On the Backroads, Again

In what has become a nearly annual tradition, the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative hit the road this fall, giving researchers from multiple disciplines the chance to learn about key problems facing North Carolina agriculture.

This year’s Backroad Tour, held Sept. 29-30, took over 30 researchers from five NC State University colleges and N.C. A&T State University on a bus trip to the western part of the state.

Like tours in 2022 and 2023, this year’s expedition gave participants the chance to learn more about farm challenges and potential solutions and to build relationships with other experts, growers, agricultural leaders and Extension agents and specialists to tackle them.

As Rachel Vann, director of N.C. PSI’s platform for extension outreach and engagement, explained, “The overarching goal is to connect people who aren’t from an agricultural background with applied issues and stakeholders so they can really understand what are the problems that need to be solved, see them with their own eyes, and form teams to address those problems.”

To get to concrete solutions .. you have to have the computer scientist and the crop specialist and all of these other areas of expertise together, talking — and talking with the producers that have the challenges.

Along with staff and faculty from the N.C. PSI, participants included researchers from NC A&T and NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), College of Natural Resources, College of Engineering, College of Sciences and the Wilson College of Textiles.

As Amy Grunden, an N.C. PSI faculty affiliate and CALS’ co-interim associate dean for research, noted, “This kind of networking, along with seeing how these production operations really happen, is going to make a difference when it comes to innovation that helps our growers feed people.

“To get to concrete solutions that make a difference,” she added, “you have to have the computer scientist and the crop specialist and all of these other areas of expertise together, talking — and talking with the producers that have the challenges.”

Leveraging the N.C. Ag Analytics Platform

At the tour’s first stop at N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro, participants learned more about the N.C. Ag Analytics Platform and its capabilities, and they were encouraged to think about how it could be leveraged to address regional challenges and opportunities they’d hear about during the rest of the tour.

Funded in 2024 by the state General Assembly, the platform taps the power and potential of real-time and historical data to enable farmers to increase agricultural productivity and sustainability.

The platform is a partnership of NC State, N.C. A&T and SAS Inc. SAS’ Dominique Moon, N.C. A&T researcher Hermandeep Sharma and Ag Analytics Program Manager Brad Lewis discussed a range of platform projects designed to:

• aid farmers’ decision making about soybean and dairy production
• improve waste lagoon management
• create interventions for producers with disabilities
• centralize data from agricultural research trials
• uncover patterns in consumer perceptions of value-added agricultural products

From Greensboro, the group traveled southwest toward Asheville. At a lunch stop, Joe French, assistant commissioner for agricultural services with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS), discussed the devastating short- and long-term impacts that last year’s Hurricane Helene had on the agricultural industry on Western North Carolina (WNC) and other areas of the state, as well as the state of ongoing recovery efforts.

Seeing WNC Agriculture in Action

Participants spent the rest of the afternoon getting an up-close look at two important agricultural operations: Tri-Hishtil in Mills River and Apple Wedge Packers and Cider in Hendersonville.

Tri-Hishtil specializes in the greenhouse production of grafted plants, including seedless watermelons. Grafting involves joining the root stock of one plant with the shoot or bud of another to create plants with increased vigor and less susceptibility to soilborne diseases.

We’re only busy for six months out of the year, so every year I hope I get returning grafters. Otherwise, I’ve got to train for two weeks to get them up to speed. If you can do that cheaper with a machine, that’s a lot easier.

As he guided participants through the company’s greenhouse and grafting facility, General Manager Bert Lemkes described the need to automate the delicate, now labor-intensive grafting process in ways that don’t drive up what are already high seed costs.

“A good grafter does anywhere from 130 to 180 plants per hour,” said Lemkes, a member of the N.C. PSI Grower Advisory Council. “We’re only busy for six months out of the year, so every year I hope I get returning grafters. Otherwise, I’ve got to train for two weeks to get them up to speed. If you can do that cheaper with a machine, that’s a lot easier.”

After meeting with Lemkes, the tour group met with NC State Apple Wedge’s Greg Nix and Bryson Nix-Edney and Tom Kon, a NC State Extension apple specialist who has worked closely with them.

With a farmgate value of about $20 million, North Carolina’s apple industry ranks seventh in the nation, and Apple Wedge Packers and Cider plays an integral part.

Nix greeted the tour group in the company’s parking lot, talking over the engine noise and beeps of construction equipment completing a new 52,000-square-foot packing house and cidery.

A fifth-generation farmer, he started the packing business with his uncle in the 1980s, then began cider production in the 1990s. The family-owned company now packs and markets apples to grocery stores in the southeastern United States and beyond. A fire on Jan. 31 had destroyed the facility, but the family immediately set out to reconstruct the business.

Leading the group into a gleaming new building, Nix outlined steps the company takes to ensure sanitation, pointing out how the apples are cleaned, dried, waxed, sorted, labeled and packaged for sale.

Next, the group traveled to the family’s nearby orchard. There, Nix, Nix-Edney and Kon outlined some of the tools, technologies and management practices they use to improve production of a range of apple varieties.

Considering the ‘Real Goal’: Helping Society

Kristin Thoney-Barletta, of NC State’s Wilson College of Textiles, came away from the Apple Wedge tour with ideas to use her experience addressing challenges in military logistics and the textiles industry to solve agricultural problems.

Thoney-Barletta’s is an expert in operations research and analytics, and she’s already proposed a collaborative project to develop user-friendly artificial intelligence-driven tools to help small- and medium-scale apple farmers and packers minimize apple spoilage, maximize post-harvest labor efficiency and fulfill orders on time.

