During the Antiques Roadshow stop in Raleigh last June, an unidentified Eastern North Carolinian made big headlines when it was discovered that she was the owner of the highest appraised antique ever found on the show. Show publicist Erika Denn said the collection of Chinese jade from the period of 1736 to 1795 was valued at $710,000 to $1.07 million. That breaks the previous record of $500,000 set last year in Palm Springs, Calif., for a painting by abstract expressionist Clyfford Still.

The precious family heirloom that’s been passed down, or the one-of-a-kind collector’s item picked up on a family road trip might not be worth millions, but all collectors will verify that everything has a story behind it.

Cumberland County Farm Bureau member Andrew Gillis and his family have been collecting antiques as a way to preserve their family’s history and use it to educate others about what life was like in earlier days. The Gillis Hill Farm has been in the Gillis family since the 1700s. Through the process of restoring some of the original buildings, the Gillis family thought that others, particularly local school children, might be able to learn something from their family history, and they decided to open the farm to the public.

“We wanted to share our history with everyone around us,” Gillis says.

The family offers tours from April to November for schools and groups that are interested in learning more about farming.

“The tours are not just about the farm animals,” Gillis says. “We show them about old farm life, what it was like to live back then, the way chores were done.”

The tours lead children through various scenes where they learn about the old farm equipment, how crops were harvested, how ice cream was made, how clothes were washed and other practical information. The farm features treasures like an old rope bed from the early 1800s, a horse-drawn buggy from 1890, a rifle from 1862, a house built in 1852 and a steam powered cotton gin from 1911.

“It’s our way of still living off the land, but teaching with it too,” Gillis says.

For Rowan County Farm Bureau member Tom Smith, collecting antiques is a way to remember his past. Smith has an extensive collection of John Deere tractors and equipment.
“I grew up on a farm close to here and worked for a farmer that had a two-cycle John Deere tractor,” Smith says. “In the ’80s, I thought I’d get that tractor and fix it up. It’s a way to remember earlier days, and each one of these tractors carries fond memories.”

Smith and his wife both like to collect antiques, and they enjoy hunting for treasures when they travel. “That’s our thing when we’re out travelling together; we just enjoy looking around antique shops to find things,” Smith says.

His wife has a large collection of old irons in a display that shows how irons have evolved over the years. The earliest irons in the collection date back to the 1700s. The Smiths found them while traveling in Europe.

“We both remember our grandmother using these old irons, and that got us interested in the different kinds of irons.”

Smith’s collection might be worthy of a museum display, but he says it’s all just for his enjoyment. In addition to the tractors and irons, the barn where he keeps his antiques also houses other collectibles like butter churns, washboards, flax wheels, hay trolleys, an old school desk, Depression glass and many other items.

Onslow County Farm Bureau member Marion Howard also collects antiques that he remembers from his childhood.

“I was always into old things, and I kept a lot of the things I grew up with,” Howard says.

Howard has set up an antique museum in the loft of one of his barns where he displays a wide variety of antiques from Octagon soap to ice saws to lightning rods to a full-blown tobacco grading station.

“I’m a scrounger,” Howard says. “I don’t throw anything away; I keep it. But some of these are things I’ve bought or found or someone gave to me. People that know what I’m doing always bring me things.”

Some of the farming equipment that Howard has kept over the years originated from his father. “My father was a sharecropper. He started out with nothing, but he was very smart and a hard worker, and by the time he died, he had done very well,” Howard says. “Looking at what he had to work with and what we have now—it shows how far we can come in one generation. I always think, ‘Well, they’re not going to come up with anything better than this,’ and then they do.”

Howard’s motivation for expanding his collection was to showcase what life was like in earlier days. “I want to be able to share this and pass it on,” he says. “You can go to a museum and see lots of things, but they don’t have all the things we used to use on a daily basis.”

“Our growing season is so short. That’s our main challenge here,” Doug Patterson says about that crucial time between April and June.

In an effort to enlarge that window, not only for the Pattersons but many more farmers in North Carolina, scientists are working feverishly at one of the most elaborate research parks in the nation, and it’s located within 30 minutes of where Doug and Randall Patterson work and live.

The North Carolina Research Campus is a multibillion-dollar site located on what was the former Pillowtex textile mill in Kannapolis. Dole Foods owner David Murdock bought the site, razed the former plant in the largest demolition project in state history and planted state-of-the-art facilities that will be occupied by more than a half dozen of North Carolina’s colleges and universities, as well as many private-sector companies.

