Agriculture

Youths gather to do maintenance work on a community garden near Beatties Ford Road.

The Males Place: Mentorship that empowers young men through urban agriculture

Elvis Menayese

A mentorship program in Charlotte is working to empower and teach life skills to Black youth through agriculture while addressing community issues in one of Charlotte’s low-income Corridors of Opportunity.

Jay Carter of Boone developed a method for simultaneous aerobic and anaerobic composting. He built a business around it near his home until state environmental officials got a court to shut it down in 2008.

Energy & Environment

Boone inventor has a way to 'set global warming back on its heels' — if he could use it

David Boraks

What if you came up with a way to help save the planet, but you were barred from using it? That's how a Boone inventor describes his 25-year fight to use the patented industrial composting system he devised in the 1970s.

The Neuse River inundated this hog farm in Goldsboro, in Wayne County, N.C., after Hurricane Florence.

Energy & Environment

Changing climate brings new concerns about NC's big hog and poultry farms

David Boraks

Two human-driven trends are coming together to create new environmental worries in North Carolina. The first is the growing number of big hog and poultry farms, known as "concentrated animal feeding operations," or CAFOs. The other is climate change, which brings rising sea levels and more intense storms and flooding.Together, they're a recipe for trouble, according to a recent study by the Environmental Working Group.

Teens gather on Nov. 19, 2022, at the Three Sisters Farm and Market in the West Boulevard Neighborhood to help tackle food insecurity in the community.

Race & Equity

A youth-led program in Charlotte's West Boulevard neighborhood combats food insecurity

Elvis Menayese

A youth-led program called Seeds for Change was started six years ago to tackle food insecurity in the Charlotte West Boulevard neighborhood. The group provides access to fresh local foods for area residents.

Hyde County farmer Ray Tooley explains how a section of one of his fields is growing poorly because of saltwater intrusion.

Energy & Environment

Rising seas, salt water threaten coastal farms, so farmers adapt

David Boraks

Rising sea levels, salt water intrusion and more intense storms due to climate change are forcing farmers in eastern North Carolina to fight back and even take some fields out of production. WFAE climate reporter David Boraks and Climate Central's John Upton visited Hyde County on the Pamlico Sound and have this report.

Charlotte Area

Pandemic Ripple Effect Potentially Devastating For Western NC Farmers

April typically heralds the opening of farmers markets in much of North Carolina and the start of the tourist season, which spurs an infusion of fresh…

Energy & Environment

How Climate Change Affects Fall Crops In North Carolina

When fall arrived this year, it didn't make its entrance with crispy air and cooling temperatures. In fact, the temperature around here was downright…

Charlotte Area

SC Peach Farmers Report A Good Growing Season

Associated Press

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Peach farmers in South Carolina's Upstate region say they are having a good season despite some damage caused by cold weather.Peaches…

Sheldon Scruggs tends goats on his farm in western Mecklenburg County.

Energy & Environment

Agricultural District Rule Studied As Protection For Local Farms

David Boraks

Mecklenburg County has more than 230 farms, about half the number of 40 years ago. Residential and commercial development, rising land costs and…

Charlotte Area

Toxic Hogweed Plant Invades North Carolina County

Gwendolyn Glenn

North Carolina Department of Agriculture officials are asking residents to report possible sightings of the poisonous giant hogweed plant. Over the years…