WCU Stories      December 11, 2024

By Cam Adams

The North Carolina Agricultural Mediation Program and the Farm Agricultural Resources and Mediation of Virginia have been two mainstays at Western Carolina University for a while now.

And through the next year, they’ll be here to stay.

The programs’ executive director and College of Business professor Debra Burke received a $235,593 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund NCAMP and FARMVA.

“It’s quite a feather in Western’s cap,” said Bob Holbert, the programs’ mediation director. “I’m very proud of Western Carolina for hosting this across two states. We’ve had very successful programs in both states, so it’s a little point of pride for anyone that’s associated with Western Carolina.”

FARMVA and NCAMP are mediation programs aimed at helping to settle disputes between USDA agencies in Virginia and North Carolina respectively and “their customers and clients, and help resolve disputes involving agricultural issues.”

Congress authorized these state agricultural mediation programs in 1987 before NCAMP was instituted at WCU in 2007. The university started hosting FARMVA in 2013.

“Benefits from mediations can touch all (kinds of) areas, and it can go for years and years if you restore a relationship between an agency and a farmer, and if you can help to keep that farmer in business, this can be something that would bring benefits to every citizen in the state,” Holbert said.

Holbert expects the programs’ caseloads will expand in the upcoming year, giving him and several others involved at WCU more of a chance to do what they love.

“It is an exciting thing to be involved with. This is the best job I’ve ever had in my life,” he said. “The role of a peacemaker is very rewarding. Sometimes it can be difficult getting there, but there are a lot of rewards if we do.

“We get to serve our university, we get to our farmers in our two states, and it’s a great gig.”