September 12, 2025 • 32 mins
In this episode of Eye on the Triangle, we sit down with Dr. Adrian Percy, Executive Director of NC State’s Plant Science Initiative. Dr. Percy shares insights on Seed2Grow, an innovative program that bridges research, industry, and entrepreneurship to tackle today’s agricultural challenges. From supporting student innovation to strengthening global food security, Seed2Grow is helping turn groundbreaking plant science into real-world solutions.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Shradha Bhatia (00:02):
You are listening to Eye of the
Triangle, WKNC's weekly publicaffairs program from the campus
of North Carolina StateUniversity in Raleigh. Any views
and opinions expressed duringEye of Triangle do not represent
NC State or student media.Welcome to the WKNC eighty eight
(00:23):
point one FM. I'm your host,Shradha Bhatia, And today, we'll
be talking with doctor AdrianPercy, executive director of the
NC State Plant ScienceInitiative, about Seed to Grow,
NC State's new AgTech incubatorprogram. We'll also hear from
the public news service.
This September is infantmortality awareness month
(00:44):
highlighting ongoing challengeshere in North Carolina, and also
it's suicide prevention month.So in North Carolina, LGBTQ plus
youth are at higher risk, andlocal advocates are working to
expand support and resources.Today, I'm excited to be
(01:24):
speaking to doctor Adrian Percy,executive director of the NC
State Plant Science Initiative,about Seed2Grow, a new ag tech
incubator helping researchersbring their ideas from the lab
to the marketplace. To start,could you please introduce
yourself and share a bit aboutyour journey?
Adrian Percy (01:42):
Sure. So thank you, first of all, having me on
on the show. It's great to behere. Yes. So as you heard, my
name is Adrian Percy.
I've been at NC State for fouryears. I actually had a long
career in industry prior tocoming here and working in the
agricultural sector, but thengot the opportunity to come to
NC State, and it has been anamazing four years. And really
(02:03):
happy to be in the position I'min.
Shradha Bhatia (02:05):
That's nice. So I did kinda, like, research
about you, like, and what didyou do? So I heard that you
worked at Bayer and UPL beforethis, and now you're the ends
like, the lead at NC PSI. So howdid those roles shape you build,
like, the seed to grow program?
Adrian Percy (02:22):
Yeah. So working at Bayer, I was I had the
privilege of working basicallyall over the world and seeing
different agricultural systemsin places like Brazil and China
and India, Australia, NewZealand, many, many different
places, and and got somewhat ofa feeling the fact that farmers
across the world say actuallyface many similar challenges.
(02:45):
And at Bayer, we had theopportunity to develop
individual products to helpfarmers. And then at UPL, which
is an Indian based company, Ialso had that opportunity to do
a very similar type of job thatwas more focused on on Southeast
Asia, particularly India, ofcourse. But then coming to NC
State, you know, I realizedNorth Carolina farmers have also
(03:07):
some very similar issues thanwhat we're seeing in other parts
of the world.
And, of course, as a land grantuniversity, NC State has a big
focus on those growers, on thosestakeholders across the state.
And I just saw it as anopportunity to carry on the type
of work that I was doing at inthese international companies,
but to have really much more ofa focused effort where we could
(03:28):
actually see, you know, everyday because we meet with farmers
all the time, we can actuallysee the benefit of the research
that we're doing.
Shradha Bhatia (03:35):
Oh, that's really interesting. And I've
also known that you livedacross, like, Europe and US. So,
like, what's the difference thatyou noticed? How these regions
across, like, approachagriculture, like, and
innovation and, like,commercialization?
Adrian Percy (03:53):
Yeah. So I'm from The UK, as you might hear from
my voice. I'm not from NorthCarolina, but did work mostly in
France and in Germany. I think,you know, there are many
similarities. I would say someof the differences are in
Europe, there's a really heavyfocus on sustainability.
And not to say that Americanfarmers don't think about that
(04:15):
or work on it, but it has becomealmost top of mind in Europe. A
lot of the public policy,government policies driving
farmers to use very sustainablepractices, some of which are
unfortunately very practical,but they're required to do that.
So there is that kind of very,very strong emphasis. Would say
(04:35):
the other thing that differsbetween, say, The US and Europe
is the size of the farms. Not somuch in North Carolina because
we tend to have medium size andand even smaller farms.
But in Europe, you know, and therural societies and urban
societies are becoming very muchintermeshed now. I lived in a
house where behind me there wasa school and in front of me
(04:57):
there was a farmer's field. Youdon't see that so much in
America because, you know, of ofof the of the increased land
mass that we have. But what itmeant, of course, was that
people in the town, in thevillage where I live, were very,
very conscious of what thefarmers were doing and knew when
they were spraying a chemical,for example, and didn't want
(05:17):
that happening around a school,for example. And so those kind
of very interactive kind ofsituations that you get in those
very kind of intermeshcommunities are perhaps a little
bit different from what you seecommonly in The US.
Shradha Bhatia (05:33):
For sure. Yeah. Because, like, in The UK, like,
Europe, they have a lot of land.Right? For sure.
Adrian Percy (05:39):
Yeah. We have land, but it's there's also a
lot of population.
Shradha Bhatia (05:42):
Oh,
Adrian Percy (05:42):
yeah. And, you know, The UK where I'm come from
is roughly the size of NorthCarolina, but we have at least
four times more people in inthat in that landmass. So, you
know, farming and and urbanlife, if you like, are are very
much kind of close and and haveto fit together.
Shradha Bhatia (05:59):
Very interconnected. Yeah. Yeah. And
now we would, like, switch to,like, the more focused was,
like, the seed to grow program.So many researchers have, like,
brilliant ideas, but, like,struggle to move from, like, the
lab bench to, like, themarketplace.
So what barriers do you seeoften, and how is, like, seed to
(06:21):
grow designed to bridge them?
Adrian Percy (06:23):
Well, NC State's, you know, part of our mission is
is research, and we have someexcellent researchers.
Translating research into acommercial product is not an
easy journey, and it takes avery unique skill set and
actually a group of differentskill sets where you have to
understand the market thatyou're trying to introduce a
(06:44):
product in. You have tounderstand the price point that
you want to introduce thisproduct. Will it actually add
value to a farmer, for instance?Are they able to, you know, have
a return on the investment thatthey need to make in that
technology?
Then you need to produce perhapsa sensor or something at scale.
Again, not something that'scommonly done in a university
(07:06):
research lab. So what webasically try to do is help
researchers who normally willhave a great idea. They will
have a great idea for atechnology, but then we'll help
them understand, does thattechnology meet an unmet need?
Does it can it be produced, forinstance, at a scale, at a cost
which is attractive to acustomer, in this case, perhaps
(07:30):
a farmer?
