Everything's Not Coming up Roses for Leaf Growers

Source from:  January 16,2006 BY CHRISSY INGRAM DAILY NEWS STAFF  01/17/2006

Bradley Odum farms about half as much tobacco as he used to on his land in Swansboro. Since leaf profits went south, he's tried everything from cotton and soybeans to wheat and watermelons - but nothing seems to supplement what he's lost. "It's taken the (tobacco) buyout money we've gotten to float the farming," he said, "We're not really getting ahead; we're just holding our own. "We cannot compete, the way I see it, with the bigger outfits," he said. "Last year I tended cabbage and I lost a lot of money. I can't gamble anymore, not like I used to. I don't have enough tobacco to back me up now." Odum's story isn't unusual in eastern North Carolina. In 1998, there were 273 tobacco farms in Onslow County. By 2004, the number was 221, according to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Web site. Stronger international competition and decreased leaf prices are only part of the problem. The tobacco industry itself has taken a series of hits from anti-smoking groups, new regulations and a class-action lawsuit that resulted in the tobacco buyout program. For Odum and others, the changes aren't new but the problem remains: How do they replace tobacco as a major cash crop. Odum is among those hoping the Rural Advancement Foundation International can help. It's encouraging area farmers to think of creative ways to replace tobacco crops - and it's helping them find the money to do so. Farmers, along with local farm organizations, just finished applying for grants from the Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund, organized as part of an initiative to replace lost tobacco income. The group offered cost-share grants of up to $10,000 for individuals and $30,000 for groups to farmers, farm organizations and community groups in Onslow and 21 other counties around the state. "For the individual farmer replacing lost tobacco income, this can make the difference between keeping the farm or having to break it up and sell it," said Jason Roehrig, RAFI program director. Grant winners will be announced in early March. Hope for the best Odum didn't apply for a grant by himself, but the Bogue Sound Watermelon Growers Association, of which he is a member, did. Of the more than 20 farmers and farm families involved in the Bogue Sound group, almost all had their hand in the tobacco industry at one time. Although some are still producing tobacco, a few are now growing watermelons and other produce. Aside from helping farmers in making the transition from tobacco to another income source, the program aims to create jobs. "(Farms) employ a significant number of other people," Roehrig said. "For every 10 farm jobs you have, you have another three in the community to support those. If we lose the small businesses, which are really the backbone of these (rural) communities, then North Carolina is really in trouble." Roehrig said it's farmers like Odum that RAFI is trying to help stay afloat. "The goal of the fund is to help farmers continue to farm and to sustain rural communities," he said. Roehrig said many farmers are looking to community and farm organizations for help. Those organizations, in turn, are aiming at getting their name recognized outside of their communities to provide the farmers better service. The Bogue Sound Watermelon Growers Association is an example, said Donald Staub, one of its members. The association hopes to use part of the grant money to set up a Web site to help promote Bogue Sound watermelons - a brand name recognized all over Carteret County, and surrounding counties, Staub said. But the group's members hope to reach even further. "This is not something that is brand new," said Billy Guthrie, president of the association. "The Bogue Sound Watermelon Growers Association has been known for over 100 years. Seventy-five years ago there were a lot more watermelons growing in this geographic area than there is today, but we thought we would go after it and try to preserve the name. "Any commodity whether it be watermelons or what have you, you can grow and produce a lot, but if you don't have a market, what are you going to do with them?" Guthrie added. "That is what this program is going to do - to increase the acreage and the market." Hot and cold The Onslow County Farmers Market Association is also hoping for a piece of the funding pie to improve its new facilities on U.S. 258. The group hopes to install a $20,000 geo-thermal heating and cooling system into the Farmers Market, which opened in September 2005. The system would use an underground water line to heat and cool the building. Former president of the association, Ed Sanders, said they would then hope to lease the building when it is not in use. "In the winter, it's hard to keep the market going," Sanders said. "And that is why we're looking at this. And in the summer, some vendors didn't want to come because of the heat. So it could really help." He also hopes to open the doors to education through tours and presentations. "Children can learn about energy and energy saving, specifically gas and electricity." Sanders said. The association, which sells a variety of fruits and produce, also hopes to expand its marketing efforts and attract more customers and a variety of new vendors. Sanders is encouraging cut flower, plant and homemade craft vendors to be a part of the farmers market. The association has less than $1,000 in the bank, Sanders said, so pursuing other options is critical. "It will hopefully bring in some more income and help them to be more self-sustaining," said Jeff Morton, an agent with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension's Onslow County Center. All the buzz A proposed Honey House is generating the greatest buzz among members of the Onslow County Beekeeper's Association. The group has applied for a grant to jumpstart construction on the building. Roland O. Reed, chairman of the publicity committee for the beekeepers, said the associati