Murphy – Johnny Shields, Cherokee County Soil & Water Conservation District supervisor, was honored by the N.C. Grange at the 2025 Farmer of the Year awards ceremony in Raleigh recently. He placed third in the state.
Shields is a third-generation dairy farmer in Cherokee County. Records show that in 1947, there were 350,000 dairy cows in North Carolina. By 1995, that number dropped to 69,000 cows across the state.
Notla Farms, LLC, is the only dairy farm still in production in Cherokee County. In the 1950s, there were 52 dairies in Cherokee County and 50 in Clay County. The next closest dairy farm today is located in Haywood County.
His grandfather, John Shields, began the dairy, Notla Farms, in 1876. His children and grandchildren continue to work the dairy today, milking 100 cows, twice a day.
Five generations of the Shields family are a remarkable testament to perseverance, adaptation and commitment to Cherokee County.