
USDA Aims to Find Market Niches for
Appalachian Small FarmsBy
Don Comis October 5, 1999WASHINGTON, Oct. 5--U.S.
Department of Agriculture scientists are helping small Appalachian farms
find new markets and niche products, Agricultural Research Service Administrator
Floyd Horn announced today. "The scientists are looking at products like grass-fed beef and
chevon, which is goat meat," Horn said. "Cattle that graze grass have leaner
meat than those shipped out to be fattened on corn in midwestern feedlots. It
will command a premium price in the health food market. Farmers could save
shipping costs and build a niche market on the East Coast for pasture-fed beef
that doesn't compete with conventional beef." "The Great Savannah" of the Appalachian Region can raise grass-fed
lean beef to compete with that from the Argentine Pampas, which currently
supplies the East Coast, Horn noted. The Appalachian beef could be sold to
restaurants or packaged fresh for supermarkets, he added. To explore these and many other options, USDA's
Appalachian Farming Systems Research
Center near Beaver, W.Va., is organizing "market niche" research
partnerships with farmers, experiment stations and agencies in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The research center is part of the
Agricultural Research Service, USDA's
chief scientific agency. As one objective of these partnerships, goats will be evaluated to
see how well they can clear abandoned fields of unwanted weeds and shrubs. "We
also want to see if we can raise these goats for chevon, alongside cattle and
sheep," said William M. Clapham, research leader at the ARS center. The goats, cattle and sheep might eventually graze in the shade of
trees that could later be sold for lumber, Clapham said. The scientists are
exploring a variety of options, with a focus on agroforestry. Agroforestry
means growing trees as perennial crops on farms or growing crops in existing
woods. For example, ARS soil scientist Charles M. Feldhake planted 1,200
black locust trees in a steep hillside pasture where sheep graze. The trees
will provide shade for livestock and grass. In addition, their deep roots might
extract excess nutrients from livestock urine and manure before the nutrients
can reach groundwater. The locust can be sold for firewood or fenceposts, and
its flowers provide nectar for honey. Feldhake and ARS horticulturist Carol M. Schumann are also testing
honey locust trees. Other crops with potential include: - Ramps (wild leeks), an Appalachian delicacy, grown in woods;
- Red oaks for their high-value veneer;
- Chinese chestnut, pawpaw, hazelnut, blueberries and blackberries; and
- Black walnut and pawpaw trees, grown in a hayfield on an organic farm
Horn said that with a team effort, the Appalachian name will one
day bestow the same cachet on its products as do the lush grassy regions of the
Argentine Pampas and New Zealand. An in-depth article on the Appalachian center's research appears
in the October issue of ARS' Agricultural Research magazine and on the
web at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/oct99/farms1099.htm Scientific contact: William M. Clapham, ARS
Appalachian Farming Systems Research
Center, Beaver, W.Va., phone (304) 256-2858, fax (304) 256-2921,
[email protected].
U.S. Department of Agriculture | |