PageO Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
Natural process
Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 PageP c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
Beaverdam Farms
Growers reap success selling at farmers markets
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or the father-son duo of Beaverdam Farms, the decision to sell at farmers markets is both ethical and economical. “It’s a four-month process to grow one tomato,” Jerry Pinion, the farm’s founder and operator said. “If I take it to the grocery store, I get 75 cents a pound. Then they sell it for a dollar. Now, that doesn’t seem right.” At the Downtown Greenwood Farmers Market, where the Pinions sometimes set up shop, in addition to markets in Jackson, Starkville and elsewhere in the state, a booth costs a farmer one flat fee based on how often he chooses to participate — weekly, bi-monthly or monthly. After that, he keeps all that he earns. Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams said the fee goes to pay the market manager, cleanup and tents. The city doesn’t earn anything from the market, which opened for the year on Saturday, besides the flow of people coming to Greenwood from out of town and spending money elsewhere. That’s a much better deal for the farmer than selling to a grocery store, Jerry said. Selling wholesale eliminates the middle man, a step that leads to both fairer prices for farmers and, said Jerry’s son Dustin, cleaner, more healthful food for consumers. According to Dustin Pinion, farmers markets let consumers buy directly from the source, an option that allows greater transparency as food moves from farm to table. “Just being able to be one on one with your customers, having your customers know where their food comes from, how it’s grown, with or without pesticides ... you don’t get that from the grocery store,” he said. The Pinions, whose 10-acre farm is
located in a rural enclave in Indianola, started growing tomatoes because they were “poor and broke and needed a job,” said Jerry. Jerry’s elderly father had some land, and what was once a hobby soon became a career. The Pinions now also have a satellite farm in Starkville with pigs, chickens and rabbits. The fruit, however, is sometimes not worth the labor. “It’s not the cheapest product to grow,” Jerry said, pointing to a $250,000 greenhouse that provides temperature-controlled conditions for hundreds of tomato, cucumber and bell pepper plants. The greenhouse looks like something that’s landed from outer space, and it might as well, since the Pinions are among just a handful of farmers in the region using the technique of insulated growing. The vegetables are protected from the
usual farmer’s ills of bugs and bad weather, eliminating the need for pesticides or fertilizers of any kind. Although the Pinions argue that such conditions produce much healthier food, the vegetables grown under such meticulous standards are bound to be pricier than a run-of -themill beefsteak tomato. “Some people might not like the prices. They’re a little higher, but you’re buying from a small local farm,” Dustin said. “People who understand, who are worried about where their food comes from, don’t care about price.” “Plus,” he added, “you either pay us or pay the doctors in the long run,” referring to the illnesses and long-term side effects he and others in the organic food contingency believe are borne from foods grown with the aid of chemicals and genetic modification. One of the biggest problems on
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Beaverdam Farms is the plethora of Delta farmers surrounding it that do not adhere to a no-spray policy. The Pinions are always worrying about picking up drift from cropdusters, said Jerry, and two years ago, the farm lost $150,000 worth of product from chemicals sprayed onto its soil. The Indianola airport is just one mile away from Beaverdam Farms. “In the Delta, that’s all they know is spray,” said Jerry. “They want to spray just one turnrow, but the wind makes it hit us really strong. It’s our biggest struggle.” Although such obstacles, coupled with high asking prices on vegetables, make clean growing seem like a futile pursuit, Jerry and Dustin are steadfast in their mission to grow chemical-free food. “You get what you pay for,” Jerry said. “What you pay for” to Dustin is much more than just food. It’s a lifestyle that embraces symbiotic relationships among farmer, consumer and earth. “We all live together and work together on this planet,” he said. “We should restore the environment through agriculture, not destroy it.” Dustin said farmers markets keep foods grown in the Delta in the Delta. “We have the most fertile soil in the world for growing food and we export all of it,” he said. “We also have the highest number of diseases from bad health. It doesn’t make sense.” McAdams suggested, however, that healthful, pesticide-free foods aren’t the only draw for customers at the farmers market. “It’s the camaraderie of bringing the community together,” she said. “You go out there and see the community mingling with our visitors, you see kids out there blowing up balloons.” n
PageQ Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
325 years of family tradition
Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 PageR c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
Cover Story: Ralph Lembo “Bo” Prestidge
Prestidge not discouraged by trials of farming
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alph Lembo “Bo” Prestidge and his family have been involved in farming for a long time. “On my daddy’s side, somebody has been farming in this country since 1688 — even before this was a country,” said Prestidge, 53. A native of Tyronza, Ark., Prestidge is also following in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather and namesake, Ralph Lembo. “He moved here in the early 1900s. His daddy was a merchant. When he was a young man, he would buy land. He ventured off into farming. His sister and the other family members stayed in the merchant business,” Prestidge said.
