The board and district manager feel that the numbers stated in our Needs Assessment are fairly accurate for the current state of the farm demographics at our present time. We do feel however, an increase in our farm numbers during the next four years but a decrease in farm size.
We envision our farms to be more eco-friendly, thus improving the soil and water in Reynolds County. We also anticipate increasing our spending in cost-share over the next five years on practices that will benefit our cooperators in keeping the erosion to a minimum and increasing the water quality in the county.
Currently most of the farms are privately owned and the board does NOT see that changing over the next five years. However, due to the change in staffing and technical support provided to Reynolds County, we feel our interest in farming practices has increased and the amount our district needs are not unreasonable.