By John Markon, Virginia NRCS Public Affairs HIGHTOWN – Ronnie Moyers tells people he’s “in the timber business,” which is about half right. “About 90 percent of our farm’s 600 acres is forest we manage for timber,” he said. “That’s the land’s traditional use and the reason my father bought it back in the World War II years. But in order to keep our taxes paid and to make the farm sustainable for family ownership, we needed to expand beyond that.” Sustainability is crucial because Moyers’ farm is very much a family project. Moyers and his wife Sandy live on the property along with their daughter Susan and her husband. Future residents will include daughter Missy Moyers-Jarrells and her husband, Joe Jarrells, and their two children, who live an hour away in Staunton but are planning to build a house on the hill. The lure of the land isn’t hard to grasp. The Moyers’ farm sits on the elevated slopes of Virginia’s Alleghany Mountains. At 4,000 feet, it offers post-card views in just about every direction, all of which explain why Highland County bills itself as “the Switzerland of Virginia.” It’s also one of the few U.S. locations south of the New England states where it’s practical to turn maple sap into maple sugar and maple syrup. It was there that Moyers saw an expansion opportunity and it was in 2010 when Laurel Fork Sapsuckers was born. Entry into the world of syrup production had been previously attempted on the farm by Ronnie’s father, John Moyers, and his wife Cathleen. When it resumed, 35 acres of maple trees were tapped and linked to sap collection containers by a gravity-based network made from plastic tubing. A number of unconnected tap-and-bucket collection devices from the early days also remain in use. A “sugar house” was built, displaying the past and future of sugar production. Inside, an ancient-looking brick boiler shares space with a modern version made from stainless steel. “There’s about a 100-year difference in terms of how current the technologies are,” Moyers said, “but they both work.” Also constructed was a store, where the Moyers sell syrup and other farm products and also rent out as a venue for weddings and other events. It was a large undertaking, and Moyers was looking for both financial help and technical expertise to complete it successfully. It was on this search that he met Charlie Ivins, who was at the time the district conservationist in charge of the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s field office in Verona, about 40 miles away. “Conservation was always part of my plan for the farm,” Moyers said. “Charlie pointed me in a lot of good directions.” Ivins called it “a great joy to work with landowners like the Moyers. They’re always open to new ideas and always follow through when they say they’ll do something.” Today, the Moyers’ farm budget includes NRCS assistance for three farm activities that have little to do with timber or sugar. The agency’s Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) supports Moyers’ efforts to provide habitat for the endangered golden-winged warbler while the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) assists his choice to devote one of his high meadows – about 1.5 acres – to pollinator habitat. He’s also enrolled in NRCS’ Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), which assists in maintenance of trout habitat on Laurel Fork, one of Virginia’s most popular destinations for fly fishing. The warbler habitat, which includes some of the farm’s tallest trees on some of its highest hillsides, meets any definition of “visually spectacular.” Moyers established it three years ago and has yet to see a golden-winged warbler, although he has no doubts he eventually will. “What I like,” he said, “is that the perfect habitat for the warbler is also just about perfect for any other wild birds we have out here, and some of the animal species as well. When my neighbors ask me about wildlife conservation, one of the first things I tell them is that it works.” There’s proof hanging on the walls of his home. Deer were becoming increasingly rare on Moyers’ land until conservation efforts began. Not long afterward, Sandy Moyers was able to spot and shoot a whitetail buck with an antler score in the 170s. “The rack’s so big,” she said, “it looks like a moose.” “The farm’s just one of those places where you can see something inspirational almost every time you walk outside,” said Missy. “When I was in high school, one of my favorite things to do was to get on a bicycle and ride in a new direction every day. It’s just an amazing place, particularly when it’s full of wildlife.” Missy and her husband will eventually become the farm’s full-time managers and plan to continue looking for new ways to combine conservation, sustainability and profitability. All family members say they’re happier outdoors than inside, which includes a tolerance for Highland County’s frequently brutal winter weather. “I think our record low temperature on the farm is 37 degrees below zero,” Ronnie Moyers said. “We hang a pair of snowshoes in the sugar house… and they get used. I think the most snow we’ve had on the ground at one time is three feet, but most of the farm stays covered all winter.” Moyers can remember days from his boyhood when workhorses were used to drag logs out of the forest. The stables for those horses, like their era, exist only in memories. “There’s so much about this land that I would never want to change,” he said. “To me, ‘conservation’ is just another word for everyone doing what they should have been doing all along.” Laurel Fork Sapsuckers and other sugar producers will be a part of the annual Highland County Maple Festival, set this year for the weekends of March 8-9 and March 15-16. Left: Ronnie Moyers (left) and Joe Jarrells take a break on some syrup cans. Top right: A network of tubes allows collected sap to flow downhill to the Moyers’ “sugar house” production building. |