In his day job, Noah Ranells develops markets for Orange County farmers. When he goes home, he grows produce for those markets.
Ranells, Orange County's agriculture economic development coordinator, brings unusual insight to the job. Since 2004, he has raised cows, sheep and thousands of chickens on a 60-acre farm in Efland.
Whether he's selling eggs, vegetables and meat at local farmers markets or building a moveable chicken house in a 100-degree heat, those experiences allow him to understand the challenges facing small farmers.
That insight, his peers say, helps Ranells see how to grow the local food system, which is seeing the result of Ranells' labors.
This summer, two of Ranells' projects will come to fruition: the launch of the Piedmont Grown label that identifies local food for consumers; and the opening later this month of the Piedmont Food & Agricultural Processing Center, a food business incubator in Hillsborough.
While many people were involved in those efforts, his peers say that Ranells, who is too modest take much credit, was indispensable.
"His role in both of those [projects] was as the leader," said Debbie Roos, a Chatham County cooperative extension agent who serves on both the Piedmont Grown and the food business incubator boards.
Farm, foster children
Ranells, 48, was born in New York City, the sixth of seven children. The year he was born, his parents bought a 60-acre farm north of Mount Pocono, Pa. The family split time between the Upper East Side, where the children went to school, and the farm with dairy cows, honeybees, chickens, goats and sheep.
Ranells showed animals at state and county fairs, once winning reserve grand champion at the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show.
"I enjoyed it and got exposed to the values of people who farmed," Ranells says.
Ranells went on to study animal science at The University of Maryland. When he didn't get into veterinary school, he opted for the Peace Corps, serving in Zaire and helping farmers. He returned to the United States and pursued a master's degree in crop science at N.C. State University. That's where he met his longtime partner, Ben Bergmann, who was a doctoral student at N.C. State.
Despite dreams of working internationally, Ranells says, "In the bottom of my heart, I always wanted to have a farm."
In 1994, the couple bought a 60-acre farm near Efland, not necessarily intending to become farmers but valuing the land. By 1999, they built a house and moved in. By 2004, a half dozen chickens led to many more and Bergmann working full time on the farm.
Now the couple has about 1,200 laying hens, cows and sheep and sells at four local farmers markets. They have bought another 70-acre farm nearby.
At the same time, Ranells and Bergmann became trained as foster parents. Both come from big families.
"There's no better place than a farm for a kid," Ranells says. Children learn responsibilities and have opportunities to gain self-confidence on a farm, he says.
Since 2001, the couple has taken in 13 foster children, at most two children at a time. They are adopting their "lucky 13" child, Darryl, 7, who Ranells said is working on becoming an ace salesman at farmers markets.
Training for farmers
Ranells had a series of agriculture or environmental jobs from N.C. State University to the Town of Carrboro. Then in 2005, he landed his current part-time job as Orange County's agriculture economic development coordinator. He spends half his week working to create economic opportunities for farmers, and the other half working on his own farm.
"It's definitely an asset that somebody doing that job understands what we do," said Tim MacAller of Four Leaf Farm in Orange County.
Ideas and action
Beyond understanding what the local food system needs, Ranells is also able to get things done. "Noah is a really big thinker, somebody who puts his ideas into action," said Nancy Creamer, executive director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, which develops and promotes environmentally friendly farming methods.
For example, Creamer said, Ranells wanted to start a farm business incubator, a training program for new farmers that would provide land for them to start their fledging businesses. There was no money or support in the beginning. But, Creamer says, "He had this vision and pushed it forward and made it happen."
Now, the farm business incubator is at the Breeze Farm, an agricultural extension and research center in Hurdle Mills in Person County. About 50 students attended a two-month series of classes last winter and a dozen new farmers are growing produce on site.
The most recent projects had similar paths; both were suggested before Ranells took his job, but he helped navigate them to completion.
Ranells secured a $50,000 grant to launch Piedmont Grown. The Piedmont Grown label helps consumers identify foods and products grown, raised or made by a local farmer within a 37-county crescent from Raleigh to Charlotte. So far, about 150 farmers, restaurants, grocery stores, artisan food producers and others have been certified to use the label.
For the incubator kitchen in Hillsborough, Ranells obtained $1.4 million in grant money and then convinced his Orange County bosses to donate a 10,400-square-foot building. The kitchen is available for rent to food entrepreneurs who can't afford to build their own commercial-grade kitchens. The long-term goal is encourage entrepreneurs to use ingredients grown or raised by local farmers.
For Ranells, that goal is always supporting the local food system.
"What is always amazing to me," said MacAller, the Orange County farmer, "he really is an advocate for all kinds of opportunities for local food."
