At its Fobruary 13, 1986 meeting, the Commission appointed 

 the members of the Technical Advisory Commission so they could 

 begin formulating recommendations for the agriculture, 

 forestry, and seafood industries. The Commission heard reports 

 from the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Natural 

 Resources and Community Development about their efforts in 

 marketing N. C. agricultural, forestry, and seafood products. 

 In addition, the Commission hoard about new forest fire 

 suppression needs from Harry Layman, Director of the Division 

 of Forest Resources; and the problems with shellfish leases 

 from Ed McCoy, acting Director of the Division of Marine 

 Fisheries. The Commission concluded this meeting v/ith a series 

 of reports on the status of agricultural financing. Gerald 

 White of Tarheel Farm Credit, Al.len Spalt of the Pural 

 Advancement Fund, and Larry Godwin of the Farmers Home 

 Administration discussed the problems occurring in agricultural 

 financing . 



At its third meeting the Agriculture, Forestry, and 

 Seafood Awareness Commission heard several reports. Jim Olsen, 

 Director of the Crop and Livestock Reporting Service reported 

 the results of a survey determining the financial status of 

 farmers in North Carolina. The survey found that 19.2% of 

 farmers surveyed had debt-to-assct ratios of 40% and above. 



Mr. Jerry Ganey from the State Ports Authority spoke on 

 the role of the State Ports in assisting the marketing of 

 N. C. agriculture forestry and seafood industries. There was 

 discussion on the storage of grain at the ports. 