“It’s one thing for people to imagine what the problems of growers are, and it’s quite another to hear specifically from them. These are the problems they live, day in and day out,” said Thoney-Barletta, a professor and interim head of NC State’s Department of Textile and Apparel Technology and Management.

“You’re not solving a problem just because somebody thinks it is a problem. It’s a real problem, and to have the opportunity to form collaborative teams with interdisciplinary skill sets to address real problems interests me a lot,” she said.

To have the opportunity to form collaborative teams with interdisciplinary skill sets to address real problems interests me a lot.

Like Thoney-Barletta, James Reynolds appreciated getting to hear firsthand from Nix and Lemkes.

“One of the strengths of this trip is that it gives us the chance not only to hear from the people whose lives depend on these crops, but also to be in the environment that they’re in and get a better idea of what might work in that setting, under the conditions they face,” said Reynolds, an assistant research professor in electrical and computer engineering working with the N.C. PSI, the Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technology and the Institute for Connected Sensor-Systems.

This kind of experience reminds us not to lose sight of the real goal, to help society.

“You get to see things you might not think of if you are just working in a lab and focused on papers. This kind of experience reminds us not to lose sight of the real goal, to help society.”

Learning More About Ag Research in WNC

The next morning, the group turned its attention to the role of agricultural research and extension in Western North Carolina. They visited the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River, one of 18 statewide locations operated through a partnership of CALS and the NCDA&CS.

The stop emphasized research to strengthen the region’s key agricultural industries:

• Apples: Kon followed up on the discussion in Nix’s orchard the day before by showing the group his research plots. He focused on a current project that could ultimately help apple farmers make better decisions about labor-intensive production practices such as pruning, thinning and harvesting.
  
  Kon previously connected with diverse expertise through a N.C. PSI Connecting2Grow event, and with Chenhan Xu, an assistant professor of computer science, and Edgar Lobaton, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, he is studying ways to use portable, noninvasive imaging, near-infrared and visible spectroscopy to estimate key characteristics of buds, fruitlets and mature fruits. That insight could help growers lower production costs and raise yields.
  
• Christmas trees: North Carolina is the second-leading state in U.S. Christmas tree production, harvesting 5 million to 6 million trees a year. NC State College of Natural Resources scientist and Extension specialist Justin Whitehill discussed his efforts to better understand the molecular interactions that occur when insects and diseases attack Christmas trees and use that knowledge to create trees that withstand shifting climate conditions and shifting pest pressures. Whitehill also described a partnership with the NCDA&CS to get genetically improved seeds to the industry.
  
  Rusty Barr added insights from his perspective as owner of Barr Evergreens in Ashe County. A member of the N.C. PSI Grower Advisory Council, Barr produces seedlings and fully grown trees for wholesale and retail markets. Hurricane Helene wiped out a quarter-million seedlings on his farm last year, while damage from deer, drought and emerging diseases are ongoing threats.

• Tomatoes: Reza Shekasteband of NC State’s Department of Horticultural Science outlined efforts that support the state’s fresh market tomato industry, valued at $34 million annually. While the tomato breeding program has traditionally focused on disease resistance and flavor, Shekasteband is also working to develop compact plants that would be suitable for low-cost mechanical harvesting. Automation could be a way for growers to manage rising labor costs and shortages.

Shekasteband’s work caught the attention of tour participant Kara Peters, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and associate dean with NC State’s College of Engineering.

After the tour, Peters joined Shekasteband, horticultural scientist Emmanuel Torres Quezada and communications professor Roy Schwartzman in proposing interdisciplinary, stakeholder-informed research to evaluate plant yield at regular time points during the plant growth cycle.

Tapping into the Ag Analytics Platform, the project could speed the breeder’s efforts to evaluate breeding lines and identify the most promising parent plants.

Engaging with Extension

In addition to learning more about WNC agricultural research, tour participants also gained insight into another asset for the region’s farmers: N.C. Cooperative Extension. Extension has 101 centers across the state, with local agents working directly with growers to provide unbiased knowledge and leading-edge technology.

Horticulture agent Karen Blaedow, of Henderson County, and Sam Marshall, an area specialized agent for the ornamental nursery and greenhouse industry, discussed ways they are collaborating with N.C. PSI-affiliated researchers to finetune their cutting-edge technology and ensure its relevance to farmers they serve.

When it comes to feeding the world, we need discoveries that drive innovation, especially for small- and medium-scale farms. That can start with experiences like these.

Sarah Kirby, NC State Extension assistant director, said such partnerships between researchers and Extension agents are critical to the state’s agricultural future.

“When it comes to feeding the world, we need discoveries that drive innovation, especially for small- and medium-scale farms,” she said. “That can start with experiences like these that provide insight not only into what happens on farms but also into the relationships that researchers can have with our Extension agents and with our agricultural colleagues to bring about positive change.”

As the tour concluded, Vann said she was excited to see bonds forming among Extension agents, specialists and researchers who took part.

“One of the things that the N.C. PSI does is catalyze diverse expertise and get it connected to agriculture,” she said. “I saw people asking a lot of questions of our stakeholders and Extension representatives, so I think this has been a really good start, and I am excited to see what comes next.”

About the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative

With over 100 faculty affiliates from nine NC State University colleges, the N.C. PSI brings together the brightest minds from academia, government and industry to solve complex agricultural challenges through interdisciplinary scientific discovery and innovation, extension outreach and engagement, and education and workforce development. It is part of NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, with ties to the Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs.

This post was originally published in Plant Sciences Initiative.