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Extension's international database
North Carolina Cooperative Extension is establishing a database of employees who have engaged in personal or professional international programs and experiences since 1989. The year 1989 was chosen because “N.C. Agriculture in the World” was our first major international program.

We ask that each individual who has participated in various international experiences complete a Web survey located at: http://intra.ces.ncsu.edu/DeskRef/travel.html.

The information returned is confidential and will help us to know the diverse activities that our employees have experienced. Please complete the survey for each international trip that you have taken since 1989. If you have any questions regarding this survey, please contact Dr. David Mustian at david_mustian@ncsu.edu.

Hyde County staff moves into new quarters
Hyde County Cooperative Extension Center has moved. Since September, the staff has been in temporary quaters following Hurricane Isabel, which caused extensive flooding in Swan Quarter. The staff reports:

"We have moved from the Hyde County Courthouse into the doublewide trailer that is going to serve as a temporary/permanent home. Once everyone is out of the courthouse, the county will determine what will be done with that building, and we will then have a better idea of how long we will be in this trailer.

To date, we only have our brand new furniture and what programming materials we have used over the last several months. On the first nice day when we can get some manpower, we will get into the tractor trailer bed that has the remainder of our belongings. Keep your fingers crossed for us that everything that we saved is still worth anything.

As a result of moving, our telephone system has changed a bit. We currently do not have voice mail capabilities or the ability to transfer calls from one telephone line to another. This means you have to dial each staff member directly to reach them. These are the direct telephone numbers for the Hyde County staff:
Laurie Lewis, 252.926.4486
Jean Ballance 252.926.4487
Mac Gibbs 252.926.4488
Gennie Willaims 252.926.4489
Fax Number 252.926.4490

Mail can be sent to P.O. Box 219, Swan Quarter, NC 27885. The postmaster has been great about delivering P.O. Box mail, even though the post office was destroyed. Anything that needs to be sent through another method can be sent to 1430 Main Street, Swan Quarter, NC 27885. For the time being, please be sure to identify it for Cooperative Extension and, if you can, indicate that it is at the O.A. Peay School.

We again thank everyone for the support that you have shown our staff over the last few months. It proves that Extension is truly a family!
Hyde County Extension staff,
Jean, Mac, Laurie and Gennie

March 21-27 is Small Farms Week in North Carolina

Last year's Dudley Award-winning small farmers, Amy Locklear-Cummings and Ellery Locklear, will be the guests of honor at the Small Farms Week kickoff at the Robeson County Extension Center on Monday, March 22. U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon. (The luncheon will cost $5, and tickets will be available at the door on the day of the event.)

Small Farms Week continues on Tuesday, March 23, with the "Bridging the Biotech Divide" seminar at the Memorial Student Union, and a presentation on new options for small-scale pork producers at the Eliza MacLean farm in Saxapahaw. The highlight of Wednesday's activities is the Small Farmers Appreciation Luncheon at N.C. A&T State University and the presentation of the 2004 G.L. and Clara Y. Dudley Small Farmer of the Year Award.

That same day, there will be workshops for small-scale farmers on new approaches to computer software, direct marketing, and drip irrigation. There also will be a day-long mushroom production workshop at a Brown Summit farm on Friday. To register for Small Farms Week activities, contact deborahh@ncat.edu or call 336.334.7956.

-- Ag Dispatch, N.C. A&T State University

High on the hog
A banquet was held last Saturday at Greensboro's posh O'Henry Hotel to honor 35 small-scale swine producers. According to Eliza MacLean of Niman Ranch Inc., these are farmers "who have ventured away from growing tobacco and, under the guidance of Niman Ranch and North Carolina A&T, are raising hogs the old fashioned way -- outdoors." Niman also requires that swine it purchases from farmers are never fed antibiotics and that care is taken to treat farmland as a renewable resource. Niman protocols were developed by the Animal Welfare Institute.

Assistance for all 35 farmers who have made the jump to "upscale pork" and "porc du saison" has been provided by Dr. Chuck Talbott and members of the field staff of A&T's Cooperative Extension Program. Talbott's work has been made possible with grants from Golden LEAF (the North Carolina tobacco settlement fund), Heifer Project International and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The meal was prepared by chefs Bart Ortiz of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants in Greesnboro, and Ashley Christensen of Enoteca Vin Restaurant in Raleigh. Their recipes featured pork that came from the farms of the honorees.

The banquet was highlighted by a keynote speech by Rick Dove, who helped lead efforts to revitalize the Neuse River. Dove now works with the Waterkeeper Alliance, a national organization working to keep America's waterways clean. Jan Weber, a Brooklyn film-maker, presented a film about chefs in Brooklyn who are using Niman Ranch pork.

-- Ag Dispatch, N.C. A&T State University