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13 <br />B. Long Term <br />For additional information on the long-term committee products, refer to Appendix 3, <br />1. The goal of the long-term committee was to identify future needs for Orange <br />County agriculture. This committee developed three areas of focus. <br />i. The group noted that additional information was needed and a process was <br />required to engage the farming community, consumers, & political forces to <br />develop a collective vision fora 10 to 20 year plan, addressing the six <br />components of an agricultural plan <br />• Land <br />• Farmers <br />• Water <br />• Agricultural Genetic Resources <br />• Processing + Distribution <br />• Consumers <br />The Work Group suggests that the commissioners develop a strategy for long <br />term viability of agriculture that includes preparing young farmers to assume <br />management responsibility and produce a modest, yet significant proportion of <br />local products for market, It was suggested that the BOCC establish citizen task <br />farces to develop status reports and action plans for the six areas above with <br />continuous input from the Agricultural Preservation Board, <br />ii, Pursue feasibility studies for ag enterprise development (e.g. local processing <br />facility, farm incubator) <br />iii. Continue to support agricultural programs in future county budgets, <br />C. Field Trips <br />In order to understand the potential of an ag center, members of the Work Group <br />requested that visits to other ag centers and at least one ag processing center be <br />planned, In addition, Spence Dickinson, proprietor of Spence's Community <br />Educational Farm and member of the Work Group, offered to provide a brief tour of <br />his farm and host a meeting. <br />1. Trips to Ag Centers in Wake and Johnston Counties <br />Members were impressed with the ag centers in Wake County, and especially with <br />the Johnston County Ag Center that was in the final phase of construction. ,Ken <br />Bateman, the Johnston County Extension Director, gave the tour. A summary of <br />the trip is provided in Appendix 4 and a slide presentation is provided in Appendix <br />5, <br />2. Trip to Blue Ridge Food Ventures <br />Early on in the Work Group meeting schedule, members noted the desire to <br />consider a value added shared-use processing center as part of an ag center, In <br />addition, the BOCC guiding principles included consideration of a 'potential value <br />added processing center. This focus resulted in a trip to Blue Ridge Food Ventures <br />(BRFV) in Candler, NC, just outside Asheville. The director of the BRFV, Mary Lou <br />Agricultural Center Work Group Report Page 11 <br />