The third and final in a series of online forums with North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler focused the importance of partnerships in advocating for smart agricultural policy.

“It is very difficult for any one entity to stand alone. It really takes partnerships, especially if you’re going to have clout with Congress or the General Assembly,” said Jimmy Gentry, NC State Grange president. “If you really want them to listen to you and pay attention, it really helps if you’re working through coalitions where you have several groups working together for a common cause.”

His remarks were echoed by several other state agricultural leaders at the forum, including Shawn Harding, president of the North Carolina Farm Bureau; James Lamb, a Clinton, a hog farmer and 2021 Farmer of the Year award recipient from the Southeastern Sunbelt Ag Expo, and Erica Peterson, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the North Carolina Agribusiness Council.

Troxler reminded students that although farming and agribusiness are a $95 billion industry in North Carolina, employing 17 -20 percent of the state’s workforce, current consumers may be generations away from first-hand knowledge of agriculture.

“Ninety-eight percent of the U.S. population has no connection to the farm, so we have to work together,” Harding said.

Troxler shared several success stories to illustrate partnerships’ value.

The $240 disaster relief program that the agricultural community was able to quickly secure from the state following Hurricane Florence in 2018, a particularly catastrophic storm that caused extensive damage to farms, was one example of a successful partnership, Troxler said.

“We all pulled together and we walked into the legislative building and we all knew we would have to help our farms get back in business and build a bridge to the future. The universities, extension, the farm  groups, the commodity groups - we all pulled together and we got it done,” he said.

The Agriculture and Policy Forums are held with Troxler each semester to introduce College of Agriculture and Environmental students and faculty to the “big picture” of the industry from an advocacy and policy standpoint.

The forums also help students a chance to hear from, and ask question of, leaders in the state’s myriad agricultural agencies and organizations. Troxler and Antoine Alston, Ph.D., associate dean for academic studies in the college, urged students to keep such agencies in mind as they seek job opportunities after graduation.