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Program to save pastureland helps farmers stay in business
Special equipment will help them renovate fields without plowing
Journal Photo by Monte Mitchell
Five no-till grass drills will be distributed in Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Wilkes and Yadkin counties.
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Published: July 9, 2008
ROARING RIVER
Wilkes County farmer Claude Shew Jr., who bought his farm with his dad in 1978, has never seen a drought like the one the state is in now.
"We've never had it this bad -- not in my lifetime," Shew said. "We've had dry years, but never two years in a row this bad."
That's why yesterday's announcement about the arrival of special equipment to replant pastures is welcome news to farmers in soil and water districts in Wilkes, Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga and Yadkin counties.
Last year's drought did so much damage to grass that weeds took over some fields. The new equipment -- called a no-till grass drill -- can be pulled behind a tractor to help a farmer renovate pastures without plowing. In one pass through a field, the equipment will cut a slit, put the seed in, and then pack the soil around it.
The delivery of these five units marks the last of 25 no-till grass drills provided to soil and water districts across the state over the past month.
In May, the Council of State approved a request from the agriculture commissioner, Steve Troxler, to spend $370,800 from the state's contingency and emergency fund.
The money was allocated to the N.C. Foundation for Soil and Water Conservation, which bought the equipment. Each of the 25 soil- and-water-conservation districts is getting one of the no-till grass drills, which will be rented to farmers at a rate that will pay to operate, and eventually replace, the equipment.
The idea is to use these first units as incubators for a self-sustaining program, said Cecil Settle, the director of the foundation.
The districts will set their own rental rates, but the foundation is recommending about $8 to $10 an acre.
"We believe these machines are going to stay real busy …" Settle said.
Helped by early spring rains, many farmers in Wilkes County had a good first cutting of hay in May. In most years, many farmers would be cutting hay again about now, but this year has been too dry.
The 25 soil-and-water districts in which the new equipment will be used include 15,000 farms and 809,000 acres of pastureland. The counties include Davidson, Davie, Guilford, Rockingham and Stokes.
"We want everybody to have the opportunity to remain on the farm," Troxler told a group of about 30 farmers yesterday in Wilkes County. "A farm is not a farm without the farmer. It's just a piece of dirt."
Last year, the state Department of Agriculture sold about 2,700 tons of hay during an emergency hay program, and spent nearly $532,000 to bring in hay from other states and Canada.
But higher fuel prices this year mean that the program might not be affordable. Last year, it cost about $2 a mile to transport a load of hay. This year, it is $4 a mile.
Re-establishing pastures will help provide forage for cattle so that farmers can save more hay to provide feed through the winter.
■ Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com.
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