And then can they actually takethis journey where they have to
maybe get investment from theoutside in order to ramp up
their operations? Can they forma team that will actually have a
commercial focus rather thanjust a research focus? And what
we try to do through the seed togrow program is help faculty or
students or postdocs in all ofthose different elements that
(07:52):
you need to you need to have inorder to actually build a
company that will one day have aproduct and be profitable.
Shradha Bhatia (08:02):
And then the NCPSI emphasizes, like, more
public private partnerships. Sohow do those partnerships
practically benefit startups andseek to grow?
Adrian Percy (08:15):
Yeah. So we're very, very lucky to be on the
edge of Research Triangle Parkhere in Raleigh. And RTP has
become a world leading hub foragricultural technology
production, and that's becausewe have a lot of the large
companies. I used to work herefor Bayer. They're no longer
here.
They moved to St. Louis. Buteven outside of that, many big
(08:36):
companies, Syngenta, BASF,they're major employers in the
park. They have their NorthAmerican headquarters here. They
also have some of their global rand d here.
So they are the the thefoundation, if you like, for
this ag tech hub that we havehere in the triangle. But
there's a lot of smallercompanies, medium sized, smaller
companies, startups working inthis field. We now have over 200
(08:59):
ag tech companies in the region.So with that comes a lot of
expertise, a lot of knowledge.It gives us the opportunity to
partner with those companies orwith individuals in those
companies who can help adviseour companies or even partner
with them, collaborate.
Sometimes they hire ourstudents, of course. But there's
this real interconnectednessbetween what goes on in RTP and
(09:20):
what happens here on campus. Andthat's a really important
element of of our whole program.
Shradha Bhatia (09:27):
200. That's a lot.
Adrian Percy (09:29):
A lot a lot of companies. Yeah.
Shradha Bhatia (09:32):
And some critics say that incubators risk
becoming like silos. So how doesseed to grow ensure start ups
stay connected to, like, realworld grower needs and, like,
market requirements?
Adrian Percy (09:46):
That's a great question. So so I'll answer that
in two ways. So first of all, ifI could take an example, we had
a company that recentlygraduated from our program.
Mhmm. They're called HoofprintBiome.
They're two former students fromNC State. They just they have a
technology that they believewill reduce methane emissions
from livestock. Mhmm. At thesame time, they'll increase the
(10:09):
productivity of the livestock.So more meat, more milk.
Now they worked across campus.They had a cow in animal
sciences that they worked with.They worked out of the PSI
Building. They worked with ourmaker space building sensor
devices that would measure theamount of methane in the cow and
so on and so forth. And so theyreally leverage the ecosystem
(10:32):
that we have here at NC State.
So that's kind of the firstpoint, as you say, about not
being in a silo. Actually, thisuniversity has so many
resources, sometimes too many toget your head around. But if you
can access those in differentparts of the university, you'll
find a lot of people who arewilling to support those types
of efforts. The other thing, andI think you bring up a really
(10:54):
important point about stayingconnected to your customer base,
the farmer in this case, or thelivestock producer. And we do
that through constantinteractions with farmers.
So we have a farmer advisorycouncil. These are farmers who
sometimes have a connection toNC State, sometimes don't, but
they believe in the mission thatwe have at the PSI, and they
(11:15):
help advise us on the researchactivities that we have and the
types of technologies that weare developing. We also reach
out to what we call commodityassociations. So in North
Carolina, we have around about90 different crops which are
being grown. Most of those havea commodity association that
represents them.
So there's the sweet potatocommission, there's the corn
(11:37):
growers association, there's thesoybean producers association.
They stay very close toindividual farmers and
understand the challenges thatthey face producing that
particular crop, and theyprovide us with input. Again,
helping inform our researchactivities so that we're working
on the right things anddeveloping technologies that
will be really useful to thefarmer and user friendly as
(12:00):
well. So not some machine orrobot that they just can't use
or that breaks down in the fieldbecause you have rain or
whatever it may be, it's toohot, too cold. So really
practical devices that will willbe useful on the farm.
And that's really how we avoidbeing in that kind of silo type
mentality.
Shradha Bhatia (12:21):
Cause, Yeah. Like, having those, like,
individual associations, I feellike they're they're, like,
helping you a lot.
Adrian Percy (12:27):
They really help us. We actually bring a lot of
them together. We we had a largeevent last year where we brought
around about 30 of theseassociations together. And it
was very interesting becausewhen we interrogated them and
kind of teased out from themwhat are the issues that they
see the farmers producing theirparticular crops have, many of
(12:47):
them were overlapping. And so wewere able then to develop
research programs that met theneeds of multiple crops at the
same time.
Shradha Bhatia (12:54):
That's really interesting. Yeah. And then I
have, like, a few morequestions. So mentorship is,
like, central through executivesand residents. So what qualities
do you look for in mentors, andhow do they balance
encouragement with toughfeedback?
Adrian Percy (13:11):
Great question. I think any successful
entrepreneur recognizes the needfor feedback and tough feedback.
You know, it's not helpful tohave someone telling you all the
time you're doing a great jobwhen you're really not. It's a
waste of time, and it it canlead you in the wrong direction
(13:33):
and and lead to really badconsequences. So I think, you
know, one of the things we sayabout successful entrepreneurs
is they're coachable.
They listen. They want tounderstand. They want to adapt.
And they will take the opinionsof various different mentors and
try to then path, you know, away forward for themselves
because sometimes they'll getconflicting advice. But from the
(13:55):
mentor side, we find there's alot of former executives in RTP,
people who have worked in bigcompanies, small companies,
people who have sometimes hadfailures, which is one of the
best ways to learn, and who arewilling to give their time.
And that's the thing I findreally amazing is that so many
of these folks give their time.I know a lot of students that
(14:17):
I've talked to and faculty aresometimes reluctant to ask for
people's time.
Shradha Bhatia (14:22):
Yeah.
Adrian Percy (14:22):
And I don't think they already under they always
understand that, actually, thisis a is a very pleasurable
thing, it is a very rewardingthing for these mentors to do.
And they tell me all the time, Iwish I could do more of this.
You know, it's one of the ways Igive back. It gives me most
pleasure to be able to interactwith a company or an
entrepreneur or a student arounda particular topic, gives them
(14:45):
the benefit of my experience.And sometimes they'll take it
and sometimes they won't, butbut they they really love the
process.
So, you know, I think if youhave that opportunity, you
should really take it.
Shradha Bhatia (14:54):
Yeah. Because, like, as a student, I can, like,
relate that I'm, like, veryhesitant when I'm, like, asking
for, like, mentorship oranything. Because and sometimes
if I would get, like,conflicting feedback, so I just,
like, wouldn't know what to,like, work around it. So, like,
do you have, like, any thoughtsabout that?
