Breakfast with the Commissioner Recap

The Tobacco Farm Life Museum held the 15th annual “Breakfast with the Commissioner” benefit, with Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler, at the Southern Farm Show. The event proceeds support the Museum’s mission to preserve and present the history and heritage of the rural farming community through collection care, research and public tours.

Two awards were presented to the farming community at the event. Mrs. Alice Scott, co-owner and executive secretary of Scott Farms, a sixth-generation family farm in Lucama, was honored with the “Excellence in Agriculture” award for her comprehensive involvement in the promotion and continued growth of the agriculture community in North Carolina. The “Excellence in Agriculture” award is sponsored by Southern Bank.

The “Innovative Young Farmer of the Year” award was sponsored by Farm Credit Associations of North Carolina and was presented to Michelle Pace Davis, who operates Pace Family Farms located in Clayton, North Carolina. The winner of this award was chosen based on their dedication to the progression of technology and accuracy in agriculture and educational outreach to members of the general public. Davis has been instrumental in opening the Pace Family Farms as an agritourism location and in instituting creative solutions to prevent produce waste.

This year’s Breakfast with the Commissioner also included special guest Shawn Harding, the newly elected President of North Carolina Farm Bureau.

The Breakfast Benefit was held on Friday, February 7, 2020 with over 550 members of the Agriculture community present, at the Holshouser Building, North Carolina State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, NC. Thank you to everyone who attended and all of our event sponsors. We hope you all enjoyed the breakfast as well as hearing from Commissioner Troxler and other industry leaders about the state and importance of agriculture in North Carolina.