The Lembo family, full-blooded Sicilians, settled in Itta Bena in 1905 and operated a clothing and whole goods store, he said. Prestidge’s grandfather, who died in 1960, had two passions in his life. “One was he loved the blues music and the other was farming,” Prestidge said. Blues historian Steve LaVere said Lembo operated a small recording studio out of the back of the Itta Bena store. The farmer and blues lover also acted as a roving talent scout and agent throughout the Delta, recruiting noteworthy bluesmen such as Rube Lacy and Bukka White. Lembo also owned a record and music
store in Greenwood, LaVere said. “Not a lot of rice is planted anymore. “He played a big part in starting the We get a lot of chemical damage and blues in this state,” Prestidge said. drift. It’s hard to farm that now,” he said. He said when Lembo began building Lembo had a daughter, Agnes Lembo his farming empire, the nature of farmPrestidge, Prestidge’s mother. She maring was different than it is today. ried Teddy Prestidge, who farmed in “When he started farming, there was a Arkansas. lot of hand labor and a lot of different types of farming and no irrigation,” v v v Prestidge said. Lembo, he said, focused on four main Farming is not for everybody, Bo crops: rice, cotton, soybeans and wheat. Prestidge said. Lembo started farming rice in 1956. “It’s just a way of life, and people This year is the first time in almost have to live it to understand it Prestidge’s 32 crop seasons in the Delta because it is such a different way of life,” that he has not planted rice as part of --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------his crop because of wet weather. See PRESTIDGE, Page 6
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Soybeans reign again
PageS Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
Leflore County’s Top Crop
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Corn, cotton, wheat, rice round out top 5
oybeans are once again expected to be the top crop for Leflore County, with close to the same acreage planted as 2012, Mississippi State University Cooperative Extension Service agent Jerry Singleton says. Last year, farmers planted 112,000 acres of soybeans. “We don’t have numbers yet for this year, but it looks about the same, or maybe up a little,” he said. Next to soybeans comes corn, with 74,500 acres planted last year in the county. “Before the wet weather, acreage would have been a little more, but we don’t know how much wet weather has affected it,” Singleton said. For both soybeans and corn, prices are not yet as good as last year so far, he said. “Last year the higher prices came as a result to the drought and poor yields in the Midwest.” After soybeans and corn comes cotton, with only 25,200 acres planted last year, then wheat, with 13,000 acres, and last is rice, with 5,900 acres planted in 2012. Even fewer acres will be planted this year, Singleton said. “Cotton acreage will be off a third to a half, compared to last year,” he said. “Corn and soybeans are less risky than cotton, and look more profitable. It costs $100 an acre in insecticide to grow cotton, and it is more labor intensive.” Bubba DeLoach of DeLoach Farms said he and his father Carl won’t plant any rice or cotton for the second straight year. Last year was the first time they hadn’t planted either crop. “Price-wise, it hasn’t been feasible for us to grow cotton and rice. We can get by with less labor and equipment to grow corn and soybeans,” Bubba DeLoach said. The development of new varieties of corn, as well as the increased demand for corn, has helped expand planting. “It used to be that the type of soil determined what crop to plant. Now different varieties of corn can be planted on any type of soil,” DeLoach said. “New corn varieties will produce on heavier as well
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as lighter soil. Now we can make as many bushels of corn as rice.” Much of the corn grown in the Delta is purchased by the commercial poultry industry in South Mississippi. “Most of ours goes to the chicken plants through Express Grain,” DeLoach said. In addition to all of the market considerations, DeLoach Farms had another reason for getting out of cotton. “Two years ago, our cotton picker burned. We decided not to replace it.” DeLoach said that while some farmers in the Delta are still planting cotton, and the price is up recently, many are not, which will make it difficult for cotton to ever return in a major way. “Once you lose your infrastructure for cotton, it will take too many years to rebuild it,” he said In the hills of Mississippi, as well as in other southeastern states, where there is drier land, farmers are still growing cotton. “Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas still have lots of cotton,” Deloach said. As for rice, DeLoach said the crop is expensive. “Getting the land ready to grow again costs a lot more.” Prices are not yet what they