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roads, there’s good reason. Farmers know about its susceptibility to poaching, so much of the silver queen grown here is being raised in “out-of-the-way places, and in the middle of cornfields.”
On an acre of ground, he said, a farmer can fit about 18,000 plants of sweet com. Assuming a return of 12,000 good ears (or 1,000 dozen), at $3/dozen, that’s $3,000 per acre in return. "That’s not bad money on an acre of ground,” said Mr. Williams.
Trout farming has also taken root here, and those involved in it are also low-key, for the same reason. “They’re doing quite well, and they don’t want everyone to know they’re doing this,” he said.
And no discussion of viable farming in the county would be complete without mentioning the cow-calf producers, the most visible form of local agriculture. “The cow-calf man around here has done reasonably well. We’re well-suited to it,” he said, and prices have been high.
There are several pork producers in Rappahannock, but pork prices, like sheep prices, have been somewhat low of late.
An area Mr. Williams would like to see the county’s farms diversify into is poultry.
Farmers interesting in talking with Mr. Williams about their alternatives, on both the producing and marketing ends, can contact him at the Extension Office on Gay Street in Washington, 675-3619.
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