In 1897, first president of the school, Charles Duncan McIver, bought the land which would become the first campus farm. The original College Farm, also used as a dairy, was located near the current Quadrangle. It included a barn and supplied the school with milk, pork, and produce. The Farm also served as a horticulture teaching laboratory. Additional land outside of the city of Greensboro was used as a farm during the years surrounding World War I. This land was managed by ten students, called “Farmerettes”, who performed all farm duties except the heaviest labor.
In 1923, the farm moved to a 250-acre site located in Friendship Township, in western Guilford County, and was used primarily as a Dairy Farm. Holstein cows provided milk for the students and extra milk was sold to local dairies. During World War II, the farm used German Prisoners of War for labor.
The College kept the farm until 1945 when it was auctioned off because of the difficulty of getting labor and the high cost of animal feed.