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By Progressive Forage Grower
In 1987, northeastern Georgia producer Terry Chandler and his wife Deborah, were able to get a great deal on a 200-acre farm that they thought had a lot of potential.
Like many farms in the area, it had been in cotton production for close to a century, and consequently, the intensive row-crop production on highly erodible slopes and recent neglect had diminished the land’s topsoil and had created a long list of other management problems.
In addition to the severe erosion issues, the farm had collapsing structures, a termite-infested 19th century farmhouse, a hog finishing floor in shambles, jungles of Chinese privet, fields covered in johnsongrass, 20 acres of bottom-land densely entangled and under water, five old home sites concealed by over-growth, four abandoned wells, a wooded area robbed of mature pines, vandalism and a silted-in pond whose dam was about to collapse.
“We were almost at a loss wondering where to begin,” Chandler laughs. “But now I can proudly say 24,000 hogs, 1 million pullets, several hundred cows, a few vegetables, 150 acres of fescue and hybrid bermuda, three college educations and 20 years later – things look a little different.” Read how this couple transformed their farm:
http://www.progressiveforage.com/forage-production/producer-features/trash-to-treasure-one-producer-s-journey
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