Agriculture remains a growing commodity in Macon County

Agriculture is still growing strong, in spite of ongoing drought conditions, according to the Macon County Cooperative Extension. The N.C. Cooperative Extension, with offices located across the state, offers guidance, programming and support for livestock farmers, commercial growers and residential gardeners. Drought has been a significant player for the year. According to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, the state has seen below average rainfall between August 2025 and June 2026. Rainfall has improved through July and early August, and Macon County was recently updated from "Extreme Drought" to "Severe Drought," a slight improvement. According to DEQ, severe drought conditions come along with recommendations for local governments and entities to implement water shortage response plans, reduce water use, eliminate nonessential use, consider options for water reuse, reclamation and recycling and encourage the public to reduce water use. In extreme drought, the recommendations escalate to reduction of "socially and economically important water uses" to conserve water for emergencies like firefighting and health and safety. On the agriculture side, Macon County Extension Agent Joe Deal said farmers are still feeling the effects of the drought, especially the pastures. "The rainfall over the last six weeks has helped alleviate some of that, but it's five months of drought," Deal said. "Even with the rain we've got, it's still going to take time to replenish groundwater reserves. Stream levels are still low." He said the rain that has fallen has mostly been too fast and hard to seep into the ground properly, leading to low infiltration and high runoff. One side effect of this has been an uptick in crabgrass, which Deal says is good forage for cattle farmers but not something most homeowners like seeing in their lawns. He said the extension has received calls about how to deal with crabgrass this year. He expects lots of demand for the extension's grain drill, which can be rented, to overseed forage pastures to compensate for the drought conditions. Hay yields will most likely be down this year, with a dry growing season and an unideal wet harvest season leading to reduced opportunity to grow high-quality hay, Macon County's most widely grown crop by a wide margin. According to an agricultural census from 2022, 3,290 acres of farmland in Macon County were devoted to forage, while vegetables and corn took up 204 acres. In past years, Macon County has experienced droughts severe enough to require the county ship hay in from elsewhere, but Deal said the yield, though down, has not been harmed enough by the drought to require farmers to rely on shipments. "There's going to be an opportunity for folks to reseed and overseed their pastures this year, and hopefully we'll continue to get some rain throughout the fall that'll allow those crops to take root and grow and flourish," Deal said. Deal said many farmers instead are considering reducing the size of their herds, taking cattle to the market early and selling calves to give their fields time to recover from the lack of rainfall. With the current price of cattle, they can sell for a profit where in past years they may have had to sell at a loss. Some commercial vegetable growers have struggled from recent wet weather, especially those growing cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and similar crops. He said there has been an uptick in bacterial disease in tomato plants both in fields and home gardens. He said the corn crop looks good this year and predicts there will be good yields for salvage and grain corn. Spring crops, commercially, were some of the few that benefited from the drought, in a way. Deal said lighter rainfall allows commercial farmers to avoid some of the bacterial and fungal infections with come along with wet weather, while irrigating their fields for water. Home gardeners, however, may not have received the same benefit. Farmland protection While North Carolina farmland continues to be in decline, Macon County has been making use of the Farmland Protection Plan it adopted in 2024. The plan was commissioned in 2023 to collect data and make recommendations to help preserve local agriculture. Deal said his family has also used the Agriculture Development Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to help conserve multiple parcels of farmland to ensure they will continue to be used for farming. Though, he said, a significant issue for those who want to start farming is expense. "Farmers are resilient and trying to find ways to be profitable and make their land profitable," he said. "The majority of folks that come into our office who have just moved here and bought … even five or 10 acres, they come in and one of the questions they always ask is 'what can we grow that we can make a profit with?' and there's not one silver bullet." With North Carolina second only to Texas in farmland loss, Deal said it is important both state legislators and local leaders recognized the importance of conserving farmland for the future. He believes between these plans and the unglamorous reality of living next to an active farm, the appetites of some to move to a rural area and take arable land off the market may be curbed. "Our population in the county … continues to grow. We're not a Wake County or a Mecklenburg County or any of those real urban areas, but in comparison we're still facing some of those same pressures," Deal said. "It's still part of our mission to feed the world." In congruence with the protection plan's recommendations, the extension has held programs on what to grow and how to grow it, and will soon be holding a workshop on "farm succession plans" to show aging farmers how to prepare their land to pass to the next generation, Deal said. What's growing Extension Director Christine Bredenkamp, who focuses on horticulture, has held classes on starting and maintaining strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and raspberry patches alongside fruit tree orchards. She has taught gardening basics for new hobbyists, the Master Gardener course, community gardener orientation meetings and one new class on building a pollinator garden to attract friendly bugs and produce productivity. Bredenkamp also highlighted collaborative work with the Franklin Farm Hub to plan crops and arrange meet-ups with growers and buyers, the Palmer Street Tailgate Market to hold vendor orientation, and with local growers to learn how to apply for grant funding. "The community garden continues to thrive," Bredenkamp said. "22 of the 24 plots are being utilized, teeming with vegetables and flowers and as the summer progresses. Many of the plants peter out and so most of the gardeners will clean up and begin to plant for the fall with some cool season vegetables. Cover crops are in the other two plots and will be utilized next year." She said each year new gardeners come to try their hand at community gardening, with five starting this year. "It's always fun to see how each of the gardeners layout their beds followed by the selection of their vegetables and flowers," Bredenkamp said. "If folks are interested in gardening next year contact the Macon Extension Center 828 349 2046." Diverse production In 2026, Deal and local 4-H members took a trip to Raleigh to compete in the 4H livestock judging competition, with the senior team placing second in the state. Students will also soon be traveling Sept/ 12-13 for the Mountain State Fair, and in October they will be competing in the N.C. State Fair in Raleigh. Most recently the extension is spending most of its time preparing for the Macon County Fair from Sept. 23-26. Deal said he has been working with the youth livestock kids preparing to present and share the projects they have been working on over the summer months. "It looks like we're going to have a good amount of livestock showing again this year," he said. Using data from 2024, Bredenkamp estimated poultry has been on the rise since 2022, jumping from around 2,700 chickens to close to 3,800, counting both broilers and layers. Cattle have increased by about 200 from 3,800 to 4,000. Sheep and goat numbers have remained the same at 300 and 175 and there were 141 horses, 44 hogs and 200 beekeepers, which were not counted in the 2022 census. While acres used for vegetables have not significantly changed, remaining at 107 since 2022, there has been a significant change in land use over the past few years as land typically used for strawberry and blackberry production is now being used for cattle production. Two extra acres have been added to in-use farmland, raising the total from 21,973 in 2022 to 21,975 in 2024. Since 2007, more than 800 acres have been added in total. Deal said in addition to cattle and an uptick in backyard chickens, Macon County has had its share of exotic animals which don't always generate a profit, but are kept for pleasure and novelty by their farmers. Deal said he has seen Alpacas, miniature horses and donkeys, unusual breeds of cattle like Scottish Highlanders, emus, peacocks and more. "We have a diverse, probably as diverse a production and demographics involved in agriculture in the county we've ever had," Deal said. Shelby Powell can be reached at reporter@thefranklinpress.com

Agriculture remains a growing commodity in Macon County

Contact Us