Adrian Percy (15:11):
So I think having an honest relationship with your
mentor if someone if someonesays to to you they they're
they're happy to do it Mhmm.Then take them at their word.
You know, there's a lots of waysthey could get out of it without
hurting your feelings if theywanted to. But if they seem
genuinely interested, then, youknow, just go for it. But I
think in terms of approachingpeople, just ask.
(15:33):
I mean, you know, you can givethem a little bit of an outing
in case they don't want to doit, but, you know, I I will
often get emails or I'll havepeople meet with me and just
ask. And, you know, normally Iwill say yes. I won't say yes if
I don't think I can help themMhmm. Which sometimes may be the
case. But if if if I feel I'vegot something, then I will I
(15:54):
will say yes.
But I'll also advise them to geta whole range of mentors
because, again, I think thecollective wisdom of a lot of
people is is better than havingjust one or two people who may
lead you down the wrong pathsometimes. Yeah.
Shradha Bhatia (16:10):
Ag tech often has, like, long development
timelines compared to, like,software. So what strategies
does Seed2Grow use to keepentrepreneurs resilient during
that long run to the market?
Adrian Percy (16:22):
Well, you're absolutely right. It can take an
awful long time to bring a newbiotechnology trait or a new a
new type of sweet potato or anew crop protection product to
market. It can take decades, infact. So you do need to be very
resilient and have a lot ofpatience. You know, we tend to
(16:42):
break things down into stages.
We see a lot of investors, infact, are willing to invest at a
very early stage in thedevelopment of some of these
technologies, and theyunderstand that there is a long,
long lead time before they mighthit the market and become
profitable. So I thinkrecognizing that ag is different
from some other sectors becausethere's a lot of regulatory
(17:05):
oversight of our food as thereshould be, which means that
there's a lot of studies youhave to do to show safety, and
that takes a lot of money and alot of time. So just
understanding that we need to bepatient is one thing. But I
would say the other side is weare developing a lot of software
now. I think one of the untappedareas in agriculture is the use
of digital science and the useof apps and devices which are
(17:30):
driven by the Internet ofThings, which are driven by AI
and by machine learning.
And that's one of the thingswe're really focused on at the
PSI. We're trying to work withour researchers to support them
to develop what we call decisionsupport tools, are useful for
farmers to help them makedecisions in in their their
production practices, and thosecan be developed really quickly.
(17:51):
You know, it's months as opposedto decades. So Yeah. You know,
we're trying to do both.
Shradha Bhatia (17:56):
No. Like, adding software into that would really
help.
Adrian Percy (18:00):
Yeah. I mean, they say now, you know, one of
today's modern tractors is morecomplex than the lunar module in
1965, know, and they are very,very complex. And, you know,
farmers now are more and moreusing, you know, apps to collect
weather data, make predictions,to understand, you know, how to
(18:23):
treat their crops. We've gotsome researchers who are working
on some really cool technologyaround early detection of
diseases in the field. So, youknow, today, many farmers will
go around and look at theirfields to see if there's some
disease or some an insect theydon't want in the field.
But now with these detectiondevices, you can get, you know,
an alert on your on your phonein the morning to say, okay. You
(18:45):
need to go treat your fieldbecause it needs more water or
has a bug or or or a diseasethat's gonna cause you problems.
So go go do something. So that'skind of one of the breakthroughs
that we're seeing now is, youknow, digitalization takes over
agriculture just like it's takenover the rest of our lives. You
know?
Shradha Bhatia (19:08):
And North Carolina has a rich agricultural
landscape as like you said. Sohow do you see seed to grow
contributing not only, like,globally, but also, like, local
growers and, like, ruralcommunities here in the state?
Adrian Percy (19:22):
Yeah. So North Carolina has an amazing
agricultural heritage and andcurrent activities. It is the
economic driver of our state,over a $110,000,000,000 in
returns coming out ofagriculture, so it's incredibly
important. But farmers do face alot of challenges. And, you
know, I mentioned abouturbanization, you know, this
(19:43):
kind of conflict sometimesbetween the urban community and
the rural community.
They need different types oftechnologies to overcome that.
There's a lot of issues aroundlabor, the cost of labor, the
availability of labor. And sofarmers are looking for
automation in a lot of theiractivities. There's also a lot
(20:05):
of effects of extreme climate.Climate change is real, and it
is occurring here in our fields.
And farmers have to deal withlong periods of drought followed
by perhaps excessive quantitiesof of rain or hurricanes,
whatever it may be. And sofinding crops which are more
resilient to those extremes oftemperature is really important.
(20:26):
Mhmm. You know, we had countieslast year that had both state of
emergencies for drought and thenshortly afterwards for flooding.
I mean, that is crazy to be, youknow, hit from both sides, if
you like, in the same place inone year.
And, you know, a lot of thoseare rural counties that are
growing these crops, and so weneed to help farmers be more
resilient in terms of thosepractices. And that's why I
(20:49):
think we can add a lot of value.
Shradha Bhatia (20:53):
Like, hitting with the both drought and flood
at the same time?
Adrian Percy (20:56):
Yeah. It's
Shradha Bhatia (20:57):
It is what? So and with the climate change,
like, and growing population,there oh, wait. You just
answered that. You just answered
Adrian Percy (21:08):
my ask it again, maybe I'll ask I'll I'll answer
it better in a better way. So,
Shradha Bhatia (21:12):
like, how with climate change and growing
population pressures, there'surgency for, like, innovation.
Mhmm. So how do you balance,like, encouraging bold ideas
with, like, ensuring they'rerealistic and, like, scalable?
Adrian Percy (21:25):
Yeah. So, I mean, the global population is
increasing, and, of course, thatmeans we need more food. And,
also, at the same time, we'vegot many countries around the
world that are moving to a dietdietary system where they want
more protein, they want moremeat, which means more crops
being produced to feed thoseanimals. So there's a real
strain on the on the demand side
Shradha Bhatia (21:48):
Mhmm.
Adrian Percy (21:48):
But also on the supply side because of, you
know, extreme climate conditionswhich can really have an impact
on crop productivity. So, youknow, meeting those both at the
same time is incrediblyimportant. And, you know, that's
where we can make a difference.And, you know, with the
technologies that we're tryingto develop can help make farmers
(22:09):
more more productive, but at thesame time more resilient in the
sense that their crops areprotected in a in a better way.
I'm not sure I answered yourquestion there.
Hopefully, that was useful.
Shradha Bhatia (22:22):
And finally, what's, like, one piece of
advice you would give to, like,young researchers or, like, a
student with an idea but whoisn't sure how to, like, take
the first step?
Adrian Percy (22:34):
So I would say two things. So first of all, and I
know there's a lot of studentsacross NC State studying a lot
of different things, one of thethings we try to do is get
students excited about theopportunities of agriculture.
