North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District covers the western part of the state. Incumbent Chuck Edwards is not seeking reelection, opening up the seat for candidates Jamie Ager (D), Jennifer Balkcom (R), and Travis Groo (L).
The district boasts a distinct agricultural footprint defined by mountain terrain, specialized production and small-scale operations. It serves as the heart of North Carolina’s apple industry, with Henderson County alone producing roughly 80% of the state’s total crop. Alongside orchards, the local agricultural economy relies heavily on Christmas tree production, pasture-raised livestock and direct-to-consumer farm markets. Today, the region’s rural economy faces dual pressures from rapid residential growth and long-term recovery following severe weather impacts from Hurricane Helene.
Candidate Backgrounds and Campaign Platforms
- Jamie Ager (D): A fourth-generation farmer from Fairview, N.C., Ager expanded his family’s century-old homestead into Hickory Nut Gap Farm, a regional sustainable meat enterprise. His agricultural roots carry on a prominent legacy of public service: his grandfather, Jamie Clarke, represented the district in the U.S. House; his father, John Ager, served four terms in the N.C. House; and his brother, Eric Ager, currently serves in the N.C. House Agriculture Committee. Running as a self-described “mountain Democrat,” Ager’s platform centers on rural economic development, agricultural policy, affordability, and long-term Hurricane Helene recovery. He holds degrees in environmental studies and history and maintains active ties with the Buncombe County Farm Bureau and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.
- Jennifer Balkcom (R): Balkcom grew up on her family’s apple orchard in Henderson County and spent more than 25 years in banking and finance, currently working as a mortgage loan officer. Since 2023, she has served in the North Carolina House of Representatives, focusing on agricultural policy, farmland preservation, and disaster relief. Her signature legislative work includes the N.C. Farmland and Military Protection Act, which restricts foreign adversarial entities from purchasing state farmland, and the Farmers Protection Act, which prevents financial institutions from discriminating against agricultural producers based on environmental metrics.
- Travis Groo (L): Groo has spent over two decades working in freight logistics and corporate safety. Running on a platform of strict free-market deregulation, reduced taxation, and strong property rights, his primary intersection with rural policy centers on removing regulatory barriers for “home farms” and supporting localized food production.
Why This Race Matters for Agriculture
While Balkcom and Ager both come from Western North Carolina farming families, their campaign platforms offer distinct visions for agricultural representation. Both major-party candidates draw on authentic rural backgrounds in a region where agricultural recovery, farmland preservation, and rural economic policy remain central issues following Hurricane Helene. For the district’s small farms and agribusinesses, the race presents contrasting approaches: Ager’s vision is built around a diversified, sustainability-oriented livestock model paired with federal support, while Balkcom’s platform is rooted in orchard agriculture, farmland protection, and agricultural banking safeguards. Meanwhile, Groo offers a deregulatory, property-rights-oriented alternative aimed at reducing government oversight across all sectors.
Jennifer Balkcom on Her Agricultural Priorities
Editor’s note: Candidate Jennifer Balkcom provided direct interview responses for this preview. Jamie Ager’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Balkcom says her primary message to farmers, growers, and ranchers in North Carolina’s 11th District is: “You don’t have to take my word for what I might do in Washington. Look at what I’ve already done in Raleigh.”
She points to legislation she sponsored in Raleigh aimed at preserving farmland and supporting North Carolina producers.
“One of the things I’m especially proud of is the North Carolina Farmland and Military Protection Act,” she says. “I was the first primary sponsor, worked it through the legislative process, and in 2026 it became law.”
She stresses that her prior legislative experience is critical to getting bills across the finish line.
“I know that filing a bill is the easy part; the hard part is working through committees, listening to concerns, building support, making changes when they’re needed and staying with it long enough to actually get something done,” she says.
Her top agricultural priorities include passing a full five-year farm bill, reforming the H-2A guest worker visa program to support year-round operations and restricting foreign entities from purchasing American farmland.
“We have a lot of farms that operate year-round that could benefit from [the H-2A] program; dairy and other year-round livestock operations have mostly been shut out, because milking and herd care are not considered seasonal,” she says. “The H-2A program is slow, expensive, and inflexible — costly and burdensome housing rules, wage floors set above local markets, and paperwork involving several different agencies that small and mid-size farms struggle to comply with.”
She notes that as federal paperwork requirements, wages and operational costs continue to rise, farm margins are squeezed.
“We have two choices: either farmers have to raise their prices or they have to stop farming. Neither one of those are good for America,” she says.
Balkcom advocates for reducing federal regulatory oversight on agricultural land, specifically calling for narrower definitions under the Clean Water Act regarding Waters of the United States (WOTUS). She supports codifying specific Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers guidelines into federal statute to clarify that farm ditches, drainage ponds, and active agricultural lands are exempt from federal regulation.
To ease the generational transfer of family farms, Balkcom emphasizes protecting federal estate tax exemptions established under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act framework. She supports making current exemption levels permanent to provide financial predictability for farm owners passing operations to their heirs.
Highlighting challenges facing Western North Carolina’s apple growers, Balkcom expressed concern over foreign trade competition impacting local processors, pointing to regional processing facilities that rely heavily on imported apple juice concentrate from countries like China.
“We can grow the apples right here in Western North Carolina, yet it can be cheaper to bring apple concentrate halfway around the world than to use apples grown down the road,” she says. “That’s something we’ve got to address.”
Balkcom argues that local growers cannot fairly compete with subsidized or lower-cost foreign imports. She advocates for stronger trade protections to ensure American farmers have a level playing field, framing agricultural preservation as an issue of national food security.
“For me, protecting American agriculture isn’t just an economic issue,” she says. “It’s about food security, preserving our rural communities, and making sure the next generation still has an opportunity to farm the land their families have worked for generations
