The Alexander County Nickels for Know-How Referendum will be held on Thursday, November 17, 2022. Alexander County will have one polling location located at the N.C. Cooperative Extension – Alexander County Center. Community members may cast their ballot on this referendum between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on November 17, 2022. Any community member who is a user or producer of feed or fertilizer can participate.

The referendum is being held to let users and producers of feed or fertilizer decide if they wish to continue the self-assessment program. This program has been in place since 1948, and the law requires that a new referendum be held every six years.  A 2/3 favorable vote will mean that growers are willing to continue to assess themselves to support agricultural research and education. The assessment is fifteen cents per hundred pounds on feed and fertilizer produced in North Carolina.  The funds, about $1.4 million annually, are collected by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and then allocated by the NC Carolina Agricultural Foundation, Inc.’s 148 volunteer Board of Directors to support agricultural research and extension projects at North Carolina State University benefitting agriculture in North Carolina.   For more information on the referendum, please call Allison Brown at 828-632-4451 or email allison_brown@ncsu.edu.