Wake County (NC) Agribusiness Council

Historic Election Results at Holiday Breakfast Meeting

New Executive Officers for 2012 The Wake County Agribusiness Council held its annual Holiday Breakfast meeting at the Wake County Cooperative Extension office just off of Poole Road in Raleigh on Wednesday, December 14th. The breakfast this year was held in a potluck style where members each brought in one or two of their favorite dishes to share.

Charles Hall, Executive Vice President of the NC Soybean Producers Association served as the featured speaker.

History was made during the elections that were held as a part of the business session. For the first time, the Wake County Agribusiness Council will have an entirely female executive officer team led by Shaunnika Johnson of AgCarolina Financial who will serve as President for 2012.

Barbara Adams was selected as the new Vice President, Kelly Gilliam will now assume the role of WCAC Secretary while Gayle Yanes will take over as the organization's new Treasurer.

Large Crowd at 2011 Farm City Day

A large crowd enjoyed the outdoor BBQ at the 2012 Wake County Farm City Day. Many supporters of the agricultural industry, including members of the Wake County Agribusiness Council, were on hand to attend the 2011 Farm City Day Luncheon and celebration which was held November 22 at the farm home of Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby near the town of Creedmoor, NC.

Numerous dignitaries, producers, ag organization leaders, FFA Chapter students, and non-farm people interested in learning more about agriculture attended the event which was highlighted by remarks from Justice Newby, North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler, Wake County Farm Bureau president Jackie Thompson, Wake County Ag Extension Agent Laura Martin, and others.

As is tradition at the Farm City Day events, the crowd was treated to an outdoor BBQ luncheon with barbecued pork, chicken, and all the fixin's.

Annual WCAC Fall Tour Held at Cotton, Inc.

Cotton Incorporated Headquarters in Cary, NC The annual Wake County Agribusiness Council Fall Tour was held Wednesday, October 19 at the headquarters of Cotton, Incorporated in Cary, NC.

WCAC members in attendance were treated to a guided walk-through tour of the impressive world-class facility. Vice President of Fiber Competition, Michael Watson, greeted our members and served as our group leader for the tour.

Many people are surprised to learn that the familiar Cotton logo and advertisements that promote the comfort and new types of fabrics that utilize cotton are all related to the research done in the labs and testing centers housed inside this beautiful building located right here in our own back yard - in Wake County.

Food Safety Is Topic of September WCAC Meeting

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(Photo credit: Nancy Difede)

The Wake County Agribusiness Council held its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, September 21st in the Crabtree Grill restaurant located inside the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley hotel.

The featured guest speaker was Audrey Pilkington, Assistant Director of Laboratory Services & Quality Systems for NCDA&CS's Food & Drug Protection Division.

She spoke about the important work being done at the lab, some of the current cases that are being handled, and new governmental regs and budget concerns that may have an impact on now the lab operates in the future.

Boyles Speaks at August WCAC Meeting

ryan_boyles-153x180 The WCAC August regular monthly meeting was held on Wednesday, August 17th in the Crabtree Grill restaurant located inside the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley hotel.

Our guest speaker was Ryan Boyles who is currently serving as North Carolina's State Climatologist working out of his office based on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

As State Climatologist, Boyles is the chief scientist with responsibilities to develop and promote the Office's climate services for extension, research, and education of applied meteorology and climatology.

Boyles has research and development interests in spatial analysis, Geographic Information Systems, global and regional climate change, drought monitoring, water resource management, sensors and instrumentation, agricultural and forest meteorology, and complex data visualization.

He spoke at length about long term weather patterns and how the agricultural industry in the Carolinas and throughout the southeastern US is having to adapt to cope with weather cycles as well as growing demands on the region's water supply.