“A LOT OF IRONS IN THE FIRE”

If you think that farmers are one-note, think again. Below is a list of Childress Family Enterprises’ endeavors.

• Beef cattle – primary enterprise

• Calf backgrounding business –provide cattle farm-raised feed, then sell in tractor-trailer loads

• Custom calf backgrounding for a farmer in Floyd

• Cash grain business – sell for silage

• Smaller stock operation – cattle feed on grass, which is cheaper, in spring and summer

• Wheat – specialty crop of hard red winter wheat, which sells at a premium for bread making

• Oats to feed young cattle

• Hay to feed cattle

• Custom farming operations – extra corn grown for specific customers that “my father and grandfather worked hard to give their descendants something special.” He also points to his eternal optimism, a “this too shall pass” mentality.

“I am a man who loves what he does,” said Childress.

And he plans to do it as long as he is able. He hopes his grandson will come into the business someday, though he has not ruled out bringing in an outside partner. Childress said that “vibrant vocational agriculture programs” make young people aware of farming opportunities, and that Virginia Tech is a “valuable resource” for filling the ag pipeline (see related story in this issue).

Childress would tell new farmers to “be willing and ready to learn, to soak up as much as you can, and put that to work.” Also, “don’t be afraid to try new things and fail.” Farming may not be as financially rewarding as some lines of work, but it is “important work that benefits everybody.”

The overall state of agriculture has changed greatly during Childress’s time as a farmer. He touts farmers’ greater respect for both cattle (humane handling of livestock) and people (no more days of itinerant “farm hands” earning a pittance). There are still young people who want careers in agriculture, Childress said, but farmers are learning they must make employment desirable and pay living wages. Locally, agriculture is “more diverse than ever before, and that’s a good thing,” said Childress.

Dairy used to be a tremendous part of agriculture in Montgomery County, but there are very few dairies compared to 40-50 years ago. “Dairy is not as lucrative if not done on a large scale,” he said. Now, there are more beef cattle.

There are fewer full-time farmers as people opt for steady sources of income, with benefits, to lessen the risks inherent in farming. In some cases, succeeding generations simply haven’t felt the desire to continue farming (see author’s note).

New to the agriculture scene is marketing products directly to consumers, at farmers’ markets or by selling shares of beef cattle. There are more specialty farms, such as vineyards, and more produce farming, like “pick-your-own” patches. Agri-tourism is also growing.

As to the future of agriculture, Childress feels large commercial farms like his will be “outliers” as it is increasingly difficult to afford land and farm labor. Childress is confident agriculture won’t go away, though. “It is essential to our economy and our existence,” he said. Floyd Childress added with a laugh, “It is reassuring that all of us like to eat three times a day.”

Author’s note: Some of the land Childress works is my family’s farm, and we are grateful to him for caring for it.