The overall objective of the Research Campus is to enhance the knowledge of nutrition and how it relates to treatable diseases. Improved eating, Murdock believes, will extend a person’s productivity and longevity.

While institutions such as the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College have facilities at the Research Campus, or soon will, the university that will have the closest relationship with North Carolina farmers through the campus not surprisingly will be North Carolina State University.

Staffed by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the role of the N.C. State University Fruit and Vegetable Science Institute is to develop a new generation of fruits and vegetables with superior nutritional and horticultural characteristics. That objective is how one of those staff scientists, Dr. Jeremy Pattison, became fully acquainted with Doug and Randall Patterson. As much as Pattison enjoys working in a lab setting, it’s the relationship he’s built with farmers like the Pattersons that’s made the potential of the Research Campus even greater.

“Without the growers, we’re out here being scientists for academic fun,” Pattison says. “The challenges that the grower has on the farm sets my priorities as a researcher. When we take that approach, we need to overlap our interests. We need to match my scientific ability on top of a problem that industry is having. That way we’re always making sure we’re going down the same road together.

“I’m getting the ability to apply my science in an arena that pays dividends and provides impact that gives that grower a competitive advantage, that solves a problem for him, makes him more profitable and keeps him on the farm,” Pattison adds.

The particular project that could aid the Pattersons is a series of tunnels over top of an acre of strawberry plants. These tunnels would act just like a greenhouse, protecting the plants from harsh weather conditions. Patterson Farms planted the strawberries in late September with the intention of adding a clear plastic cover on top of the tunnel frames in October. If all goes according to plan, Patterson Farms could sell fresh strawberries to its cast of local retailers and wholesalers in December.

“This is going to be a daily chore as soon as we cover these tunnels up,” Randall Patterson says. “The strawberry industry really needs this to work due to the short growing seasons. There might not be four weeks sometimes. That’s tough to gain your expenses back in that short of a time. If you have eight weeks, you have a better chance of making a profit.”

Whether it’s with strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes or a host of other fruits and vegetables, scientists at the North Carolina Research Campus aim to conduct study and field work with all of these products. It could spell an overall boost for the agriculture industry in the state.

“The Research Campus is really in a unique position,” Pattison says. “What happens in the field, what we’re doing in the lab, what we’re doing on a farm, we make those legs compatible with each other. That’s a great advantage for North Carolina.”

Rowan County Farm Bureau member Lee Menius helped his son raise a handful of turkeys several years ago with the intention of bringing one of the free-range birds to Raleigh to compete. After the best turkey went against others for the blue ribbon, Menius sold the remainder to local friends in hopes of at least recouping feed costs.

Word of mouth and a handful of years later, there is now a waiting list for birds from Wild Turkey Farms. Menius raises about 50 to 60 turkeys per year, which are directly marketed to customers to purchase just before Thanksgiving. The poults are brooded for a couple of weeks after hatching; then they are sent outside to feast on a mix of locally raised feed as well as clovers, insects and other natural materials.

“People have told us they can’t believe the difference between ours and a Butterball Turkey from Food Lion,” Menius says. “These turkeys have a lot more flavor.”
Menius adds that raising the free-range turkeys is a nice complement to the chickens and pigs that he grows for commercial operations on a family farm that dates back to 1885.
“With a name like Wild Turkey Farms, we have people calling often about our birds,” Menius says. “There’s a great demand out there.”

For Northampton County Farm Bureau member Donny Lassiter with Lassiter Farms, he’s working literally for wild turkeys. Lassiter works the family’s farm of more than 7,000 acres raising cotton, wheat, soybeans, peanuts and corn, but also oversees a small slice of the operation to raise chufa, a unique crop that’s sold as food for wild turkeys.
Chufa is a bunch grass with a peanut-like underground nut that’s used to feed wild turkey, deer and waterfowl on wildlife refuges and commercial hunting plantations. “It’s great for the birds because it’s really high in protein,” Lassiter says.

Lassiter explains that harvesting chufa is mostly difficult because of the extensive thrashing, cleaning, drying and packaging process necessary to get the crop to market. The farm first modified peanut harvesting equipment to collect the chufa, but it has since made significant investments into special tools and storage facilities for the crop.

