Local organizations are gearing up for an event, celebrating the agricultural community in the area, as well as the state, where two award-winners will be named for their involvement in agriculture.

The annual Agricultural Appreciation Dinner and Celebration is set for April 16 at 7 p.m. in the Beaufort County Grange building, located at 4341 Terrapin Track Rd., Washington. The event, jointly sponsored by the Beaufort County Cooperative Extension, the Beaufort County Farm Bureau and the Beaufort County Grange, an agency that supports families in the agricultural community, will consist of a dinner, musical entertainment, door prizes and the awarding of the Agro Business of the Year and the Farmer of the Year by the Grange and the Farm Bureau, said Robert Cayton, president of the Beaufort County Grange.

At the event, sponsoring agencies will have speakers to address guests and members, followed by guest speaker David Peele, PHD, president of Avoca, Inc. in Merry Hill, Cayton said. Peele, a 1969 graduate of Aurora High School, earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from N.C. State University, a Masters of Science in Soil Science from Ohio State University and a Doctor of Philosophy in Crop Science from N.C. State and will speak about his endeavors and work.

Cayton said the event is designed to celebrate the people in the agricultural community and their commitment to all aspects of agriculture, the backbone of the economies of state and the nation. Agriculture, which has changed radically in the last 25 to 50 years, covers a wide spectrum of business and commerce, including forestry, aquaculture, horticulture, seafood, nurseries, fertilizers, equipment sales, equipment maintenance, equipment manufacturing and many others, according to Cayton. The sponsoring agencies also keep a strong focus on promoting FFA programs in local schools — private and public — because training the next generation is important to the future of agriculture in the county and state, Cayton said.

“I hope we can continue to keep agriculture in the forefront of everyone’s minds so the needs of agriculture won’t be dismissed and overlooked,” Cayton said.