crops – Rural Ris

More Than a Feed Mill: Nahunta Feed Supply Tour

Every week, just about, someone in our family drives to the Nahunta Feed Supply to buy feed for our livestock. It isn’t just a store where we pick up a few bags of feed, though.It is a place where we and everyone else are greeted with a smile, a “Hey!! How are you?!”, and maybe even a token word of friendly advice. The Nahunta Feed Supply is warm and inviting. The office is filled with homey touches and tons of pictures of friends, family, and youth who the feed mill supports. There is always a candle burning, so it smells more like a house than a mill. Most days, Mrs. Gale is at the counter to check you out. Somehow, she seems to make writing a check more enjoyable. Her husband, Roger, runs back and forth between their farm and the mill. My family and I have loved getting to know the Pittmans and those who work at Nahunta Feed Supply over the years. So, before I moved, I wanted to capture the mill, store, and the people behind it. In typical fashion, they were accommodating, gracious, and more than welcoming.

Nahunta Feed Supply used to be known as Pierce Farms Center, which is Mrs. Gale’s side of the family. It started as a cotton gin, and grew to be a lot more.“Daddy continued to grow with land and business and expanded into a feed mill, growing hay, and selling fertilizer. He would buy crops from the farmers too,” said Mrs. Gale. The feed mill is at least 60 years old and is filled with history and heritage. In January of 2007, Gale and her husband Roger took over the store and mill and renamed it Nahunta Feed Supply. Today Nahunta Feed Supply provides feed, hay, and other supplies to the local community. They also serve up smiles and joy. It is evident they love what they do.“I get so attached to my customers. I do really like it because I get to interact with people, and they become like your family. My customers are my family, and I love the country life,” said Mrs. Gale.You can find the Pittmans at local livestock shows, supporting their customers who enter the ring. They love to see how the kids take the feed they purchase from the mill, feed it to their animals, and then show those animals off, and sometimes win! Not only do the Pittmans like to watch, but they have also made it a point to support the shows financially. No one can say that they do not give back.

We (my brothers tagged along, because shouldn’t all good livestock showmen know where their feed comes from?) toured the mill and learned how the feed was made.We learned lots of interesting facts; for example, we discovered corn is ground more coarsely or more fine, depending on the type of feed and animal being fed. In addition to touring the mill, we also saw various types of equipment and the warehouse. A lot of the feed at Nahunta Feed Supply is made from crops grown by the Pittmans on their 687 acres they tend. They also grow and sell a large amount of hay for customers (182 of their 687 acres is hay). If I have come away with anything from my many visits to Nahunta Feed Supply, it is that it is much more than a feed mill. It is the people inside who run it, the passion in which they work, and the care in which they show to all of us who visit!

July 23, 2018November 30, 2018 by ruralris Categories: blogTags: agriculture, agriculture business, crops, feed, feed mill, hay, livestock, nahunta, North Carolina, nutrena, purina 2 Comments

Southern Snow

Although yesterday was the first day of winter, here in North Carolina, it is a balmy 70 degrees and super wet(Santa, you might want to bring your swim suit). I have never seen a white Christmas. Well, there was that one time it snowed the day after Christmas, so I counted it, but still.

There are places here in the South where fields of white can be seen. I’m talking about cotton. It is a southern snow if you will, and it is beautiful.

Not only is it beautiful, but it is also pretty important to America. Cotton is the number one value-added crop in America, bringing in $5.3 billion just at the farm level and more than $120 billion in annual business revenue.

Cotton isn’t just about the fibers. All parts of the plants are used. The seeds are processed into oil, meal, or hulls. Oil is often used in shortening and salad dressing. Meal and hulls are a great protein feed for livestock.

America’s currency is 75% cotton.

One bale of cotton weighs about 480 pounds.

Weather affects the quality of the cotton. If the bolls (the balls of cotton) have opened and are rained on before they can be picked, the cotton sprouts and reduces the quality of the lint.

Cotton quality is determined by taking a sample from the bale where color, cleanliness, staple length (length of fibers), and strength are analyzed.

Thomas Edison used cotton fibers for filaments in his first light bulb.

