ProcessingSourcingFacilities

//**Infrastructure Support** ::// Processing and Sourcing Facilities

= = =Processing and Sourcing Facilities=

What is this?
A survey of support facilities was conducted in April 2010 to determine the available infrastructure supporting regional food and timber production in the Triangle. This includes facilities for storing, processing, marketing, preserving, logging, milling, supplying and transporting products.

The facilities identified in the Triangle include the following: Food distributors (indirect), meat processors, poultry hatcheries, shared-use kitchens, concentration yards, fiberboard companies, logging companies, planer/plywood mills, sawmills, wood treating plants, woodyards, and wood dealers/suppliers.

Why does this matter?
Although 84 percent of North Carolina’s farms are family-owned, many farms contract directly with large distributors who control service access, labeling and prices; therefore, controlling producer income. Investing in local processing and related infrastructure is critical to building local, sustainable production economies. It enables the creation of a wide array of products of interest to consumers, extends the marketing window and shelf life of locally produced foods, and allows for full utilization of raw commodities. As a result, there is less scrap, improved profitability, and creation of new jobs in a high growth sector of our economy. Additional benefits include improving food security by reducing transportation costs, fossil fuel use, and reliance on infrastructure outside the region.

**Definitions**
//Fiberboard// = a type of engineered wood product that is made out of wood fibers (1) //Planer// = a machine used to surface rough lumber or timber (2) //Plywood// = a manufactured wood, made by gluing together a number of thin veneers or plies of softwood or hardwood (3) //Food Distributor (indirect)// = an entity that distributes food items to retail outlets, as opposed to directly to consumers //Shared-use Kitchen// = food processing facilities that spread the overhead costs for equipment, supplies, space and services over a number of users thus providing efficiencies and cost savings to food entrepreneurs (4) //Concentration Yard// = an area designated for the collection of trees to be carefully sorted, prepared, and subsequently sold at the best possible market (5)

What does this measure show?
===**Table 1. Local cooperative processing and sourcing facilities. Sources: Chatham County Agricultural Extension Service and NC Division of Forestry Resources (2010).** === === === **Figure 1. Local cooperative processing and sourcing facilities. Sources: Chatham County Agricultural Extension Service and NC Division of Forestry Resources (2010).**

Table 1 and Figure 1 show the number and distribution of facilities across the counties. There are 49 facilities supporting local food and timber production and distribution in the Triangle. The infrastructure for timber processing and manufacturing is much more versatile and numerous (42 facilities) than that for food (7 facilities). Chatham County has the most diverse array of support facilities. It is the only county with food distributors, meat processors, shared-use facilities, concentration yards, fiberboard companies, and planer/plywood mills. Johnston County has the largest number of logging companies, sawmills, and wood dealers/suppliers. However, there are no pulp-, paper- or veneer mills in the region, to name a few missing support facilities.


 * Authors:** Elina Inkiläinen, Aimee Schmidt


 * Reviewers:** Tandy Jones, TLC; Dr. Nancy Creamer, NCSU

=
These data were obtained in April 2010 through a search of databases created by the NC Cooperative Extension Service in Chatham County and NC Division of Forest Resources. The spreadsheet with the data: [|Facilities Data.xlsx] =====