North Carolina

The NCAP had the opportunity to participate as an exhibitor at the Piedmont Green Industry Conference, held on July 20, 2017, at the Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center in Pittsboro, NC. The horticulture Extension agents from Chatham, Randolph, Lee, Harnett, Wake, Durham, and Guilford Counties offered this event to provide information to landscape industry owners and employees working with ornamental field nurseries, retail garden centers, and landscape companies. The participants learned the plant diagnostic process for abiotic disorders and infectious diseases, how to identify symptoms and signs, use patterns in time and space to develop a diagnostic hypothesis, and how to process the samples to send to the Plant Disease and Insect Clinic. They also learned about insect pest identification based on the signs and plant damage and how science and profitability collide in this industry. The NCAP had the opportunity to reach about 50 participants to show and tell about AgrAbility and some modified equipment and ergonomic tools available in the market to prevent injuries and make work easier in the field.

NC AgrAbility and NC Agromedicine staffed a booth and presented at the Swine Animal Waste Operator Workshop offered at the Sampson County Cooperative Extension Office on July 26, 2017. The event provided six credit hours of continuing education that are required by all swine farms with more than 250 hogs in the State of North Carolina. To be certified as an animal waste operator (CAWO), the individual must attend an extensive training class to learn how to execute the specific animal waste plan for a particular farm, and must pass an extensive exam. The NC AgrAbility Partnership presented about safety in farming and waste management, and also provided health screening tests (blood pressure and blood sugar) to more than 50 participants.

Submitted by Beatriz Rodriguez