were last year, DeLoach said, but it’s possible they will increase. “The highest last year was over $8 a bushel, and now it is about $5. Recently the highest prices have come around harvest time,” he said. Many factors go into pricing, but the chief one is the expected yield. Before heavy spring rains, rice acreage was expected to be up this year, Singleton said, “but because of wet weather, it will probably be about the same.” DeLoach said the wet weather has them around three weeks behind, but all of the corn is planted, although there is some damage due to wet weather. “There are some thin spots,” he said. As of mid-May, the DeLoaches were half-planted in soybeans. Beside the top five crops, small amounts of peanuts (890 acres) and grain sorghum (430 acres) were planted in Leflore County, Singleton said. n
“Price-wise, it hasn’t been feasible for us to grow cotton and rice. We can get by with less labor and equipment to grow corn and soybeans.”
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Continued from Page 5 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------he said. Prestidge said he’s encouraged his son, Ral, to do what he wants to do outside of farming. “Farming, at this point, is just more stressful than it used to be. Years ago, the financial stress of producing a crop was not there. Your inputs of making a crop are so much greater on the same acres than what it was just five years ago,” he said. Despite all the negatives farmers are facing, Prestidge said his son has chosen to farm. The father-and-son team is the heart and soul of Prestidge Farms II, which has eight employees at the height of farming season. Since 1981, Prestidge has expanded from the original 1,500 acres that his
grandfather farmed in the Delta to around 4,000 acres today. Despite the unseasonably wet weather, Prestidge has managed to get some 1,500 acres of corn planted. While most of the 2,500 acres of soybeans are already in the ground, he’s pressing to get the remaining 800 acres planted before the next rain moves in. Prestidge said the Delta is poised to be a major player in corn production, perhaps eventually outpacing the Corn Belt of the Midwest. “I think we have an opportunity, with irrigation, to be a lot more consistent than the Midwest. That’s proven so in the past couple of years because of irrigation. That’s something that is not offered in the Midwest,” he said. Delta farmers have other things going for them, as well. “We can plant earlier; we can harvest earlier; and our crops are more consistent in normal years. I think that’s a big advantage for us. ... The Midwest hasn’t even
started planting yet, so they’re already way behind,” Prestidge said. He said, his crews are scurrying to lay irrigation pipe while hoping to avoid another shower. “Usually, one extreme follows the other. The farmers know from historical fact that one extreme follows another,” Prestidge said. The upcoming dry spell, he said, will last as long as the current wet spell. Prestidge said all of his fields are precision graded and irrigated to ensure the best possible outcome. He said it is important to rotate crops from year to year. “You’ve got to rotate. It’s a key factor in crops. It keeps your soil built up. The crops complement one another,” Prestidge said. v v v
The importance of farming will increase in the coming decades, and American farmers will have an increasingly big role
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to play, Prestidge said. “We’re the No. 1 producer in the world. We supply the whole world with the best technology. Just from the growth of the population, the day will come that we won’t be able to export anything — our own country will use everything that we grow,” he said. Regardless of whether his son stays in farming or whether his son-in-law, Jace Hamilton of Calhoun City, joins in the family farming operation, Prestidge remains optimistic about farming and being a farmer. “I tell my son, the American farmer will be needed. I feel more positive today about that than when I started 32 years ago,” he said. Prestidge, a licensed Realtor and owner of Mossy Oak Properties Wildlife & Ag Land Inc., says he accepts the limitations and uncertainties that come with being a farmer. “We don’t own this land, God does. He just lets us borrow it while we’re here,” he said. n
“We’re the No. 1 producer in the world. We supply the whole world with the best technology. Just from the growth of the population, the day will come that we won’t be able to export anything — our own country will use everything that we grow.” _ç=mêÉëíáÇÖÉ
P has feas to g and can less
Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 PageT c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
PageU Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
Challenges galore
Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 PageV c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
What to Plant?