Lassiter has steadily raised more chufa to meet demand from buyers throughout the Southeast. What started as a one-acre plot now is a chufa operation of 60 acres with the goal of planting 100 acres. Along the way, Lassiter has learned how chufa is a delicacy crop in Spain because the nut can be milled down into grist to be used in gluten-free products.
While chufa might not be in a local grocery store soon, Lassiter is looking for more wildlife operations to buy the crop he produces.

“We’ve had a lot of growing pains with the chufa business, trying to get it going,” Lassiter says. “I’ve got high hopes we can keep it growing.”

In other news…Eric and Tammy McPherson hosted a multi-county Young Farmers and Ranchers meeting in August at their farm. YF&R members from Alamance, Chatham, Guilford and Rockingham counties enjoyed an afternoon with their families and each other.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY Farm Bureau held a “Hay Day” event at the Western North Carolina Nature Center on Oct. 30 in an effort to expose people to farming and rural lifestyles. The county’s Farm Bureau had a real tractor and hay baler on site to go along with the theme. Buncombe County Farm Bureau’s Greg Young (pictured in green shirt) was on hand to pass out safety tips to both children and adults. The county also supplied an event booth.

NC FARM BUREAU FEDERATION held its annual Collegiate Discussion Meet on Nov. 8 at the Federation’s headquarters in Raleigh. Contestants for this year’s meet included Crystal Roberts and Lee Tyre, both students at N.C. State University, and Jaron Jones and Carla Saunders, students at North Carolina A&T State University. The participants discussed the topic of “How do we correct misconceptions about Farm Bureau?” for approximately 25 minutes and were judged on their cooperation, communication and ability to offer constructive criticism while analyzing this agricultural problem and developing solutions. After a competitive discussion, Crystal Roberts was the winner. From Buncombe County, she is a junior at NCSU with a major in animal science. She was awarded a plaque, $500 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Sacramento, Calif., where she will represent North Carolina in the National Collegiate Discussion Meet held during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference, Feb. 7-9.

CUMBERLAND COUNTY Farm Bureau member David Collier was recently named a 2008 McCloy Fellow. He was given the opportunity to travel to Germany, where he received a closer look at agricultural, farm and food-supply conditions abroad.

The McCloy Fellowship was established in 1975 and gives young Americans and Germans the opportunity to broaden their professional experience in environmental affairs, journalism, urban affairs and agricultural production.

JONES COUNTY YF&R members Trent and Rebecca Scott recently visited the first-grade class of Terri Mack and Anita Scott at A.H. Bangert Elementary School in New Bern. They read the book The Tree Farmer and presented it to Mrs. Scott and the assistant principal for the school’s library.

They took the class outside to plant a Leyland Cyprus tree, and each child was able to help dig the hole, put dirt back in the hole and then a child watered the tree. Each of the children wrote them thank-you notes and drew pictures of their visit and planting the tree.

RANDOLPH COUNTY Farm Bureau recently celebrated the Grand Opening of a new satellite office in Archdale, at 102-A Bonnie Place. On hand for the ribbon-cutting were board members Ronald Self, Bud Smith, Sheela Wright (holding her granddaughter), Jerry Davis, AnnaRae Hodgin, N.C. House Rep. Patricia Hurley, agency manager Bill Foster, Congressman Howard Coble, Archdale Mayor Bert Stone, board members Lloyd West and Jimmie Moffit, and several employees.

ROWAN COUNTY Farm Bureau sponsored a forum for all candidates for Rowan County and North Carolina offices on Thursday, Oct. 2. Candidates for the General Assembly included Lorene Coates, Ada Fisher, Andrew Brock and William Burnette. In addition, three of the four county commission candidates were present: Raymond Coltrain, Carl Ford and Jim Sides.

In other news…Farm Bureau members Jason and Robin Starnes hosted a “Day at the Farm” event for nearly 35 school children on Saturday, Oct. 4 at the couple’s farm. Jason and Robin are active in YF&R activities county and statewide. The children were entertained by a hay ride, crafts using farm products and learning how to milk a cow. The event was a fun learning experience for all who attended.

SAMPSON COUNTY Farm Bureau Women’s Committee contributed gently used items to a Duplin/Sampson fundraiser auction for Valley of Hope, a center that helps women in need, on Nov. 8 in Wallace.

WAKE COUNTY Farm Bureau Women’s Committee members Josephine Evans and Shirley Burt shared the importance of agriculture with more than 120 students when they attended the Apex Business Alliance Career Fair on Oct. 17. Each student was given an “Ag Paths to Success” brochure and viewed a poster about careers in agriculture. The fair, held at the Apex Community Center, caters to three local middle schools in the area.

