NC Rural Center board member Randy Gore is a former farmer who still loves the job, “I love agriculture. I think it’s the backbone of American industry.” His adoration for agriculture and rural communities rings true through not just his own life, but also throughout North Carolina.
Gore grew up on a Brunswick County farm that had livestock and grew tobacco, corn, and soybeans. He studied vocational agriculture throughout high school and then received a B.S. degree in animal husbandry and vocational agriculture from North Carolina A&T State University. In order to be able to teach others about vocational agriculture, he returned to A&T for a master’s degree.
After getting his master’s degree, he joined the military in 1981 upon advice from his father. He began working at the Farmers Home Administration in 1984. As an Army Reservist, Gore was activated to Saudi Arabia for eight months during the Gulf War in 1990. He retired from the military as a first sergeant in 2003.
Along with these positions, he still farmed in some capacity. He stopped growing row crops in 2013 because production costs were increasing, and commodity sales weren’t keeping pace. “At the peak of my operation, I was farming about 450 to 500 acres. It’s my opinion that you need to be north of 1,000-1,200 acres to just be above the margins now if you’re going to talk about just row crops: corn, soybeans and wheat,” he says.
Although he notes the changes brought on by monopolization in lieu of family farms, Gore also believes American agriculture will continue, “it’s a competition between housing and other things, but I think there’s enough farmland left, and cropland left to sustain us for an extended period of time.”
Gore stayed at the Farmers Home Administration and, after a number of reorganizations, eventually his job was with USDA Rural Development, a U.S. Department of Agriculture agency that helps rural communities thrive. After moving up to increasingly senior positions, he was appointed USDA Rural Development North Carolina state director by President Obama in October 2009 and retired in 2016. The same job was also held by Reginald Speight, now assistant secretary for rural economic development at the NC Department of Commerce. Robert Hosford was reappointed to the job earlier this year.
During Gore’s time as state director, he requisitioned more than $13 billion to the state, including a hospital in Harnett County, a hospital in Hoke County outside of Fayetteville, three jails, dozens of charter schools, as well as town halls, libraries, and numerous clean energy, water, and sewer projects.
These days, because he still wants to help even more people, Gore has been an NC Rural Center board member since January 2024. Much of his career reflects this same willingness to assist others. And while his love for agriculture and rural communities may have started on his family’s farm, that admiration certainly rippled outward.