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Research Paper
English 4
My dad started farming when he was very young, hanging out with his granddaddy for
hours, and he worked for another farmer for a long time. About thirteen years ago my
dad went on his own and started his own farming operation. We started out in a small
shelter behind my grandparents house. We kept all of our equipment there in the open.
Now we have a shop of our own and a shelter that is ours. Almost all of our equipment
is out of the weather under a shelter. The amount of land we tend increases every year,
too. I will be proud to continue with my dads legacy, and have something to pass down
to the next generation.
When I first started farming I started out mowing cornstalks. My dad put me in the
tractor by myself and told me to go mow stalks. I had a pretty good idea what to do
because I had watched him and others do it over the years. About 30 minutes into
mowing, I had it down and was doing good. At least I thought I was, I got to one of the
ends and I ran into the ditch. Luckily it wasn't too big and I drove right out of it and
continued. Without my dad seeing me and I got away with it until he saw the tracks
where I went into the ditch later that day.
The thing that really interest me is that farming is nothing but a gamble every year. I like
for my life to be challenging and farming is definitely a challenge. In farming you never
know what the prices for crops may be. You also don't know what the weather will end
up being and the weather can make or break you. It determines the yield for every crop
and there isn't anything you can do to control Mother Nature. Every so often you will get
lucky and the crop prices will be good and the yield of the crop will be good also. On
years like those you have to save your money to last thru the next years that will be
bad.
The thing about farming is that it will always be needed. For the rest of time people will
have to eat so they will need a farmer. The human race may not always need a
mechanic or a doctor but the demand for farming will always be here thats another
reason I like farming. It makes me feel like Im helping the world every day I go to work.
Farming Facts
ingredients found in crayons. As a matter of fact only one acre of soybeans can produce
over 82,000 crayons. Another interesting fact about soybeans is that 60% of beef cattle
consumed in America are fed soybean meal. Soybean meal is soybeans ground down
to a scratch.
If you think farmers or ranchers are doing it for the money, youd be wrong. (Just like
teachers
dont
do
their
jobs
for
the
money
either.)
According
to
for costs beyond the farm gate: wages and materials for production, processing,
marketing, transportation and distribution. In 1980, farmers and ranchers received thirty
one cents out of every dollar spent.
Our
state
does
manage
to
set
some
farming
records.
https://www.agclassroom.org/teacher/stats/northcarolina.pdf
North
Information
from
Carolina
ranks
number one nationally in the production of flue-cured tobacco and sweet potatoes;
second in the production of Christmas trees; third in the production of cucumbers;
strawberry, cotton and tomato production rank fourth nationally, followed by
greenhouse/nursery production, burley tobacco, peanuts, bell peppers, and squash
coming in at fifth.
An area of disagreement in the area of farming is about should farmers get subsidies
from the government or not. But according to http://farm.ewg.org/region.php?fips=37143
seventy four percent of farms in North Carolina did not receive subsidy payments. And
for those that did, ten percent of the farms collected seventy seven of the subsidies
given. In our county (Perquimans), cotton farmers were one of the fewest in number
getting government money, but the amount was almost double the next highest.
Another area of disagreement is over using farmland to put wind turbines on. You can
find websites, newspaper articles and editorials and other sources that are either for or
against it. Finding a balanced view of both sides can be difficult. According to
http://ced.sog.unc.edu/can-you-feel-it-coming-in-the-air-rural-economic-development-
and-wind-farms/ which gives points from both sides, shows the potential positive
economic effects while pointing out the possible negatives in inequity.
People who are not involved in farming, or who dont even live in the country, often
have some wrong ideas about how crops or animals are grown or raised. The website
http://www.thehandthatfeedsus.org/farming_america_Fact-or-Fiction.cfm gives factual
information to argue against the wrong ideas they might have. Like who owns farms,
what crops are used for, and how prices are come up with. To find out how much you
know, or dont know, about farming facts in the United States you could go to
http://www.americasfarmers.com/quiz/how-much-do-you-really-know/. To find out if you
could be a farmer, visit http://www.beginningfarmers.org/the-beginnng-farmer- quiz-doyou-have-what-it-takes/.
First Interview.
For my first interview I interviewed Mr. Ricky Stallings. He is the owner/operator of R&R
Farms Inc. The reason I interviewed him is because he is a very successful farmer
around Perquimans County. He is very neat and keeps all his business organized. He is
located in Belvidere,North Carolina almost in Gates County/Chowan County. If you ask
anyone about him they will tell you that he keeps his farm the neatest and cleanest farm
around this area.
He said he started his own farming operation about 12 years ago right by himself. He is
a first generation farmer but when he was younger he worked on a farm with his Uncle
Donald while he was still attending school. As time went on he worked for several
different farmers around the area. Once he graduated high school he got a stable job
working for a farmer in belvidere named Mike White. For the next 10-15 years he
worked for Mike.
Once he reached a point of feeling comfortable in the farming industry and he thought
he could own and manage his own farm he went out on his own. He started his farm in
high hopes of being successful. That he was. In his interview he stated that he would
not recommend somebody to get into farming at this time. some of his reasons being
the prices of farming equipment being so high and the prices of crops being so low. One
of the things that stood out to me was that he said being a farmer is not anything but a
gamble every year because it all depends on the weather and the prices which you
have absolutely no control over at all.
Second Interview
My second interview was on Ryan Colson. He is one-third owner of Colson farms out of
New Hope, N.C. Ryan is a fourth generation farmer and will soon be expecting a child
which he hopes will be the fifth generation and keep his family tradition of farming going.
The Colsons plant mostly cotton for the last century but in the last 5 years they have
started planting soybeans and wheat.
The reason they have started to plant other crops is because they are trying to improve
their business and also expand their business. One of the things that he thinks is the
most important in farming is to know how to use technology in this day in time. He says
there is not any jobs you can have that will prepare you for the farming industry. Ryan
states that one of his favorite things to do is to get into the tractor at the beginning of the
day and it is like it makes all his worries go away, it relieves a lot of his stress and it is
considered his thinking place.
Third Interview
My third interview was of Mr.Ken Dail. Mr.Ken started his own farm at a very young age
of 19 years old. His father and grandfather were both farmers so he is a third generation
farmer.He worked for his father for years until he reached 19 then he went out of his
own starting his own business farming. As he was farming crops he got a contract with
purdue which is a big opportunity to make money.
So he built four chicken houses with the contract for purdue and has been chicken
farming for years and years now. He says the physical labor for both crop farming and
chicken farming has been cut in half in the last 20 years but he also stated that you
need to be very mentally strong. the reason being that you have so much more
technology to deal with now than you use to. There is so much more paper work on
everything now days. He also states that you better be able to handle your money
correctly if you want to be a farmer.
He says if you like having time for yourself and being able to do what you want then
farming is the job for you. When certain times of the year comes you better be ready to
work sun up until sundown seven days a week because it is critical.