Golden Leaf series: Can industrial hemp replace tobacco for North Carolina farmers?

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Golden Leaf series: Can industrial hemp replace tobacco for North Carolina farmers?

By Jeff Tiberii,

Rachel McCarthy

Published March 19, 2025 at 12:00 PM EDT

Tobacco was once king in North Carolina. While NC is still the largest tobacco producing state in the country, many small farmers have transitioned away from growing tobacco in recent years. Researchers and farmers are now working together to figure out if industrial hemp can be the next big cash crop for North Carolina鈥攁nd a sustainable one, as well.

Listen to more from Due South's occasional series 'Golden Leaf' about tobacco's deep roots in North Carolina.

Guests

Patrick Brown, manages the Brown Family Farm; Director, Farmer Inclusion Program at Nature for Justice; Owner, The Connect Group LLC

David Suchoff, Assistant Professor, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina State University

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Due South Golden Leaf

Jeff Tiberii

Jeff Tiberii is the co-host of 吉彩网网站's "Due South." Jeff joined 吉彩网网站 in 2011. During his 20 years in public radio, he was Morning Edition Host at WFDD and 吉彩网网站鈥檚 Greensboro Bureau Chief and later, the Capitol Bureau Chief. Jeff has covered state and federal politics, produced the radio documentary 鈥淩ight Turn,鈥� 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 吉彩网网站 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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