Two Cabarrus County farmers have received a NC AgVentures Grant, a grant program aimed at supporting family farms. Kaitlynn Blackwell and Scott Helms are among 68 recipients earning grants between $2,000 and $10,000 from the NC AgVentures Farm Grant Program.
The funding for the competitive grant is provided through the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission and is administered by NC Cooperative Extension. The grants are awarded for agricultural project ideas aimed at helping family farms increase their capacity.
Kaitlynn Blackwell, with Midland Farms, LLC, raises beef and pork which is direct marketed to customers in their farm store and online. They also produce goat milk soap and house seasonal events, educational school field trips, and vendor fairs. Midland Farms will use funding from the grant to assist in building a poultry processing facility to diversify their offerings to include poultry.
Scott Helms, with Helms Red Barn Farm, grows pumpkins, wheat, corn, hay, and sweet sorghum, in addition to raising cattle. Funding from this grant will help support the construction of a pumpkin packing and storage building.
The North Carolina General Assembly created the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission (TTFC) in 2000 to lessen the financial impact on farmers and tobacco-related businesses caused by the sharp decline of tobacco in the agricultural economy. Through their programs, the TTFC supports local markets, funds training for new jobs, promotes North Carolina products, and makes farms safer.
Cooperative Extension is an educational partnership of the state’s two land-grant universities, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University, county governments and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA- NIFA). Its mission is to extend research-based knowledge to all North Carolinians, helping them transform science into everyday solutions that improve their lives and grow our state. Read more at: https://agventures.ces.ncsu.edu/grant-program/
