Ray A. Starling

I grew up on a family-owned Century Farm in Southeast North Carolina. Decades before I was born, my father quit an hourly job after missing out on a promo¬tion and instantly became a full-time farmer. My mother left her steady-income teaching job to become the farm bookkeeper, talent development organizer, and field crew leader, while also raising three rambunctious boys who all developed an early love of driving the real Tonka trucks: farm equipment. Growing up, I chased hogs through the woods with a stick (only when they had gotten out, which was often), threw hay bales up into the barn loft, and could see and smell the permanent stain of tobacco gum on my hands long after I was out of the field. My eldest brother, Willi, received an agronomy degree from NC State before returning home to take over the family farm, which he has done admirably. My elder brother Steve is a Farm Credit Express guru and can rattle off the names of every farm equipment dealer in Eastern North Carolina, with a strong likelihood that he can give a recommendation of a nearby barbecue restaurant, too. We are an ag family, and we are proud of it. I was active in 4-H and FFA and will forever be indebted for having the opportunity to serve as a National FFA Officer. I studied agricultural education at one of the nation’s best land-grant institutions, NC State, obtained my law degree from a top-tier law school, the UNC Chapel Hill School of Law. I’ve since returned to serve as an adjunct professor of agriculture and food law there, and have also been an adjunct professor at Regent University’s Law School in Virginia. I have listened to and worked with thousands of farmers not just in North Carolina but across the country. Some on their best days, some on their worst. I’ve arranged for them to meet with state leg-islators and state directors and commissioners of agriculture, U.S. House Members and Senators, the Secretary of Agriculture, and yes, even the President of the United States. I’ve listened intently in those conversations, including those in the Roosevelt Room of the West Wing and those in the back of a Ford Explorer riding around a pig farm. I have worked closely with the leadership of their trade associations, learning the intricacies of issues as broad as interna¬tional trade and as specific as ethanol blend walls. I’ve even had a conversation in the Oval Office that led to salvaging agriculture’s largest trade deal (the story is in the book). At the same time, I’ve toured not just farms but food-processing plants and phosphate fertilizer mines. Taken dignitaries and students through processing facilities. Met with food aid leaders from around the world in Djibouti and Mozambique. Talked to trade officials from Europe, Mexico, South America, and the Pacific Rim. Debated the Common Agriculture Policy with farm organization leaders in Sweden. I’ve listened as leaders from food companies and their representatives discuss everything from FDA labeling requirements to their knowledge of the “bite” needed to make sure plant-based chicken nuggets meet the needs of discerning fifth graders. I now work for the NC Chamber promoting a business climate that we believe makes my home state one of the best places in the world to do business—including agribusiness. I also serve as an Executive Advisor to Aimpoint Research, a global strategic intelligence firm with years of experience and focus on developments across the food and farming sectors.