A group of 14 local farmers and local business people and government officials visited Rutherford County on Monday to learn about a really exciting program. Below is an article published in this weeks Daily Courier, the local Rutherford County Newspaper about the visit. There are also pictures here and on the Stokes Toursim and Development facebook page.
The program ties local farmers to chefs and other buyers for their produce via the Internet. Orders are placed on-line and the goods are delivered within 24 hours. There will be much more to come on this project.: Photo above is Billy Ray, lovingly named after Billy Ray Hall from the NC Rural Development Center. The Rural Center funded the High School program discussed below via a grant. Billy Ray (above) is a Ossabow Island Pig. The breed is known for rooting and has nicely marbled red meet. The meet has a strong following in certain gourmet markets through-out the country.
Visitors study farm projects
by Larry Dale
1 day 9 hrs ago 33 views 0 0
RUTHERFORDTON — Visitors from Stokes County came to Rutherford County on Monday to take a look at the farming efforts being fostered by Foothills Connect Business & Technology Center.One of the stops for the visitors was at the R-S Central High School farm to see the agricultural operation there.Teacher Brandon Higgins talked about the process of clearing land and improving the soil through the rotation of goats, pigs and chickens across the land and the selective cutting of timber.The R-S Central operation was once “all cotton farming land,” Higgins explained, and has only two to three inches of topsoil, so an effort has to be made to build the land back up. The animal manure adds nitrogen and helps build the soil, and sales of the animals are a money-maker for the school.The visitors got to see Billy Ray, the Ossabaw Island pig, and the teacher explained how the “red meat” hog is being crossed with other breeds to produce leaner meat, since the Ossabaw naturally is a fatty animal. Ideally, he explained, the school would like to have six sows and breed one a month with the Ossabaw. “It looks like Billy Ray has a home for life,” Higgins noted.The teacher said he is in his fourth year at R-S Central, and the number of students in the program has grown from 75 to more than 200, a testimony to the growing popularity of the program.Higgins spoke with pride of the successes of the farm program at the school, but he warned his visitors that soil building and the effort to become sustainable is “a long-term process.”“This is an animal science facility,” he said, with the livestock being raised for meat and milk. He noted, for example, that 35 chickens were sold to a county restaurant as broilers.The Stokes visitors also were shown the school’s two greenhouses, including the one that was recently completed.“I would like Stokes County to learn what Rutherford County has taken from this,” said Kaye Moorefield, treasurer/ secretary for the farmers market of Stokes County, on Monday at R-S Central. “They have seen what needs to be done, they’re doing something about it, they’re getting the kids involved, and I think that is fantastic. In Stokes County, we are hurting as badly as Rutherford, and I think if we can get some programs set up and get the education in the schools and get the younger kids interested, I think we’ll be OK in the future.”Among the other visitors from Stokes County were: Michael Hylton, interim director of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service in Stokes County; Harvey Moser, president of the King Farmers Market and Stokes County Economic Development Director Alan Wood.“There’s a variety of people from the county to see what we can do to help Stokes County,” Moorefield said.She said that in many ways, Stokes is “a sister county to Rutherford, with job losses, farmland usage, loss of farms. I think it is the same, or very similar.”Farmers Fresh Market has linked Rutherford County farmers to the lucrative Charlotte market and the Stokes County visitors are hopeful that their farmers can likewise be linked to Winston-Salem and Greensboro markets.When the Stokes County group arrived, they were welcomed by Jim Brown, chair of the Foothills Connect board. During introductions, the contingent met County Manager John Condrey, regional heritage tourism official Frankie McWhorter and Liz Rose, owner of Café at the Mall in Forest City.Ms. Rose, an enthusiastic supporter of the Farmers Fresh Market project, urged the visitors to get local restaurants involved in buying from the local producers. She showed them what she places on her tables to promote the local producers and to let her customers know she is buying from local sources.
by Larry Dale
1 day 9 hrs ago 33 views 0 0
RUTHERFORDTON — Visitors from Stokes County came to Rutherford County on Monday to take a look at the farming efforts being fostered by Foothills Connect Business & Technology Center.One of the stops for the visitors was at the R-S Central High School farm to see the agricultural operation there.Teacher Brandon Higgins talked about the process of clearing land and improving the soil through the rotation of goats, pigs and chickens across the land and the selective cutting of timber.The R-S Central operation was once “all cotton farming land,” Higgins explained, and has only two to three inches of topsoil, so an effort has to be made to build the land back up. The animal manure adds nitrogen and helps build the soil, and sales of the animals are a money-maker for the school.The visitors got to see Billy Ray, the Ossabaw Island pig, and the teacher explained how the “red meat” hog is being crossed with other breeds to produce leaner meat, since the Ossabaw naturally is a fatty animal. Ideally, he explained, the school would like to have six sows and breed one a month with the Ossabaw. “It looks like Billy Ray has a home for life,” Higgins noted.The teacher said he is in his fourth year at R-S Central, and the number of students in the program has grown from 75 to more than 200, a testimony to the growing popularity of the program.Higgins spoke with pride of the successes of the farm program at the school, but he warned his visitors that soil building and the effort to become sustainable is “a long-term process.”“This is an animal science facility,” he said, with the livestock being raised for meat and milk. He noted, for example, that 35 chickens were sold to a county restaurant as broilers.The Stokes visitors also were shown the school’s two greenhouses, including the one that was recently completed.“I would like Stokes County to learn what Rutherford County has taken from this,” said Kaye Moorefield, treasurer/ secretary for the farmers market of Stokes County, on Monday at R-S Central. “They have seen what needs to be done, they’re doing something about it, they’re getting the kids involved, and I think that is fantastic. In Stokes County, we are hurting as badly as Rutherford, and I think if we can get some programs set up and get the education in the schools and get the younger kids interested, I think we’ll be OK in the future.”Among the other visitors from Stokes County were: Michael Hylton, interim director of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service in Stokes County; Harvey Moser, president of the King Farmers Market and Stokes County Economic Development Director Alan Wood.“There’s a variety of people from the county to see what we can do to help Stokes County,” Moorefield said.She said that in many ways, Stokes is “a sister county to Rutherford, with job losses, farmland usage, loss of farms. I think it is the same, or very similar.”Farmers Fresh Market has linked Rutherford County farmers to the lucrative Charlotte market and the Stokes County visitors are hopeful that their farmers can likewise be linked to Winston-Salem and Greensboro markets.When the Stokes County group arrived, they were welcomed by Jim Brown, chair of the Foothills Connect board. During introductions, the contingent met County Manager John Condrey, regional heritage tourism official Frankie McWhorter and Liz Rose, owner of Café at the Mall in Forest City.Ms. Rose, an enthusiastic supporter of the Farmers Fresh Market project, urged the visitors to get local restaurants involved in buying from the local producers. She showed them what she places on her tables to promote the local producers and to let her customers know she is buying from local sources.
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