College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences

Chancellor's Tour - Eastern Region

North Carolina Cooperative Extension is making an IMPACT!

Day 1

7:30 AM

Hitting the Road

Location: Webb Hall, N.C. A&T State University Campus

  • Welcome from Shameca Battle, Ed.D. and M. Ray McKinnie, Ph.D.
  • Load bus at 7:30 AM

Breakfast: Sponsored by NC Farm Bureau | Chick-fil-A

A group of six people walk away from the camera down a gravel path between fields, toward a white house and a parked bus in the distance. The group includes men and women dressed casually, some wearing hats and blue caps. Trees and additional farm structures are visible in the background under a clear sky.
Cooperative Extension at North Carolina A&T State University sponsored the Eastern Region Tour, in the photo, the tour group leaves Mizelle Farms in Colerain.
A group of people sits at a round banquet table during a formal event. One man smiles while a woman beside him reacts emotionally with her hands over her mouth. Others around them smile, clap, or take photos, creating a joyful atmosphere.
Madeline Eaton is surprised as Elvin Eaton smiles at the Small Farmers of the Year announcement at the annual luncheon.
A group of children and adults flex their muscles in front of a colorful display showing cartoon skeletons inside animated characters. One man holds a paper while smiling, and others mimic strong poses in a playful, educational setting.
Students enjoy learning about nutrition during their a walk through the human body in the Speedway to Healthy exhibit.
9:30 AM

Granville County Stop
Family and Consumer Sciences

Stop 1: Richard H. Thornton Library, 210 Main St. Oxford, NC 27565
Stop 2: Farmers Market: 105 W. Spring St, Oxford, NC 27565

  • Welcome from Selena McKoy, Cooperative Extension Director and Drew Cummings, County Manager.
  • Discussion of the Food Lion Farms to Fridge program with Wendy Tatum, food systems associate
  • Presentation by 2025 Small Farmer of the Year: Elvin and Madeline Eaton.
  • Presentation by Nitasha Kearney, EFNEP and SNAP-Ed Program Assistant, SNAP education class on creating a watermelon salad

Learn More about our Family and Consumer Sciences Programs

11:00 AM

Brown Family Farm
High Tunnel; Large Scale Hemp Manufacturing

Location: 6819 Vicksboro Rd. Henderson, NC 27537

Tour featuring high tunnel and large-scale hemp manufacturing with Patrick Brown, the 2024 Small Farmer of the Year.

A panel of six diverse speakers, including youth and adults, sits at a table covered with an NC Cooperative Extension banner. Behind them are posters for Small Farms Week, and one man speaks into a microphone while others listen attentively.
From left to right, Clayton Brown, Small Farmer of the Year 2024 Patrick Brown, speaking, 4-H member Ed Jenkins, small farmer Victor Hunt, 4-H member Jorja Pierce, and Juniper Cummings participate in a power networking conversation at the Small Farms Week Kickoff at the Warren County Armory Civic Center.
A young person with glasses kneels on a blue floor, focused, wearing a Game of Drones t-shirt, with a small drone hovering near their face. Two people work at a table with laptops in the background.
A 4-H member of the Union County high school team watches her drone during the second annual Game of Drones, a collaboration between N.C. A&T Cooperative Extension’s 4-H STEM program and STEM learning organization STEMerald City, in Moore Gym on the campus of N.C. A&T April 27, 2024. Six middle school and five high school 4-H teams across the state took part in the competition, with 55 total registered students.
12:30 PM

Lunch & STEM Bus in Warren County

Location: Warren County Armory Civic Center, 501 US Hwy 158 Bus E Warrenton, NC 27589

The dinner emcees will be Marion Booth, Strategic Planning Council Member, and Louis Adams, 2025 student intern in Pitt County.

  • Presenter: Mark Light, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Extension 4-H STEM Specialist
  • Presenter: Sheronica Sharp, Area Specialized Agent - 4-H STEM
  • Welcome from Stacy Burns, Cooperative Extension Director, Crystal Smith, County Manager and Sandy Hall, District Extension Director
  • 4-H students talk about the impacts of internships and Cooperative Extension

Stations:

Lunch: Sponsored by MERCK | Kimmie D’s.

6:30 PM

Dinner & Dialogue in Pitt County

Location: Pitt County Cooperative Extension Office, 403 Government Cir. Suite 2 Greenville, NC 27834

Dinner: 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Facilitated Dialogue:

  • The Power of Extension in Eastern North Carolina
  • What do we see as gaps that we can address?
  • What are some initiatives happening?

Programming Highlights by:

  • Travella Free, Ph.D., Extension 4-H Youth Development Specialist
  • Katryn Eske, Ph.D., Nutrition Specialist
  • Raymond Thomas, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Agribusiness/Marketing Specialist
  • Cynthia Knudson, Area Specialized Agent N.C. A&T Cooperative Extension

Dinner: Sponsored by North Carolina State Grange | REP Express Events and Catering

A man wearing glasses and a blue plaid shirt under a dark blazer gestures while speaking during a discussion at a conference table. He is engaged with several people around the table, including a woman in a plaid sweater and others listening attentively. Papers, glasses of water, and a nameplate are on the table, and more participants are visible in the background.
Attendees discuss issues at the 2024 Grassroots Leadership Conference in Charlotte.

Day 2

Breakfast at 7:00 - 8:00 AM
Check-out and load bus at 8:00 AM - Depart at 8:30 AM

Breakfast: Sponsored by Biscuitville

8:30 AM

Departure for Wayne County (Cherry Research Farm)

Arrive at 9:30 AM: Center for Environmental Farming Systems at Cherry Research Farm, 600 Farm Rd. Goldsboro, NC 27530

Small Farms Unit:

Lunch: Sponsored by AgCarolina Farm Credit | McCall’s BBQ & Seafood

Two women crouch in a field of green onion crops, discussing plant growth. One woman in a blue shirt is pointing while the other takes notes.
Kathleen Liang, Ph.D. works with a farmer. She is co-director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems.
 
11:00 AM

Depart for lunch at McCalls BBQ & Seafood

Location: Wayne County, 139 Miller Chapel Rd., Goldsboro, NC 27534 - Arrive at approximately 11:30 am

Shameca Battle, Ed.D., Eastern Region Director, presiding

Lunch sponsored by AgCarolina Farm Credit

1:30 PM

Departure for Orange County

Arrive at 3:15 PM: Sankofa Farms, 2916 JA Killough Dr., Cedar Grove, NC

Welcome from Shannon Wiley, Ph.D., Urban Regional Extension Director, and Tadashi Totton, District 6 Field Representative with North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation.

A family poses on and around a green John Deere tractor in a field of wildflowers. One child sits on top of the tractor’s canopy, another sits in the driver’s seat, and an adult man sits beside him. A woman crouches near the front tire, smiling at a toddler she is holding. Behind them are white plastic-covered hoop houses and trees under a blue sky with scattered clouds.
Kamal and his family at Sankofa Farms in Orange County, NC. That's Khalil Bell (Kamal's oldest of three boys) atop the tractor. Akeem (second oldest of three boys) has dreadlocks. At the bottom is Ade (youngest boy) and Amber (Kamal's wife). Surname is Bell for all five of them. Note that there's a fourth child due on commencement weekend.
 
4:15 PM

Depart for Campus

Arrive back on the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State Unviersity's campus at 5:00 PM

Three Regions, One System!

North Carolina Regional County Map

Thank You to our Sponsors!

  • NC Farm Bureau
  • MERCK & Co. 
  • N.C. State Grange  
  • Biscuitville
  • AgCarolina Farm Credit

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