Agriculture is Beaufort County’s biggest economic engine, accounting for $120 million in revenue each year.

The agricultural sector doesn’t just get its money from farming, but through other channels such as agribusiness, something that the community has gotten behind and supported in various ways.

Beaufort County Community College started an agribusiness program in 2014 to meet needs in the agricultural sector. It’s a program that provides an extensive curriculum: everything from plant and soil science to how to market one’s crops and other products and how to manage money and turn a profit in farming and other ag-related business.

Raised in a Barn Farm in Chocowinity is a prime example of a successful agribusiness that has garnered support from the community. One of its most popular and well-known events is one the farm hosts each October that includes a haunted trail and corn maze. This September, the farm adds another event — the N.C. Sunflower Festival — to its lineup.

The Washington Farmers’ Market is another event that brings agribusiness to the forefront. Each week, farmers and other vendors showcase their fresh and homegrown items, promoting agribusiness and providing an opportunity for residents and visitors alike to support those farmers and businesses.

On the other side of agriculture are the farmers who work hard every day to put food on tables and feed livestock, among other things.

Today, agricultural officials from N.C. Cooperative Extension offices representing Beaufort, Hyde, Washington and Tyrrell counties, as well as the Blackland Farm Managers Association, an organization that helps farmers learn how to better farm the four-county Blackland region, showcased the annual Blackland Farm Managers Tour.

The annual event is a great boost to the livelihood of farmers living in the region, and in turn, the livelihood of Beaufort County. The information and research illustrated at the tour are vital in eliminating some of the trial and error farmers would have to go through otherwise. The depth of crop planting, applying chemicals and other newfound techniques that have proven to be useful in farming the Blackland region aid farmers in maximizing yields and being better farmers.

With agriculture being so important to the livelihood of Beaufort County, there are entities and residents getting behind and pushing the farming economic engine. Whether it’s the curriculum at BCCC that is equipping people to break into the agribusiness sector, ag officials working to aid farmers in finding what is working best in farming the area or the Chocowinity farm bringing agriculture and business together to provide enjoyable activities and events for the community, Beaufort County is embracing its rich agricultural heritage, a move that benefits all its residents.