Farmers doing innovative business in Cherokee County
Agriculture has dwindled rapidly in the mountains, where farmers face not only the standard competition from industrial farming, but the added challenge of a lack of flat land.
Otwell’s lead:
Farmers who make their entire livelihood from working the land are almost a relic from the past in Cherokee County.
As the number of large farms has steadily dwindled, a new type of farmer has emerged, one who can forge a living from an acre or two growing for a specialty market.
He goes on to interview a vintner, a dairy farmer and vegetable farmers, all of whom are using innovative methods to make their famrs work.
Another excerpt:
A new type of market is using the Internet to sell products to high-end restaurants or consumers. The main market for this area is Atlanta.
The idea is that a chef gets the fresh produce he wants the next day, Wood said. The chef knows the farm the produce comes from and he trusts it. A person with as little as a half acre of land willing to grow specialty crops can make $20,000 to $30,000 an acre.
Read Otwell’s story in the Scout here.
Tags: agriculture, Business, Cherokee County, Cherokee Scout (Murphy), dairy farming, Dwight Otwell, Economy, farmers, farming, Food
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