THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 6, 1996 TAG: 9603050108
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Long : 167 lines
ROBERT AND REX ALPHIN thank God for the drought of 1987. It was the year peanuts bloomed three months late. The year of 20-bushel corn. A year of emotional worry.
It was also the year this father-and-son Isle of Wight County team decided to install irrigation on 220 acres for the 1988 crop at Sunset View Farm Inc., near Walters.
``We just decided that we weren't going to go through another year of worry with that much invested in the farm,'' says Robert, 68.
So when the drought of 1995 ravaged Western Tidewater, it didn't impact the Alphins much.
``If you had water last year, you had a good year,'' says Rex, 40. ``We pumped 1 million gallons of water a day from the Blackwater River for 12 weeks, and we had some of the best crops we've ever had. There never would have been a 1995 if there wasn't a 1987.''
That kind of get-the-job-done approach is an example of the qualities that earned the Alphins this year's Farm Family of the Year award, an honor bestowed by the Isle of Wight/Smithfield/Windsor Chamber of Commerce.
They also were named the top peanut producers in Isle of Wight, averaging 4,150 pounds an acre. Corn did well, too, averaging 207 bushels an acre, and cotton produced 720 pounds an acre.
Robert, who has been farming 40 years, manages about 600 acres of peanuts, corn and cotton; 300 acres grown on their own land; and 300 more on land rented from five farms scattered throughout Isle of Wight County.
Rex joined his father in the farm operation in 1976. He manages a 600-sow hog operation at the farm for Carroll Foods Inc.
They have two full-time employees.
The Alphins are just a hard-working family. They're unique in so many ways. They're always coming up with new farming ideas or changes in their operation,'' says Carl Harmon, a member of the chamber's Agri-business Selection Committee, which chose the Alphins from 65 other nominations from throughout the county.
``For example, they recently increased their hog operation from a 200-sow operation to a 600-sow operation. It's very extensive.''
The Alphins have finished building a facility that will birth 240 hogs per week, shipping them to finishing farms once they reach 50 pounds.
While the Alphins supply the land and buildings for the hog operation, Carroll's supplies the hogs and feed. Carroll's pays the Alphins for managing the sows and for each litter of pigs produced.
``In the past, most hog farmers were independent farmers, who owned the hogs, and decided where they would sell them once they were grown. We were tied to the hog and corn (feed) market then,'' Rex Alphin says.
``As a contractor, I'm no longer tied to those markets, and that's a plus for me. Whether corn and hog prices go up or down, it doesn't affect me. The number of pigs produced per sow is the formula for success.''
Raising hogs is an early and every-day thing.
Hog manager David Tribby begins feeding pigs at 8 a.m., a routine that continues throughout the day. In the midst of the feedings, babies are born and processed daily.
``Once a litter arrives, teeth and nails are cut to prevent the pigs from hurting each other,'' says Tribby, 41. ``The first thing a baby pig does when it's born is find milk. The second thing it does is begin fighting with its brothers and sisters.''
In the last six months, Tribby has learned a lot about pigs. He was a district manager for the Hofheimer's shoe store chain, managing 26 stores in Hampton Roads, before he joined the Alphins in their hog venture last September.
``I knew absolutely nothing about hogs when I came here. But I'm learning, and I love it!
``I like the freedom of being my own boss, and working with animals is a lot of fun. There's a certain stress to it, but it's not anything like retail stress.''
The Alphins decided to increase their hog operation this year when the future of the federal peanut program became uncertain. For that reason, they also plan to decrease their peanut acreage this year by 12 percent, Robert says.
``It's hard to predict the future, but the peanut crop will see a transition - the kind that hasn't been seen by any living farmer.
``I believe the handwriting is on the wall. As exports increase in this country, the peanut program will be weaned out.''
Since the late 1970s, the government has set a quota price, $673 last year, and told farmers how many pounds they could grow to receive payments at that price. Additional peanuts were bought at lower prices.
A U.S. Senate bill would lower the quota price to $610 per ton, a huge loss for many farmers. And if a House bill passes, the price could drop even more, Robert said.
``Somewhere along the line,'' Robert said, ``farmers are going to have to make up the difference. And for so long, the peanut program has provided a safety net that we were always able to sell peanuts for at a good price. We were protected quite well, but those days are coming to an end.''
Rex believes that could be good for the farmer.
``I am looking forward to the day when the government has its hands off all this, and farmers are flexible and can farm like they want to farm.'' And his father agrees.
``Whenever an industry goes through a shakeout, it's healthy. The people who survive it are stronger, and the industry becomes stronger.''
But change happens every year anyway in most farm operations.
This year, the Alphins will decrease cotton acreage to make room for a larger corn crop. As the demand for corn rises, per-bushel prices have climbed above $3, Robert says.
``Everyone's competing for corn this year because, nationally, corn had a bad year last year.''
As the Alphins begin clearing fields and planning for the 1996 harvest, Rex's wife, Debra, and Robert's wife, Juanita, are also planning for their own two-acre harvest of sweet corn.
``The phone starts ringing in June for orders and it doesn't stop until July,'' Debra says. ``Ours is usually the first sweet corn in the county because it's grown in a cow pasture that's irrigated.''
Last year, they say, they sold 25,000 ears to local grocery stores and people calling in orders.
``I've already had one call for 8,000 ears, and it won't even be planted until March,'' Debra says.
She and Rex's children - Judson, 13, and daughter Leah, 12 - help pick the corn for customers, who come to get it in pickup trucks.
Last year, Judson grew an acre of watermelons and sold them in Virginia Beach for $6,000.
``I used part of that money to buy a computer,'' he says proudly.
``Farming is a lifestyle,'' Rex Alphin says. ``You put the seed in the ground, and up comes this crop. When you see a 50-acre field of corn grow 3 inches a day and peanuts covering the ground, it's a real sense of accomplishment.
``It's amazing.'' MEMO: [For a related story, see page 7 of The Citizen for this date.]
ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
FARMERS OF DISTINCTION
Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
The Alphins at a rare moment of rest. They are, clockwise from the
right: Bob, Juanita, Debra, Rex, Leah and Judson.
THE ALPHINS
ROBERT ALPHIN
Age: 68
Wife: Juanita, 65
Education: Attended two years of college at Virginia Tech.
Children: Ruffin, minister of Westminster Reformed Presbyterian
Church in Suffolk; Trena, homemaker and part-time teacher in
Blacksburg; Rex, who farms with his father.
Community activities: President, Isle of Wight County Farm
Bureau; director of Colonial Farm Credit since 1977; chairman of the
Isle of Wight AgriculturalO Advisory Committee; Isle of Wight
Vocational Advisory Council member; Windsor Ruritan Club member;
elder and Sunday school teacher at Bethany Presbyterian Church.
REX ALPHIN
Age: 40
Wife: Debra, 38
Education: Attended Virginia Tech from 1975-76 and Piedmont Bible
College, Winston-Salem, N.C., from 1982-84.
Children: Judson, 13, and Leah, 12.
Community activities: Serves on the Virginia Pork Industry Board
and the Smithfield Junior Market Hog Show Committee; serves on the
Elder Board at Mount Zion Fellowship Church.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB