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commentThe Wheatland Vegetable Farm operation of longtime Loudoun produce farmers Chip and Susan Planck will be the center of attention Sept. 11 as the location for this year's Forum for Rural Innovation.
The forum is a partnership of six rural counties: Loudoun, Fauquier, Clarke and Frederick in Virginia, Berkely and Jefferson in West Virginia.
Loudoun Rural Resources Coordinator Gary Hornbaker said he expects a strong turnout this year. So far, some 50 people have signed up for the 5 p.m. twilight dinner featuring local products and meats. Hornbaker said quite a few attendees are coming from east of Loudoun, including from Fairfax County.
Participants are invited to tour the popular Purcellville Farmers Market from 4-7 p.m. before heading to Wheatland Farm, where the Plancks will give a tour of the their fruit and vegetable operations. Elaine Boland, owner of Fields of Athenry, who produces all-natural meats, will provide dinner. Chip Planck will finish off the evening with a talk on the need to be innovative to recruit and retain good labor, a hot topic in agricultural circles these days where the difficulty in finding and retaining workers is paramount.
Hornbaker said he talked with a farmer last week, who wants to keep his farm, but also get out of the physical operation side. His children are not interested, so he is looking to find a young farmer with no land who might be interested in some kind of partnership to fill both their needs.
"That's the difficulty," Hornbaker said. "People can't afford to pay labor, so we'll have to look at what kinds of partnerships might work." The cost of farm labor is just one of a number of increasing costs squeezing farmers today, Hornbaker said, noting that production costs have skyrocketed.
"Fuel costs have quadrupled," he said, pointing out that it cost 87 cents per gallon for diesel four years ago; now it's $4.69 a gallon. Similarly, Hornbaker said it has cost him $12,000 to make hay in Clarke County this year. Feed costs have increased exponentially, he said, citing the $2.50 price for a bushel of corn is now $6 a bushel. And the sales price of cattle and other livestock, unfortunately, has not kept pace with the production costs.
Against that backdrop, farmers in the six-county area will look to the Plancks, who have been in business since 1973, to see how they have managed successfully and their innovative approach to farm labor, direct marketing and ecological production of vegetables and small fruits. The Plancks grow on 35 acres at their farm off Rt. 287 north of Rt. 9, selling their products almost exclusively at producer-only farmers markets within a 50-mile radius of the farm.
The $20 registration fee includes the farm tour, talks and dinner. Registration information and directions can be found online at www.LoudounFarms.org or by calling 703-777-0426. Registration can be made up to a few days before the event, but department representative Ann Higgins said she would like to know how many to cater for as soon as possible.
The Plancks aren't the only ones in the news, however. Mary Ellen Taylor, owner of Endless Summer Harvest near Purcellville and president of the Loudoun Valleys Home Farm Market Association, has attracted the attention of television Chef Emeril Lagasse, who filmed a segment on Taylor's specialty greens hydroponic operation for his new "Emeril Green" show, to be featured on the Planet Green show in October, sponsored by Discovery Channel.
Taylor said her business has been selling its produce to the Whole Foods Market in Fair Lakes since March. She had been selling at the farmers market in the store's parking lot the year before, when the "produce manager noticed us," she recalled.
Lagasse was filming a segment in August on seasonal shopping and cooking at Whole Foods, and interviews people with experience on the show. Lagasse's film crew "liked our lettuce" which she always has on display. It was the crew that suggested to Lagasse, "Why don't we have the 'lettuce lady.'"
Taylor was introduced to Lagasse, who showed interest in how she grew the specialty greens and liked the green elements-organic, irrigated and grown year-round. Lagasse was also interested in the fact Endless Summer Harvest delivers its produce to local restaurants. "We also bring used oil products back from the restaurants and use it as fuel to heat the greenhouses," she said.
Taylor is a strong proponent of selling locally and is part of a Loudoun movement to increase ties with local restaurants, such as Tuscarora Mill Restaurant, whose owner Kevin Malone has taken the lead in trying to promote a positive relationship between growers and restaurants, to their mutual benefit. Earlier this year, Malone and Patrick Dinh, Tuskie's executive chef, held a forum for growers to explore tighter relations and to work out a cooperative timetable in which restaurants could have the produce they want when they want it for patrons and growers could have a steady market for their produce.
"We're still building that relationship," Taylor said, noting the organizational framework is not yet on a sustainable basis. "We need a short- and a long-term strategy," she said, something she is keen to work on.
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