Alum Extends Roots to Support Agriculture

By Lea Hart

Aaron Blackmon is the first to admit that when he enrolled with NC State University’s Agricultural Institute in 2014 to pursue an associate’s degree, he didn’t really love the idea of being in the classroom.

But he did want to explore his interest in agriculture and gain hands-on experience. As it turns out, that experience was the catalyst for him to pursue further education.

Blackmon completed an associate’s degree in applied science in livestock and poultry management before going on to earn a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business management with a minor in poultry science through CALS.

Today, he splits his time between a position as a livestock agent for N.C. Cooperative Extension in Columbus County and running his own livestock farm in Bladen County.

Fitting it all into any given week is no small task, he says, but the rewards are worth it.

“The Extension job, at its core, is just about helping people,” he says. “There’s not a lot of glory with our job, but I really enjoy helping people and making their farms or their operations successful.”

A Natural Interest

Blackmon’s great-grandparents were farmers, but the next two generations in his family didn’t follow in their footsteps. He got involved in agriculture courses and FFA (originally known as Future Farmers of America) during high school in Lumberton, North Carolina. That led to his interest in working with animals and spurred him to get his first job working on a livestock farm in Bladen County for owner Isaac Singletary, who became a mentor.

When Elizabeth Wilson, then director of the Agricultural Institute, visited his high school, her presentation helped Blackmon see a path that made sense to him. He wasn’t keen on a four-year degree program, however the institute offered him a two-year option.

“It was like a lightbulb went off,” he says. “I could go to a big university and get a credible degree in agriculture and be home in two years.

“It was the only thing I applied for – I put all my eggs in one basket.”

It turned out to be the right basket. Blackmon found hands-on courses that suited his learning style, small class sizes that allowed him to get to know his peers and professors, and real-world experiences where he could picture himself doing the work upon graduation.

He graduated in 2017 and went to work in the broiler industry, where he started receiving other job offers.

“I could see myself in those careers, but I didn’t have the four-year degree to pursue those jobs,” he says.

The idea of owning a farm was also still on his mind, and the owners of that Bladen County farm he’d worked on when he was 16 were thinking about downsizing and their succession plans. So Blackmon thought it was time to get a bachelor’s degree or he might not find time in the future. He was accepted as an agricultural business management major, later graduating in 2022.

In pursuing the associate’s degree and then his bachelor’s, Blackmon built lifelong relationships with classmates and professors who pushed him to be a leader. Today, he still talks about the positive impact that CALS and Agricultural Institute professors and staff, including Gary Gregory, Joy Morgan, Alease Hancock and Alyssa Degreenis, had on him. Blackmon’s ability to lead became evident as he served as an Agricultural Institute ambassador and a teaching assistant for Gregory, later receiving the CALS Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2021.

Until the last semester of his bachelor’s program, he planned to return to Bladen County to take over the Singletary farm. However, the Extension livestock agent in Bladen County at the time let Blackmon know about an Extension opening in neighboring Columbus County, and he applied.

As he was finalizing the purchase of his farm – a livestock farm primarily raising pigs and beef cattle, and growing hay as well as some row crops – Blackmon decided to accept the role as a livestock Extension agent.

“I really liked what Extension does,” he says. “I see Extension at its root as a link between the farmers, people in the community and the university.”

A Love for Agriculture and Farming

Blackmon manages his farm by doing what he can on the weekends and enlisting his grandparents and the previous owners of the farm to help during the week.

Extension fills his weekdays. He works with producers and farmers most days, but what that looks like can vary. 

The public has become more curious about where food comes from and how it’s grown, he says. Some want to grow their own food. Whether it’s those beginners or farmers who need some technical assistance or those who have farmed for 50 years and want to try something new, Blackmon is a resource.

“I like when people leave smiling and they feel like they’ve gotten the information they need,” he says. “We’re not selling a product or making a large corporation rich; we’re just helping people.”

It’s work that has a positive ripple effect. 

“If I help a farmer increase revenue on the farm – maybe there’s a management technique we can tweak or I can help with the quality of his product – that’s going to have a domino effect,” Blackmon says. “If we increase the quality of his product and increase his revenue, a lot of those dollars are going to stay local – he’s going to help stimulate the local economy.

“What’s more, if I can help someone better understand the food animal industry and its importance in a time where it’s often misunderstood or taken for granted, I believe that’s just as important.”

As far as the future, Blackmon says he’ll continue to learn.

“I learn something new every day – and if I don’t know, we have Extension agents all over the state and someone else will,” he says.

He’s thinking, too, about a master’s degree. Extension offers some tuition benefits, Blackmon says, and he knows that education will better enable him to serve in the years to come.

“I love Extension, how we work and the work we do,” he says. “I see myself maximizing my growth in the position I’m in now, and doing the best I can for the county so we can have a strong program for the future.”