Imagine Ag Day Highlights New Investment and a Strong Path Forward for North Carolina Agriculture
Leaders from across North Carolina’s agriculture and agribusiness community gathered last week at SAS in Cary for the third annual Imagine Ag Day, hosted by NC Ag Leads.
Launched in 2023 by the Golden LEAF Foundation and the NC Chamber Foundation, with support from the NC Farm Bureau and Google, NC Ag Leads continues to advance an industry-led strategic plan for strengthening North Carolina’s agriculture and agribusiness sector, which contributes more than $111 billion annually to the state’s economy.
Imagine Ag Day carried that work forward by bringing more than 150 stakeholders together around the issues shaping the future of the industry.
GroundTruth NC Launches with New Investment
Scott Hamilton, president of the Golden LEAF Foundation, kicked off the day announcing $275,450 in funding to the NC Chamber Foundation to support GroundTruth NC, a new farmland research initiative developed in response to a need identified through the NC Ag Leads strategic planning process: North Carolina needs a stronger, data-driven understanding of land use trends across the state.
Through stakeholder engagement, data collection and analysis, and policy review, GroundTruth NC will establish a baseline for farmland trends across North Carolina. The NC Chamber Foundation will contract with American Farmland Trust to lead the work. The research will identify what types of land uses are replacing agricultural land and create a stronger dataset to inform future investment, coordination, and policy discussions.
Looking to History to Inform the Future
The day offered an important reminder that periods of major change are not new for North Carolina agriculture. Dr. Matthew Booker, author of Food Fights and professor of history at North Carolina State University, placed current challenges in broader historical context, explaining how agriculture in the state has faced significant transitions before and has repeatedly met them with adaptation, resilience, and shared effort.
His message was clear: progress in agriculture has never been built in isolation. Booker told attendees, “No one, no matter how talented or hardworking, solved the terrible crises of their time on their own.” It was a fitting note for the day: the work ahead will require the same collaboration and resolve that has carried North Carolina agriculture through change before.
That collaboration is exactly what NC Ag Leads, and Imagine Ag Day, aim to support.
Economics, Finance, and the Future of Agriculture
Imagine Ag Day brought a national perspective to agricultural finance. Blaine Nelson, senior economist at Farmer Mac, led a session on the future of banking in agriculture, exploring how financial institutions and capital partners are evolving alongside a more complex, technology-driven agricultural economy. He underscored the importance of strong financing partnerships as producers navigate volatility, modernization, and long-term business planning.
Attendees also heard a broader economic discussion on whether agriculture is defending the right solutions or simply the most familiar ones. Dr. Blake Brown, Hugh C. Kiger Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University; Dr. Arnie Oltmans, Associate Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University; and Dr. Barry Goodwin, nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joined Ray Starling, NC Chamber general counsel and president of the NC Chamber Legal Institute, for a conversation that challenged attendees to reexamine assumptions and think critically about the economic and policy forces shaping agriculture’s future.
Diving Deeper on Strategic Opportunities for Growth
Strengthening Extension remains a key opportunity identified through the NC Ag Leads process. Dean Garey Fox of the College of Ag and Life Sciences at NC State University and Johnston County Extension Director Bryant Spivey provided an update on how NC State is working to better align Extension with the evolving needs of North Carolina farmers, agents, specialists, and local agriculture partners.
Artificial intelligence is creating new opportunities across agriculture, from decision-making and productivity to problem-solving and long-term innovation. Insights from John Gottula of SAS, Dr. Harmandeep Sharma of NC A&T University, and Martha Van Dale of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture underscored the growing importance of helping producers and industry leaders understand how these tools can be leveraged most effectively.
AgTech continues to represent another area of opportunity for North Carolina. Margaret Oldham of Ag Launch, Bruce Webb of Lepidext, George Greene of Upstream Biotechnology, and Mike McCord of Phinite shared perspectives on innovation, entrepreneurship, and the state’s potential to support and scale new agricultural technologies that can strengthen the industry.
Moving the Work Forward
Imagine Ag Day was a reflection of NC Ag Leads’ mission to bring leaders together, elevate shared priorities, and move important conversations forward with action. The event reinforced both the scale of the opportunity in front of North Carolina agriculture and the importance of meeting it with collaboration, clarity, and purpose.