It’s no secret that Fibrowatt has had its eye on Surry County and other N.C. locations for the past four years. The company uses technology developed in England to generate electricity from poultry litter. Surry County is one of the state’s major poultry producers and Wayne Farms has a large broiler-chicken production operation at Dobson. Neighboring Wilkes County is the state’s largest broiler-chicken producer. Fibrowatt officials plan on consuming 500,000 tons of chicken litter to generate 40 to 50 megawatts annually.

What’s not as widely known is that Fibrowatt and officials in North Carolina have quietly accelerated plans for the new development and their efforts to choose a site. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that Fibrowatt now has narrowed its choices for the first plant to Surry and Wilkes counties.

A 10-member delegation from Surry and Wilkes counties traveled last month to Benson, Minn., where they attended the opening of Fibrowatt’s first U.S. plant. That generating station employs about 100 people.

Bryan Cave, Surry’s agriculture-extension director, told the Journal that some in the group were curious to see whether an odor would be detected near the operation. They also wanted to know how the litter was brought in (in sealed trucks) and the process that it went through before burning. The Fibrowatt process heats chicken litter to produce gasses burned to produce steam that turns generators. The depleted chicken litter, sterile and dry, later can be used for fertilizer and feed supplements.

“I could stand right beside the plant in Minnesota and not smell litter at all,” Cave told the newspaper. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Based on the science and what I’ve seen, there’s not a great big issue there.”

Charlie Sink, a Wilkes County commissioner, also made the trip and said that the Minnesota facility is an impressive, modern plant. Worries about odor seem to be local people’s biggest concern, he said, so he stood next to the plant’s storage building and smelled nothing objectional.

The Journal article said Fibrowatt’s preferred site in Wilkes County is at North Wilkesboro’s industrial park off N.C. 268. A preferred location in Surry County was not named in the Journal’s article.

Robin Rhyne, president of the Surry County Economic Development Partnership, has been Surry County’s lead contact with Fibrowatt since 2005. In a Mount Airy News article on Oct. 29, Rhyne acknowledged some environmental groups’ concerns about odors, plant emissions and waste products, but pointed out that waste disposal also is an environmental problem. She said no other organizations have proposed an alternative “green” solution to disposing of chicken litter.

In addition to Surry and Wilkes counties, five other counties have attracted Fibrowatt’s interest. The company has said it may build as many as three generating stations in North Carolina. The other counties being considered are Stanly, Montgomery, Moore, Duplin and Sampson. Fibrowatt intends to have informational sessions at all seven. The Wilkes County community open house is scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 14 at Wilkes Community College’s Walker Center in Wilkesboro.

“The VIP Cornerstone Award is one of the most comprehensive awards in our industry,” said Elton Maddox, Wayne Farms LLC’s president and CEO. “To again be recognized by Gordon as a leader in service and products is an affirmation that we continue to operate at the highest level of quality.”

Gordon Food Service evaluates its vendors through a program known as the Vendor Improvement Process (VIP). Vendors are compared in categories such as order fill rate; purchase order and invoice matching; on-time delivery; damage and spoilage; customer credits and returns; bar coding of packaging; pallet quality; and inventory turns. The VIP Cornerstone Award winners have the highest total scores.

During the seven years when Gordon has awarded the VIP Award, Wayne Farms has received the honor in four consecutive years (2004-07) and six times in all.

Wayne Farms LLC, formerly known as the Poultry Division of ContiGroup Companies, is the nation’s fourth-largest producer and processor of broiler chickens. Utilizing the many resources within ContiGroup, Wayne Farms’s vertical integration allows control of the process from feed to final (raw or cooked) product, assuring strict product quality and food safety.

The company has 11 U.S. facilities, including one in North Carolina: the Dobson operation in Surry County.

More than half of the state’s counties remain locked in the D3 (extreme drought) or D4 (exceptional) categories on the newest Drought Monitor Map and 82 counties are experiencing severe drought or worse. The Charlotte area is rated D4, much of the Triangle (around Raleigh) is D3 and farther south of us in the Piedmont Triad most counties are rated D2 (severe) to D3. Mandatory water restrictions remain in effect in Guilford County around Greensboro and the Greensboro News & Record reports the outlook for next year is not favorable.

Earlier this month Surry County slipped into the “extreme drought” (D3) category. You should know, however, that the advisory council’s mapping system puts a county into one of the five drought categories if only a small section has less than a certain level of precipitation. In fact, most of Surry County never experienced worse than “severe” drought this summer, though that’s certainly bad enough. The drought stressed crops including tobacco, vinifera (wine) grapes and field grains, but the exceptional Easter freeze last spring actually may have been more costly to farmers. As for restricting water use, city officials in Mount Airy on Oct. 18 asked residents to voluntarily limit water consumption, but the request came more as a demonstration of sympathy for downstream counties’ residents than because of any actual shortage. Elkin also considered voluntary restrictions as early as Aug. 22 when Big Elk Creek’s stream flow slowed, but the town always had a tap into the Yadkin River available as a backup.

