The 42nd annual Agriculture Awareness Week sponsored by the North Carolina Chapter of Alpha Zeta was a success! With COVID restrictions from the University making things look much different this year, the Brotherhood made the most of the week and were able to raise $1600 (more than double of what we have raised to donate in previous years) for Feed the Pack Food Pantry at NC State University. 

On Wednesday, April 14^th, Active Brothers in the North Carolina Chapter of Alpha Zeta joined a panel of Elanco Animal Health representatives to learn more about the Elanco company, the animal health industry, and opportunities in the industry.

Seven Brothers of the North Carolina Chapter of Alpha Zeta tuned in via Zoom for a farm tour of Brother Farmer’s family farms peanut operation in Pitt County on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020. Brother Farmer’s family farm has grown peanuts for over 50 years in North Carolina. In addition, they grow corn, soybean and cotton (with cover crops in the winter). Brother Farmer showed us the basics of peanut farming operations: explaining to us what the peanut combine does, showing us the importance of the vine lifters and answering questions about common pest and disease problems the farm aims to mitigate. COVID-19 causing NC State students to be sent back home, Brother Farmer has been more involved than ever in the farms operations- but he’s used to that, telling us that he drove a tractor by himself at the old age of nine years old. Thank you to Brother Farmer for this unique (and well presented) tour of your family’s farm. We hope one day to get out there to Pitt County in person but nevertheless this was still a fantastic opportunity for the Brotherhood. Lastly, thank you to Brother Barber who has done a great job this semester of finding ingenious ways to provide the Brotherhood with meaningful and educational farm tours.

October 26th, 2020, eight members of the North Carolina Chapter of Alpha Zeta tuned into a live virtual tour of the Westover Mill. Located in Maryland, this feed mill is operated by Mountaire farms. Members heard from John Stainbrook about the ins and outs of the Mill. He went over over how the pellets are made and what his roles are within the Westover Mill. Brother Davis recently landed a job with Mountaire farms as a management trainee and offered to host this exclusive tour for the Brotherhood. Thank you to Brother Davis, Mr. Stainbrook and Brother Barber for giving us the opportunity to learn about this facet of agriculture.

On October 20th, 2020, members of the North Carolina Chapter of Alpha Zeta tuned into the Virtual Blackland Farm Managers Tour posted on Youtube by Beaufort County Cooperative Extension. Brothers watched a series of pre-recorded videos with topics ranging from Foliar Fertilizers to Soybean Fungicidal Seed Treatments. Thank you to alumni, Brother Kaitlyn Moody Milstein for bringing this opportunity to our attention and thank you to Brother Barber for organizing the event for the Brotherhood. Once again, North Carolina Cooperative Extension continues to provide excellent educational material for the public.

If anyone is interested, here is the link to the Beaufort County Extension’s youtube channel where we accessed the videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8eojykmCX0&list=PLlmI2LdCTo8yP0eWDpUmVZe5gMkkoPzDt
 

On October 13th, 2020, active members and distinguished alumni of the North Carolina Chapter of Alpha Zeta participated in a virtual trivia with the North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture, Steve Troxler. As a part of his re-election campaign, Troxler engaged with the community by answering questions and offering insight on some of the biggest areas of North Carolina Agriculture. Did you know that North Carolina is ranked #1 in production of both Tobacco and Sweet Potatoes? Thank you to Brother Davis for inviting the Brotherhood to this event.