Mhmm. We have a lot of studentsfrom engineering in particular
that are looking at how they canapply some of the technologies
and the techniques and theengineering learnings that they
(22:58):
have, and agriculture is agreat, great environment to do
that because there's a hugeneed, as we've already talked
about. But also imagine thatyou're, you know, deploying some
of these, let's say, robot, anew robot system in a field
that's bumpy, that has floodingcapabilities, that's dry
sometimes, that is incrediblyhot sometimes.
(23:19):
I mean, it really adds a wholenew element to, you know, to the
to the stress that we're puttingputting on these devices. So so
that so that's one thing.Agriculture is a very cool place
to be right now. I think theother thing in terms of taking a
first step, if you're talkingabout entrepreneurship, I mean,
really getting informed programslike the seed to grow program
(23:40):
are designed specifically to putstudents and faculty in front of
experienced entrepreneurs in avery informal setting where you
can ask stupid questions ifknow, not that any question is
stupid, but you can ask thosereally basic questions that you
may be hesitant to ask in otherenvironments and sit down and
(24:00):
have a quality conversation andexplore these areas with with
these entrepreneurs who haveseen it and done it a 100 times
in some cases. So I think, youknow, enrolling in one of these
programs is is really valuable,and and hopefully people will
get a lot out of it.
And,
Shradha Bhatia (24:16):
like, do you have, like, any examples of,
like, students who've, like,grown through the seed to grow
program or, like, any, like,final things that you'd like to
mention?
Adrian Percy (24:25):
Yeah. So in the seed to grow program right now,
we we have currently sevencompanies. We had eight, but
Mhmm. We had Hoofprint Biome whograduated. We had a graduation
party for them two weeks ago.
They managed to raise$15,000,000. Oh. So a lot of
money to help them in the nextevolution of their company,
which they will move off campus,and they'll move to Durham and
(24:47):
set up their downtown Durham. Sothat's one example. But then we
have seven other companies atvarious stages of development.
Some of them are very, veryearly, and some of them are not
quite companies yet, but willbe. But then we have student
competitions, and so that's oneway that we've managed to kind
of unlock some of the ideas andenthusiasm that we have amongst
(25:10):
our student population, where wehave a student competition where
you can present anentrepreneurial idea in the
agricultural environment withjust a two minute video. And we
had a couple of students. We hadHarry Irvin from plant and
microbial biology. We had MabelBarrero from chemistry, both of
which had great ideas.
Both of them are well working oncommercialization of those
(25:32):
ideas. Mhmm. And and hopefully,they'll be successful, but we
have a lot of other examples aswell. So, yes, there are there
are definitely students who aremoving forward in that area.
Shradha Bhatia (25:42):
That's that's really good. Yes. Thank those
were, like, all my questionsthat I had for you. So thank you
for, like, joining us today andtelling us about the Seed to
Grow program. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
September is national suicide prevention month, and
LGBTQ youth in North Carolinaand around the country are
finding it harder to receivesupport because of a move by the
Trump administration. In July,the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administrationremoved the press 3 option from
the 988 lifeline, which sentpeople to a hotline that
(26:25):
specializes in supporting LGBTQyouth. Sarah McHale is CEO of
Time Out Youth, the only LGBTQcommunity space in Charlotte.
The organization providessupport for therapy and housing.
She says there's already anxietyamong young people about the
Trump administration, andcutting the press 3 option will
only make matters worse.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
They hear the person who leads this country cutting
funding for something that isdirectly connected to saving
their lives. So it continued tosend the message of we don't
actually care if you exist ornot.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
The Trump administration says funding ran
out for the specialized hotline.LGBTQ youth are twice as likely
to experience a mental healthcondition compared to their
peers, and the numbers are evenhigher for transgender youth.
The Trevor Project had beencontracting with the government
on the 988 line for LGBTQ. Theystill operate a hotline at (866)
488-7386. The trans lifelinealso offers mental health
(27:21):
support at (877) 565-8860.
McKill says she still referspeople to 988, but cautions that
the person on the other end ofthe line might not be affirming
of their identity. She alsonotes that there's a
misconception that LGBTQ peoplecall lifelines to talk
specifically about theiridentity, but that's not usually
the case.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
Far more often, what our young people tell us is it's
just the implicit understandingof your lived experience. You
don't have to explain why schoolfeels difficult or you're
struggling with your parentbecause that person understands
that your identity createsbarriers for other people to try
to relate to you.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Mikhael says time out youth continues to center joy in
the LGBTQ experience. She saysyoung people's resilience gives
her hope for the future.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
That I can see young people being themselves even
more in the face of this makesme feel really hopeful that
young people are gonna save usif our elders would just step
back and let them.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
For North Carolina News Service, I'm Eric Taghidov.
Find our trust indicators atpublicnewsservice.org. September
is National Infant MortalityAwareness Month, shining a light
on a difficult and persistentissue. The infant mortality rate
(28:38):
in North Carolina was six pointnine deaths per thousand births
in 2023, which was the tenthhighest rate in the nation.
There are also large disparitiesalong racial lines, with black
infants dying at three times therate of white infants.
Caitlin Richards with theorganization NC Child says the
top two causes of infantmortality in North Carolina are
low birth weight and birthdefects.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
That can be tied directly back to access to early
prenatal care within the firsttrimester of a pregnancy, which
black mothers typically haveless access to that prenatal
care in their first trimestercompared to white mothers and
those of other race andethnicities.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
State policymakers are looking into ways to reduce
the infant mortality rate. Eachyear, the North Carolina child
fatality task force sends areport to the governor and
general assembly, which includesrecommendations for reducing
child deaths. Richard says onevital resource is home visiting
programs, in which doulas orcommunity health workers go to
new parents' homes duringpregnancy and postpartum to
(29:38):
educate them about things suchas safe sleep practices. She
says another important resourceis access to prenatal care.
Speaker 5 (29:45):
We cannot overstate how important Medicaid access is
in particular for infants andchildren in North Carolina.
Medicaid covers about fiftypercent of all births in North
Carolina, so it plays a pivotalrole when we're looking at these
outcomes.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
However, the future of Medicaid funds is in doubt
after the passage of the One BigBeautiful Bill Act, which is
estimated to cut a trilliondollars from the program over
the next decade. In response,the North Carolina Department of
Health and Human Servicesrecently announced it was
cutting Medicaid spending bynearly $320,000,000 starting in
October. Richard says it's stillunclear what these cuts will
(30:19):
mean, but that they will likelyhave impacts on North Carolina
children's well-being for yearsand decades to come. For North
Carolina news service, I'm EricTigadov. Find our trust
indicators atpublicnewsservice.org.
