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BY GERALD OCHS Rappahannock News Special Writer
Rappahannock County is its farms, it’s been said, but those farms are not always profitable.
If the farms go, then perhaps too, there goes the Rappahannock that was created from the wilderness, and that retains more of that flavor than most other places in this country.
By and large, agriculture in Rappahannock is dedicated to orchards, haying, and beef cattle.
None of these pursuits can guarantee the farmer a good living. So, no one can guarantee those of us who don’t farm — but who love Rappahannock— the continuation of a life blessed by the beauty and serenity found here.
There certainly must be “crops” that would prove more profitable for Rappahannock farms, and would assure their preservation.
Tburism as a “crop” has done much for country stores, bed and breakfast inns, fruit stands and orchards. But tourism won’t pay all the bills of the orchardist, and surely few of the stockman.
The “niche” farm has potential, but requires careful selection of the niche product — perhaps a redevelopment of production methods with a substantial capital outlay, and a significant reorientation of the farmer’s market selection and marketing approach.
Enter the bison
One product line whose market is beginning to approach the point of viability is low-fat red meat, Piedmontese beef, for example, and bison.
Ongoing efforts by an Albemarle/Madison County concern have proven that production costs for Piedmontese beef and bison are in the same range as that of standard beef, but that both of these products fetch a premium in the marketplace.
At Buffalo Hill in Madison,
93.9%