A trio of high-ranking state and federal agriculture officials is warning that if farmers affected by Hurricane Helene don’t get help soon, next year could be a bleak one for both producers and consumers. 

Dan Messer would have preferred to host a livestock auction on Monday, but instead he was working one in a string of countless dawn-to-midnight days coordinating aid distribution out of the WNC Regional Livestock Center in Canton. 

The following are winners in the N.C. Mountain State Fair’s opening weekend poultry, rabbit, sheep, goat and beef cattle categories from the Smoky Mountain News coverage area: 

Hello from the Antler Village at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. It’s 11:34 a.m. The wine bar around the corner will open in roughly 16 minutes. I’ve been at this vast property since 8:30 a.m. when I was pulling up to attend the grand opening of the Chihuly art exhibit. 

Buddy and Janice Cochran are used to seeing things through. 

The Haywood County Fair will take over the Smoky Mountain Event Center — formerly known as the Haywood County Fairgrounds — Thursday, Sept. 28, through Sunday, Oct. 1.

After community members showed up in force to object to certain provisions of Sylva’s proposed updated zoning ordinance, commissioners tabled the most controversial items, including a provision regulating in-town chicken-keeping, for further discussion.

Accusations of animal cruelty have been swirling about Haywood County stable operator James Lunsford for much of the year but finally evolved into formal charges and a civil suit earlier this fall. 

Animal welfare groups allege Lunsford mistreated more than a dozen horses in his care, along with a number of other animals, but Lunsford says he’s being unfairly targeted by overzealous nonprofits hoping to use him to raise money. 

Haywood County resident James Lunsford, 65, is currently the subject of an animal cruelty lawsuit filed against him Oct. 11 in and by the county of Haywood. 

For decades, urban jurisdictions have enacted animal ordinances intended to sequester the odiferous, unsightly sprawl of animal husbandry outside of town limits.