Shradha Bhatia (31:34):
This has been eye on the triangle from WKNC
eighty eight point one FM HD onerally. Our theme song is
Krakatoa by Noah Stark. Licensedunder creative comedy. To
relisten to this or any otherepisode, visit wpnc.org/podcast
or subscribe wherever you getyour podcasts. Thank you for
(31:55):
listening.
You are listening to Eye of the
Triangle, WKNC's weekly publicaffairs program from the campus
of North Carolina StateUniversity in Raleigh. Any views
and opinions expressed duringEye of Triangle do not represent
NC State or student media.Welcome to the WKNC eighty eight
(00:23):
point one FM. I'm your host,Shradha Bhatia, And today, we'll
be talking with doctor AdrianPercy, executive director of the
NC State Plant ScienceInitiative, about Seed to Grow,
NC State's new AgTech incubatorprogram. We'll also hear from
the public news service.
This September is infantmortality awareness month
(00:44):
highlighting ongoing challengeshere in North Carolina, and also
it's suicide prevention month.So in North Carolina, LGBTQ plus
youth are at higher risk, andlocal advocates are working to
expand support and resources.Today, I'm excited to be
(01:24):
speaking to doctor Adrian Percy,executive director of the NC
State Plant Science Initiative,about Seed2Grow, a new ag tech
incubator helping researchersbring their ideas from the lab
to the marketplace. To start,could you please introduce
yourself and share a bit aboutyour journey?
Adrian Percy (01:42):
Sure. So thank you, first of all, having me on
on the show. It's great to behere. Yes. So as you heard, my
name is Adrian Percy.
I've been at NC State for fouryears. I actually had a long
career in industry prior tocoming here and working in the
agricultural sector, but thengot the opportunity to come to
NC State, and it has been anamazing four years. And really
(02:03):
happy to be in the position I'min.
Shradha Bhatia (02:05):
That's nice. So I did kinda, like, research
about you, like, and what didyou do? So I heard that you
worked at Bayer and UPL beforethis, and now you're the ends
like, the lead at NC PSI. So howdid those roles shape you build,
like, the seed to grow program?
Adrian Percy (02:22):
Yeah. So working at Bayer, I was I had the
privilege of working basicallyall over the world and seeing
different agricultural systemsin places like Brazil and China
and India, Australia, NewZealand, many, many different
places, and and got somewhat ofa feeling the fact that farmers
across the world say actuallyface many similar challenges.
(02:45):
And at Bayer, we had theopportunity to develop
individual products to helpfarmers. And then at UPL, which
is an Indian based company, Ialso had that opportunity to do
a very similar type of job thatwas more focused on on Southeast
Asia, particularly India, ofcourse. But then coming to NC
State, you know, I realizedNorth Carolina farmers have also
(03:07):
some very similar issues thanwhat we're seeing in other parts
of the world.
And, of course, as a land grantuniversity, NC State has a big
focus on those growers, on thosestakeholders across the state.
And I just saw it as anopportunity to carry on the type
of work that I was doing at inthese international companies,
but to have really much more ofa focused effort where we could
(03:28):
actually see, you know, everyday because we meet with farmers
all the time, we can actuallysee the benefit of the research
that we're doing.
Shradha Bhatia (03:35):
Oh, that's really interesting. And I've
also known that you livedacross, like, Europe and US. So,
like, what's the difference thatyou noticed? How these regions
across, like, approachagriculture, like, and
innovation and, like,commercialization?
Adrian Percy (03:53):
Yeah. So I'm from The UK, as you might hear from
my voice. I'm not from NorthCarolina, but did work mostly in
France and in Germany. I think,you know, there are many
similarities. I would say someof the differences are in
Europe, there's a really heavyfocus on sustainability.
And not to say that Americanfarmers don't think about that
(04:15):
or work on it, but it has becomealmost top of mind in Europe. A
lot of the public policy,government policies driving
farmers to use very sustainablepractices, some of which are
unfortunately very practical,but they're required to do that.
So there is that kind of very,very strong emphasis. Would say
(04:35):
the other thing that differsbetween, say, The US and Europe
is the size of the farms. Not somuch in North Carolina because
we tend to have medium size andand even smaller farms.
But in Europe, you know, and therural societies and urban
societies are becoming very muchintermeshed now. I lived in a
house where behind me there wasa school and in front of me
(04:57):
there was a farmer's field. Youdon't see that so much in
America because, you know, of ofof the of the increased land
mass that we have. But what itmeant, of course, was that
people in the town, in thevillage where I live, were very,
very conscious of what thefarmers were doing and knew when
they were spraying a chemical,for example, and didn't want
(05:17):
that happening around a school,for example. And so those kind
of very interactive kind ofsituations that you get in those
very kind of intermeshcommunities are perhaps a little
bit different from what you seecommonly in The US.
Shradha Bhatia (05:33):
For sure. Yeah. Because, like, in The UK, like,
Europe, they have a lot of land.Right? For sure.
Adrian Percy (05:39):
Yeah. We have land, but it's there's also a
lot of population.
Shradha Bhatia (05:42):
Oh,
Adrian Percy (05:42):
yeah. And, you know, The UK where I'm come from
is roughly the size of NorthCarolina, but we have at least
four times more people in inthat in that landmass. So, you
know, farming and and urbanlife, if you like, are are very
much kind of close and and haveto fit together.
Shradha Bhatia (05:59):
Very interconnected. Yeah. Yeah. And
now we would, like, switch to,like, the more focused was,
like, the seed to grow program.So many researchers have, like,
brilliant ideas, but, like,struggle to move from, like, the
lab bench to, like, themarketplace.
So what barriers do you seeoften, and how is, like, seed to
(06:21):
grow designed to bridge them?
Adrian Percy (06:23):
Well, NC State's, you know, part of our mission is
is research, and we have someexcellent researchers.
Translating research into acommercial product is not an
easy journey, and it takes avery unique skill set and
actually a group of differentskill sets where you have to
understand the market thatyou're trying to introduce a
(06:44):
product in. You have tounderstand the price point that
you want to introduce thisproduct. Will it actually add
value to a farmer, for instance?Are they able to, you know, have
a return on the investment thatthey need to make in that
technology?
Then you need to produce perhapsa sensor or something at scale.
Again, not something that'scommonly done in a university
(07:06):
research lab. So what webasically try to do is help
researchers who normally willhave a great idea. They will
have a great idea for atechnology, but then we'll help
them understand, does thattechnology meet an unmet need?
Does it can it be produced, forinstance, at a scale, at a cost
which is attractive to acustomer, in this case, perhaps
(07:30):
a farmer?
And then can they actually takethis journey where they have to
maybe get investment from theoutside in order to ramp up
their operations? Can they forma team that will actually have a
commercial focus rather thanjust a research focus? And what
we try to do through the seed togrow program is help faculty or
students or postdocs in all ofthose different elements that
(07:52):
you need to you need to have inorder to actually build a
company that will one day have aproduct and be profitable.
