Local Farms Recognized by Virginia Dept. of Conservation and Recreation

Lunenburg, Charlotte and Prince Edward farms win awards

SOUTHSIDE – The recipients of the 2015 Virginia Grand Basin Clean Water Farm Awards were recently recognized for their work in helping protect soil and water resources in Virginia. One winner is selected from each of Virginia’s 10 major river basins. The program is sponsored by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation in partnership with Virginia’s 47 soil and water conservation districts.

The winning farms have done a variety of work that can include adding stream fencing, nutrient management plans and other ways of improving conditions on their farms.

One of the families recognized for their farm work is the Parrish family of Dundas. While many area families and kids know them for their great Pumpkin Patch that attracts people locally and outside of Lunenburg each fall, the family also grows corn and soybeans. Additionally, they have over 200 acres of managed forestland and use a variety of conservation friendly methods in managing the farm.

The Parrish family won the award for the Chowan River area and W.J. Farms
was nominated by the Southside Soil and Water Conservation District Jeff Parrish is the third generation of his family to take the helm of W.J. Farms, a 560-acre operation in eastern Lunenburg County. About 305 acres of the property are used to grow soybeans and corn with  no-till methods. Seven sod waterways help control erosion and grass buffers keep soil from  washing into nearby waterways.  Two hundred and fifty acres of forestland are managed for hardwoods and pine and provide habitat for a variety of wildlife. After harvest, the farm’s five-acre pumpkin patch is planted with winter rye to protect the soil through winter. School groups, families and others who visit the pumpkin patch are treated to a creative learning experience  about conservation farming and the origins of our food. Through  a partnership with the Southside Virginia Community College School of Agribusiness and the Southside Electric Cooperative, the farm also provides learning opportunities for college students. W.J. Farms is truly a family-run operation that  includes Jeff’s parents, Wayne and Carol, Liz’s mother, Carol Watts, and the couple’s children, Eli, Vayda and Cary.

Other Southside Virginia farms that won this award included a Charlotte County couple, David and Lorrie Barron, who run Poplar Grove/Wildwood Berries and Produce. They were nominated by the Southside  Soil and Water Conservation District.

Lifelong farmers David and Lorrie Barron have successfully expanded their 134-acre operation beyond the traditional Charlotte County tobacco farm.

Sixty acres are managed for 35 cow-calf pairs and 30 goats. Two-thousand feet of stream bank have been fenced off from animal activity, and livestock are rotated every three weeks for grazing management. Sixty acres of pine trees are  managed with prescribed fire and spraying. Twelve acres of tobacco are rotated with corn, and a winter wheat cover crop is no-till planted. Field buffers and sod waterways control erosion. The Barrons grow three varieties of  blackberries using drip irrigation, and pollinator stations are set up to attract native bees. In 2013, they hosted a blackberry conference that brought participants from up and down the East Coast. Through their thoughtful and innovative practices, the Barrons are pioneers in agriculture  in Charlotte County.

Prince Edward farmer  Robert “Bobby” M. Jones and Poor House Dairy were also recognized and nominated by the Piedmont  Soil and Water Conservation District.

Jones owns and operates the Poor House Dairy, one of the  last two dairies in Prince Edward County. A third-generation farmer, Jones provides the community with jobs and a source of pride, not to mention quality milk.

Poor House Dairy, with 100 acres of pasture and 775 acres of crop and hay land, comprehensive nutrient management plan, the highest level  of Natural Resources Conservation Service planning available. He is a faithful proponent of cover crops and uses no-till planting on all cropland. With help from agricultural cost-share programs and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Jones has installed a loafing lot that includes a milking parlor, free stall barn, concrete liquid manure tank, pack barn, animal travel lanes and hardened stream crossings for the dairy’s 180 milking cows, 35 dry cows, 50 heifers and 80 calves.

He has been able to install 7,720 linear feet of stream fencing and plans to install 5,600 more.