The 2010 North Carolina Association of County Agricultural Agents state meeting will be hosted by the Northeast District in Nags Head. The meeting will be June 14-16. Our headquarters hotel is the Ramada Plaza Resort and Conference Center located in Kill Devil Hills. We have reduced rates starting the weekend before the meeting: Oceanfront rooms are $112/night and streetview rooms are $92.

According to Ed Jones, Associate Director and State Program Leader, "The Annual Meeting of the NC Association of County Agricultural Agents is approved for time and travel. This includes travel time to and from the meeting and professional development and organizational business activities. Travel costs are allocated at the discretion of the county extension director. Extracurricular events (e.g. golf, beach time, etc.) are to be conducted on personal time and without the use of state vehicles."

The district has been working hard to put together a great state meeting. It will begin on June 14 with several early bird activities including golf, fishing and The Lost Colony. The State Board meeting will be held that evening and dinner is own your own.

The meeting starts Tuesday, June 15 with the business meeting at 10:00 a.m. The Opening Lunch will begin at 11:30 and include the presentation of Awards usually give at the breakfast.

Following lunch and the awards presentations, the Professional Improvement Sessions will begin. Four Sessions will run concurrently and will be repeated so you have the opportunity to attend two: "Extension Agent 2.0: How to Effectively Use the Tools of Today" with John Dorner; "Ag Issues: NC Market Ready and Open Burning" with Rod Gurganus and Ed Jones; "Are you a Peacock or just another Turkey" with Wanda Sykes; and "Staying Connected Through Our Cell Phones: Twitter, etc." with J.B. Coltrain, Al Cochran and Kyleen Burgess.

Tuesday will conclude with the Awards Banquet.

We have some great 1/2 and 3/4 day tours lined up for Wednesday, June 16:

1. Value Added Agriculture - Sanctuary Vineyards and the Weeping Radish (brewery and organic beef processing).
2. Heritage Tourism - Currituck Heritage Park, Whalehead Club which includes a wildlife museum, a tour of the famous Whalehead Club along with a visit to the Currituck Light House. Learn what role each of these had in shaping the hunting and fishing heritage of the area.
3. Nations Defense - Visit US Coast Guard Station in Elizabeth City. Observe first hand the lifesaving techniques and equipment used for search and rescue missions at sea. This tour will also include a stop by potato farm, a very important enterprise in northeastern North Carolina.
4. Nations Defense - Visit the United States Air Force Bombing Range. Participants will have the opportunity to watch aircraft from surrounding military bases practice bombing.
5. Consumer Horticulture - Visit Dare Arboretum and Nags Head Woods. Nags Head Woods is an area similar to the mountains believe or not.
6. Sustainable Agriculture - Participants will visit Alligator River Farms. A very diversified farming operation. ARF is a 12,000 acre farm where onions, sweetcorn, snap beans, broccoli, squash along with corn, cotton, and soybeans are grown. Along with this the farm is taking steps to manage it's wildlife for hunting and wildlife viewing. The owners are now working with several environmental groups formula a plan to divert it's drainage water through created wetlands.
7. Natural Resources - Visit Alligator Wildlife Refuge to learn more about the Red Wolf Recovery Program. This a chance to observe red wolves very close.
8. Economic Development - Wanchese Seafood Park tour. Boat building and business opportunities supporting the industry will be the focus of this tour.

So mark your calendars for June 14-16 and make plans to join the Northeast District a the 2010 State Ag Agents Meeting. Registration information will be sent in March. Look forward to seeing you in Nags Head!