For those of you who missed the Annual Awards and Recognition Banquet that was held at the Extension Center last week, you really missed a treat. The food was great, Chancellor James Oblinger made some interesting comments about his new role as Chancellor of North Carolina State University, and those who won door prizes were especially excited. But the real treat was being able to see some of our most outstanding citizens receiving awards and recognition for their accomplishments related to agriculture.

I will not provide a lot of details in this column about the different awards that were presented. That information has already been provided by The Robesonian. But I would like to use this opportunity to remind you of those who did receive the special awards. I encourage you to make a special effort to contact each of them and thank them for all they do every day to make sure you continue to have an abundant supply of food every time you go to the table.

Nick Evans from Marietta was recognized as the Robeson County Farmer of the Year. Lycurous and Lyavans Lowry from Pembroke were honored as the Robeson County Farm Family of the Year. Congressman Mike McIntyre was presented the McLaurin Memorial Tobacco Award for all of his work to develop the tobacco buyout bill and to guide it through Congress. The Service to Agriculture Award was presented to Sybil Bullard, owner of J. R. Jones Grain Company in Red Springs.

Special recognition was provided to Kenny and Anna Floyd, operators of Floyd Farms in Fairmont, and the William Leggett family, operators of Packhouse Farms in Lumberton. Each of these farms is involved in very successful ways to do things differently instead of just relying on the traditional crops that are produced by most other farmers in the county. They each received a beautiful plaque for "Breaking New Ground."

The winners of the corn, soybean, and wheat yield contests were recognized as well. There were too many of them to list individually. What I would like to share is that even though it is fun to compete in a contest, and more fun to win, the primary purpose of this contest is to collect information from local growers about the production practices that contribute to high yields. Information from contest participants about varieties, planting rates, planting dates, pesticides used, tillage practices used, and much more is shared with other farmers in the county, so they too can learn how to produce higher yielding crops.

Now that I have discussed the Awards Banquet, let me share some information with you that is extremely important if you are growing any kinds of crops. It does not matter if you are a farmer growing cotton, tobacco, corn, soybeans, or wheat for a living or if you are a homeowner with a vegetable garden, lawn, pecan trees, or any other hobby crops. You need to take soil samples on a regular basis.

We are fortunate in North Carolina that we can submit soil samples to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture in Raleigh, and they will analyze the samples and make liming and fertilizer recommendations at no cost. Most other states charge for soil samples, some of them as much as $20 for each sample.

Trying to grow a crop without a good soil sample is like trying to bake a cake without a recipe or trying to put the kid's toys together on Christmas Eve without instructions. You might get lucky and do it right, but most times your results are far less than what you had expected.

Although soil samples should have been taken by now, it is never too late. Take advantage of this free service. Take samples in all the areas where you will be growing any type of crops this summer and follow the recommendation from those samples. You really cannot afford not to do this.

If you need assistance learning how to take good soil samples or need assistance understanding the results from those samples, please contact any of the agents on your Extension staff. We will be more than glad to help.

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 6/27/05