ROCKY MOUNT — The Golden LEAF Foundation has awarded a $500,000 grant to North Carolina State University to create an aviary facility at the Piedmont Research Facility in Rowan County, according to a press release from Sen. Carl Ford.

The grant is for construction, equipment and any other needs for the facility. The new facility will enable training in cage-free facilities for layer and egg operations in response to growing consumer demand, according to the foundation.

The grant comes as part of Golden LEAF’s larger Open Grants Program, which is part of the organization’s goal of supporting economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural, tobacco-dependent and economically distressed communities. Rowan’s $500,000 is part of the $1.9 million that the foundation awarded on Oct. 5.