don’t see a negative to this program,” Woods said, adding that her Orange County farm is in the VAD. “I wouldn’t be promoting something I don’t agree with,” she said.

The enrollment process is simple. Landowners complete a basic application that is submitted to the local VAD advisory board. Upon approval, the application passes through a couple of other county groups – mostly a formality. There is no cost to enroll, but Woods said a VAD sign would be available for $25; additional signs to mark other tracts would cost $50 each.

Although the farmer agrees to keep his land in agricultural use for 10 years when he or she enrolls in the VAD, that decision can be reversed at any time, Woods said, without penalty.

Landowners also sign a conservation agreement that goes along with the application. Farmers enrolled in the VAD can get a higher reimbursement rate on cost-share programs to improve their land, such as fencing livestock out of ponds and creeks.

A VAD can reduce the possibility of new neighbors complaining about living too close to a farm – Woods said the county’s computerized GIS will let prospective buyers know if the land they’re interested in is within one mile of a VAD-enrolled farm.

According to its website, there are 12,000 farms currently enrolled in VADs across the state. Granville and Warren counties have “regular” VAD ordinances; Franklin County established an enhanced VAD, which means that landowners have the choice to upgrade their commitment to the VAD; they may not un-enroll within the 10-year period, but must wait until that time has elapsed.

Vance County does not have a VAD ordinance.

To learn more about the Granville VAD, contact Woods by phone 919.603.1350 or via email at Kim_woods@ncsu.edu. Visit http://www.ncagr.gov/Farmlandpreservation/VAD/ to learn more about the statewide program.

 

 

 

Area Extension Offices To Offer Pesticide Recertification Opportunities In June

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Warren, Vance and Granville counties are hosting a couple of virtual pesticide recertification sessions in June.

The first session is scheduled for 10 a.m. on June 10 and the second is scheduled for 6 p.m. on June 14, according to information from Matthew Place, with Warren County Cooperative Extension.

The meetings will be held via Zoom, but Place said participants can make arrangements to watch the webinars from their county’s extension offices if access to a computer or the internet is a problem.
The following category credits will be included with the June 10 class: D, L, N and X
The following category credits will be included with the June 14th class: A, B, D, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, T, X.

Registration is required. Visit http://go.ncsu.edu/pestclasskerrtar to register.

If you have any questions or would like to reserve a spot to watch the classes at the Warren County Center, call Place at 252.257.3640 or email at mbplace@ncsu.edu.

Charissa Puryear, NC COOP Ext Dir for Granville County, Excited to Continue Serving

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The view from Charissa Puryear’s new office provides her with a completely new perspective of the agency that she has been a part of for 16 years. Literally. Puryear has just logged one week as the newest N.C. Cooperative Extension Director for Granville County. She officially began the new job on Jan. 4, 2021, and she said she is excited to have the opportunity to serve the community.

“I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward to partnering with the community to dialogue on how Cooperative Extension can best serve the Granville County community,” Puryear said in a written release announcing her new position.

“It’s a challenge but something I’m really excited about,” Puryear said of the new job in an interview Tuesday. She has spent much of her first week on the job in becoming oriented about what it truly means to lead the Granville County cooperative extension office. She has learned a lot about what other staff members do on a day-to-day basis, a luxury that she and her co-workers didn’t necessarily have in her previous role with the cooperative extension service.

“We tend to operate in our individual silos,” Puryear said of herself and the other agents that work in the building. An “aha” moment for her has been gaining a better understanding of what the other agents are working on. “And they’re doing some great things!” she added. Puryear said almost every one of the agents has between 15 and 20 years of experience in their respective fields and really enjoy what they are doing. “Just talking to them and hearing the passion for what they do,” she said, is something that she wants to make sure she shares with the community. That passion, she said, “is what I want everyone else to see.”

