Sweet Grass Farm receives $6,000 grant
Published 6:35 pm Friday, February 10, 2012
The cattle will continue to uniformly spread the fertilizer/nutrients through their manure across the paddocks, eliminating the need to purchase fertilizers – one of the highest costs in cattle farming, Randy said.
“You’ve got the bush hog on the front end of the cow and the fertilization on the back end – a cow is a naturally efficient animal,” he said.
The allowance of taller grasses in the unoccupied paddocks would also serve as natural weed control because the grass will block the weeds from receiving sunlight and the cattle will trample any weeds that do manage to spring up.
The system is also believed to assist in limiting rainwater runoff and erosion problems. With the paddocks more lush and the root systems of the grass stronger, rainwater will not flow off as easily.
Because of their efforts and the fact that a farmland preservation area protects their property, the Natural Resource Conservation Service helped Randy design a plan for the paddocks. He said he also received help from Polk County Soil and Water and John Vining of the Polk County Extension Office to design a watering system. These efforts also led the Smiths to a 90 percent N.C. Agriculture Cost Share Program to help in paying for a well watering system.
Last year the Smiths received this same Ag Options grant for equipment to be used in chicken processing, which they put to good use this fall when a group of Polk County High School students visited Sweet Grass to learn how to process chickens they had raised over the past year at the school’s farm.
The Smiths currently sell their poultry to CooperRiis and they hope to begin selling meat to the public this summer.
To learn more about Smith’s Sweet Grass Farm, email sweetgrassmeats@gmail.com or visit the farm on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Smiths-Sweet-Grass-Farm/227263993993992.
For more information about the WNC AgOptions grant program, see: www.wncagoptions.org; www.ces.ncsu.edu; www.tobaccotrustfund.org; www.wnccommunities.org or www.ncfarmgrants.org.