Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1958-09-24
FLA Student Has Eye On Tomorrow
As He Pushes Beef Cattle Furminu

al -Oiu SolOlilDuo W.
unity FLA student is getting set
for what could be bright fut-
ure.
In these days and times when
farmers consider their plight a
tragic one due TO the decreased
acreage allotment of tobacco, the
injection of beef cattle farming
oy Lennon Gore is refreshing.
Lennon, son of Mr.. and Mrs.
Roland Gore, is moving into a
thriving business. And his vent
ure is being accomplished de-
spite the fact that he tends to
the cattle only during spare
hours before and after school.
The projcc; started a year ago
when Lennon and his father be-
came partners in the purchase of
some 40 feeder calves averaging
about $50 pounds each. Their
initial investment was $4,000. No
one can even guess what their
worth will be several years from
now. However, Sam Jackson and
Fred Lay local agriculture tea
cherS and promoters of farm
activities in every way, said
Gore could have sold his stock
recently and doubled his money.
The eventual worth will be
determined not only by the
market price of the original
purchase but by the number of
'calves reproduced. This repro
.juction process is important. The
Sears and Roebuck bull given
several years ago TO the local
FLA ChaI,:er is being used for
breeding the cattle OF the Gore
arm. It's the SaniC service offer
d to any farmer IL this area
out only a few have taken adj
vantage of it.
The first calves are due to
begin arriving in January. Then
Lemons duties will increase but
even with the increase it won't
De too much Of a time consuming
100. Alert to the ways of smart
ann management he has al
ready taken advantage of exist
n conditions so often overlook
g. - more experienced farmers
Lennon knew there was an a.
Oundancc OF land on the farm
when he signed the beef cattle
pact with his Dad. He has used
this land to produce the feed so
essential to profitable beef cattle
raising. He grows l8 acres OF
coastal bermuda for summer
feed and switches to rye grass
! for winter.
Another smart farming move
IN raising feed for beef cattle
was that of growing ladino Glow
er and feScue grass together. His
reasoning for growing it togeth-
er was that clover and grass
don't compete for soil nutrients
at the same time of the year.
Clover furnishes nitrogen for the
grass so a farmer has only TO
fertilize the clover and he also
insures excellent grass growth.
There are several reasons local
farmers have not ventured more
heavily into beef cattle raising,
according to Jackson and Lay.
Tobacco has been the domin-
.ating factor for such long time
that farmers can't get acCustom-
cd to thinking of divcrSifying
crops. Too. the slow turnover of
money in the beef cattle business
has kept many farmers out.
But even small farmer can
take advantage OF the extra
tll'litS W W Ildh III bttl CdlllC.
Fred Lay says a small farmer
can buy two or three good hcif-
CTS and increase his stock by
breeding them to the registered
Ouil available through the Tabor
City FLA.
one thing is certain, energetic
Lennon Gore isn't taking his eye
OFF Of the future. He already sets
The pace for beef cattle raising
IN the Tabor City area and plans
called for the purchase this
month Of 10 additional calves.
When the experienced county
farm worker passes the Cor,
farm and secs the whitC-faCcd
Hereford cattle ne sees a more
secure future for farmers in this
area. Tho opportunity awaits
'hcn--thcy have only but to
take advantage Of il