"North Carolina has gone through several transitions in its agriculture. Originally we were a state that produced tobacco, lumber and pine tar," says Dr. Walden, of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. "Then we moved to cotton, then back to tobacco. In 1974, 39 percent of ag revenues were from tobacco; 38 percent from livestock; and other crops, 23 percent.

"But in 2002, the latest year for which we have full data, only 5 percent of ag revenues are now from tobacco –- just 5 percent," he says. "Twenty-four percent from other crops –- so that hasn’t changed much. The big increase has been in livestock.

"Livestock now counts for 71 percent of all farm revenues in North Carolina. Of course, this is primarily related to hog and poultry farming. So livestock came along just in the nick of time when tobacco was declining.

"The big question now, with some environmental issues with livestock," Walden says, "is whether there is another ag transition coming."