Weather forces farmers to make tough choices
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eflore County farmers face all kinds of challenges this year when it comes to selecting crops for planting. Some managed to get their corn planted while others, hampered by rain and damp field conditions, have been left struggling to get soybeans and cotton planted. Most farmers can adapt among the region’s three top crops — corn, soybeans and cotton — said Jerry Singleton, an agent with the Leflore County Extension Service. Planting, he said, is the easy part. “They’ll use that same planting equipment for corn, soybeans, cotton, and to some extent, peanuts,” Singleton said. The real challenge will come at harvest time. Combines can be used for both corn and soybeans, the only difference being that the combine head must be changed depending on which crop is harvested. Cotton harvesting requires cotton pick-
ers, which cannot be used on grain crops. This year, Singleton said, cotton was less profitable when compared to corn and soybeans. As a result, cotton planting will likely be 40 to 50 percent lower than in 2012. In 2012, 25,200 acres of cotton were planted in Leflore County. This year, Singleton said, the number might be 15,000 or less. Some cotton that has already been planted will need to be replanted because of wet field conditions, he said. Last week, farmer Billy Whittington was pressing on with the last of his soybean planting. His corn crop was already planted before the last round of wet weather hit. “We’ve got parameters that we work with. We like to have corn in by the end of March while we could wait until April,” Whittington said. Soybeans have a later window from early May through early June.
Whittington said corn and soybeans provide an ability to change quickly, depending on rain or other factors, unlike cotton. Cotton, he said, ideally should be planted by May 10. Whittington said seed companies eagerly try to anticipate which seeds the farmers will need. “They are scrambling to meet their customers’ demands.” Farmer Riley Poe said he wasn’t facing a planting dilemma this year. “I got the corn planted that I wanted to plant,” he said. Poe was busy last week trying to catch up on his fertilizing and herbicide applications for his corn because of the wet weather. He also was behind in planting his beans. “Let’s put it this way: we’re further behind that I want to be.” Poe said changing crops might be difficult if farmers had already pre-booked their corn crop and couldn’t get into the field to plant it. “You’d be looking toward
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soybeans,” he said. Farmer Kerry James said while this year corn started out strong, the wet weather has been a problem. “Our objective was for a lot of corn acres. We’re about half to three-quarters planted. We’re just now getting our first shot of fertilizer on it,” he said. Of 1,200 acres planned for corn, only 800 got planted, James said. Late planted corn just won’t yield as much, so he’s transitioned to soybeans. James said he is facing a problem, since he strongly pre-booked the 2013 corn crop. He said most grain elevators provide some flexibility. “A lot of times, they’ll let you roll it over to the next year.” George Jeffords, farm manager for Tommy Gary, said he was lucky in getting his corn crop planted. “We didn’t have to change anything. We just finished planting soybeans today,” he said. n
PageNM Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
Staying involved
Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 PageNN c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
Bill Litton
After year as Delta Council president, moves to new role
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ill Litton wasn’t expecting to be chosen as president of Delta Council last year, but when he was notified of his selection, he was ready to serve. The 63-year-old president of Wade Inc. estimates he has been involved in Delta Council in one capacity or another for more than 30 years, including working on various committees and once serving as vice president. His father-in-law, George Wade, was a Delta Council president in the 1970s, and his stepfather, Jerry Sayre, held that title in the 1950s — so he grew up knowing what the organization did. Also, as head of a business that has dealerships all over the Delta and elsewhere, he shares the council’s interest in the livelihood of the region. “Delta Council’s not an organization that blows its horn a whole lot,” Litton said, but he added that “if you’re civicminded or Delta-minded, that’s an organization you want to be a part of.” He said he didn’t have any expectations about the job going in, other than that it would require a lot of work — and it did. Now he switches over to chairman, and he plans to stay involved. “Whether it’s something about agriculture, conservation, environment, wildlife, fisheries, if it’s about the Delta, if it’s about national farm policy, Delta Council is recognized throughout the nation as the go-to farm organization,” he said. “No question about it.” v v v
Litton said he received valuable assistance from past Delta Council presidents, including his predecessor, Bowen Flowers of Coahoma County, and Tommy Gary.