Shradha Bhatia (08:02):
And then the NCPSI emphasizes, like, more
public private partnerships. Sohow do those partnerships
practically benefit startups andseek to grow?
Adrian Percy (08:15):
Yeah. So we're very, very lucky to be on the
edge of Research Triangle Parkhere in Raleigh. And RTP has
become a world leading hub foragricultural technology
production, and that's becausewe have a lot of the large
companies. I used to work herefor Bayer. They're no longer
here.
They moved to St. Louis. Buteven outside of that, many big
(08:36):
companies, Syngenta, BASF,they're major employers in the
park. They have their NorthAmerican headquarters here. They
also have some of their global rand d here.
So they are the the thefoundation, if you like, for
this ag tech hub that we havehere in the triangle. But
there's a lot of smallercompanies, medium sized, smaller
companies, startups working inthis field. We now have over 200
(08:59):
ag tech companies in the region.So with that comes a lot of
expertise, a lot of knowledge.It gives us the opportunity to
partner with those companies orwith individuals in those
companies who can help adviseour companies or even partner
with them, collaborate.
Sometimes they hire ourstudents, of course. But there's
this real interconnectednessbetween what goes on in RTP and
(09:20):
what happens here on campus. Andthat's a really important
element of of our whole program.
Shradha Bhatia (09:27):
200. That's a lot.
Adrian Percy (09:29):
A lot a lot of companies. Yeah.
Shradha Bhatia (09:32):
And some critics say that incubators risk
becoming like silos. So how doesseed to grow ensure start ups
stay connected to, like, realworld grower needs and, like,
market requirements?
Adrian Percy (09:46):
That's a great question. So so I'll answer that
in two ways. So first of all, ifI could take an example, we had
a company that recentlygraduated from our program.
Mhmm. They're called HoofprintBiome.
They're two former students fromNC State. They just they have a
technology that they believewill reduce methane emissions
from livestock. Mhmm. At thesame time, they'll increase the
(10:09):
productivity of the livestock.So more meat, more milk.
Now they worked across campus.They had a cow in animal
sciences that they worked with.They worked out of the PSI
Building. They worked with ourmaker space building sensor
devices that would measure theamount of methane in the cow and
so on and so forth. And so theyreally leverage the ecosystem
(10:32):
that we have here at NC State.
So that's kind of the firstpoint, as you say, about not
being in a silo. Actually, thisuniversity has so many
resources, sometimes too many toget your head around. But if you
can access those in differentparts of the university, you'll
find a lot of people who arewilling to support those types
of efforts. The other thing, andI think you bring up a really
(10:54):
important point about stayingconnected to your customer base,
the farmer in this case, or thelivestock producer. And we do
that through constantinteractions with farmers.
So we have a farmer advisorycouncil. These are farmers who
sometimes have a connection toNC State, sometimes don't, but
they believe in the mission thatwe have at the PSI, and they
(11:15):
help advise us on the researchactivities that we have and the
types of technologies that weare developing. We also reach
out to what we call commodityassociations. So in North
Carolina, we have around about90 different crops which are
being grown. Most of those havea commodity association that
represents them.
So there's the sweet potatocommission, there's the corn
(11:37):
growers association, there's thesoybean producers association.
They stay very close toindividual farmers and
understand the challenges thatthey face producing that
particular crop, and theyprovide us with input. Again,
helping inform our researchactivities so that we're working
on the right things anddeveloping technologies that
will be really useful to thefarmer and user friendly as
(12:00):
well. So not some machine orrobot that they just can't use
or that breaks down in the fieldbecause you have rain or
whatever it may be, it's toohot, too cold. So really
practical devices that will willbe useful on the farm.
And that's really how we avoidbeing in that kind of silo type
mentality.
Shradha Bhatia (12:21):
Cause, Yeah. Like, having those, like,
individual associations, I feellike they're they're, like,
helping you a lot.
Adrian Percy (12:27):
They really help us. We actually bring a lot of
them together. We we had a largeevent last year where we brought
around about 30 of theseassociations together. And it
was very interesting becausewhen we interrogated them and
kind of teased out from themwhat are the issues that they
see the farmers producing theirparticular crops have, many of
(12:47):
them were overlapping. And so wewere able then to develop
research programs that met theneeds of multiple crops at the
same time.
Shradha Bhatia (12:54):
That's really interesting. Yeah. And then I
have, like, a few morequestions. So mentorship is,
like, central through executivesand residents. So what qualities
do you look for in mentors, andhow do they balance
encouragement with toughfeedback?
Adrian Percy (13:11):
Great question. I think any successful
entrepreneur recognizes the needfor feedback and tough feedback.
You know, it's not helpful tohave someone telling you all the
time you're doing a great jobwhen you're really not. It's a
waste of time, and it it canlead you in the wrong direction
(13:33):
and and lead to really badconsequences. So I think, you
know, one of the things we sayabout successful entrepreneurs
is they're coachable.
They listen. They want tounderstand. They want to adapt.
And they will take the opinionsof various different mentors and
try to then path, you know, away forward for themselves
because sometimes they'll getconflicting advice. But from the
(13:55):
mentor side, we find there's alot of former executives in RTP,
people who have worked in bigcompanies, small companies,
people who have sometimes hadfailures, which is one of the
best ways to learn, and who arewilling to give their time.
And that's the thing I findreally amazing is that so many
of these folks give their time.I know a lot of students that
(14:17):
I've talked to and faculty aresometimes reluctant to ask for
people's time.
Shradha Bhatia (14:22):
Yeah.
Adrian Percy (14:22):
And I don't think they already under they always
understand that, actually, thisis a is a very pleasurable
thing, it is a very rewardingthing for these mentors to do.
And they tell me all the time, Iwish I could do more of this.
You know, it's one of the ways Igive back. It gives me most
pleasure to be able to interactwith a company or an
entrepreneur or a student arounda particular topic, gives them
(14:45):
the benefit of my experience.And sometimes they'll take it
and sometimes they won't, butbut they they really love the
process.
So, you know, I think if youhave that opportunity, you
should really take it.
Shradha Bhatia (14:54):
Yeah. Because, like, as a student, I can, like,
relate that I'm, like, veryhesitant when I'm, like, asking
for, like, mentorship oranything. Because and sometimes
if I would get, like,conflicting feedback, so I just,
like, wouldn't know what to,like, work around it. So, like,
do you have, like, any thoughtsabout that?
Adrian Percy (15:11):
So I think having an honest relationship with your
mentor if someone if someonesays to to you they they're
they're happy to do it Mhmm.Then take them at their word.
You know, there's a lots of waysthey could get out of it without
hurting your feelings if theywanted to. But if they seem
genuinely interested, then, youknow, just go for it. But I
think in terms of approachingpeople, just ask.
