Farmland forever: Crabtree family makes a major pledge

Apr. 22—CRABTREE — As Tim Kelley moved his cattle to a new pasture on a perfect spring day, he reflected on his family's good fortune — the most beautiful spot on earth happens to be the place they call home.

"When you consider that the world population is 8 billion and 3% of that population lives in the U.S., and we live in Haywood County on this farm, what are the chances of that just happening?" he said. "You'd have a better chance of winning the lottery or being struck by lightning. We feel so blessed."

Chestnut Hill Farm has been in the Kelley family since 1964 when the property was purchased by Kelley's parents and grandparents. That makes him a third-generation farmer; his children fourth-generation and his grandchildren fifth-generation.

It's a heritage and a lifestyle Kelley cherishes and wants to preserve in perpetuity. That's why he's applied for a state program that will guarantee farming, not development, will guide the land's future.

"It would break our hearts to see this land developed for housing," he said.

As it now stands, the Kelley farm is surrounded by development on two sides — testimony to the development potential of the area with gently sloped pastures and wooded hillsides that provide coveted scenic vistas as well as fertile farming land.

History of farmland preservation

Chestnut Hill Farm was placed in a voluntary agriculture district about 25 years ago, not long after Haywood County commissioners created the mechanism as a way to protect farms from nuisance lawsuits and threats from those more interested in development than agriculture.

Kelley sought the designation for just that reason, to prevent a potential nuisance lawsuit from neighbors over his family's livestock.

"People flock to the mountains for the beauty and peace. Then they want to change everything to make it like it was where they came from — build houses around them, have gated communities, develop regulations to tell everyone how to live, what we can place on our property, or what kind of structure we are allowed to build," Kelley said. "We live here because we enjoy the God-given freedoms we have and want the right to choose what we do on our property and with our property."

The Haywood County Soil and Water Conservation District helps interested farmers work through the agreements for either a 10-year voluntary program that the landowner can revoke at any time, or a permanent agreement that is irrevocable.

The state offers a modest financial grant for farms opting for a permanent conservancy through its Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund. (See accompanying story.) Kelley has applied for this program and if his application is accepted, his farm will join several dozen others in the county that will remain in agriculture use forever.

Kelley and his wife, Jamie, have three children — Joshua, who lives on the farm with his wife and two children; Jennifer Arrington, who lives with her husband and three children on the Arrington family's orchard, and Stephanie Pivirotto, who lives in in South Carolina with her husband and son. All are on the same page when it comes to making sure the Kelley's family farm stays that way.

Cattleman or forage producer?

About 15 years ago, Kelly took a series of classes as part of a Beef Quality Assurance program offered through the state's cooperative extension service. A presenter made the observation that those who raise cattle are actually forage producers, something that struck Kelly as odd at the time, but made perfect sense the more he thought about it.

"The better the forage, the better the livestock, and that's more pounds per acre and more revenue," Kelly explained.

He decided that would be his path, so started reading everything he could to learn how to best improve the grass on his farm. The journey led to planting different types of grasses to complement the existing fescue Kentucky 31 and implementing a rotational and strip grazing program where cow manure is more evenly distributed throughout the pastures, thus reducing reliance on commercial fertilizer needed. This is also a cost savings.

The program Kelley follows allows him to graze his cattle about 300 days a year, and only feeds silage and hay a couple of months. Most cattle producers graze their herd 225-250 days a year and put out hay during the bulk of the winter months.

Chestnut Hill Farm has become a site where researchers from the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service and N.C. State University bring groups to learn more about forage production and even plant test plots to study.

Kelley's farm was selected to participate in the extension service's "Amazing Grazing" program and was selected to give a presentation in 2019 American Forage and Grassland Conference in St. Louis as the North Carolina representative.

"It turned out to be a speech contest," Kelley said. "I was very nervous about speaking to a large crowd of peers and educators."

The speech encompassed plenty of details those at a forage conference would appreciate. He ended up in third place.

It will be fall before Kelly learns whether his application for the state's Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund has been accepted. The program is a competitive one, but following a state site visit last week, Kelly said he felt he had a good chance of being one of those selected.

Either way, farming is not just a way of life for the Kelly family, it's their heritage — one all have every intention of continuing for the foreseeable future.