You can see North Carolina’s drought develop over the past five months by studying the Drought Management Advisory Council’s archives. What you should notice is that Surry County, throughout the summer, never suffered quite as much as the rest of the state (the eastern coastal counties excepted). The same pattern was seen in North Carolina’s three-year-long drought that ended in 2002-03. Surry County is backed up against the Blue Ridge Mountains and well-washed by the Mitchell, Yadkin, Ararat and Fisher rivers. Within this microclimate, Surry had and has a lot of water on and in the ground.

In its impact on economic development, water is a major consideration for many manufacturers, public facilities and home builders. Mount Airy City Manager Don Brookshire is fond of saying that growth follows the water (and sewer) lines. As one example right at hand, Benny East’s development of Mayberry Campground (see Thursday’s post below) wouldn’t have occurred without Mount Airy’s agreement to extend water lines down U.S. 601 past Interstate 74. Robin Rhyne of the Surry County Economic Development Partnership and city officials in Mount Airy, Elkin and Pilot Mountain all can point to surpluses in treatment capacity as a lure to companies who need dependable sources of water. And those prospective employers aren’t limited to the traditional manufacturers whose needs spurred Mount Airy, Elkin and Pilot Mountain to build their capacious water-treatment systems. Computer data “warehouses” and “server farms,” such as the one Google is building at Lenoir, need huge quantities of water for cooling systems. That’s one of the reasons why Rhyne was in Dallas, Texas, earlier this week; part of her time was spent meeting site consultants at a conference for computer companies. Value-added agriculture is a target for economic development, too, and water is one of the factors that gives the Yadkin Valley American Viticultural Area its unique quality for growing vinifera grapes.

As levers to lift economic development, Surry County’s climate and abundant water are invaluable assets with the added benefit that they than can never be outsourced or moved overseas.

The “Surry Cellars” wines were poured at wine festivals for the first time this year. The viticulture program this fall will market seven 2006 wines to retail outlets including local supermarkets. Developing and running the marketing campaign will be part of the students’ course work.

Growing grapes, making wine and selling it are all essential components of the viticulture degree program that has about 70 students taking classes either on campus or online.

Gill Giese, who heads up the viticulture component of the program, told the Surry Messenger that having to put a wine on the market forces students to focus hard on their studies and better prepare for entry into the industry. “There’s a lot more on the line when the public starts buying and consuming your product,” he said. “Students have to commit to making the sale.”

The declaration makes low-interest Emergency Disaster Loans available to farmers who cannot get credit elsewhere.

Three weeks ago, Easley announced he would ask for the disaster declaration due to major losses in crops including corn, cotton, hay, pasture, peanuts, soybeans and tobacco. Surry County has not felt the drought’s effects as much as other parts of the state — according to the Sept. 10 N.C. Weather & Crops Report, Surry County has had 29 inches of precipitation since Jan. 1 and is only 3.19 inches below average — but last spring’s Easter freeze caused severe damage to crops including vinifera grapes and other fruit.

“I am pleased the U.S. Department of Agriculture has acted on our request,” said Easley. “The drought this summer, coming on top of the Easter freeze and the windstorm last spring, has devastated many farms across the state. This declaration is a good first step that will provide financial assistance for eligible farmers to help them recover some of their losses and get ready for the next growing season. Our farmers need all the help they can get.”

USDA Damage Assessment Reports show 85 counties with a 30 percent or greater loss of at least one significant crop, Easley noted. Many farmers have already exhausted their winter hay supplies and have had to find other sources of feed for cattle.

Eligible farmers can apply for the loans from the Farm Service Agency. The deadline for applying for the loans is May 12, 2008. Surry County farmers should contact the Farm Service Agency office at 220 Cooper St. in Dobson.

“Our goal is to bring recognition to these stewards of the land and to educate those who partake of the bounty provided by them,” according to the organizers’ catalog. “In North Carolina, agriculture is a $64-billion industry, by far the largest in the state. By comparison, the second largest industry, tourism, generates $18 billion. Over 20 percent of the state’s employment is agriculturally-related.

“In Surry County, agriculture is responsible for 28 percent of county income and over 24 percent of the employment. This amounts to $435 million annually.”

Admission is free. Local cattlemen, ECA and 4-H groups will be selling hamburgers, ribeye-steak sandwiches, hot dogs, sonkers, soft drinks and ice cream. Farmers’ market vendors also will have fresh-grown fruits and vegetables for sale.

The festival features a number of contests and activities detailed in the catalog, including a scavenger hunt with 150 prizes.

“Celebrating Agriculture” will go on through 7 p.m.

Here’s a partial schedule:

10:30 a.m.: Family Scarecrow Contest judging
11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Live broadcast on WIFM
Noon: Pedal Tractor Race
Noon: Announcement of Essay Contest winners
12:30 p.m. (on the half-hour thereafter): Puppet Show
1 p.m.: Bread-Making Contest judging
1 p.m.: Sack Race
2 p.m.: 3-Legged Race
3 p.m.: Hay Bale Stacking Contest
4 p.m.: Seed Spitting Contest
5-7 p.m.: Live music

The festival’s sponsors include Surry Telephone Membership Corp. (SMTC), Surry County Farm Bureau, Bottomley Evergreens & Farms, Southern Community Bank & Trust, Mount Airy Equipment, Carolina Farm Credit, WIFM Radio 100.9, Gerards Custom Bread Co., Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corp., Pine Hill Farm Supply, Moody Funeral Services, First Bank & Trust Co., EdwardJones and the Surry County Parks, Recreation & Maintenance Department.

