Delawareans Learn "Secrets" of Small Farm Profitability from Virginia Producers
Delawareans Learn "Secrets" of Small Farm Profitability
from Virginia Producers
“If you want to be successful growing anything, find out what is in your soil.”
That was one message Clifton Slade shared with 28 Delaware minority farmers,
extension specialists, students, and agri-business representatives who traveled
to Virginia to learn inside secrets from some of Virginia’s most successful
small farmers.
Delaware State University Cooperative Extension, the
Delaware Center for Enterprise Development, and USDA Risk Management Agency
co-sponsored the two-day
Minority Farm Enrichment bus tour in cooperation with Virginia State University.
Slade, a Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) agriculture management agent and
successful small farmer, served as a tour guide for the group who travelled by
bus to learn successful farming techniques and business practices from small and
minority farmers. Soil importance was just one of many messages that was
emphasized on the tour and backed by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS), who provided technical support.
During the two-day tour, participants visited four southern
Virginia farms with field/specialty crops ranging from blueberries to sweet
potatoes. During each stop, the host farmer or farmers recalled their history
in farming and offered valuable lessons about starting and operating a farm.
Sweet potato farmer Wendell Scott focused on the benefits of small farming
operations. Approximately 6,000 sweet potato plants growing on half an acre
will yield about 300 bushels. With sweet potatoes running about $19 per bushel,
Scott says the math speaks for itself. Herbert Townes, who farms a quarter acre,
mirrored Scott’s thoughts. He also added, “Don’t start too big; you could get
overwhelmed and tend to quit.”
Jan Fitzgerald of “Barry’s Berries and Jan’s Jams” makes
homemade Jams from their pick-your-own fruit orchard. She says that her mother
and grandmother used to make jams and she just fell right into it. Jan turned
her cooking skills into a profitable business that landed her a $20,000 contract
to provide jam to the College of William and Mary. Jan and Barry have also
received technical assistance from VCE and financial assistance from NRCS for
plantings for pollinators to help with vegetable and tree production,
non-burning alternatives for air quality, as well as native grass plantings for
reduced soil erosion.
Of all of the advice and lessons given, each farmer
reiterated several key messages throughout the tour:
Successful farming can be attained through experience,
learning from others, and time. Slade said his dad had very little education,
but may have summed it up best, “I went to school one day in place of my sister,
but I can teach you a thing or two.” His quote embraces the idea that you never
know who can provide you with help, so always be willing to learn.
Caption:
Slade pulls a sweet potato root from the ground to give participants a
first-hand look at its maturity cycle. (photo by
Dastina Wallace)
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