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September 19, 2010 127th year No. 262
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WHO’S NEWS
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Family farmers cling to tradition in tough times
Dorothy Downey joined First Mortgage Corp. as a home loan consultant. Previously with Fleet Mortgage and New South Federal, Downey has 30 years experience assisting homebuyers and homeowners.
Inside...
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Some say there are bright spots ahead. 1B
BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
DAVIDSON COUNTY – Leslie Crouse and Bo Hall both have made farming their livelihoods for decades. While the second-generation farmers continue the trade that has diminished over the last decades, the outlook for the trade to continue to the next generations of their families doesn’t look so bright. “My wife and I don’t have any kids,” Crouse said. “I’ve got a niece and nephew. I’m not really sure that they would follow into it. There’s a good chance that he might have some part of a farm, but I really doubt he would be a dairy farmer.” Crouse, 54, of Davidson County, has been farming since he could walk. His late father, Ray Crouse, and uncle, Aaron Crouse, started the dairy farm that he currently runs in 1947. “I like the variety of everything – the crops, the cows, the machinery, being outdoors and being my own boss and the production of agriculture products,” he said. “It was a natural thing for me to do.” Crouse, who has been dairy farming for years, said milk prices in 2009 were a disaster for the industry. He said he has had a good year in 2010 compared to the previous year, but his corn crop is 14,000 bushels less than last year – a loss of about $47,000 – because of this summer’s drought. “I’m going to look to recoup,” he said. “I’m going to have to buy that much extra. I’m going to need decent milk prices to be as good as what I was last year. That’s one blessing that we had last year, we did have good crops.” Crouse said when he was a boy, there were about 30 dairy farmers in Davidson County. He said the number has dropped dramatically. “For one thing, it’s a labor-intensive business,” Crouse said. “A lot of the people don’t like the hours that you have to be here to milk the cows.” As far as Crouse’s future in dairy farming, he is unsure if he will stay in it for more than a few more years. He may veer from dairy farming to just crop farming. “The thing is that I am going to reach a point here in another year or two, where my buildings and facilities are getting age on them,” Crouse said. “I’m going to have to look at investing quite a bit of money in order to really maintain what I am doing. It’s
INSIDE
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SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE
Farmer Bo Hall handles a rack of tobacco which will be put into one of his bulk barns for curing. Hall says raising tobacco won’t continue on to the next generation of his family. kind of iffy if you want to do that when you start getting in the age I am.” Hall, 45, got involved in raising tobacco in 1983 because his late father, John A. Hall, was a farmer. He worked in a shop for a while but said he decided to farm because it’s in his “blood.” “I enjoy doing it, but it ain’t as fun as it used to be,” he said. “There’s too much politics in it. We are raising tobacco for the same price now as we did in the ’80s. You have to raise so much more of it.” He says he will continue the trade in his lifetime, but farming won’t continue to the next generation of his family. “I’m the only boy that’s left,” he said. “I’ve got a girl, but I hope she goes and gets her college (degree).” Hall farms about 145 acres of tobacco in Davidson, Forsyth and Guilford counties. Hall attributed the declining profits of tobacco to cheaper labor being offered in other countries. “They are getting it elsewhere,” he said. “We used to be a piece of the pie. We used to be three-quarters. Now, we are a quarter.” With fewer tobacco farmers, he said those still in the business are farming more acres. “The 20-acre farmer, you can’t make any money with 20 acres,” Hall said. “It used to be that them guys would raise 20 acres and be able to make it through the winter. Those days are over with.” The future of new farmers specializing in tobacco in the Triad doesn’t look too good, Hall said. “If you had to start from scratch, it ain’t
OBITUARIES
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Carol K. Garcia, 74 Earl Richard Hunt, 84 Marie Legrand, 78 Dennis Wood, 63 Obituaries, 2B
WEATHER
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SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE
Leslie Crouse drives a tractor around his dairy farm in Davidson County.
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BY PAUL B. JOHNSON ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
A car travels along the new part of Deep River Road. When finished, the new road will intersect Eastchester Drive a few hundred yards from the existing intersection. The new section will be larger with more traffic signals.
HIGH POINT – The new section of Deep River Road linking with Eastchester Drive in north High Point could open by late next month. Crews have been working about a year on the new segment of Deep River that will tie in with a traffic signal on Eastchester near Deep River Church of Christ. The new segment of Deep River should open in late October after the fall High Point Market, said Keith Pugh, engineering services director for the city of High Point. “Oct. 25 is the earliest we would open that road,” he said.
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like going out and starting any other business,” he said about the operating costs. “It’s just too much,” he added. “There ain’t going to be anymore (new farmers) unless a generation leaves it to them.”
Completion near on new Deep River segment
SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE
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CONSTRUCTION
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Construction of the new segment of Deep River Road will cost $1.5 million and was funded through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, known commonly as the federal stimulus. The new segment will tie into Eastchester Drive and include a traffic signal and left- and right-turn lanes on Deep River Road at the intersection.
The work that still needs to be done on the new segment includes putting down
DEEP RIVER, 2A
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