08/04/2026
𝙀𝙭𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩! Each week we will be highlighting one of the incredible Orange County residents featured in our current special exhibit "United We Stand." This week we are highlighting Karen Jones McAdams, former Extension Agent and co-owner of McAdams Farm.
As the first female Ag Agent in Orange County, and only the fourth in the state, Karen Jones McAdams has been a trailblazer. However, when asked about her pioneering work, she simply said, “I was very blessed. I had a good career.”
McAdams was raised in the North Carolina mountains in Stokes County. She earned a BS and a Masters in Animal Science from NC State and started working as the Extension Agent in Orange and Durham counties in 1983. This position entailed making farm visits, creating and executing educational programs, overseeing cattle sales, assisting with weather-related issues, and remediating and salvaging damage as well as more mundane tasks like writing newsletters. “The primary purpose,” she explained, “was to bring unbiased, research-based information from the universities to the farmers.” Programs ranged from nutrition to money management. McAdams advocated for her fellow farmers and developed strong relationships with them. She stated that even though she was a female in a male-dominated industry, “I didn’t have any trouble. People realized that I cared.”
When she first moved to the county, McAdams rented a small farmhouse and lived on her own. She met her husband Howard that year when he called with “cow questions.” They married 2 years later and she moved to his family farm in Efland. The farm was established around 1884. Howard’s grandfather built their house. Like most farms in the county, the land was originally used to raise to***co for cash and corn, wheat, cows, hogs, and vegetables for use on the farm. Over the years, the farm’s main products became beef cattle and to***co. However, in 2000, due to changes in the economic climate of farming, the to***co was replaced with strawberries, produce, and cut flowers. They sell these products at the Carrboro Farmers Market.
To learn more about Karen and the other individuals featured in this exhibit, please visit the museum to view the "United We Stand Exhibit" and make sure to pick up a free exhibit catalogue.
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