Moving from one operation to another is a leap of faith for farmers. But, if done with care and under guidance, changing a farm’s main commodity offers both financial and experiential rewards, farmers statewide say.
During the last two years, two groups of farmers have taken that leap, transitioning from producing tobacco and other crops to producing pork and pork products, all with the help of N.C. A&T Cooperative Extension’s “From Bright Leaf to Berkshires” program and Professor Derrick Coble, Ph.D. swine specialist in the Department of Animal Sciences.
The two classes capped off their experience with a graduation ceremony at the University Farm Pavilion on March 6.
"From Bright Leaf to Berkshires" participants pose with program supporters at a graduation ceremony at the N.C. A&T University Farm on March 6, 2025.
Coble, who is the program’s director, said the program began as a way to allow tobacco farmers who have been financially impacted by tobacco policy and social changes to improve the profitability of their farm operations by learning to produce Berkshire pigs using hoop structure barns, an alternative swine production system.
Coble built the program with a $210,152 North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission grant.
“We’re here to celebrate the accomplishments of community members and farmers that have dedicated their Friday evenings and Saturday mornings to learn practical, hands-on techniques at the N.C. A&T Swine Unit,” Coble said. “When I think of this program, I think of family. We have two different cohorts today who have been talking, engaging in fellowship and fostering collaboration.”
The 18 farmers enrolled in the program’s “swine school” took part in 10 lessons covering everything from production basics, such as nutrition and reproduction, to more advanced topics in waste management, welfare and behavior, diseases, and niche marketing opportunities.
“We are proud to support a program that empowers farmers by introducing alternative production techniques and niche marketing to help build sustainable, profitable farms,” said John Ashe, a commission board member from Rockingham County. “Your dedication to learning new agricultural practices strengthens our farms and your farms as well in the state.”
Alongside Coble and Assistant Farm Superintendent Douglas Jones, who is also swine unit coordinator at the University Farm, the workshops were facilitated by Jan Archer, former president of the National Pork Board; Stephanie Kulesza, Ph.D. of the NC State University Crop and Soil Sciences Department; Lee Menius, technical specialist, NC Choices; Jake Groce, N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences’ Meat and Poultry Inspection Division; John and Emily Barnes of Bravo Cattle Co.; and 2018 N.C. Cooperative Extension Small Farmer of the Year Ronald Simmons, of Master Blend Family Farms.
Kevin Chestnutt, a Sampson County farmer and returning A&T student, called the program “an amazing opportunity” to connect with other producers across the state.
“We were versed in artificial insemination, the science behind the diets that you feed pigs in order to maximize the production of pork that you’d get from an animal,” said Chestnutt. “I was originally raised on a hog farm in Sampson County, and with this, I want to preserve the past and embrace the future at the same time.”
Caswell County farmer Santonio Bolton noted the differences between raising hogs, as his grandparents did, to “growing pork” today.
“It’s all about quality, it’s all about biosecurity, it’s about learning so many different things that you don’t think of when you grow up doing it on a farm,” Bolton said.
Coble and his group will monitor the group for the next two years to make sure that all participants’ entry into pork production allows them to bring home the bacon.
So far, the program has accounted for 25 jobs, $552,500 worth of pork products sold, and more than $22,000 in tax revenue for the state, Coble said.
