Strengthening agriculture through farm profitability

Agricultural Advancement Consortium

The Agricultural Advancement Consortium promotes the benefits of a strong farm sector and considers new ways to increase farm profitability. It conducts original research and awards grants for research and demonstration projects with potential to create new products or markets and to improve agricultural practices.

The consortium

The consortium is a 23-member board that includes state and local leaders in agriculture, business and policy. Its purpose is to develop a shared vision for farming in North Carolina and to coordinate prudent actions to improve farming's long-term vitality. Its goals are to:

• Advocate for legislation at the state and national levels that will positively affect North Carolina's farm communities
• Coordinate and promote practical agricultural research and demonstration efforts with a view toward capturing emerging opportunities and innovations in producing and marketing
• Document the impact of farming on North Carolina's economy, environment and culture

Activities

The consortium has made dozens of grants to support demonstration projects into alternative crops, new markets, innovative production techniques and new marketing strategies. It also conducts original research. At the request of the N.C. General Assembly, for example, it administered a statewide study of the economic impact of the equine industry. The study’s report was released in May 2009. The consortium also has issued a report examining agriculture in each of the state’s seven economic development regions.

In addition, the consortium assumed a leadership role in supporting the development of the North Carolina biofuels industry and in farm disaster relief. The consortium helped draft a strategic plan for biofuels development. Based on that plan, the General Assembly appropriated $5 million for the creation of the North Carolina Biofuels Center in Oxford. The Biofuels Center opened in May 2008. Also in May 2008, the N.C. Agriculture Drought Recovery Program was launched to help North Carolina farmers affected by ongoing drought. The Rural Center and the Agricultural Advancement Consortium worked with the General Assembly’s Joint Select Committee on Agricultural Drought Response, the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, several state agencies and other agricultural interests to design the cost-share program.

Download fact sheet

Go to financial request form

Contact

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Director, Agricultural Advancement Consortium

N.C. Rural Economic Development Center

4021 Carya Drive

Raleigh, NC 27610

Telephone: 919-250-4314

Fax: 919-250-4325