Beaufort County’s economy depends heavily on its agriculture, with the sector accounting for $120 million in revenue. A program was launched to not only meet needs within the sector, but also to equip a workforce and a new generation of potential agribusiness owners to meet those needs.

Beaufort County Community College rolled out its agribusiness program two years ago, and graduated its first class this past spring. The graduates are already employed in the agricultural sector, due to a great need for trained professionals, according to Lisa Hill.

The program is projected to grow by 10 percent each year, and has come a long way in a short amount of time, according to lead instructor Billy Askew.

Hill said funding from the Golden LEAF Foundation made it all possible. The program is designed to give students both hands-on and classroom experience in agriculture, focusing on the business aspect especially.

Rod Gurganus, director of the Beaufort County Cooperative Extension, said the program’s benefits are wide and varied, but it’s hard to put numbers on its impact on local agriculture yet.

“How it plays into the local agriculture network is still a little bit of a mystery. They’re just now starting to put a few students out. But there are a lot of benefits,” Gurganus said. “Anytime you get a young person interested in agriculture, that’s a win-win across the board.”

“There are so few people that want to be involved in agriculture, so to cultivate that interest (via the program), it’s a great thing. It’s obviously big for the economy because agriculture is the biggest sector of our economy,” he added.

Gurganus said those entering the industry must have knowledge of working with soil and crop management, insect and disease control and other aspects of agriculture, but they must also have knowledge of how to market their crops or products, money management, equipment sales and management, fertilizer and seeds, crop insurance and many other business-related facets that are needed to be successful.

“It makes it somewhat difficult to be profitable if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Gurganus said. “That’s a huge factor in being successful. This training offered at BCCC is huge for those working in some sectors of agriculture.”

Hill said the program is already being expanded to accommodate interest among residents in Hyde and Tyrrell counties, and will be offered in the curriculum this upcoming spring.

Local businesses and other stakeholders in the agribusiness sector have also come forward to give support and feedback, Hill said. Representatives of agricultural and agribusiness organizations serve on the program’s advisory board to maximize the effectiveness of the program’s benefits.

“We designed (the program) to meet the needs of our entire service area,” Hill said. “What we’re doing is we have local stakeholders to kind of give us an idea of what their focus is and we have gotten a lot of good feedback. We look at, ‘What needs are not met, and how can we fulfill them?’”

For more information about the agribusiness program at Beaufort County Community College, contact Lisa Hill at 252-940-6223 or Billy Askew at 252-940-6304, or visit www.beaufortccc.edu.