Producer ProfileJames Lamb - A farmer since childhood It’s more than just a job for this young farmer in Sampson County… it’s a passion for the pork industry and agriculture as a whole and a love for his family and community that shines through after spending just a few minutes with James Lamb. He’s better known as “Cookie” to many friends, family and colleagues in Clinton, NC. His father gave him that nickname when he was just a baby. No one knows exactly where it came from, but one thing is for sure, the nickname stuck!
James is a young, beginning and small farmer in Clinton where he has held many positions with Prestage Farms, Inc. since 1996 and has been a contract nursery grower for eleven years. James was the youngest of six kids and as a small child, James remembers working on the family farm with his father. James said, “My mom worked at Black & Decker in Fayetteville, so my dad would babysit me while she was at work. Babysitting back then meant tagging along with him on the farm.” Their farming operation consisted of corn, soybeans, tobacco, produce and a few hogs and cows. He loved driving a tractor and helping his father with the daily chores. In fact, his mother, Thelma, still lives on the family farm where she raised her children. Thelma commented, “Cookie was driving a tractor at eight years old. He was just a little thing. His father passed away when he was 16, so he had to learn how to farm and tend to the animals.”
 Upon high school graduation, James went off to North Carolina State University where he majored in Agriculture and Environmental Technology. In 1994, James began an internship with Prestage Farms. “I knew I wanted to stay in Sampson County, and I set two goals for myself during that internship. I wanted to become a service manager with Prestage, and I wanted to build a nursery,” said James. Since graduating from college in 1996, James accomplished his goals and has certainly dedicated his professional career to Prestage Farms. Right out of college, he began his career with Prestage Farms as a farrowing assistant, was promoted to an onsite nursery manager, then spent time in the land management division, became a finishing service manager for six years and then moved back to land management in 2003. Since 2003, his role as environmental specialist has involved an abundance of responsibilities. He performs swine lagoon sludge surveys and was actively involved in the design of a remote-controlled boat. Typically, a job that would take two men to perform now only takes one man about five to ten minutes to complete. The remote-controlled boat, powered by a leaf blower, has definitely made the job more efficient and safer. He typically completes about 350 lagoon sludge surveys per year. He also handles all the calibrations for the company and contract farms, and he manages the pumping records for about 60 farms. Although his job probably seems overwhelming to most, James said with a smile, “Yes, I stay busy, but it gives me a chance to see all of our contract swine growers.”
James married his high school sweetheart, Felecia Lamb, a fourth grade teacher at Sunset Avenue Elementary School. Together, they have two wonderful daughters: Maegan, age 8, and Kensley, age 3. In addition to his devotion to his family, his contract nursery and environmental specialist role with Prestage, James has become involved in the political and promotional aspects of the pork industry. You might find him serving on the North Carolina Pork Council Board of Directors, telling stories about his experience as a member of the 2008 National Pork Board’s Pork Leadership Academy, or lobbying in Raleigh, NC or Washington, DC. James said, “The goal is to put a face on agriculture to help people understand that contract growers are individual, smaller family farms. It’s not just the big corporate farms that provide the pork; the small family farms have an important part in the process as well.” You will also see him promoting the “We Care” program that has become a national pork industry initiative to help build trust and social responsibility.
 Thanks to Cape Fear Farm Credit for allowing us to rerun this article and their pictures. | 