Also, although he knows the importance of issues such as transportation and flood control, he said he’s not as well-versed in those areas as some others. So he found people who had served on those committees for years and listened to their insights. “I knew it was going to be a lot of work; I knew I was going to have to rely on a lot of people, and a lot of people were there to certainly help me,” he said. Litton said Delta Council also has a very efficient staff that helps make the job easier. Delta Council works on projects in many different areas, and few of them are started and completed within a year, Litton said. More often, the council is working in the background with other entities rather than taking the lead. But Litton said he had seen evidence this year of progress being made in some important areas with the council’s help. For example, about seven years ago, the Legislature was trying to devise a new formula for funding the state’s universities. But the formula proposed then was not favorable to Delta State and Mississippi Valley State. So, at the urging of thenDelta State President John Hilpert and others, the Institutions of Higher Learning postponed acceptance of the formula to reevaluate it. After years of study, a new formula has been suggested — and Hilpert and MVSU Acting President Alfred Rankins Jr. have said that although it’s not perfect, it’s better for them than the earlier version would have been, Litton said. Delta Council was one of the groups involved in those discussions years ago, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------pÉÉ LITTONI=m~ÖÉ=NP
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PageNO Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 PageNP c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
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`çåíáåìÉÇ=Ñêçã=m~ÖÉ=NN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------and the improvements just took time to get through the system, he said. MVSU and DSU are important to the region, and “I think we can report that our regional universities are faring a lot better in this (formula) than the old one,” he said. v v v
Delta Council also has pushed workforce training. About five years ago, then-Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and state Rep. Willie Bailey of Greenville took the lead in establishing a Delta workforce cabinet. They started a pilot project to engage private businesses in the workforce development network of state and federal agencies, so employers would have better access to training. Recently, Bryant and the Mississippi Development Authority have announced that the Delta’s model has been a success and will be replicated in three other cabinets elsewhere in Mississippi. Delta Council likes to get involved in projects where the impact can be measured, and this was an example of that, Litton said. “It was something we saw; we tried it; we got the state to try it; it worked. And so now they’re taking it elsewhere, and so that’s great,” he said. “That’s just great news for us, and I think it’s great news for the state.” Delta Council keeps in contact with federal officials to ensure that projects such as I-69 aren’t pushed into the background, Litton said. It is involved in the push for a National Heritage Area designation for the Delta so it can receive the proper recognition from the National Park Service. And the group helped form the Delta Health Alliance, to make health services more accessible to those in need. Agriculture and its related industries
_áää=iáííçå=áë=éêÉëáÇÉåí=çÑ=t~ÇÉ=fåÅKI=ïÜáÅÜ Ü~ë=NN=äçÅ~íáçåë=~Åêçëë=jáëëáëëáééáK are a critical part of the Delta’s economy, and improved tourism offerings will help, too, Litton said. But the region also needs industry to complement agriculture, and luring new employers requires the kind of regional approach that Delta Council uses, he said. “If you get a big plant in Indianola, Greenwood’s going to benefit from it,” he said. “There’s going to be people who live here that go over there.” n
PageNQ Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
Not just for farmers
Greenwood Commonwealth / Sunday, May 19, 2013 PageNR c^ojfkd =======================================================================================================================================================================
Farm Bureau Federation
