The Blue Ridge Parkway is known for its views, but the surrounding land is privately owned, meaning it could be developed. Learn how Conservation Trust for NC works with property owners to protect the land, conserving views and habitat for wildlife impacted by climate change. Plus, pay a visit to the Historic Orchard at Altapass to see how land conservation doesn’t mean land untouched by humans.
This story is part of the Pulitzer Center’s Connected Coastlines reporting initiative, and PBS North Carolina's State of Change series.
The Blacklands of NC’s Hyde County are home to some of the most productive farmland in the state. Because of their proximity to the coast, farmers experience saltwater intrusion as sea-levels rise and push salt water into drainage ditches. Local farmers like Dawson Pugh are collaborating with researchers from NC State and the county’s Agriculture Extension Agent to determine how to keep farming, for now and the future.
This story is part of the Pulitzer Center’s Connected Coastlines reporting initiative, and PBS North Carolina's State of Change series.
Tilling soil has long been thought of as a necessary step in agricultural production. A long-term study by researchers at NC State, however, bolsters what farmers like Beverly Blackwell Bowen of Blackwell’s Farm are experiencing: conservation tillage allows for more resilient plants with higher yields than traditional tillage practices. When you look at the soil, you can see why.
This story is part of the Pulitzer Center’s Connected Coastlines reporting initiative, and PBS North Carolina's State of Change series.
Neill Lindley’s family has been farming the same land in Snow Camp since the late 1800s. He took over the farm from his father and remembers when he bought the first goats to diversify what the farm was producing. His son, Neill Jr., 27, is one of the few young people in the area working the family farm they grew up on. When I talked to Neill Jr. about the next generation of farmers, he reacted in surprise. “I didn’t even know there were other farmers my age, none of my friends stayed with it,” he said. The Lindley’s are a rare breed in other ways: they own all of the land they farm and they’re continuing to produce dairy as small dairy farms shut down or transition to other use all around them. Both Neill and Neill Jr. credit this to having diversified their farm to produce more than one product. They raise chickens to be sold as broilers in five large chicken houses on the property and their herd of goats allows them to be the sole supplier for a successful local cheese company, Goat Lady Dairy. When asked why he wants to keep farming Neill Jr. says “It’s what I know how to do” and talks about expanding to producing more value-added products, like cow cheese, in years to come. With a baby on the way, keeping the farm viable and profitable is even more important to the family’s livelihood.
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Produced, Filmed & Edited by : Michelle Lotker
When Jennie Rasmussen, 32, decided she wanted to start farming, she was immediately discouraged. The costs to get started were sky-high, and she didn’t have an inheritance of money or land to cover the initial investment. When she started working at Peregrine Farm, she had no idea that farm owners Alex and Betsy Hitt would eventually agree to slowly transition operation of the farm to her. Neither did Alex and Betsy. The Hitts are in their 50s and started the farm in the 80s, when they were around Jennie’s age. They’re private people, and since they live on the farm and don’t have children, the plan was to slowly phase things out as they got older and let the farmland go dormant when they didn’t feel like working it any longer. When they met Jennie and learned she was looking for a farm to run, they started talking it over and slowly changed their minds. This kind of gradual transition of a farm to someone outside of the family is rare and if successful will represent a model of how other farmers who don’t have children interested in farming can keep their farmland active and out of development. As Alex said, “You don’t see people bulldozing houses to create more farmland. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
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Produced, Filmed & Edited by : Michelle Lotker
*Official Selection International Wildlife Film Festival 2018*
*Part of UNC-TV's REEL SOUTH online Summer Shorts series, 2017*
*Silver Medal for Individual Multimedia Story or Essay, College Photographer of the Year 2016*
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Bobby Jack Smith won't tell you what his age is, but he will tell you how he met organic farmer Kelley Penn at a local beekeeper meeting in Sylva, North Carolina, and decided to help her in her efforts to start keeping her own hives. Years later, the two are inseparable; they meet up most days to capture swarms, work on projects, and drink a few beers along the way. Although they don't always see eye to eye, this unlikely pair is bound by their mutual admiration for bees and a concern for their future populations.
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This video was created during the annual 2016 Carolina Photojournalism Workshop. Each year a group of multimedia students from the University of North Carolina travel to a unique part of the state with a group of professional coaches to produce a documentary website in a week. To view 2016's full collection of work visit the Mountain Lore website.
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Produced, Filmed & Edited by : Michelle Lotker
“It just may be that the most radical act we can commit is to stay home.” - Terry Tempest
These farmers are doing just that, against the odds, and in the most radically sustainable ways they can.
Banana production is both a blessing and a threat to Bocas del Toro. It once built the region’s infrastructure, and continues to provide steady employment for the people. However, the lack of genetic diversity in banana plants creates a reliance on fungicides that, along with sediment runoff, negatively affect marine ecosystems. A new resistant fungus is affecting global banana production but has yet to reach the Western Hemisphere.
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View the whole project at http://undercurrent360.com/
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Produced, Filmed & Edited by : Michelle Lotker & Casey Toth
A short I produced in partnership with the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and with the support of The Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and the US Economic Development Administration. The project’s goal was to highlight the people and businesses supporting and growing local food in Beaufort County, North Carolina.
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Produced, Filmed & Edited by : Michelle Lotker
With climate change comes more weather extremes that threaten our vulnerable food system. Discover how the Utopian Seed Project in western North Carolina is building more climate resilience for North Carolina by selecting crop varieties adapted to our changing climate and introducing hardy tropical staples to farmers and chefs in the region.
This story is part of the Pulitzer Center’s Connected Coastlines reporting initiative, and PBS North Carolina's State of Change series.