
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 23, 1993                   TAG: 9308230083
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

FARM EQUIPMENT MAY GO TO CUT DROUGHT LOSSES

Farmers across the state are considering selling equipment, livestock and their land to help compensate for millions of dollars they expect to lose as a result of the summer drought.

"Farmers are being forced to be real resourceful," said Augusta County extension agent David Fiske. "They're taking a hard look at things, trying to consolidate and make the best plan for the future."

The drought is one of the worst on record in Augusta County, one of 22 counties that have requested drought disaster status.

David Fitzgerald, a farmer in the Shenandoah Valley, said he has decided to unload an irrigator and a tractor to help balance the books.

"I'll bet there's not a farmer in the county who hasn't at least considered selling off a parcel" of land, he said.

Typically, most farmers must borrow money to plant crops. Once they harvest and sell their crops, they pay off their loans and keep the rest. But this summer's crops failed, and the loans are still outstanding.

In Accomack County, Wayne Revelle is considering selling the 100-acre farm his family has owned for nearly 100 years. If it fails to rain, Revelle said he will have to get additional loans to repay the money he borrowed against this year's soybean crop.

"The profit margin is so small that once you get behind, it's hard to catch up," said Revelle. - Associated Press

by CNB