In other news…Women’s Committee members Monnie Jenks and Shirley Burt visited with preschoolers and kindergartners at St. Michael’s School in Cary on Oct. 14 for an “Ag in the Classroom” event. Students learned about cows, were allowed to milk a pretend cow and made a “Moo Mask.” Burt read to the students the book Sweet Potato Pie and helped them make their own pie to eat. A total of 75 students participated. The teachers were given goody bags filled with treats and “Ag in the Classroom” brochures.

This issue, North Carolina Farm Bureau Magazine profiles the three finalists for the annual YF&R Achievement Award, which is presented during the organization’s annual meeting.

John Allen

John Allen, 34, of Iredell County, runs a tree-farming operation alongside his parents, and is an agriculture speaker and advocate. He also completed NCFB’s Candidate School in 2008 and helped manage a friend’s political campaign.

“Politics and lobbying are of great importance to me,” he says. “At the local, state and federal levels, I have spoken in public forums, to elected officials and regulatory agencies about issues that affect agriculture through Farm Bureau and as president of my State Nursery and Landscape Association.”
Allen graduated from N.C. State University in 1996 with honors and planned to teach biology, but chose farming instead. He has helped his family farm expand from 80 acres in 1996 to 350 acres today.

Allen patented two new varieties of River Birch trees, Summer Cascade and Shiloh Splash, which are licensed for growth in the U.S., Japan, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Allen sends half of the patent royalties to the Tree Breeding program at his alma mater.

Allen also grew Japanese cherry trees for the Washington Monument project.

He is active in his church and its youth group, and is a volunteer firefighter.

Brent and Sue Leggett

Brent, 33, and Sue Leggett, 28, from Nash County, own and operate Leggett Farms and Airport U-Pick Strawberry Farm.

Neither Brent nor Sue comes from a farming background, and they are self-made.

“A factor that has been crucial to the start up and growth of our farming operation is our willingness to take risk, and having an entrepreneurial spirit,” they say.

Their next venture is a retail farm market with educational tours open from spring to winter.

They started farming part-time in 2003, and now their 30-acre sweet potato farm has grown to 2,000 acres of row crops and vegetables. Sweet potatoes are still their biggest crop, and in 2007 they began raising certified sweet potato seed.

“This is a very involved enterprise,” they say. “It begins with having specialized greenhouses, in which first generation sweet potato plants are micropropagated.”

They say becoming shareholders in a top 100 rated produce company and in a cotton gin has increased their profitability.

The Leggetts have a son, Colin, 1, and are active in Farm Bureau and their church.

Jason and Robin Starnes

Jason Starnes, 31, and his wife, Robin, 23, of Rowan County are finalists for the second year in a row. He and his father grow corn, soybeans and wheat and raise beef cattle and poultry at Four S Farms, LLC.

Starnes says they are now adding precision farming practices to increase productivity.

“We know that in agriculture today efficiency and timeliness are two key ingredients to our success,” he says.

Jason oversees the farm’s new poultry operation, crop production and precision agriculture technology. He also stays busy with their popular hay operation.

Jason says he and Robin, a paralegal, care about their community and use their free time to tend neighbors’ yards.

“I believe that farmers need to be active in their local organizations, but not to the point that you sacrifice time with family and friends,” he says.

Jason and Robin have been married for two years. They teach Sunday School and are active in their community and in Farm Bureau countywide and statewide.

This past year, the couple started Rowan County Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers group.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Young Farmers Open Doors to New Worlds

Attaining knowledge can be likened to knocking open a door to a new world.

One way young farmers can force their way through the doors that might block their paths to greater prosperity includes the garnering of new knowledge through the experience of networking with participants of North Carolina Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers program.

New opportunities for social interaction and friendly competition are provided each year when young farmers vie for success in NCFB’s Achievement, Excellence in Agriculture and Discussion Meet competitions.

Did We Mention Prizes?
In addition to good company, new ideas and social interaction among peers, winners of various YF&R competitions at both the state and national levels receive several nice prizes.

Winners of NCFB’s Achievement, Excellence in Agriculture and Discussion Meet competitions receive an expense paid trip for themselves and their spouses to the 90th Annual American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in San Antonio, Texas.

In Texas, AFBF’s Achievement Award winner will receive a 2009 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup truck.
The winner also receives paid registration to the AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference to be held in Sacramento, Ca., in 2009. Four state runners-up will also receive prizes, which have yet to be determined.