Leflore County branch aims to increase awareness D o you eat food or wear clothes?” This is the question Britton Hatcher, regional manager of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, asks someone who is on the fence about becoming a member of the Leflore County Farm Bureau. “Agriculture affects all of us, either directly or indirectly,” Hatcher said. The Leflore County Farm Bureau recently began revitalizing its presence in the community to increase awareness about its mission and its membership. Farm Bureau is a grassroots political organization that looks out for the best interest of the agriculture community, including the residents of rural Mississippi and commodity producers such as catfish, cattle, pork and crop farmers. The Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation was established in 1922, just three years after the nationwide American Farm Bureau Federation was established as a voluntary organization of farm families seeking solutions to the problems that affected their lives, both socially and economically. The organization continues to serve farmers and other members through programs, public policies and economic services today. The Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, based in Jackson, is the largest general farm organization in the state with 199,502 members and comprises 82 offices, one for each county. Each office is led by the county’s local farming community. The Leflore County Farm Bureau office is headed by President Putnam Stainback, First Vice President Mark Kimmel and Second Vice President Hugh Arant, all Leflore County farmers. “Farm Bureau is an excellent way to get your voice heard on a lot of issues at the county, state and national levels,” Arant said. Farm Bureau has lobbied for many legislative efforts on behalf of agriculture at both the state and national levels. Many of the issues and ideas brought to Jackson and Washington were first voiced at a county Farm Bureau office. “What’s good for ag is good for the state,” Stainback said. “Farming has a trickle-down effect.” Agriculture employs many Mississippians in one way or another. Many businesses, even those not in the farming industry, see positive economic effects when farming is prosperous. “Agriculture is a tremendous asset that our country and county have,” Arant said. Leflore County residents been involved in the organization for years. Arant’s father, the late Hugh M. Arant, a former farmer, was the president of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation from 1972 to 1988, after serving as president of both the Farm Bureaus of Leflore County and Central Mississippi. Arant has continued to be active in the
iÉÑäçêÉ=`çìåíó=c~êã=_ìêÉ~ì=mêÉëáÇÉåí=mìíå~ã=pí~áåÄ~ÅâI=äÉÑíI=~åÇ=c~êã=_ìêÉ~ì=`çìåíó=`ççêÇáå~íçê=sáÅâá=jçêÖ~å=~êÉ=ÄçíÜ=~=é~êí=çÑ íÜÉ=äçÅ~ä=çÑÑáÅÉÛë=ÉÑÑçêíë=áå=áåÅêÉ~ëáåÖ=~ï~êÉåÉëë=çÑ=áíë=éêÉëÉåÅÉ=áå=dêÉÉåïççÇ=~åÇ=iÉÑäçêÉ=`çìåíóK organization, like his father, and has been a Farm Bureau member for the past 40 years. “It was important to me to belong to Farm Bureau,” Arant said. Putnam, the current Leflore County Farm Bureau president, has similar family ties to Farm Bureau. Putnam’s father was a Farm Bureau member. After returning from college to his home in Leflore County to farm near Minter City, Putnam became a member. He has been a Farm Bureau member for 25 years. The Leflore County Farm Bureau is also renewing its efforts to educate children about agriculture with its Ag in the Classroom Program. The program is led by Gail O’Neal, chairwoman of the Farm Bureau Women’s Committee. “Many of our children do not know where their food and products come
from,” said O’Neal. “With fewer people living on the farm, exposure to the various crops produced in Leflore County is limited. “If you ask a child what is made using cotton, they may say a fluffy candy on a stick.” The program includes coloring contests, the Commodity of the Month and educational hands-on activities like planting a seed in soil and watching it grow. “It is very exciting for them to see this process,” O’Neal said. A new project the program will feature in June for Dairy Month, is a painted wooden reproduction of a cow that can be “milked.” O’Neal plans to make the model available throughout Greenwood during the month. The reproduction will allow children to see what is it like to milk a real dairy cow.
