Sandhills AgInnovation Center
Located In: Richmond County
Counties Served: Montgomery, Moore, Anson, Richmond, Scotland, and Robeson
Overview
The Sandhills AGInnovation Center is a project in the south central Sandhills Region of North Carolina that supports farmers and expands the local farm economy. We offer famers and food businesses training; shared-used farm equipment; processing, aggregation, and storage facilities; and connections to new markets. By aggregating directly from our farmers, we provide fresh, high-quality food to our local communities.
Major Programs
Community Fresh Food Access
Richmond Fresh: in partnership with 18+ faith-based organizations, Sandhills AgInnovation provides fresh, quality local food boxes to those in need. The Richmond Fresh program started small as home-grown intervention to support those in need during the start of the pandemic. It has now grown to include a variety of faith-based and community-based organizations, as funding allows.
FarmSHARE: Sandhills AgInnovation participates in Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s FarmSHARE program, sourcing locally-grown produce from small, sustainable farms and distributing it to those in need through our many community partnerships.
Farmer Training
Demonstration Farm: A fundamental part of our facility is our demonstration farm, which demonstrates small-scale sustainable production methods and provides hands-on learning opportunities. Our goal is to grow the interest and capacity of small and medium-sized farms in our county and region. Organizations who are interested in engaging with the Demonstration Farm can contact our manager, Davon Goodwin.
Equipment Rental: We have equipment available for rent to support area farmers, including: processing equipment, cooling trailer, pea sheller, and storage freezer.
Wholesale Readiness and GAP certification: Sandhills AgInnovation works closely with our Richmond County Cooperative Extension office to support the wholesale readiness of our farmers. The facility offers cooling, storage, and processing services upon request. If a farmer is interested in GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certification (a food safety standard that is necessary to have to sell to some markets), we can help connect them to educational and financial resources to get certified.
Senior Food Programs
Agency on Aging partnership: fresh food boxes are provided to seniors living independently through funding from the Lumber River Council of Government’s Agency on Aging. Read more about this project here
