The folks who gathered at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market for the Farm-City luncheon were treated to some good ol’ Southern style food – fried chicken, barbecue, with all the fixin’s, but surely the sweet treat came when local historian Mark Pace shared a brief – but comprehensive – history of agriculture in the area we call home.
There is little doubt that agriculture has been a major player in this area since before the county was established – tobacco was king, but over the years, other products have provided livelihoods.
The Continental Plant Co. in Kittrell touted “the largest stock of choice strawberry plants in the world,” or so a headline on the cover of the spring 1898 catalogue reported. The company shipped plants all over the continent – $1.25 per 1,000 plants.
The Blacknalls ran 3,000 acres for the Continental Plant Co., Pace said. “They shipped all over the world because of the railroad,” he said.
J.P. Taylor started his tobacco operation in Vance County, which later morphed into Universal Leaf.
E.G. Davis had a side-hustle with his chicken farming business, Pace said. Locals will know where it was located: That’s right – Chicken Farm Road.
The cotton crop helped create the mills that, for years, churned out products for the textile industry. Back in the 1840’s, cotton was selling for between 7 cents and 8 cents a pound, Pace said.
“Just about every farm had a little grove of mulberry trees,” he said. What likes mulberry trees? Silkworms. And, though brief, there was a large silk industry in the area. No wonder – at that time, a pound of silk was worth $4 a pound.
A lot of good farmland now rests below Kerr Lake, that manmade resource that has been the source of water and recreation for many since the late 1950’s.
And nobody is surprised to hear statistics of decreasing farm ownership, given the rise of residential housing and other development that has no association with agriculture.
The Vance County Farm Bureau provided a snapshot of information about agricultural production in the county, all conveniently located on paper placemats on the luncheon tables.
The average farm size is about 225 acres, down by almost 20 percent from 2017.
The county has just more than 38,000 acres of farmland, but that figure is down a whopping 42 percent from just seven years ago.
There are 108 female farmers and 172 male farmers, and 88 new and beginning farmers in the county.
Farmers are increasingly aging out of their chosen livelihood – it’s a hard job that often takes a toll on health and finances. Today’s farms may look different than those of decades past, but agriculture continues to be strong in Vance County.
Extension Horticulture Agent Michael Ellington said it’s important to know the history of agriculture in our county, and it’s equally important that farmers provide mentorship to the next generation to make sure that agriculture’s future remains bright.
Listen to Pace’s talk in its entirety at www.wizs.com.
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