THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602210190
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: S06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS
DATELINE: SANDS LENGTH: Long : 167 lines
Michael Drake's family has farmed the land around the little community known as Sands, in Southampton County for three generations.
Today he heads up Sandy Ridge Farms Inc. and is making plans to someday pass it along to his three young children.
How Michael, 40, and his wife, Rebecca, 34, run and manage their holdings is indicative of how farming has evolved in the '90s; how different some of it has become from what his father knew, while other aspects of it have stayed unchanged over three generations.
``I was born and raised here on a farm,'' says Michael. ``They say you either have it in your blood or you don't have it.''
An older brother, Claude Dennis, like Michael, started in farming in a partnership with their father. But Claude was more attracted to the trucking side of the operation and eventually left the farm to pursue a career as an independent trucker.
A younger sister never got into farming.
When Michael's father retired four years ago, they dissolved the partnership and Michael incorporated as a privately held corporation, with all stock owned by the family.
``That way, I would have the opportunity to gradually buy up stock in the old partnership,'' says Michael. ``My ultimate goal in life is that, someday, the farm operation would be mine.''
Michael currently has approximately 700 acres of crop and pasture land under cultivation.
Located along the divide between the Nottoway and Meherrin rivers, it consists primarily of sandy loam. On it he raises seed peanuts, watermelons, corn, soybeans, cotton and rye. He also has 26 brood cows.
``I own some land, rent some land and sharecrop some land,'' he says. ``I rent some of the family land.''
It's all within a nine-mile area, extending from the banks of the Nottoway River.
That it's not all contiguous helps spread out the risk associated with weather patterns. If some of the fields are suffering from drought, it may be raining on others six or seven miles away.
Michael's cows all calved in early February. ``I have more time to check on them then than in early spring,'' he says.
A cow calf producer, he has Angus cattle crossbred with Gelbvieh to improve the herd. Extension Agent Wes Alexander, from Courtland, recommended the crossbreeding, notes Michael, adding that it's working out very well.
The beef cattle are sold as feeders; by the time the cows were calving, the '95 crop was almost ready for sale.
With the market low, Michael was planning to sell them as a group. A lot of the heifers go to a breeding program; the steers are fattened for slaughter.
Daughter Wendy, 9, plans to show a cow through the 4-H Club program at the Franklin/Southampton County fair this year. The family plays an active part at the fair each year, donating watermelons - and Rebecca's time - to the watermelon contest.
``I run it,'' she says, grinning.
Last year at the fair, Michael realized a personal goal by winning a blue ribbon and ``a nice big trophy'' at the field crops exhibit.
``A group of our friends compete,'' he says. ``We try to bring the prettiest crops. I tied with a friend four years ago, with one-tenth of a point between us. I added cotton, and had another crop to bring in. I won the prize; now I don't know if I want to compete again,'' he adds, laughing. ``My goal has been reached.''
On the farm, if Michael is the operations manager, Rebecca is the marketing, bookkeeping and administrative manager. Major decisions are joint, they both agree.
Despite their predominately field and office roles, she also drives the tractors, pickup and dump truck.
All records are kept manually, but the Drakes have acquired a computer, a Pentium, and both have enrolled in a computer course for beginners through the Extension Office.
In addition to automating the bookkeeping, they plan to use it for pesticide record keeping to comply with Environmental Protection Agency requirements.
Michael would like to use the computer to monitor market and commodity prices in ``real time, '' but, Rebecca points out, to do so from their remote, rural location will require long-distance calls to connect with an on-line service.
Michael says he was slow to plant cotton, missing at least one good harvest. Even now, he's trying to hedge his bets.
``I haven't taken steps to buy the specialized machinery to deal with cotton specifically,'' he says. ``I haven't made that five- to 10-year commitment.
``The same equipment used with peanuts basically works. Or the equipment, a specialized high-clearance sprayer, module builder and the picker itself, is available through custom hire (a rental or lease arrangement). I play a very conservative approach to farming. High yield is everyone's goal, but it's easier to cut the cost of production than to get it out of the top side.''
Continuity is important to the Drakes, too, as well as long-term trends.
``My grandfather raised watermelons,'' says Michael. ``Used to put 'em on trains in Newsoms; actually put them in box cars.
``The watermelon crop is labor-intensive, but it's still cost-effective, so, we're still pursuing it. We do vary crop and cattle operations based on market outlooks.
``We're planting different crops; I didn't think we'd ever plant cotton. Dad had it in the '60s. With cotton, it's a worldwide surge, but it'll go back to normal. A lot of farmers have gone to a two-crop system - cotton and peanuts. That's putting too many eggs in one basket.''
``And we gotta have cows,'' adds Rebecca, eliciting a chuckle from her husband.
One thing that has made their business successful, says Michael, is they do their own work whenever possible.
Earlier this year, he and his father, who still plays an active role, finished a transmission overhaul on a 1976 John Deere tractor, resulting in a savings in five figures.
The family does its own equipment, electrical and mechanical maintenance, and even building erection (several large Butler buildings).
``We buy a lot of used equipment,'' says Michael, ``and bring it back to the shop.
``Our peanut elevator is 10 years old. I bought it in Suffolk, disassembled it, reassembled it here, and got a crane to put it up. It works fine.''
Michael's pickup, a 1979 Ford, is recognized throughout the area, he says. It has more than 300,000 miles on it, with one engine overhaul. If something works, he adds, he is loath to get rid of it or replace it.
Rebecca credits Michael with even being able to fix an ice-maker on a refrigerator and install a kitchen vent fan; he points out that she designed their home, which they built while planning to get married and moved into the day they returned from their wedding.
That was almost 12 years ago. They had dated for six years before they married. Both are convinced that working as closely together as they have to in order to run the farm has strengthened their relationship.
``We can talk about anything,'' notes Rebecca, ``being rich, being broke. We were friends; we could always talk. I still actually like him. And I knew I'd live on a farm or ranch or something.''
How they met is one of the few things they disagree about; who stopped whom, that is.
``We were both riding - cruising - with friends,'' says Michael. ``The girls pulled up behind us and blew the horn. They thought it was somebody else. They followed us; then we followed them. Finally, we stopped and started talking.''
``He asked me out three times,'' adds Rebecca. ``I wouldn't go out with him. I didn't know who he was.''
That was in Franklin, where Rebecca grew up after her family moved there from Suffolk when she was 10. Her father worked in forestry with Union Camp.
Although not a ``farm girl,'' all of her people were born and raised in a farming community, according to Michael.
In addition to Wendy, they have two sons, William, 8, and Westley, 5. How the children come to perceive their future roles in life is a key element in the Drakes' own view of the future.
``Until I see how much input I get from the children, I'll stay pretty much where I am now,'' says Michael, when asked about plans to grow the family business.
``We've had the same acreage for 10 or 15 years; it's about all we can handle.
It's a load. I don't plan any expansion until my little helpers come into play.
``They show a lot of interest, I think.
``When dad came into farming, it was more labor. Now it's less labor and more equipment. But I think we work hard.
``I don't mean to brag but it's not an easy life. It's hard work, very demanding, but the idea is Rebecca and I are both shooting for the same goal. Whatever it takes, we'll see it though.
``Farming's a good life. I can tell you the bad things, but I still like it. It's in my blood.'' MEMO: [Article appeared in the promotional supplement which ran in the Isle of
Wight Citizen for this date.]
ILLUSTRATION: Photos by DAWSON MILLS
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB