The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) held a two-day Demonstration and Field Day at their Small Farms Unit (SFU) in Goldsboro. They featured machinery demonstrations geared towards improving the efficiency of small farms. In the photo, CEFS Co-director Chyi-Lyi (Kathleen) Liang, Ph.D., center, sets the ground rules for the day’s activities at the test plot.
GOLDSBORO, N.C. – If you ask Kathleen Liang, Ph.D. about the secret to operating a sustainable and profitable small farm, she has a simple answer: everything starts with the soil.
“When the soil is healthy, then the crops will be OK,” she said. “You don’t need to spray. Take care of the soil. Everything starts with the soil.”
Liang is W.K. Kellogg Distinguished Professor of sustainable agriculture at N.C. A&T and director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) for N.C. A&T. Launched in 1994, CEFS is a unique partnership involving North Carolina’s two land-grant universities (N.C. A&T and NC State) and the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS). Based at Cherry Research Farm in Goldsboro, a state-owned research station that includes more than 2,000 acres of farmland, CEFS was created as a cooperative venture to study environmentally sustainable farming practices in North Carolina. Today, it is a respected and nationally known center for research, education, and Extension outreach in sustainable agriculture and community-based food systems.
CEFS research is organized into five farming programs, called units, and other affiliated programs working together to advance its mission of developing and promoting just and equitable farming systems that conserve natural resources, improve health, and provide economic opportunities in North Carolina and beyond.
“There are many agricultural research centers around the country, but we are the only partnership with official connections between the land-grant universities and the state,” said Liang. Those connections mean more resources for research and education and a greater ability to communicate with the public about research results and sustainable practices.
At Cherry Farm, Willard Humphries serves as Small Farm Unit manager with N.C. A&T Cooperative Extension, managing 30 acres of research and demonstration plots that are either certified organic or practice organic farming techniques. His job involves working in the fields to support onsite technicians and student interns, maintaining equipment, collecting data on research plots, and conducting educational events and tours for school groups and community members.
“We collect information on everything,” said Humphries. “Even when we aren’t growing crops, we collect information on cover crops.”
Research in the Small Farm Unit includes optimizing high tunnels for longer growing seasons, and studying the viability of emerging specialty crops, such as medicinal herbs, he said. The unit also educates farmers on organic farming practices promoted by the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, including using plastic mulch and drip irrigation methods to conserve water, planting pollination gardens, and maximizing soil health through cover crops, crop rotation, and no-till practices.
The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) held a two-day Demonstration and Field Day at their Small Farms Unit (SFU) in Goldsboro. They featured machinery demonstrations geared towards improving the efficiency of small farms. In the photo, CEFS Co-director Chyi-Lyi (Kathleen) Liang, Ph.D., left, acknowledges her assistants including Heather Berger, who drove the tractor during the plastic laying demo.
“From the eyes of a farm educator, I’ve seen farmers come here and begin to understand what we are doing,” Humphries said. “There used to be a fear of the unknown, of going from conventional to different (farming) practices. Now, they are taking that step and finding out about sustainability on their own.”
CEFS and the Small Farm Unit also get their message out about sustainable practices through workshops and field days, where more than 130 farmers and community members saw for themselves how organic and sustainable farming practices work.
“Thirty years ago, this was a controversial topic,” said Liang. “Like any new concept, people weren’t sure how to approach it. Right now, everything is about sustainability.” As farmers face climate change and depleted resources, the CEFS vision of sustainable practices, respect for farmworkers and farm animals, enhancements to community food supplies and improved human health is as vital and relevant as it has ever been, she added.
“Farmers can enhance profitability as well as human health,” she said. “Lots of farmers don’t have the information. That is part of our mission and why we work with Extension and have training programs.”
Liang said she sees the mindset of farmers changing, and when she showed her crop of organically grown vegetables at the recent field day, many were amazed at their robustness, bursting the stereotype of “ugly” organic produce. Her secret to healthy organic crops is not actually a secret, but involves using standard sustainable practices, such as cover crops to maintain a good soil layer, crop rotations to disturb the habitats of pests, the right amount of sunlight and water, and taking soil samples to understand soil health.
“Healthy soil means healthy crops,” she said, returning to her organic farming mantra. “The soil is the key. It needs to rest and recover and build up its immune system so it can fight pests.”
As more consumers look for organic foods, more methods stress organic production and sustainability, and demand for organic products increases, Liang believes the research and education offered by CEFS and its partners will serve as a pathway for protecting the environment, the food supply, wildlife, and human health.
“There are ways to deal with these challenges,” said Liang. “Farmers have options, and they need to know about better options to enhance the food supply and human health. Our mission is to get that information out to people who can use it to create a better future for themselves and their communities.”
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