Membership
Membership in the North Carolina Small Grain Growers Association is composed of three classes:
- Small Grain Producers in North Carolina.
- Associate members who represent the small grain agribusiness industry as individuals and professional agricultural workers.
- Supporting member companies who represent the small grain agribusiness industry.
Financial Support
Business and activities of the North Carolina Small Grain Growers Association are supported primarily by growers through a self-assessment or self-help program. The assessment approved by North Carolina Farmers is one-half percent of the sales receipt (price per bushel multiplied by number of bushels), which is $0.005 of every $1.00 paid to the grower for the rate of wheat, rye, oats, barley, rape seed/canola and sorghum. These funds are collected by the first market grain elevator and sent to North Carolina Department of Agriculture where they deposit in our association bank account. Copies of our financial statement are distributed each year at our annual meeting during the Joint Conference and are available at our office.
Assessment Referendum
The Assessment Referendum is voted on every 6 years by North Carolina farmers that grow small grains (wheat, oats, rye, barley, grain sorghum and canola/rape seed). The farmer must be 18 years or older on or before the assessment voting date in order to vote. It is important for the small grain growers of North Carolina to support the assessment referendum in order to continue the work of the association in Grower Education, Research, Marketing, Administration and enhancing ways to make small grains more profitable for farmers in North Carolina.
Wheat Yield Contest
The NC wheat yield contest is conducted each year to give recognition to those growers who do an outstanding production job. It is administered through NC State Cooperative Extension and awards are sponsored by the NC Small Grain Growers Association. Anyone who produces wheat in NC is eligible to enter. Recognition categories include 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place growers in each of three Production Regions and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place Producers Statewide. Contest rules and prize information can be found here.
A qualified entry must be completely filled out and certified by a local N.C. Cooperative Extension County Agent, a County Extension Director or NCDA Regional Agronomist who is required to watch this short training video here before submitting any entries.
For more information and to enter the contest visit: https://smallgrains.ces.ncsu.edu/smallgrains-yield-contest/
2022 Wheat Yield Contest Winners
In addition to the North Carolina Wheat Yield Contest the National Wheat Yield Contest is also open to growers and provides the opportunity for growers to compete with their peers across the United States and learn from each other’s innovative techniques to improve wheat productivity. More information can be found here.
Scholarship Opportunities
Each year the NC Small Grain Growers Association awards $25,000 in scholarship money divided between 10 students at NC State University who are pursuing a career in Agriculture. Any students interested in being considered should apply online at https://ncsu.academicworks.com/
The application for continuing students opens December 1 each year and newly admitted students should apply as soon as they are admitted with a completion deadline of February 15th. To see the list of 2021-2022 NCSGGA Scholarship Recipients click here:
On December 15th, 2020 the NCSGGA Established the Dan Weathington Memorial Endowment to honor the legacy of the longtime Executive Director who sadly passed away from pancreatic cancer the same year he retired. Weathington was a leader in the agriculture industry in many different capacities with a special dedication to North Carolina farmers and making sure rural students who wanted to pursue an agriculture career were given the opportunity to do so. The NC Small Grain Growers Association recognizes that students interested in small grain production, agricultural education and N.C. Cooperative Extension are critical to the continued profitability and enhancement of the state’s small grain industry. Thus our Association created the “Dan Weathington Memorial Endowment” that not only honors Dan’s legacy but also provides help to students that share the same passion for agriculture as he had.
Fund Purpose: Distributions from the Fund will be used to provide merit- and need-based scholarships for students pursuing an undergraduate degree in the Agricultural Institute or NC State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). Preference will be given to students who are residents of a rural county in North Carolina, as determined by the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, and who have demonstrated an interest in agriculture through their experiences and participation in FFA, 4-H or other youth agricultural programs.
How to Give: The fund shall accept additional contributions at any time from any source two easy ways:
a “go-link” which is a link that enables people to give straight to this endowment, online: go.ncsu.edu/DanWeathingtonMemorial .
Or by checks made payable and mailed to:
NC Agricultural Foundation
Campus Box 7645
NC State
Raleigh NC 27695-7645
Please make sure to list “Dan Weathington Memorial Endowment” on the memo line of the check.