Feb. 19—Farming remains an integral part of the economy in Limestone, Lawrence and Morgan counties as it accounts for close to a half-billion dollars in sales annually, but those who plant crops, raise chickens and produce cattle face increasing challenges.

The technological advances that have made agriculture more efficient also are costly. Additionally, the recent robust growth of north Alabama industry and housing has made farmland more expensive.

It's no wonder longtime Lawrence County farmer and farm equipment business owner Norman Pool said farmers today need to be on a first-name basis with their bankers.

"Now we are facing the biggest challenges in my lifetime," said Pool, 79, owner of Pool Farm Equipment Inc. and a farmer in Wolf Springs. "It's hard for the little man to make it today. Everything you need is so expensive. It's unreal what it takes now, just to farm a year."

He said today's sophisticated combines and harvesters are about $800,000 and $900,000 apiece.

"When I started out, very few combines had cabs, very few tractors had cabs. You can't imagine how dirty it was," said Pool, who has been farming for 50 years. He said 20 years ago, combines were much simpler to operate.

"Now everything is computerized," he said. "To be a good farmer, you need a good education. It used to not be that way. Now you have to be tech savvy and know how to operate the computers in these vehicles. The GPS can control a combine. Years ago, we never thought about anything like this. If a farmer has a good education, he has a step up on one who doesn't. A good education is needed in ag just like it is in everything now."

Pool said disc mowers and round hay balers also have become more expensive. Prices for balers are in the $70,000 range today.

"They were about $8,000 30 years ago," Pool said. "They're computerized like these large combines. Mowers are $15,000, and a hay rake will run you about $10,000. But they do a better job today, too."

Pool said the manual labor on the farm has decreased because of the technological advances of the equipment. "I don't think it's necessary to have a strong back and now it's become a one-man show. Yes, there's manual work out there, but not like it used to be."

Chicken houses to furnish poultry processors like Wayne-Sanderson Farms in Decatur also have become more sophisticated and costly.

Poultry growers locally say a 40-by-400-foot chicken house in 1990 would cost about $200,000. Now to build one is in the $700,000 price range. Growers said some of the larger chicken houses approach $1 million each.

—

Farmland more costly

Land costs also can present a barrier to becoming a farmer. According to the United State Department of Agriculture, 2022 represented the single largest jump in crop land values since 2008. Alabama's average farm acre cost $3,900 last year, an increase of 9.9% from the previous year.

Area farmland in northwest Alabama averaged $3,747 an acre, an increase of 19.9%, according to the Texas A&M real estate center. In northeast Alabama, an acre averaged $3,573, an increase of 24.5%.

Brett Crow, cooperative extension coordinator for the Morgan County office in Hartselle, said the development and business expansion locally, including in Madison County, "has driven up land prices dramatically in our area, and that's tough on farmers."

Pool said with the rising land prices, buying enough land to farm nowadays is nearly impossible. "You almost have to inherit a farm to farm now," he said. "In the western end of Lawrence County, any good farmland is $6,000 an acre."

But farmland won't disappear locally anytime soon. Gerry Thompson, Alabama Extension System regional agent for animal science and forages based in Limestone County, said he's not worried that pastureland in north Alabama will become subdivisions and industrial plants.

"A lot of land in America and north Alabama is not fit for anything but grazing land. The land is erodible, it floods. People can't build homes on land that floods; row crops can't be grown on land that floods and erodes. Grass can grow in those pastures and cattle feed on the grass," he said.

He said land near Limestone Creek, which frequently experiences flash floods, is not desirable for development.

But he said there are fewer small cattle farms in the region than in the past. He listed high input costs tied to feed, fertilizer and fuel as well as rising land prices as deterrents in the industry.

"Fuel is the common denominator to everything," he said. "It takes fuel to run the machines, transport the cattle, fertilizer, feed. ... It has been said farmers are the only people who buy their products at retail, sell their products at wholesale and pay for the freight both ways. Lots of factors are out of the control of the farmers. And they can't directly pass the cost along."

He said the higher land prices because of urban encroachment from plants like Mazda Toyota Manufacturing in southeastern Limestone County continue to be a challenge.

