The importance of the Agriculture industry in Wayne County was on full display on Tuesday morning at the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Ag Breakfast held at the Maxwell Center. 

Agriculture continues to be Wayne County’s leading industry, providing roughly 9,000 jobs and $1.3 billion of annual economic impact. 

Jennifer Johnson, the lead instructor for the Animal Science Program at Wayne Community College, received the AG Advocate of the Year Award.

Johnson is also the coordinator for the Ag Expo, a board member of the Wayne County Livestock Development Association, and a Regent with the Leadership Wayne Program

She is also the Agriculture Advocate for the Junior Leadership Program, and she has also served as the Chairman of the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce Ag Committee. 

“I just want to say thank you to the Ag community,” Johnson said. “We are blessed to be in a county that supports agriculture and to have a chamber that supports agriculture, and an Ag Affairs Committee. We have the Carl Best Program. We just finished the 10 Best Days of Fall with the Wayne County Fair. We have two higher education institutions that both have phenomenal (agriculture) programs, so we are very fortunate to have what we have here in Wayne County.”

Daw Farms, a long-standing presence in the Ag community in Wayne County was named the AG Producer of the Year.

Daw Farms has continuously served Wayne County through its partnerships with the Wayne County Cooperative Extension, the Wayne County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, and the Wayne County Farmers Association Board of Directors. 

Wayne County Chamber of Commerce President Scott Satterfield moderated a panel discussion with Barry Gray, the County of Wayne Planning Director, and Chris Gurley, the Chair of the Wayne County Board of Commissioners. 

The discussion covered topics including the impact of land development in Wayne County on agriculture, the development of a county or regional sewer system and its impact on agriculture, and solar energy facilities and their impact on local farms. 

At the end of the event, Satterfield highlighted the newly formed local non-profit We Feed NC and the work they are doing to feed those in western North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Helene.