The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund provided $500,000 to two agricultural projects based at NC State geared toward helping struggling farmers during what has been a difficult economy for agriculturalists.

The organization announced that it will provide about $300,000 to fund NC AgVentures, a new program that will seek to help tobacco farmers update and revamp farms through the use of individual grants.

The Tobacco Trust Fund will also give about $200,000 to Developing Future NC Farmers, a program that hopes to encourage college students to develop a career in the agriculture industry.

“The money goes directly to the farmers so they can implement new projects on their farm,” said Jacqueline Murphy Miller, the extension assistant of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

There has been a significant decline of tobacco growth in the United States, according to Miller. However, North Carolina remains the number one producer of flue-cured tobacco, the primary ingredient in cigarettes in the country.

“The bottom line is we want to keep farmers in business,” said Jeff Jennings, program officer of the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.

AgVentures is in the process of selecting farmers from 10 different districts in North Carolina to which it will provide grants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.

With the grant money, farmers will be able to pursue their ideas and extend operations, according to Miller.

Miller said with the money farmers can convert their fields and update their tools to sustain a more lucrative crop, such as sweet potatoes or mushroom chambers.  

“If the farmers have an idea, they do not necessarily have the money to risk going after their idea,” Jennings said.

Miller said she hopes farmers will be able to share what they have learned with other farmers.

“If a farmer learned something that did not go so well, he will be able to share that with other farmers in the area so they will know what not to do,” Miller said.

Developing Future NC Farmers is working to attract a younger generation of North Carolinians to farming and agribusiness.

Currently, the average age of farmers in North Carolina is about 60, according to Sam Pardue, associate dean for academic programs in CALS.

“It’s a bit of a concern long term that the average age of farmers is increasing,” Pardue said. “We need younger people to enter into producing food that we utilize, which is pretty important.”

Project leaders will select about 20 students for the program who will work 10 to 12 weeks during the summer with an established agriculturalist on a farm or other agriculture setting and receive $10,000 to $12,000 in compensation, according to Pardue.

“They are going to be exposed to hopefully every aspect of an agricultural enterprise,” Pardue said. “They will get experience working side by side with somebody who has been successful, somebody who understands the challenges to be profitable in a very challenging market.”

Pardue said the Tobacco Trust Fund was created to help diversify rural economies that were originally dependent on tobacco.

“Their intent is to positively impact rural communities that had historically been so dependent on tobacco,” Pardue said.

These types of projects would not have been possible without external resources, according to Pardue.

“The funding from the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission allows us to try new and novel things that we normally wouldn’t be able to,” Pardue said.  

Agriculture is one of the most important industries in North Carolina, according to Miller.

“These projects will help North Carolina be a great place to live and a great place to eat,” Miller said.