Editor’s Note: The following was also written as a letter to the Robeson County Commissioners:
To the Editor:
Mr. Chairman and Fellow Commissioners,
I am writing as a concerned citizen of Robeson County.
As a public school teacher and beneficiary of the local tax base, I write carefully and thoughtfully. Walking a thin line between acknowledging the need for increased tax revenue and appreciating the luxury of arable farmland.
I hope this letter provokes thought and discussion amongst yourselves for the well being of all citizens of Robeson County.
I am a high school Agriculture Teacher and FFA advisor, my apologies if my letter seems a bit rudimentary but I’d like to break things down for each of you, much like I would a class full of students.
Agriculture is a tremendous industry in Robeson County and has been for a long time. My concern is for its future.
As an outside observer of the actions of the Robeson County Planning Board and the decisions of this Commission I feel that agriculture is under attack.
Before we look at the offenses committed, let’s begin with the importance of Agriculture.
According to the latest statistics, Robeson County had cash receipts totaling more than $450 million. (USDA Statistics).
As a county we rank fifth in the state of NC in terms of agricultural receipts. We also are the fifth largest producer of livestock, dairy, and poultry in the state of North Carolina.
We are the number one producer of corn, the third largest producer of soybeans, and the number two producer of wheat in the state (USDA Statistics).
Robeson County collects taxes on average of more than $900 million of agricultural lands, buildings, machinery and equipment (USDA Statistics).
As for the attack, in the last six months Robeson County Commissioners have single handedly paved the way for more than 1,000 acres of agricultural land to be converted into industrial solar energy facilities, sometimes referred to as “farms.”
The benefit of these facilities other than the aforementioned tax revenue, for most residents in the county is still unknown. But let’s look at the costs.
Robeson County averages about 135 bushels of corn per acre (USDA Statistics) and one bushel of corn produces roughly 20 pounds of poultry (Iowa CGA).
So if we lose 1,000 acres of corn that equates to 135,000 bushels of corn that need to be “acquired” in the county to feed the one million chickens processed each week at Sanderson or Mountaire.
When these companies have to buy corn from somewhere else and transport it to their feedmills farther away, those costs will be felt by us…at the grocery store. I for one don’t want to see more price increases at the checkout line.
Now of course my numbers don’t include all the data, nor does my math account for things like crop land lost to housing developments or interstate expansion or industrial development.
So again, I simply ask for consideration for the future of agriculture.
We the people of Robeson County must do a better job of understanding and protecting our food and fiber economies.
We have to better educate ourselves on the policies and practices that affect our everyday lives, and we must work to promote the well being of one another.
For as Mr. E.M. TIffany stated in the FFA Creed, “I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds … in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years.”
I believe, do you?
Lee Pittman
Lumberton
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