Puryear joined the cooperative extension staff in 2004 as a community service coordinator. Over the years, her role has evolved. She established the successful Teen Court program and is proud of how the program has grown over the years. Puryear succeeds Paul Westfall, as CED. Westfall recently retired after serving the county as CED and livestock agent since 2008.

One of her priorities is to create a community assessment, with an eye on increasing community engagement and volunteer recruitment. “I want to work with staff to determine what our needs are,” she added “Our main goal is to serve. I want us to understand where we are, especially in this time of COVID (restrictions).”

Service to the community entails understanding just what it is that the community wants and needs, Puryear said. Expanding services and increasing visibility within the community are on her radar as well. People may know the extension service because it’s where they bring their soil samples to be sent for analysis, she said. Or they may have taken a nutrition class that they enjoyed. But Puryear would like the community to have a clearer understanding of the comprehensive services that cooperative extension can provide. “I am passionate about locating resources, motivating change and empowering people. Community outreach and engagement are important in both my professional and personal life,” she stated.

“I want to create a vision with the community,” she said. But “we want it to be purposeful…and we have to change with the times.” What worked 10 years ago, or for that matter, 10 months ago, Puryear said, with a nod to pre-pandemic times, may not be what works now.

Next steps for Puryear include sending out letters of introduction to key stakeholders and to begin meeting to create a vision for cooperative extension, as well as a strategic plan. Gathering input from the community will help the agency make sure that Granville County residents are getting what they need from the agents, she said.

Except for the position that she vacated when she took over as CED, Puryear said the agency is fully staffed. Four agents split their time between Granville and Person counties, but the 4-H agent, the Teen Court coordinator and an administrative assistant are full-time at the Granville office. Puryear expects the Teen Court position to be filled in February 2021.

Kim Woods is the livestock agent, Gary Cross is the crops agent, Johnny Coley is the horticulture agent and Jennifer Brown is the Family and Consumer Sciences agent. Puryear said although the pandemic restrictions have greatly affected how the agents function, one benefit of providing services remotely is that residents from both counties can join in on one Zoom meeting without having to travel. She commended the agents on working through the challenges brought ab out by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I feel like I’ve been put in the most interesting class ever,” she said, reflecting on her new position. She has spent some time just sorting through paperwork and documents that pertain to the extension service. So far, she has four categories to sort by: “Priority, Urgent, Interesting and ‘I don’t even know what to do with this,’” she said with a chuckle.

Puryear is a graduate of Shaw University with a degree in Social Work and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Public Administration.

The N.C. Cooperative Extension Office for Granville County is located at 125 Oxford Loop Road in Oxford. Puryear can be reached by phone or by email at (919) 603-1350 or charissa_puryear@ncsu.edu.

Granville NC Cooperative Extension Announces New Office Hours

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-Press Release, NC Cooperative Extension

The Granville County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension has announced new office hours, which went into effect April 1, 2020. The Granville County Extension Center is now open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week. This action is being taken due to policy changes through NC State University and the UNC Board of Governors that have been made due to the COVID-19 crisis.

“In keeping with the new work policies and mandates to utilize good social practices to slow the spread of COVID-19, NC Cooperative Extension employees are being encouraged to work at home and to limit contact in the office,” said Paul Westfall, Granville County Extension Director. “Those policy changes, combined with school closings and some families with members at a higher severity risk of COVID-19 should they contract the disease, have limited the people available to be in the office.”

The Granville County Cooperative Extension team is still available to work with clients and will continue to provide research-based information to farmers, families, and youth. “Look for a lot more use of electronic delivery methods, including webinars and use of social media,” Westfall said.

Extension Agents are available to make field visits and will be using social distancing while working with clients. Field visits are especially critical for Agriculture, as crops will soon be planted and hay will soon be cut. Agents will be using the precautions required to prevent transmission of COVID-19 while dealing with the public.

People should follow the recommendations of health professionals and follow all recommended practices to slow the spread of COVID-19. Check with NC Cooperative Extension Granville County, the Granville-Vance Health Department, or your health professional for information on COVID-19.