(15:33):
I mean, you know, you can givethem a little bit of an outing
in case they don't want to doit, but, you know, I I will
often get emails or I'll havepeople meet with me and just
ask. And, you know, normally Iwill say yes. I won't say yes if
I don't think I can help themMhmm. Which sometimes may be the
case. But if if if I feel I'vegot something, then I will I
(15:54):
will say yes.
But I'll also advise them to geta whole range of mentors
because, again, I think thecollective wisdom of a lot of
people is is better than havingjust one or two people who may
lead you down the wrong pathsometimes. Yeah.
Shradha Bhatia (16:10):
Ag tech often has, like, long development
timelines compared to, like,software. So what strategies
does Seed2Grow use to keepentrepreneurs resilient during
that long run to the market?
Adrian Percy (16:22):
Well, you're absolutely right. It can take an
awful long time to bring a newbiotechnology trait or a new a
new type of sweet potato or anew crop protection product to
market. It can take decades, infact. So you do need to be very
resilient and have a lot ofpatience. You know, we tend to
(16:42):
break things down into stages.
We see a lot of investors, infact, are willing to invest at a
very early stage in thedevelopment of some of these
technologies, and theyunderstand that there is a long,
long lead time before they mighthit the market and become
profitable. So I thinkrecognizing that ag is different
from some other sectors becausethere's a lot of regulatory
(17:05):
oversight of our food as thereshould be, which means that
there's a lot of studies youhave to do to show safety, and
that takes a lot of money and alot of time. So just
understanding that we need to bepatient is one thing. But I
would say the other side is weare developing a lot of software
now. I think one of the untappedareas in agriculture is the use
of digital science and the useof apps and devices which are
(17:30):
driven by the Internet ofThings, which are driven by AI
and by machine learning.
And that's one of the thingswe're really focused on at the
PSI. We're trying to work withour researchers to support them
to develop what we call decisionsupport tools, are useful for
farmers to help them makedecisions in in their their
production practices, and thosecan be developed really quickly.
(17:51):
You know, it's months as opposedto decades. So Yeah. You know,
we're trying to do both.
Shradha Bhatia (17:56):
No. Like, adding software into that would really
help.
Adrian Percy (18:00):
Yeah. I mean, they say now, you know, one of
today's modern tractors is morecomplex than the lunar module in
1965, know, and they are very,very complex. And, you know,
farmers now are more and moreusing, you know, apps to collect
weather data, make predictions,to understand, you know, how to
(18:23):
treat their crops. We've gotsome researchers who are working
on some really cool technologyaround early detection of
diseases in the field. So, youknow, today, many farmers will
go around and look at theirfields to see if there's some
disease or some an insect theydon't want in the field.
But now with these detectiondevices, you can get, you know,
an alert on your on your phonein the morning to say, okay. You
(18:45):
need to go treat your fieldbecause it needs more water or
has a bug or or or a diseasethat's gonna cause you problems.
So go go do something. So that'skind of one of the breakthroughs
that we're seeing now is, youknow, digitalization takes over
agriculture just like it's takenover the rest of our lives. You
know?
Shradha Bhatia (19:08):
And North Carolina has a rich agricultural
landscape as like you said. Sohow do you see seed to grow
contributing not only, like,globally, but also, like, local
growers and, like, ruralcommunities here in the state?
Adrian Percy (19:22):
Yeah. So North Carolina has an amazing
agricultural heritage and andcurrent activities. It is the
economic driver of our state,over a $110,000,000,000 in
returns coming out ofagriculture, so it's incredibly
important. But farmers do face alot of challenges. And, you
know, I mentioned abouturbanization, you know, this
(19:43):
kind of conflict sometimesbetween the urban community and
the rural community.
They need different types oftechnologies to overcome that.
There's a lot of issues aroundlabor, the cost of labor, the
availability of labor. And sofarmers are looking for
automation in a lot of theiractivities. There's also a lot
(20:05):
of effects of extreme climate.Climate change is real, and it
is occurring here in our fields.
And farmers have to deal withlong periods of drought followed
by perhaps excessive quantitiesof of rain or hurricanes,
whatever it may be. And sofinding crops which are more
resilient to those extremes oftemperature is really important.
(20:26):
Mhmm. You know, we had countieslast year that had both state of
emergencies for drought and thenshortly afterwards for flooding.
I mean, that is crazy to be, youknow, hit from both sides, if
you like, in the same place inone year.
And, you know, a lot of thoseare rural counties that are
growing these crops, and so weneed to help farmers be more
resilient in terms of thosepractices. And that's why I
(20:49):
think we can add a lot of value.
Shradha Bhatia (20:53):
Like, hitting with the both drought and flood
at the same time?
Adrian Percy (20:56):
Yeah. It's
Shradha Bhatia (20:57):
It is what? So and with the climate change,
like, and growing population,there oh, wait. You just
answered that. You just answered
Adrian Percy (21:08):
my ask it again, maybe I'll ask I'll I'll answer
it better in a better way. So,
Shradha Bhatia (21:12):
like, how with climate change and growing
population pressures, there'surgency for, like, innovation.
Mhmm. So how do you balance,like, encouraging bold ideas
with, like, ensuring they'rerealistic and, like, scalable?
Adrian Percy (21:25):
Yeah. So, I mean, the global population is
increasing, and, of course, thatmeans we need more food. And,
also, at the same time, we'vegot many countries around the
world that are moving to a dietdietary system where they want
more protein, they want moremeat, which means more crops
being produced to feed thoseanimals. So there's a real
strain on the on the demand side
Shradha Bhatia (21:48):
Mhmm.
Adrian Percy (21:48):
But also on the supply side because of, you
know, extreme climate conditionswhich can really have an impact
on crop productivity. So, youknow, meeting those both at the
same time is incrediblyimportant. And, you know, that's
where we can make a difference.And, you know, with the
technologies that we're tryingto develop can help make farmers
(22:09):
more more productive, but at thesame time more resilient in the
sense that their crops areprotected in a in a better way.
I'm not sure I answered yourquestion there.
Hopefully, that was useful.
Shradha Bhatia (22:22):
And finally, what's, like, one piece of
advice you would give to, like,young researchers or, like, a
student with an idea but whoisn't sure how to, like, take
the first step?
Adrian Percy (22:34):
So I would say two things. So first of all, and I
know there's a lot of studentsacross NC State studying a lot
of different things, one of thethings we try to do is get
students excited about theopportunities of agriculture.
Mhmm. We have a lot of studentsfrom engineering in particular
that are looking at how they canapply some of the technologies
and the techniques and theengineering learnings that they
(22:58):
have, and agriculture is agreat, great environment to do
that because there's a hugeneed, as we've already talked
about. But also imagine thatyou're, you know, deploying some
of these, let's say, robot, anew robot system in a field
that's bumpy, that has floodingcapabilities, that's dry
sometimes, that is incrediblyhot sometimes.
