NC Choices
NC Choices, an initiative of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems in collaboration with NC Cooperative Extension, promotes sustainable food systems through the advancement of the local, niche, and pasture-based meat supply chain in North Carolina. NC Choices provides information, technical assistance, educational programming, and networking opportunities for farmers, extension agents, meat processors, buyers, distributors, and consumers.
NEW Project: NC Choices Supports Beginning Meat Producers with Business Resources, Training, and Land-Lease Opportunities
NC Choices launches a new USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher grant focused on increasing the number of beginning farmers raising meat through either pasture-based or silvopasture systems by providing them with novel land acquisition strategies, resources, and training opportunities to increase skills, decision-making tools, and the market and buyer connections needed to operate profitably.
NC Choices will help pair beginning farmers with solar farms, landowners with woodland plots for silvopasture, and land conservancy land under conservation easements across the state.
THINK YOU MIGHT BE A GOOD FIT?
Are you a beginning NC meat producer (raising meat animals for 10 years or less) looking to lease land?
Are you a NC land owner with woodland acreage, land under conservation easement, or solar panel installations interested in working with grazing animal production?
Poultry Processing Updates:
Due to the 2017 closure of Foothills Pilot Plant, information and updates on the status of poultry processing options across the state can be found below. Click to view the following:
- Updates on the Status of Poultry Processing in the State
- List of Farmer Operators Granted Exemption to Process Birds for Other Farms (1st tab)
- List of Poultry Mobile Processing Equipment for Rent (3rd tab)
- Closest USDA Poultry Processors for Small Farmers that are Currently Accepting New Customers
- Labeling Requirements and Additional Resources for On-Farm Poultry Processing
NC Choices News
Silvopasture Field Day | Goldsboro, NC
July 25 @ 9:00am - 4:45pm | $25 Silvopasture, the intentional practice of integrating forages, animals and trees, is one type of agroforestry with potential to improve ecosystem responses and provide multiple sources of farm [...]
Project Seeks to Aid Beginning Farmers Raising Meat
Project Seeks to Aid Beginning Farmers Raising Meat |The Sylva Herald
Helping New Farmers Raise Meat
Helping new farmers raise meat| Southeast FarmPress | February 5, 2019
Resources
NC Choices offers a large collection of resource documents and multimedia to support the farmers, extension agents, meat processors, buyers, distributors and consumers of North Carolina. See our full library of NC Choices resources here.
- Pastured Poultry Production – Animal ManagementWaystone Design2019-07-21T17:22:00-05:00
Pastured Poultry Production – Animal Management
- Pastured Poultry Production – Feed and NutritionWaystone Design2019-07-21T17:19:58-05:00
Pastured Poultry Production – Feed and Nutrition
- Pastured Poultry Production – Facilities and EquipmentWaystone Design2019-07-21T17:18:22-05:00
Pastured Poultry Production – Facilities and Equipment
- Pastured Poultry Production – Small Scale Poultry ProcessingWaystone Design2019-07-21T17:16:11-05:00
Pastured Poultry Production – Small Scale Poultry Processing
- Pastured Poultry Production – Welfare, Health and BiosecurityWaystone Design2019-07-21T17:13:29-05:00
Pastured Poultry Production – Welfare, Health and Biosecurity
- Pastured Small Ruminants Production – Animal ManagementWaystone Design2019-07-21T16:56:35-05:00
Pastured Small Ruminants Production – Animal Management
- Pastured Small Ruminants Production – Feed and NutritionWaystone Design2019-07-21T16:54:41-05:00
Pastured Small Ruminants Production – Feed and Nutrition
- Pastured Small Ruminants Production – Facilities and EquipmentWaystone Design2019-07-21T16:52:44-05:00
Pastured Small Ruminants Production – Facilities and Equipment
- Pastured Small Ruminants Production – Breeding and ReproductionWaystone Design2019-07-21T16:50:44-05:00
Pastured Small Ruminants Production – Breeding and Reproduction
- Pastured Small Ruminants Production – Welfare, Health and BiosecurityWaystone Design2019-07-21T16:47:52-05:00
Pastured Small Ruminants Production – Welfare, Health and Biosecurity
- Pastured Pork Production – Animal ManagementWaystone Design2019-07-21T16:42:49-05:00
Pastured Pork Production – Animal Management
- Pastured Pork Production – Feed and NutritionWaystone Design2019-07-21T16:38:03-05:00
Pastured Pork Production – Feed and Nutrition
- Pastured Pork Production – Facilities and EquipmentWaystone Design2019-07-21T16:32:39-05:00
Pastured Pork Production – Facilities and Equipment
- Pastured Pork Production – Breeding and ReproductionWaystone Design2019-07-21T16:23:47-05:00
Pastured Pork Production – Breeding and Reproduction
- Pastured Pork Production – Welfare, Health and BiosecurityWaystone Design2019-07-21T16:18:57-05:00
Pastured Pork Production – Welfare, Health and Biosecurity
- Profitable Meat Marketing – StrategyWaystone Design2019-07-21T15:21:33-05:00
Profitable Meat Marketing – Strategy
- Profitable Meat Marketing – Market ResearchWaystone Design2019-07-21T15:17:53-05:00
Profitable Meat Marketing – Market Research
- Profitable Meat Marketing – Objectives and CommunicationsWaystone Design2019-07-21T15:08:41-05:00
Profitable Meat Marketing – Objectives and Communications
- Profitable Meat Marketing – PricingWaystone Design2019-07-21T15:02:17-05:00
Profitable Meat Marketing – Pricing
- Cornell Price & Yield CalculatorSarah Blacklin2019-10-01T11:23:12-05:00
Cornell Price & Yield Calculator
- NC Choices – Meat Labels: What Does “Natural” Mean? (2018)Marcello Cappellazzi2018-11-14T15:59:07-05:00
NC Choices – Meat Labels: What Does “Natural” Mean? (2018)
- Step by Step Instructions for Filling Out Federal and State Special Claims Applications (2018)Marcello Cappellazzi2018-10-25T11:45:06-05:00
Step by Step Instructions for Filling Out Federal and State Special Claims Applications (2018)
- Strategies to Increase Sales of Local Meat at Farmstands and Small Retailers (2018)Marcello Cappellazzi2018-09-27T11:55:09-05:00
Strategies to Increase Sales of Local Meat at Farmstands and Small Retailers (2018)
- 2018 Niche Meat Survey ResultsSarah Blacklin2018-09-21T20:49:19-05:00
2018 Niche Meat Survey Results
- Step by Step Instructions for Filling Out Federal and State Special Claims Applications (2018)Sarah Blacklin2018-09-19T10:31:12-05:00
Step by Step Instructions for Filling Out Federal and State Special Claims Applications (2018)
- Selecting Enterprises for Pasture-based Livestock Farms (2018)Sarah Blacklin2018-09-19T10:31:51-05:00
Selecting Enterprises for Pasture-based Livestock Farms (2018)
- Best Practices in Poultry Processing (2018)Shane McCoy2018-07-03T11:23:39-05:00
Best Practices in Poultry Processing (2018)
- Quick Guide to Common Label Claims (2017)JJ Richardson2018-09-23T15:18:51-05:00
Quick Guide to Common Label Claims (2017)
- What Do All These Label Claims Really Mean? (2017)JJ Richardson2018-03-14T10:03:34-05:00
What Do All These Label Claims Really Mean? (2017)
