Pasquotank Farmers' Report, August 1944

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Wilmington Star, August, 27, 1944

ELIZABETH CITY, Aug. 27—Pasquotank is another of the Albemarle counties threatened with a crop failure this season but for the timely rainfall of early July. The early Irish potato crop, covering about 4,500 acres of the country’s best farm land, was not up to par except in spotted instances.

As a rule, the potatoes were small and, because of this, the growers suffered from the lack of this income source. In the past, Pasquotank farmers have followed their Irish potatoes with corn and soybeans but more lately they have begun to plant a second crop of cabbage and snapbeans following the potato harvest.

County Agent P.H. Jameson says that out of the 4,500 acres usually put to potatoes, 2,500 acres of the land is next seeded to cabbage, 100 acres to snapbeans, and the remainder in corn, soybeans, collards, and the like.

It is not generally known, but Pasquotank is a surplus corn producing country. “We have always sold some corn, Jameson said. “Usually, we plant around 70,000 acres and in good seasons, our production is much above the general average for the state.

“We are growing more hybrid, planting over 400 acres of this new corn last year, with an increase this season. Many of our farmers have some corn to sell every year but we are making an attempt to expand our livestock production so as to feed the corn at home. With a county average of about 40 bushels an acre, livestock feeding should be profitable.”

Pasquotank farmers are growing more full-seeded oats to be followed by lespedeza for livestock feed. This supplements the corn crop and one can see some excellent herds of both dairy and beef cattle all over the county.

Swine growing is one of the old, established farm practices but growers have been upset about the ceiling price for market hogs and say no profit has been made on the corn which they sold through their hogs so far this year. One man told me that he fed about $1,500 worth of corn to his hogs and got just about $1,500 for the animals, leaving him nothing for his labor and the protein supplement which he had to buy.

Just the other day, the swine growers formed a small cooperative hog marketing association and will pool their shipments from a small loading installation at Elizabeth City. Vernon James of the Weeksville Community and one of the unselfish farm leaders of the county was elected to head this new organization.

James also is head of the Weeksville Vegetable Growers Association, which has 25 members among the landowners of this fertile farming community. This organization was formed originally to handle the farm labor situation in Weeksville, but its efforts have been so effective that it is now a sort of community club which tackles any of the problems affecting its rural families.

The club has appointed, from its membership, a selling agent to handle its farm produce and the growers said that this agent did one “swell” job with the fall crop of cabbage last year. Those who did not grow fall cabbage have seeded an acreage this season.

Jameson is encouraging these two crops of cabbage and snapbeans, following the Irish potatoes, because, he says, this allows more land for winter grazing. He took me on a trip through the county to see how small herds of beef cattle are on the increase.

Gaston Small is one Pasquotank farmer who is meeting with success in his beef cattle operations because he is using native cows crossed with purebred Hereford sires to build up his herd. At present, he owns about 50 high-grade fat stock as the market will take beef animals and sells his surplus.

He and his brother, Clyde Small, also a beef cattle grower, have beautiful homes surrounded by well-kept fields and pastures, attesting to the success of their livestock enterprises. But good homes are the rule all through the Weeksville section. Farming here is done largely with tractors. Jameson estimates that 90 per cent of the land preparation and cultivation is done with tractor power and this has eased the labor situation greatly.

Not so many peanuts are grown in the county although the acreage shows some increase due to governmental requests for more oil-bearing crops.

The old standby soybean crop still occupies about 16,000 acres of Pasquotank land but is being reduced. The average last season was about 2,000 acres under 1942 and there was a further reduction this year. The reason is that the average acre yield of around 10 bushels of beans at the government price to the grower of between $1.50 to $1.60 does not allow the crop to be profitable. The price this year is up some but many farmers only plant soybeans, they say, because they cannot find another crop to take its place and because they feel it their patriotic duty to produce the oil-bearing seeds.

Many growers have asked Jameson to suggest a crop that can take the place of the soybean and he has pushed lespedeza. About 4,000 acres of this legume are planted in the county and Jameson expects this acreage to expand rapidly once a local seed supply has been established. The lespedeza and permanent pastures are badly needed, he says, for the 112 men now growing beef cattle and the 160 women producing lambs and wool.

As one studies the farming situation in this county, he is impressed with the fact that the diversity of enterprises and the progressive attitude of the growers makes it one of the best agricultural counties in North Carolina even though its small area keeps it from being recognized as such on a statewide basis.