Carolinas/Virginia NAMA visits Progressive Farmer's Pine Ridge Farm.

The Carolinas/Virginia Chapter of NAMA started this year on the farm, or instead, on the farmstead. The private tour and chapter meeting took place on September 14, 2005. Attendees found an exceptional learning program from Progressive Farmer Executive Editor Joe Link, plus the tour of PF's outstanding home and grounds near Pinehurst.

The meeting kicked off with a tour of the Progressive Farmer Idea House and Farmstead known as Pine Ridge Farm. Located in the beautiful countryside approximately an hour drive southwest of Raleigh, near Pinehurst, participants got a chance to marvel in stylish home ideas both inside and out.

Pine Ridge Farm has put down stakes in McLendon Hills, a 600-acre equine community outside Pinehurst. McLendon Hills offers acreage, a deep bass-filled lake and six miles of tree-lined riding trails. It was in 1886 that The Progressive Farmer was born in North Carolina.

Immediately following the Pine Ridge Farm tour, members and guests assembled for the networking social hour and dinner at The Lob Steer Inn, located in Southern Pines.

Following dinner guests heard speaker, Joe Link, executive editor of Progressive Farmer magazine. Link flew in from their corporate headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, to discuss how the magazine has transformed in recent years due to the changes in the agricultural industry.