Recently, Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer Scott T. Hamilton sat down with the North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler via Zoom and filmed an episode of Critical Conversations. In this series, Scott talks with professionals about economic development issues affecting the state.
Commissioner Troxler leads the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, consisting of 20 divisions and more than 2,000 employees. Since taking office in 2005, Troxler has focused on developing new markets for N.C. farm products, preserving working farms and protecting the state’s food supply.
In 2024 the agriculture industry had the worst year he had ever seen in production agriculture in North Carolina, said Commissioner Troxler. There was drought, devastating hurricanes and tropical storms, flooding, forest fires, and an avian flu outbreak. He noted that when you put all of the devastating weather together, it created a disastrous year for our farmers. Every county in North Carolina was under some sort of federal disaster declaration in 2024. Commissioner Troxler has been talking to legislators about relief programs to build a bridge for the future for all the farmers that have been so critically affected.
With population growth expected to reach 14 million people by 2050, there are challenges and opportunities related to this growth for the agriculture industry. Commissioner Troxler shared that the biggest issue is the disappearance of farmland. He said that North Carolina can’t be a $100 billion industry like we are now if we don’t have natural resources. The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund as a tool to help preserve farmland. The fund has received 112 applications for preserved farms, totaling roughly $59 million, but there is only $18 million available. Commissioner Troxler shared that increasing population also means more use of power and water. He said power bills have gone up dramatically in the past four years. Through droughts, water availability becomes scarce. He noted only two additional dams have been built to help offset water supply issues.
Commissioner Troxler added that there are opportunities for agriculture and agribusiness with increased population. He shared that North Carolina has a very vibrant local food economy with more people buying directly from farmers. He said farmers’ markets are doing well with increased interest in local foods by consumers. There has been a substantial increase in restaurants buying local meat and produce. The school systems are even adding local food options, according to Commissioner Troxler.
North Carolina has been focused on enticing food manufacturers for some time, said Commissioner Troxler. He added that out of that focus came the North Carolina Food Innovation Lab that has helped attract food manufacturers to North Carolina by supporting new and existing food manufacturing facilities with production ideas and issues. Commissioner Troxler shared that taking the product from the field to the manufacturer to the table involves several different industry partners. North Carolina wants to keep all of the steps and profits from those steps in North Carolina and that plan is working. The legislature awarded the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services $10 million a year to do recruiting of Agribusiness industries. He said the funding and focus has resulted in more meat manufacturing, a sweet potato processor, and other food manufacturers coming to North Carolina.
Commissioner Troxler said that the NC Ag Leads strategic planning initiative has brought a lot of agricultural leaders in North Carolina together to look at the challenges and opportunities North Carolina agriculture and agribusiness are facing. He added that one of the results out of NC Ag Leads so far is the strengthening of relationships and partnerships. Commissioner Troxler shared that collaborative work on North Carolina’s agriculture issues is more focused than it has ever been before. These relationships will get North Carolina to its end goal of continuing to grow this industry. He thanked the Golden LEAF Foundation for establishing NC Ag Leads and all of the partners that are involved.
To learn more about the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, visit ncagr.gov.