America is the third largest grower of cotton, and Texas is the top state.

Eli Whitney’s cotton gin invention changed the face of cotton forever. It was able to process cotton 10 times faster than by hand.

Cotton is truly the snow of the South. I must say I’m partial to it over the real deal. Actual snow wreaks havoc. Everyone freaks out a bit, roads are on gridlock, schools close, and bread and milk fly off of the shelves. Not to mention, here on the farm, it gets to be a mucky mess. So, now that it is officially winter, I will not complain about my balmy weather (however I would appreciate a lot less water), and will embrace the snow of the South…cotton.

cotton

Sources:

Cotton Campus

National Cotton Council of America

December 23, 2015November 30, 2018 by ruralris Categories: blog, Promoting agriculture, World Without Ag WednesdaysTags: cotton, crops, NC, photography, snow, South, southern snow Leave a comment

A World Without Ag Wednesdays: Sorghum

Today’s feature is a neat little crop that is attracting some attention of late–sorghum. If you are gluten intolerant, then chances are you know about this upcoming grain. More on that later.

Sorghum is often confused with corn, especially early on. It looks very much like young corn. So, if you’ve ever wondered why that field of corn is missing its tassels and isn’t tall, it’s because it is probably sorghum, and you may be seeing more of it in the future.

Rising Stardom

The name sorghum comes from the Latin word “Syricum (granum)” and the Italian word “sorgo” which all means grain of Syria. Sorghum ranks fifth in the cereal grain line up of the world, falling behind wheat, rice, corn, and barley. Of the 66 countries that sorghum is grown in, the United States is the largest producer! That is pretty major when it was just introduced in 1757 to America. Sorghum originated in Egypt over 4,000 years ago, so it took a while to get to the USA. It is now finding loads of uses.

Jack of All Trades

Sorghum comes in three main types–grain, forage, and sweet. Grain sorghum is of a shorter variety (5ft) and is used for livestock feeds, human consumption, biofuels, and pet food. Forage sorghum is taller (6-12ft). Because it has more to it, it is primarily used for silage (fodder that is preserved in a silo through anaerobic acid fermentation and fed to livestock). Sweet sorghum is harvested before it seeds and is pressed to get the juices to make biofuels.

Biofuels and Ethanol

30 to 35 percent of sorghum is used for ethanol production. One bushel of the grain produces 2.7 gallons of ethanol. Sweet sorghum is more hardy than crops like corn (it only requires 7 inches of water to produce the first bushel), making it a more ideal source of renewal fuel. In 2012, the USA produced 15 billion gallons of ethanol from plants. The federally mandated Renewable Fuels Standard will double that production to 30 billion with 8 years. Sweet sorghum is one of the crops that will be responsible for this increase in ethanol production. A big job for the crop.

Livestock Feeds

46 percent of American sorghum is used for livestock feed. Sorghum can take the place of corn in feeding operations. Because it is more hardy than corn, it is often more attainable and cheaper (maybe that is why it is often called poor man’s corn). It is fed to beef and dairy cattle, swine, and poultry as a source of protein and energy. Most of sorghum is used for grain (7 million acres), but there is a decent portion used for silage (350,000 acres).

Human Consumption

Sorghum has become the go-to cereal grain for those who are gluten intolerant. It can take the place of wheat flour in many baking goods. There is good news for beer lovers too. New Grist is a beer made from sorghum and rice. Brewed in Wisconsin, this was one of the first gluten-free beers back in 2006. Interestingly, it also got the government to change its definition of what beer is. Under the government’s policy, the starting recipe for all beer had to be 25% malted barley. With this new sorghum beer, things had to be redefined, and so it was.

Besides helping out those with gluten intolerance, sorghum is also a whole wheat that is super nutritious and has antioxidants similar to blueberries. So, basically you cant go wrong.

From Field to Food, Feed, and Fuel

Sorghum is harvested in different ways depending on its purpose. If it is going to be used for grain, a combine is used to pick the seed heads. If being used for silage, than it will be cut with either a chopper or a hay cutter. After this, it then goes to its various destinations, ready to be enjoyed!