In the process of touring a landowner’s property, they mentioned that they were looking to have the property start paying its way a little bit and they had cleared and stumped a good portion of it to put a crop in. When I inquired as to what they were thinking of planting, they told me they had decided on perennial peanuts. Now I absolutely love boiled peanuts, and so I hastily dashed past the word perennial and anchored down on peanuts. Visions of great Saturday football games, memories of … [Read more...]

I recently sold a tract that was owned by a family that had no idea where the property was or how to find it. This wasn’t unusual, as there are many people across the country that own land and have never visited their property or have left it “stranded.” This particular family’s property was in pretty bad shape when I first came across it. There had been illegal dumping on it. You could see where other people were hunting on it like it was theirs and there was evidence of recurrent … [Read more...]

Ventilation and temperature management are key components in the production of healthy broiler chickens. That's why in the last several years, poultry farmers have taken steps to improve their chicken houses for better poultry production. Chicken houses have gone from including a couple of fans and drop curtains to today's setup with multiple fans, cool cells, vent doors, and curtains or solid walls. These additions have certainly improved ventilation systems and temperature management. But … [Read more...]

This guest post is courtesy of AgSouth Farm Credit. Creating a family budget you can stick to is challenging for most people. If you’re in agriculture, varying income can make the process even more daunting. “There’s no reason to be afraid, though. Budgeting is just a tool that can help you,” said Will Peeler, a Regional Business Development Manager for AgSouth Farm Credit, who works out of the Spartanburg, S.C., office. With the right tools, any family can create a realistic budget. … [Read more...]

We walked through a sea of waist-high partridge pea and fire kissed pines, all smiles, trailing a menagerie of fine bird dogs working hard to find a covey of wild birds. As we moved along, one of our party summed up what made the place such a fabulous location for quail; “Fire equals birds; it makes all the difference!” On the site we were hunting, fire had been used continuously for decades as the primary management tool, and it produced birds year in and year out.  Areas burned within a … [Read more...]