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62 <br /> 1 Commissioner Carter asked for more information on the food insecurity rates and <br /> 2 Medicaid enrollment. <br /> 3 Jonathon Smith said with more people taking advantage of Medicaid, he was speculating <br /> 4 if there would be a change in food insecurity rates. He said more data should be available on this <br /> 5 with next year's census. <br /> 6 Travis Myren said he will look into the eligibility cross over. <br /> 7 Commissioner Fowler said she thinks DSS tries to enroll people into every program they <br /> 8 are eligible for at once. <br /> 9 Jonathon said he will touch base with DSS about this. <br /> 10 Mike Ortosky said 75% of Farm Bill expenditures go to nutrition programs and less to <br /> 11 agriculture. <br /> 12 Commissioner Carter asked about vertical farming. She said she's heard it drastically <br /> 13 increases productivity on a small footprint. She asked if looking at it for use in Orange County is <br /> 14 under the purview of Cooperative Extension. <br /> 15 Mike Ortosky said research at NC State and other universities is being done on controlled <br /> 16 environment agriculture, which includes vertical farming. He said it does require tons of money <br /> 17 and a lot of energy to build or rehab a place that can be used for this purpose. He said it is <br /> 18 becoming a larger part of the food chain. <br /> 19 Jonathon Smith recommended looking up the Plant Sciences Institute at NC State for <br /> 20 interdisciplinary research focused on how to keep North Carolina as an industry leader in <br /> 21 agriculture and the plant sciences and to drive technology innovations in this area. He said they <br /> 22 send out a newsletter as well. <br /> 23 Mike Ortosky said another thing to keep an eye on is Al. He said it is now being used to <br /> 24 identify weeds in fields to target them directly, which will decrease pesticide use. <br /> 25 Commissioner McKee said any building can be turned into a production facility but is very <br /> 26 expensive. He said these technologies are coming, but may be limited to large commercial <br /> 27 farmers due to cost. He said there's no reason the county can't support farmers through grants, <br /> 28 etc. <br /> 29 Commissioner Greene said she just looked up the Farm Bill and it has been extended <br /> 30 through September of 2025. <br /> 31 Jonathon Smith shared that Caswell and Rockingham counties have been able to <br /> 32 purchase large farm equipment and loan it out to farmers for their use which lowers barriers. He <br /> 33 said County Extension is working on similar ideas. <br /> 34 <br /> 35 The Board recessed for a break at 2:40 PM. <br /> 36 <br /> 37 Commissioner McKee left the retreat at 2:40 PM. <br /> 38 <br /> 39 <br />