What is in this article?:
• Linwood Vick’s achievements in cotton production and his use of environmentally sound practices have earned him recognition as the Farm Press/Cotton Foundation 2013 High Cotton Award winner for the Southeast region.
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COTTON FARMERS face both production and marketing challenges in the future, says North Carolina grower Linwood Vick. Vick is this year’s Farm Press/Cotton Foundation High Cotton Award winner for the Southeast region.
Doubled in size
At the time Jerome became ill, Vick Family Farms was about 3,500 acres. In the decade since his return to the farm, the operation has almost doubled in size.
In the past few years, Vick Family Farms has won numerous national, state and local awards. Among them are the North Carolina Farm Family of the Year, National Young Farmer of the Year, and designation as a North Carolina Soil Conservation Farm.
A visit to the farming headquarters makes it evident that doing things right is a high priority. Not only the crops are kept in pristine condition, but also the equipment, the sweet potato packing operation and tobacco barns, and even the headquarters building and grounds.
“We were taught to do things right, and to do things timely,” Lyn says. “If we do everything we can for a crop and for our land, then Mother Nature will treat us right when she can.”
In the future, farming in general and cotton farming in particular will present many challenges to growers, he says.
“The great thing about farming is that we have the ability to make changes in our operations to overcome these challenges — most of the time.”
Asked about the ultimate challenge of feeding 9 billion people on Planet Earth by 2050, Lyn says, “Bring it on! If we can get the right political support, farmers can feed the world — and clothe it too.”