"Limestone County is the fastest growing area in the state. Companies are moving in here, those companies need people, and those people need somewhere to live. So much of what was farmland is now turning into residential living areas. We are seeing land that was used (as) farmland now growing houses, not cotton," Thompson said.

"Urban encroachment is a challenge. Land prices are going up. Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA bought 2,500 acres in Limestone County to bring 4,000 jobs to our region. That is not bad news. It's news."

He said the urban encroachment "is pitting the smaller farmers against the non-farm people. Land is worth more now."

He said the pandemic has played a role in land prices.

"COVID has made people rethink where they live," he said. "People are getting cabin fever and want to social distance on where they live. It has created a big driving factor for those people wanting 2 to 4 acres to grow a garden and walk on their land without having to manage too much land." — Economic importance

Local agriculture continues to play a vital role in the economy. The most recent Census of Agriculture from 2017 shows the the market value of agriculture products sold from Lawrence, Morgan and Limestone counties was $444 million that year, which was about 7.4% of the state total.

"Agriculture has always been an important economic driver in Morgan County," said Jeremy Nails, CEO and president of the Morgan County Economic Development Association. "Not only are thousands employed in the manufacturing of food and food-related products, the famers and other producers contribute greatly to our economy.

"Millions in payroll and taxes are generated each year by the various agricultural activities in our community. Availability of natural resources and access to an excellent transportation network allow for the agricultural sector to thrive in Morgan County."

Morgan County Commission Chairman Ray Long agreed.

"I figure about 20% to 25% of jobs in the county are touched in some way by agriculture," Long said. "Family farms are really huge for Morgan County. Eggs, cheese, meat from these family farms that people buy. They will buy half a cow from people. ... Agriculture is always going to be important to Morgan County. We teach our grandkids ... the importance of raising their own stuff. ... We're always going to need farmers. Subdivisions look nice but farms look better. That is where we get our groceries from."

Lawrence County was the leader locally with its products having a $212.9 million market value for almost 4% of the state's agriculture sales. The Census of Agriculture showed 72% of those sales coming from livestock, poultry and products and 28% coming from cash crops.

Twenty-six percent of county farms were pastureland and 57% cropland, with another 14% woodland.

In 2017, Lawrence County had 1,252 farms, down 19% from 2012. The land in farms in 2017 was 213,747 acres, down 19% from five years earlier, but the average size of the farm was 171 acres, up 9% from 2012. The USDA showed 75% of Lawrence County farms (947) were between 10 and 179 acres, with 30 farms encompassing more than 1,000 acres.

Morgan recorded $99.7 million in agriculture sales, slightly less than 2% of the state total. That was 23rd in the state and 1,142nd in the nation.

Limestone, meanwhile, came in at $131.4 million in agriculture sales, 16th in the state and 894th in the nation.

In Morgan, livestock, poultry and products comprise 89% of the sales and crops the remaining 11%. Thirty-five percent of the farmland in the county is dedicated to pastureland and another 34% for cropland. Woodland makes up 26%, the USDA profile showed.

Top crops in acres were 26,978 for forage (hay) followed by soybeans at 7,178 acres.

Seventy-one percent of Morgan's farms range from 10 to 179 acres.

Broilers and other meat-type chickens lead the livestock inventory in the county at 4.01 million. Cattle and calves totaled 29,688 in the 2017 profile.

In Limestone County, crops totaled 60% of sales and livestock, poultry and products made up the remaining 40%.

Sixty-seven percent of its farmland was dedicated to crops in 2017 with 15% being used for pastureland and another 11% for woodland. Top crops in acres in Limestone involved 58,679 acres dedicated to soybeans with 28,058 acres used to grow cotton.

There were 2.04 million broilers and other meat-type chickens in Limestone. The inventory of cattle and calves totaled 22,027.

The Tennessee Valley Authority knows the importance of agriculture and its actions along the river benefit the farmers.

"We monitor weather events and take action to adjust water levels before significant rain events to help minimize flooding and impacts on farmland," said TVA spokesman Scott Fiedler. "TVA's River Forecast Center has developed strong relationships with farmers across the entire river system. This allows us to communicate potential impacts proactively to help ensure their safety and minimize damage to their farm equipment that may be in the fields during rain events."

— mike.wetzel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. Twitter @DD_Wetzel.