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Helping farmers grow

Ag Options can help you get a little dirt on your hands

by Britt Combs

Meredith McKissick waters plants in a greenhouse she bought through an Ag Options grant.

By Britt Combs | The McDowell News

Published: November 5, 2009

Western North Carolina Ag Options grants are available once again. Each year applications are sought by the Cooperative Extension to promote the growth and diversification needed to ensure long-range sustainability of farming in the region.

Local farmer Meredith McKissick of Old Fort said one of the primary reasons people don't enter or expand agriculture is a lack of available funds. Yet the fact remains that agriculture is one of the largest industries in the state

That's where the North Carolina Cooperative Extension's WNC Agricultural Options Program, or "Ag Options," comes in.

The program offers grants to farmers to expand their operations.

McKissick applied for and received a grant to acquire a greenhouse and expand her cut flower operation on her family farm in Old Fort.

"This is a great program," she said, adding that conventional credit for her expansion would not have been easy to obtain.

"The Ag Options people are interested in anyone trying to conserve energy or develop alternative energy on the farm," she added.

She was able to find a used greenhouse, formerly belonging to a tobacco farmer. Now the greenhouse will allow her to grow flowers and vegetables in a more efficient system over a longer season.

Hers is a family affair. Along with her husband, Casey, she is the director of the Organic Growers School and founded the Foothills Family Farms cooperative in McDowell, Rutherford and Buncombe counties. The McKissick farm is 30 acres of livestock and vegetables, along with the expanding flower production.

"I've been farming for seven years. Cut flowers are my big focus right now," she stated. "I sell to the public at two farmers' markets and also directly to restaurants for table decorations and mostly for weddings."

The greenhouse came with two big propane furnaces, but McKissick is trying to develop an alternative. Each week, she explained, she receives a truckload of waste barley and hops from a local brewery. The pungent heap vents great amounts of gas, which she hopes can be made to fire the furnaces.

According to the cooperative Extension, the grants are available to the wide variety of agricultural specialties.

"Applicants are farmers who demonstrate the economic viability of farms in
western North Carolina," reads the grant application form. "Support is provided to farmers who are diversifying or expanding their operations to increase farm income and ensure the sustainability of the farm business."

Farmers from a variety of sectors of agriculture are encouraged to apply, including fruits and vegetables, livestock, nurseries, agri-tourism, beekeeping and value-added processing.

The WNC Ag Options selection process "favors applicants who operate a business and manage land for the purpose of producing crops for harvest and sale," and " agri-tourism operations that are for the purpose of inviting the public on farm to increase sales of farm products," according to the application instructions.

Therefore, funds requested should be directly earmarked for the growing and harvesting of crops and livestock.

Although the program is geared largely to farmers who are now or have previously grown tobacco, it is not limited to them. Priority is given to applicants who have an eye towards sustainability, have a tax exemption number with the state Department of Revenue, and who generate more than ½ their household income from crops or products produced on the farm.

Those who arrange an appointment with a Cooperative Extension agent by Monday, Nov. 23, can receive assistance on developing their project proposal.

Gants are available at $3,000, $ 6,000 and $9,000, with matching funds required for some grants. Farmer labor does not count as matching funds.

Applications must be postmarked no later than Jan. 10, 2010. For an application call the McDowell office of the Cooperative Extension at 652-7874 or go to our Web site and follow the link at the top of this story.