June 14, 2007

Agriculture Matters tour showcases changing industry

DELAPLANE—Change. It can come in the form of something as odd as a blue potato.

Such potatoes and other crops brought change to Hollin Farms, the former cattle operation that owners Matt and Shannon Davenport converted to a pick-your-own venture with products that run the gamut from the ordinary, such as strawberries, to the extraordinary, including a variety of corn a Bolivian family asked them to plant.

The Fauquier County farm was the final destination on last month’s Agriculture Matters Media Farm Tour, organized for news professionals by the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

“‘Agriculture Matters’ is Farm Bureau’s ongoing campaign that encompasses a number of educational efforts,” said VFBF Communications Director Greg Hicks. “One goal is to open farm gates to media so they can learn first-hand some of the issues facing farmers and how technology plays an ever-increasing role in farming.”

At Fruit Hill Orchard in Frederick County, Katherine Whitesell gave the journalists their first taste of Virginia agriculture when she handed out Grab Apples, single-serving packages of pre-cut apples slices. Whitesell and Phillip Glaize own Fruit Hill Slices LLC and distribute their Virginia apples to about 10 Virginia school systems.

“It’s been very successful, and we’re looking at putting in our own slicing facilities next year,” Whitesell said, noting that a New York company currently slices the apples.

Jim Heffernan, business editor for the Northern Virginia Daily in Strasburg, said he wrote a story on Fruit Hill last year but learned more on the tour.

“I’ve always wanted to ask the question about why Virginia schools don’t buy local apples,” Heffernan said after learning that well-marketed, whole Washington apples are historically cheaper. “It just made no sense to me.”

The first day also included stops at the Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative in Rockingham County and White Hall Vineyards in Albemarle County.

On the second day, visitors to Step-at-a-Time Horse Farm, owned by Bob and Julie Williamson, discovered that constant change keeps that Culpeper family in the horse business. Tour participants saw veterinarian Dr. Chris Robertson perform an ultrasound to determine whether a mare was ready to be bred.

“What Julie has done here, as many farmers have done, is found alternative niches to make money,” Robertson said. “Foaling mares, assisting in breeding of mares, training, lessons. …This is what it is going to take for people who want to make a living off of horses.”

Wrapping up the tour at Hollin Farms, Matt Davenport noted that changing with the times, as well as with customers, helped his family achieve success.

“The [farm] Web site and the Internet—that’s really been the thing that has allowed this business to operate,” he said. “Sure, we get some traffic off of our signs out there on the side of the road, but most of our customers are from Northern Virginia and they’re fairly computer savvy.”

Cathy Dyson, a writer for The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, said she wants to return to Hollin Farms in August to see the potato-digging.

“To see farmers like we’ve seen today who are doing something innovative, entering the 21st century and beyond and trying to make the old ways work with the new ways and appeal to a new market—it’s always interesting to see that,” she said.