Checking in on a particularly hard year for North Carolina farms

By Jeff Tiberii,

Published December 12, 2024 at 11:42 AM EST

Powerful waters from Helene formed a sinkhole on what used to be 10 acres of plentiful apple trees. Farmer Jeff Nix estimates a loss of over a million dollars. Photo taken on October 29, 2024.

In the summer of 2024, farms in North Carolina already faced challenges in the form of drought, followed by intense rain.

Then came Helene, bringing landslides and flooding to western NC farms, depositing contaminated debris on farmland and washing away topsoil.

Reporter Jane Winik Sartwell discusses the toll on crops, farms, and farmers across the state.

Guest

Jane Winik Sartwell, Staff Reporter, Carolina Public Press

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Jeff Tiberii

Jeff Tiberii is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Jeff joined WUNC in 2011. During his 20 years in public radio, he was Morning Edition Host at WFDD and WUNC’s Greensboro Bureau Chief and later, the Capitol Bureau Chief. Jeff has covered state and federal politics, produced the radio documentary “Right Turn,” launched a podcast, and was named North Carolina Radio Reporter of the Year four times.

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Rachel McCarthy

Rachel McCarthy is a producer for "Due South." She previously worked at WUNC as a producer for "The Story with Dick Gordon." More recently, Rachel was podcast managing editor at Capitol Broadcasting Company where she developed narrative series and edited a daily podcast. She also worked at "The Double Shift" podcast as supervising producer. Rachel learned about audio storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Prior to working in audio journalism, she was a research assistant at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.

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