“What’s good for ag is good for the state. Farming has a trickle-down effect.” mìíå~ã=pí~áåÄ~ÅâI=éêÉëáÇÉåí=çÑ=iÉÑäçêÉ=`çìåíó=c~êã=_ìêÉ~ì
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Members of Farm Bureau pay an annual fee and receive an array of benefits and discounts. The Leflore County Farm Bureau board of directors has four meetings a year. The organization holds an annual members meeting in the fall. Vicki Morgan was recently hired as the county coordinator to assist the board of directors in continuing to develop ways to keep the Leflore County Farm Bureau’s community presence thriving. “We have a number of good ideas that will get the word out that the Leflore County Farm Bureau is an important part of Greenwood and Leflore County,” Morgan said. For more information about Ag in the Classroom, call Gail O’Neal at 455-4944. For more information about the Leflore County Farm Bureau, located at 934 U.S. 82, call the office at 453-6416. n
Growing trend
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On-farm Grain Storage
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Increase coincided with rise in grain acreage
arming has changed in many ways since the time when cotton was king in the Delta. For one thing, commercial grain storage facilities were sufficient for the acreage of beans, corn and rice. “When I came to Greenwood in 1996, the only on-farm storage was for rice, and it was small,” Mississippi State University Cooperative Extension Service agent Jerry Singleton said. “We weren’t growing much corn, only 11,700 acres in 1995, and didn’t have long lines at the facilities.” On-farm storage for rice started about 50 years ago, Singleton said. “As rice acreage continued to increase, then more on-farm storage has increased.” One big change in the Delta area has been the growth of corn as a major crop. Corn from this area is sold largely to South Mississippi’s commercial poultry industry. Some corn goes to the river for exports, mostly for animal food overseas, and some goes to an ethanol plant. Corn acreage was 74,500 in 2012, Singleton said. “At first, when corn started increasing, guys were only concerned with the long lines at the facilities,” he said. Since that time, soybean and corn acreage has greatly increased, so commercial storage space is limited, and having to wait in long lines decreases farm efficiency, Singleton said. “We started to see a need for on-farm storage to improve harvest efficiency.” Commercial storage facilities want farmers to sell as close to delivery as possible, he said. “Having on-farm storage gives farmers market flexibility, so they can take advantage of improved prices after harvest,” Singleton said. “Mississippi acreage is small compared to the rest of the country, Singleton said, “so although prices start to drop around harvest time, we still get good prices. However, some farmers may want to hold their soybeans or corn for delivery at a later date in hopes of better prices. Just as cotton storage changed first because of the module, and now the cotton
picker turning cotton into a round bushel, covered, and dropped onto the field, there are now more than one option for corn growers. One is the on-farm grain bin; the other is the plastic bag concept, which came into use about 10 years ago. The disadvantage of the bags is that they are good for only one storage year, Singleton said. While on-farm storage has grown, commercial space has stayed roughly the same, he said. Curt Jolly, farm manager of Garry Makamson Farms, said they got into storing their own crops about six years ago. “Garry had an opportunity to buy two storage facilities at Money. It was a little far from us, but at a reasonable price. That started us. Then about three years ago, we built three more on the farm at Morgan City,” Jolly said. Garry Makamson Farms has increased its corn and soybean acreage slightly, to make up for the cotton that won’t be grown this year, Jolly said. “Only 2009 and this year has Garry not grown cotton.” While it is advantageous for market flexibility to have on-farm storage, it can be risky, Jolly said. “If you store it yourself and it ruins, you have a pile of nothing,” he said, “but at the commercial facility, it’s their risk.” However, so far, that hasn’t happened. “It is a little risky, but it isn’t hard to do,” Jolly said. And it comes in handy during harvest season. “You don’t have to stop your combines while you’re waiting for the elevator to get to your crop. Not having to wait in lines is a significant advantage.” Garry Makamson Farms has storage for about 250,000 bushels. “We usually fill them up,” Jolly said. “When you’re storing it commercially, you’re paying them. Sometimes you get pushed into selling at lower prices than you want.” However, they still use the commercial facilities when the harvest is early and there is a premium placed on early delivery. `ìêí=gçääóI=ã~å~ÖÉê=çÑ=d~êêó=j~â~ãëçå=c~êãëI=~åÇ=Üáë=ëçå=táääI=~=Ñ~êã=ÉãéäçóÉÉI=ëí~åÇ “You want to deliver quickly to take åÉñí=íç=çåÉ=çÑ=íÜÉáê=çåJÑ~êã=ëíçê~ÖÉ=ÄáåëK=táíÜ=íÜÉ=áåÅêÉ~ëÉ=çÑ=ëçóÄÉ~åë=~åÇ=Åçêå=~ë advantage of that,” Jolly said. n ã~àçê=ÅêçéëI=ã~åó=Ñ~êãÉêë=åçï=ìëÉ=çåJÑ~êã=ëíçê~ÖÉI=~ë=ïÉää=~ë=ÅçããÉêÅá~ä=Ñ~ÅáäáíáÉëK
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