Exclusively funded by the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission
Linda and Perry Carringer, Mountain Cheesery at Town Mountain Farm Milking Room Grant Award: $6,000 The Carringers have completed the construction a new, larger milking room to help expand their artisan cheese business. Mountain Cheesery recently invested about $65,000 in … View >>
Lisa and Brandon Higgins, C-Saw Hill Farm Solar Hot Water Dairy and Cheese Plant Grant Award: $6,000 Lisa and Brandon have installed a solar hot water system as part of their new dairy, where they plan to milk approximately 10 … View >>
Susan and Terry English English Dairy Farm Grant Award: $6,000 — English Farmstead Cheese Susan and Terry are planning to manufacture fresh cheese spreads as well as aged cheeses using milk produced solely on the farm. They are constructing a … View >>
Donna is diversifying her vegetable and meat/milk goat farm by producing goat cheese. She is purchasing a 12′ x 16′ building to turn into a certified kitchen and is equipping the kitchen per N.C. Department of Agriculture requirements. Purchases include … View >>
Loretta Ball Craggy View Farm Grant Award: $6,000 — Farm Stand Loretta is building a farm stand on the Barnardsville Highway in Weaverville. At the retail store, she sells her greenhouse plants as well as locally grown and organic produce, … View >>
Will & Tambra Buford: Vineyards Edge Dairy Goat Farm Grant Award: $6,000 To obtain an N.C. dairy license, the Bufords are building a milking room and processing room, equipped with a pasteurizer, stainless steel appliances and cooler/freezer. They raise Nubian … View >>
Dwain Swing & Cynthia Sharpe: OakMoon Farm & Creamery Goat Husbandry & Cheese-making Workshops Expansion Grant Award: $9,000 Cynthia and Dwain are growing the scope of their cheese-making and goat husbandry workshop sessions. They are improving the supporting farm infrastructure … View >>
Cynthia Sharpe and Dwain Swing are improving their milking room and creamery so that they can produce raw goat-milk cheese. With the grant, they purchased steel stanchions and constructed an aging room. Cynthia is now able to work full-time on … View >>
Chris Owen, owner of Spinning Spider Creamery in Madison County, is improving her cheese aging facility so that she can increase her production of hard cheeses. The additions will also make the creamery more inviting to customers. Chris is offering … View >>
Agri-Tourism Bruce DeGroot and Karen Mickler have used the WNC Ag Options Grant to improve the road between their dairy and pottery studio to enhance tourists’ experience on their farm. Yellow Branch Farm is located in Graham County. Visit … View >>
Livestock Laurie Bruce and her family have started raising Nubian dairy goats in Clay County. The Bruce family will soon be producing fresh dairy products in their cheese-making facility funded in part by the WNC Ag Options Grant. Clay … View >>
Yellow Branch Farm and has been drawing visitors for several years now. The dairy is pasture-based and milk from the herd is used for cheesemaking. Karen’s pottery studio is in the lower pasture. This grant allowed Yellow Branch to build … View >>