(23:19):
I mean, it really adds a wholenew element to, you know, to the
to the stress that we're puttingputting on these devices. So so
that so that's one thing.Agriculture is a very cool place
to be right now. I think theother thing in terms of taking a
first step, if you're talkingabout entrepreneurship, I mean,
really getting informed programslike the seed to grow program
(23:40):
are designed specifically to putstudents and faculty in front of
experienced entrepreneurs in avery informal setting where you
can ask stupid questions ifknow, not that any question is
stupid, but you can ask thosereally basic questions that you
may be hesitant to ask in otherenvironments and sit down and
(24:00):
have a quality conversation andexplore these areas with with
these entrepreneurs who haveseen it and done it a 100 times
in some cases. So I think, youknow, enrolling in one of these
programs is is really valuable,and and hopefully people will
get a lot out of it.
And,
Shradha Bhatia (24:16):
like, do you have, like, any examples of,
like, students who've, like,grown through the seed to grow
program or, like, any, like,final things that you'd like to
mention?
Adrian Percy (24:25):
Yeah. So in the seed to grow program right now,
we we have currently sevencompanies. We had eight, but
Mhmm. We had Hoofprint Biome whograduated. We had a graduation
party for them two weeks ago.
They managed to raise$15,000,000. Oh. So a lot of
money to help them in the nextevolution of their company,
which they will move off campus,and they'll move to Durham and
(24:47):
set up their downtown Durham. Sothat's one example. But then we
have seven other companies atvarious stages of development.
Some of them are very, veryearly, and some of them are not
quite companies yet, but willbe. But then we have student
competitions, and so that's oneway that we've managed to kind
of unlock some of the ideas andenthusiasm that we have amongst
(25:10):
our student population, where wehave a student competition where
you can present anentrepreneurial idea in the
agricultural environment withjust a two minute video. And we
had a couple of students. We hadHarry Irvin from plant and
microbial biology. We had MabelBarrero from chemistry, both of
which had great ideas.
Both of them are well working oncommercialization of those
(25:32):
ideas. Mhmm. And and hopefully,they'll be successful, but we
have a lot of other examples aswell. So, yes, there are there
are definitely students who aremoving forward in that area.
Shradha Bhatia (25:42):
That's that's really good. Yes. Thank those
were, like, all my questionsthat I had for you. So thank you
for, like, joining us today andtelling us about the Seed to
Grow program. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
September is national suicide prevention month, and
LGBTQ youth in North Carolinaand around the country are
finding it harder to receivesupport because of a move by the
Trump administration. In July,the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administrationremoved the press 3 option from
the 988 lifeline, which sentpeople to a hotline that
(26:25):
specializes in supporting LGBTQyouth. Sarah McHale is CEO of
Time Out Youth, the only LGBTQcommunity space in Charlotte.
The organization providessupport for therapy and housing.
She says there's already anxietyamong young people about the
Trump administration, andcutting the press 3 option will
only make matters worse.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
They hear the person who leads this country cutting
funding for something that isdirectly connected to saving
their lives. So it continued tosend the message of we don't
actually care if you exist ornot.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
The Trump administration says funding ran
out for the specialized hotline.LGBTQ youth are twice as likely
to experience a mental healthcondition compared to their
peers, and the numbers are evenhigher for transgender youth.
The Trevor Project had beencontracting with the government
on the 988 line for LGBTQ. Theystill operate a hotline at (866)
488-7386. The trans lifelinealso offers mental health
(27:21):
support at (877) 565-8860.
McKill says she still referspeople to 988, but cautions that
the person on the other end ofthe line might not be affirming
of their identity. She alsonotes that there's a
misconception that LGBTQ peoplecall lifelines to talk
specifically about theiridentity, but that's not usually
the case.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
Far more often, what our young people tell us is it's
just the implicit understandingof your lived experience. You
don't have to explain why schoolfeels difficult or you're
struggling with your parentbecause that person understands
that your identity createsbarriers for other people to try
to relate to you.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Mikhael says time out youth continues to center joy in
the LGBTQ experience. She saysyoung people's resilience gives
her hope for the future.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
That I can see young people being themselves even
more in the face of this makesme feel really hopeful that
young people are gonna save usif our elders would just step
back and let them.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
For North Carolina News Service, I'm Eric Taghidov.
Find our trust indicators atpublicnewsservice.org. September
is National Infant MortalityAwareness Month, shining a light
on a difficult and persistentissue. The infant mortality rate
(28:38):
in North Carolina was six pointnine deaths per thousand births
in 2023, which was the tenthhighest rate in the nation.
There are also large disparitiesalong racial lines, with black
infants dying at three times therate of white infants.
Caitlin Richards with theorganization NC Child says the
top two causes of infantmortality in North Carolina are
low birth weight and birthdefects.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
That can be tied directly back to access to early
prenatal care within the firsttrimester of a pregnancy, which
black mothers typically haveless access to that prenatal
care in their first trimestercompared to white mothers and
those of other race andethnicities.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
State policymakers are looking into ways to reduce
the infant mortality rate. Eachyear, the North Carolina child
fatality task force sends areport to the governor and
general assembly, which includesrecommendations for reducing
child deaths. Richard says onevital resource is home visiting
programs, in which doulas orcommunity health workers go to
new parents' homes duringpregnancy and postpartum to
(29:38):
educate them about things suchas safe sleep practices. She
says another important resourceis access to prenatal care.
Speaker 5 (29:45):
We cannot overstate how important Medicaid access is
in particular for infants andchildren in North Carolina.
Medicaid covers about fiftypercent of all births in North
Carolina, so it plays a pivotalrole when we're looking at these
outcomes.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
However, the future of Medicaid funds is in doubt
after the passage of the One BigBeautiful Bill Act, which is
estimated to cut a trilliondollars from the program over
the next decade. In response,the North Carolina Department of
Health and Human Servicesrecently announced it was
cutting Medicaid spending bynearly $320,000,000 starting in
October. Richard says it's stillunclear what these cuts will
(30:19):
mean, but that they will likelyhave impacts on North Carolina
children's well-being for yearsand decades to come. For North
Carolina news service, I'm EricTigadov. Find our trust
indicators atpublicnewsservice.org.
Shradha Bhatia (31:34):
This has been eye on the triangle from WKNC
eighty eight point one FM HD onerally. Our theme song is
Krakatoa by Noah Stark. Licensedunder creative comedy. To
relisten to this or any otherepisode, visit wpnc.org/podcast
or subscribe wherever you getyour podcasts. Thank you for
(31:55):
listening.
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