“We use no preservatives, no chemicals. We use raw sugar. I have health problems, as a lot of people do, and I like to know what is in what I eat,” co-owner and head baker Dori Fritzinger told the Elkin Tribune. She buys most ingredients locally and relies on traditional recipes, some handed down from her grandmother who supported a single-parent family by baking.

“This is about the convenience of having the old ways new. We take heirloom recipes and convert them to use modern technology,” Fitzinger said. “I grew up in the early ’60s and my idea of a TV dinner was if mom left the TV on. Everything was made from scratch. There is just something about the flavor of a made-from-scratch cookie opposed to a store bought, mass-produced one.”

The Crumb Stash’s products include lavender cookies (from her grandmother’s Victorian-era recipe), zucchini bread, raisin bread, apple pie and cakes for special occasions including weddings. The bakery ships anywhere in the United States.

The Crumb Stash is on the 100-acre Soaring Eagle Farm, a certified organic farm. Dori and her husband, Keith, run both operations with help from their daughter, Rachel Hurt, and son and daughter-in-law, Joshua and Melissa Fritzinger.

For directions to the farm, click here.

North Carolina peach production will be in the pits for 2007. (It was too hard to resist the pun, but this really is no laughing matter.) The National Agricultural Statistics Service last week announced its estimate that North Carolina growers may produce only 1,000 tons of peaches this year — about 18% of what they harvested in 2006.

Levering Orchard, Wanda Urbanska and Frank Levering’s popular pick-it-yourself orchard just north of the border between Surry County and Virginia, announced earlier this summer that it would have no peaches (or, for that matter, apricots or nectarines).

The good news: Pears and the early apples should be ready for harvest on Labor Day and adundant supplies should be ready for the “From Peel to Pie” festivities Sept. 8 at Horne Creek Living Historical Farm near Pilot Mountain, Farm Fest on Sept. 15 in Fisher River Park near Dobson and the Sonker Festival Oct. 6 at the historic Edwards-Franklin House near Lowgap.

Richard Davis, writing today in Carolina-Virginia Farmer, says the 47th annual Summary of Agricultural Prices by the National Agricultural Statistics Service shows tobacco prices paid to U.S. growers have fallen each year since 2002.

“Using index numbers as a standard with 1990-2002 equal to 100, tobacco brought an average value of 108 in 2002. That fell to 107 the next year and to 94 for both 2004 and 2005. In 2006 the crop only brought an index value of 91, compare to that 1990-1992 average index of 100,” Davis wrote. “The fall in tobacco prices during this time correlates with the ending of the federal tobacco program, and is largely an expected result.”

Last week, also in Carolina-Virginia Farmer, Davis reported, “The effects of the federal flue-cured tobacco buyout continue to be felt in the Tarheel State. Flue-cured production is forecast at 342 million pounds in 2007, according to the latest Field Crops report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. That is 6% above the 324 million pounds produced in the state last year.

“When the federal tobacco program buyout was implemented three years ago, one of the expected results was a drop in market prices and a corresponding increase in marketings.

“Flue-cured acres for harvest are expected to be around 163,000 acres in 2007, up 8,000 acres from last year’s 155,000 acres. NASS forecasts yield per acre at 2,100 pounds.”

Surry County growers produced 7.7 million pounds of flue-cured tobacco in 2006. At $1.50 per pound, that amounts to $11,550,000 in cash receipts. Planted acreage increased 9.5% from 2005, to 3,560 acres, but yields dropped slightly to 2,165 pounds per acre.

Surry County’s producers tied with Rockingham County’s for third-highest flue-cured tobacco production in the state, according to the N.C. Department of Agriculture’s latest report, and produced more than growers in Stokes and Yadkin counties combined.

The USDA full report on 2006 agricultural prices is here.

And for a snapshot picture of agriculture in Surry County, go here. Note that the average farm in Surry County has buildings and ground valued at nearly $450,000 and machinery and equipment worth more than $71,000. That adds up to nearly $660 million for the 1,300 farms spread across more than a third of Surry County’s 535 square miles.

North Carolina sales rank 6th in the country behind California, Florida, Michigan, Texas and New York. A total of 328 growers reported 21.8 million square feet of covered area and 685 acres of outdoor production.

The wholesale value of the chosen floriculture crops surveyed with $100,000 or more sales was $190.3 million in 2006, up 10 percent from 2005. You can see the N.C. Department of Agriculture’s floriculture report here.

In or close to Surry County, within a 20-mile radius centered on Dobson, are at least 30 greenhouse, nursery and greenery operations.

As one example from many, L&H Enterprises in Lowgap ships boxwoods, nursery trees and premium Christmas greenery products across the nation from its 30,000-square-foot facility. L&H Enterprises maintains more than 100,000 boxwoods and thousands of nursery trees on 200 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains’ foothills.