Agriculture in Chatham County has changed tremendously over the past 100 years. At the turn of the twentieth century almost everyone farmed in some way or another. Even many residents of the small towns in Chatham County had a pig, cow and few chickens, along with a vegetable garden around their homes. Out in the county, farms generally ranged from a few acres to larger farms of 400 - 500 acres. Most of these farms were totally subsistence type farms, meaning the farmer was producing enough food to feed himself and his family, with very little left to go to market for cash money. Most of the farms of this era were focusing on small grains, mainly to feed the family and the livestock on the farm, cotton, a cow or two for milking and a few pigs and cows for slaughter and some tobacco production. The farming practices of this generation were not the best suited for the soils and topography for the county. Farming practices in relationship to the crops being grown were causing a severe erosion problem on the soils of the county. Chatham County was destined to be nothing more than a large, red gully in the center of North Carolina.

What changed all of this? The first change was the introduction of a larger scale poultry industry in Chatham County. Farmers were given an income source for their farms that they had never had before. North Carolina is strategically located within 750 miles of almost seventy percent of the entire population of the United States. It was realized that fresh agricultural commodities could be produced in rural areas, such as Chatham County, and easily shipped to many of the major population centers of the United States. This led to a change from a few chickens for use by the family, to larger chicken houses for larger scale production. Related to the raising of chickens included the hatcheries, the feed mills, the processing plants and the transportation in each of these areas that led to an additional employment and tax base for the county.

Another benefit at the time from the poultry industry was the manure produced by the birds. One of the major causes of the soil erosion was the lack of proper fertilization and liming of the soil, in addition to tillage practices and planting techniques. Due to amount of calcium that must be fed to poultry and the poor digestive tract of poultry anatomy, the manure turned out to have a good liming ability and an excellent fertilizer source. Farmers then discovered that the soils of Chatham County had the ability to grow lush green pastures when using the poultry manure and the cattle industry was not far behind.

Today, Chatham County's number one agricultural industry is poultry. In 1998, 39.1 million birds were raised in Chatham County. Chatham County also ranked number four in North Carolina in the number of beef cattle on farms with a number thirteen ranking for the number of dairies. All total, cash receipts for livestock and poultry in 1997 for Chatham County was $116, 934,000. Crop receipts for the county, even though they have been in decline for many years still brought into the county $6,922,000.00. All total, agriculture deposits $123,856,000.00 directly into the county's income base. When determining the economic impact of an industry, economists use a multiplier factor. This multiplier factor is a determination of how many times money generated by an industry turns over in the county before being spent outside of the county. Economists at North Carolina State University conservatively estimate that the multiplier effect in Chatham County is 2.5 times. Farmers are more likely to spend their money on parts, equipment, food, clothing and housing in the county in which they live. This in effect makes the $123,856,000.00 affect the county's economy the same as $308,464,400.00. Another important factor that agriculture makes to the county's economy is that property tax is paid on farmland and equipment. However, the county does not have to provide services to this land (i.e. water, sewer, garbage disposal and police protection) as it would to land uses such as subdivisions and housing developments.

Agriculture has played an important role in the history of Chatham County. For Chatham County to continue into the future as a "green" county, agriculture will be the factor that will help the county achieve this goal.

Date Created 03/20/00. Last revised 08/21/00.