Highlighting the NC Farm Bureau
Friends,
This week, we continue our series highlighting the leaders, partners, and organizations whose work keeps North Carolina’s farming community strong. Today we’d like to spotlight the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation (NCFB) and its work on behalf of NC’s farmers and rural communities.
Farm Bureau was founded by farmers in 1936, and that origin still defines how the organization operates nearly 90 years later. Today, Farm Bureau has an established presence in all 100 North Carolina counties and counts more than 665,000 member families, making it the largest general farm organization in the state.
What has not changed since 1936 is the organization’s commitment to ensuring that farmers’ voices drive its advocacy efforts, through a grassroots policy development process that keeps the people who work the land at the center of every decision.
That advocacy has produced real wins for NC farmers in recent years. In October 2025, the NC Supreme Court ruled that NCDEQ cannot impose animal waste permit conditions on the state’s livestock farms without going through the proper rulemaking process, a significant legal victory that Farm Bureau led.
In December 2025, Farm Bureau joined the NC Pork Council and NC Poultry Federation in a joint filing supporting Burke County chicken producer Case Farms after an animal rights group filed a legal challenge against the operation. The NC Supreme Court declined to hear the case, allowing earlier rulings in Case Farms’ favor to stand.
And earlier this year, Farm Bureau joined the NC Chamber in a national coalition that secured a federal court victory blocking a preliminary injunction that would have halted much-needed reforms to H-2A agricultural guest worker wage rates, delivering meaningful relief to NC farmers already facing rising costs and historic drought conditions.
Farm Bureau also understands that the future of North Carolina agriculture depends on developing the next generation of leaders and advocates. The Young Farmers and Ranchers program connects members between the ages of 18 and 35, while the Women’s Leadership Program and the two-year Leadership, Education, Advocacy, Development (LEAD) program provide pathways for farmers to grow their skills and their voices.
For younger students, the Institute for Future Ag Leaders program gives rising high school seniors a window into what a career in agriculture can look like. The R. Flake Shaw Scholarship supports the next generation financially as they pursue it. The Ag in the Classroom initiative promotes the importance of agriculture to North Carolina to teachers and students, and equips teachers with educational materials and resources that advance ag education.
North Carolina’s farmers face serious challenges like drought, rising input costs, regulatory pressure, and a rapidly changing agricultural landscape. Having an organization with Farm Bureau’s reach, experience, and depth in their corner matters.
We are grateful for the NC Farm Bureau Federation and the hundreds of thousands of farm families across our state whose daily work sustains our communities and our way of life. We look forward to continuing this series in the weeks ahead.
Join Us: NC Ag Partnership’s Sixth Annual Judicial Event, August 25
North Carolina’s courts play a direct role in determining how farmers operate every day, from regulatory fairness and property rights to liability protections and land use. That is why the NC Ag Partnership has made judicial engagement a cornerstone of our work, and why we hope you will join us for our Sixth Annual Judicial Event on Tuesday, August 25, at The Farm at 95 in Selma.
The reception begins at 5:00 p.m., with dinner and programming at 6:00 p.m. We are pleased to have an outstanding group of farm-friendly justices, judges, and judicial candidates confirmed for the evening, including NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby, Associate Justices Trey Allen, Tamara Barringer, and Phil Berger, Jr.; NC Court of Appeals Chief Judge Chris Dillon and Judges Jeff Carpenter, Chris Freeman, Fred Gore, Jefferson Griffin, Tom Murry, Donna Stroud, John Tyson and April Wood; and NC Supreme Court candidate Sarah Stevens; and NC Court of Appeals candidate Judge Michael Byrne.
Host, Co-Host, and Sponsor opportunities are available. To RSVP or learn more about sponsorship, contact Todd Batchelor at todd@ncagpartnership.com or (919) 818-4370. Donations can also be made at ncagpartnership.com.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Sincerely,
Adam Caldwell
Executive Director
NC Ag Partnership