Whether we are ready for it or not, it is time to start a new year. The year just past provided reasons for us to reassess both our personal and professional goals, but it also provided us many ways to learn and to move ahead with the challenges the coming year will bring.

The challenges that many landowners and farmers in Robeson County will face during the coming year will be to continue to explore ways to generate additional income from their land or from their farming operation. January is always a cold, gloomy month, so it provides an ideal opportunity to spend time developing plans and gathering information to make those plans successful.

I have shared information in this column many times about methods that are being used to generate additional income. Some of these are very simple and are widely used, like fruit and vegetable production. There is a limited local market for fresh fruits and vegetables, so anyone considering this alternative really needs to develop a marketing plan before planting the first seeds.

Other ideas I have shared are not as simple, and they are definitely not used very much in this area, but they still have potential. Because there is potential, I will continue to encourage people to consider them. Also, I will always caution people to gain as much information as possible and to develop a good business plan and marketing plan before starting. Things like corn mazes, hunting preserves, tournament fishing ponds, rural bed and breakfasts, rural vacations, and a large variety of nitch market crops are all feasible options for virtually anyone in Robeson County who is looking for ways to generate additional income.

Some people have a special ability to make their ideas become realities. This is not to say that these people do not have any problems and that the process is easy for them. Rather, it is to say that they are willing to take a chance, and they are willing to learn as they try and to do whatever is necessary to make their ideas work.

Wayne Price is a good example of someone who can turn an idea into reality. If you have not visited His and Hers Greenhouse in the past several months, you need to do so. It is located just off Meadow Road outside of Lumberton.

At this time of the year you may not be able to find beautiful hanging baskets and flowering plants that he is famous for, but you will be able to find a fresh, vine ripe tomato from his state-of-the-art greenhouse. And for the first time this year, you will be able to find fresh green lettuce right from his hydroponic greenhouse.

Salad lovers no longer have to tolerate those hard, tasteless tomatoes and limp lettuce during the dead of the winter. You can now enjoy fresh tomatoes and lettuce, and while doing so, you can feel at ease knowing they were grown right here in Robeson County instead of being shipped in from some other country where they may have been treated with countless chemicals and additives.

It may seem that I am trying to advertise for Wayne, but what I am really trying to do is to be a strong advocate for locally grown products. Wayne has made a major investment in the greenhouses he is using, and he is working overtime to learn how to grow a product that meets your expectations. I am trying to get you to buy locally, but I am also sharing with you that by doing so, you will be getting much higher quality than you would get anywhere else.

I admire Wayne for his determination and for being willing to try something new. I only wish there were more people like him in Robeson County.

You don't have to be interested in growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, but if you are interested in trying to use your land and farming operation to generate additional income, I encourage you to contact either me or one of the Extension Agents on my staff. We may be able to help you get started right away or we may have to work with you to help you gather the information you might need. You never know what potential a good idea may have until you try.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 1/9/02