CALS Alum Guides the Next Chapter for NC Research Stations
Hunter Barrier reflects on his journey from picking produce with his grandfather to heading up the state’s agricultural research stations and giving back to the next generation.
Recently named director of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Research Stations Division, Hunter Barrier is rarely in one place for long.
He frequently travels to visit stations and field laboratories throughout the state. Earlier this fall, Barrier visited Williams Hall on NC State’s North Campus, where he spoke with members of the Agronomy Club about his passion for agricultural research.
Curious students flooded him with questions about drone technology and why North Carolina is considered a grain-deficient state. It’s not the first time Barrier has visited NC State to promote the importance of agriculture. He regularly visits universities to raise awareness about research stations and highlight career opportunities in the industry.
“People benefit every day from a safe, reliable food supply, but they may not realize the amount of science, labor, logistics and research required to put food on the table,” he says. “Our research stations are great places to work. Employees come to work with a purpose, learn something new regularly, work with their hands, solve real problems and contribute to an industry that affects everyone.”
An Early Love of the Land and Growing Food
A native of Rowan County, North Carolina, Barrier developed an interest in agriculture from a young age. He enjoyed learning about farm equipment, growing plants, and working with friends from church to grow produce. He also operated a lawn-care business and maintained farmland that had been in his family since the 1860s.
“I spent a lot of time with my grandfather, who kept gardens at the farm, his home, and my aunt’s home,” Barrier recalls. “I remember picking produce with him and watching him give it away to neighbors. That brought him a great deal of joy. In a way, I see myself as a first-generation farmer because I restarted farming on family land after two generations without active farming.”
Growing up near the Piedmont Research Station, he had passed by it many times but didn’t fully understand its purpose until he was an NC State student.
“As a kid, we passed by the Piedmont Research Station regularly, but I never really knew what happened there,” Barrier says. “I saw the equipment, high tunnels, dairy cows, and fields, but I only understood it as a farm.”
“My first real exposure [to a research station] came during college, when I took a tree-fruit production course,” he recalls. “We visited the Sandhills Research Station and pruned peach trees. That was the first time I had been on a research station, and it helped me understand the purpose and impact of the statewide research-station system.”
Discovering the Purpose and Impact of Statewide Research
Barrier began his career in agricultural research as a temporary employee at the Piedmont Research Station while finishing his graduate degree in horticultural science at NC State. He then progressed through various roles, becoming an agricultural research technician, specialist, and eventually a unit research operations manager for the horticulture unit.