The AFBF Discussion Meet winner will receive a 2009 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck. The winner of this competition will receive complimentary registration for the YF&R leadership conference in Sacramento. Finalists will also receive valuable prizes.

The winner of the AFBF Excellence in Agriculture award will take home a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck and finalists for the national prize will also receive significant awards.

North Carolina Prizes
During NCFB’s 73rd Annual Convention to be held in Greensboro in December, the Achievement Award and Discussion Meet winners will each receive an ATV or equivalent in prizes and gifts, as well as $500 from Dodge. Runners-up in the two categories will each receive $500. The Excellence in Agriculture state winner will receive $500 from NCFB and $500 from Dodge, while runners-up will each receive $200.

Collegiate Discussion Meet
The winner of NCFB’s college-level Discussion Meet will receive $500 and a trip to the AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference in Sacramento. Runners-up will receive $100.

ALAMANCE CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Burlington
Aug. 26–30, 2008

ALEXANDER CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Taylorsville
Sept. 30–Oct 4, 2008

ALLEGHANY CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Sparta
Aug. 16–23, 2008

ATLANTIC DISTRICT FAIR
Ahoskie
Oct. 27–Nov. 1, 2008

AVERY CO. FAIR
Newland
Sept. 9–13, 2008

BETHWARE COMMUNITY FAIR
Kings Mountain
July 29-Aug. 2, 2008

BURKE CO. FAIR
Morganton
Aug. 5–9, 2008

CABARRUS CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Concord
Sept. 5–13, 2008

CALDWELL CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Lenoir
Sept. 23–27, 2008

CAPE FEAR FAIR & EXPO
Wilmington
Oct. 30–Nov. 8, 2008

CENTRAL CAROLINA FAIR
Greensboro
Sept. 12–21, 2008

CHATHAM CO. FAIR
Pittsboro
Sept. 17–20, 2008

CHOWAN CO. REGIONAL FAIR
Edenton
Sept. 23–27, 2008

CLEVELAND CO. FAIR
Shelby
Sept. 25–Oct 4, 2008

COASTAL CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL FAIR
New Bern
Oct. 16–26, 2008

COLUMBUS CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Whiteville
Oct. 6–11, 2008

CUMBERLAND CO. FAIR
Fayetteville
Sept. 18–28, 2008

DAVIDSON CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Lexington
Sept. 15–20, 2008

DIXIE CLASSIC FAIR
Winston-Salem
Oct. 3–12, 2008

DREXEL COMMUNITY FAIR
Drexel
Aug. 19–23, 2008

HALIFAX-NORTHAMPTON CO. FAIR
Roanoke Rapids
Oct. 21–25, 2008

HAYWOOD CO. FAIR
Waynesville
Sept. 22–29, 2008

HICKORY AMERICAN LEGION FAIR
Hickory
Aug. 27–Sept. 1, 2008

IREDELL CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Statesville
Sept. 1–6, 2008

LEE REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Sanford
Oct. 6–12, 2008

MOORE CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Carthage
Oct. 7–11, 2008

N.C. MOUNTAIN STATE FAIR
Fletcher
Sept. 5–14, 2008

N.C. STATE FAIR
Raleigh
Oct. 16–26, 2008

ONSLOW CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Jacksonsville
Oct. 6–11, 2008

PITT CO. AMERICAN LEGION
AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Greenville
Sept. 29–Oct. 4, 2008

RICHMOND CO.
AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Hamlet
Oct. 14–18, 2008

ROBESON REGIONAL
AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Lumberton
Oct. 2–11, 2008

ROCKY MOUNT AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Rocky Mount
Sept. 8–13, 2008

ROWAN CO. AGRICULTURAL
& INDUSTRIAL FAIR
Salisbury
Sept. 15–20, 2008

STANLY AMERICAN LEGION POST #76 AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Albemarle
Sept. 16–20, 2008

STOKES CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
King
Sept. 8–13, 2008

SURRY CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Mt. Airy
Sept. 1–6, 2008

WARREN CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Warrenton
Sept. 23–27, 2008

WAYNE REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Goldsboro
Sept. 25–Oct. 4, 2008

WILKES CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
North Wilkesboro
Oct. 14–18, 2008

WILSON CO. AMERICAN
LEGION FAIR
Wilson
Sept. 16–21, 2008