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Mike
Moser
"I Say"
Published March 28, 2003 |
Farming here is something
to really celebrate
Those of us who work and live in Cumberland County believe
that we are a modern urban community connected to major cultural
events by a ribbon of asphalt running east and west. Because
of our mobility, many of us often forget the very staple that
anchors our community.
That is why the annual Friends of Farming luncheon and the
Farm/City Breakfast are such important events.
Not only does it pull together friends from town and the farm,
it allows us all time to pause on the importance of farming to
our daily lives and it reminds us of our roots.
In the late 1700s or early 1800s early settlers passing through
Cumberland County en route to settlements realized that the Crab
Orchard area would be a good place to set up roadside inns to
provide rest and food for other travelers.
While many would argue this was the first foray into developing
tourism for the county, others could equally argue that it led
to the first farming ventures in the community.
Early settlers found that despite the massive amount of rock
lying under the skin of earth, there were some places that farm
crops thrive upon and today farming is a most intricate part
of today's economy.
From peddling apples and selling corn to pioneers passing
through to the multi-million dollar green bean industry and even
the truck farming that provides many of us with food while providing
farmers with an outlet for their goods and an income.
Today there are 726 farm operations in Cumberland County,
which surprisingly is up from 639 farm operations counted in
1992. Farmland has increased in acreage from 96,874 to 100,352
in just five years.
On the flip side, farm size has decreased nine percent and
full time farms by five percent during that same five-year period.
In 1997, market value of agricultural products increased 131
percent to $37,229,000.
The Greater Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce has presented
the annual Farm Festival Luncheon for eight years now. Another
important program is the Farm/City Breakfast organized by the
chamber and held late each fall in celebration of the end of
the harvest season.
Cumberland County Farm Bureau always takes an active role
in both programs and this year's festival was sponsored by Mountain
Farm International, Plateau Truck & Tractor, Tri-County Equipment,
the chamber and Farm Bureau.
The list of past Friends of Farming who have been honored
at the festival reads like a who's who in Cumberland County agribusiness.
They include John Mast and sons, Wayne Jernigan, J.B. and Joyce
Creason, John Kemmer III and Claude Little, Huel Neal, Dr. Robert
Freeland, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Rose, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Wilson
Jr., Dr. Charles Mullins, Jones Produce, Roger Thackston, Danny
Kemmer, R.L. Wheeler, Mr. and Mrs. Marlin Haston, Mr. and Mrs.
R.L. Rowell and this year's recipients, Jack Looney and Ernest
Neal.
It will be spring planting time before we know it and soon
we will be traveling to the Farmer's Market off Hwy. 70 N at
the Community Complex to purchase the fresh bounty of the labor
of local farmers.
It is fitting we take time out to recognize our friends in
the ag business, and next time you see them, a thank-you would
be appropriate as well.
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Mike Moser is the editor of the Crossville Chronicle. His
column is published periodically on Fridays.
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