DATE: Friday, July 11, 1997                 TAG: 9707110648

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LOUIS HANSEN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   62 lines

AT CONFERENCE, FARMERS URGED TO DIVERSIFY AS SUBSIDIES END

Although the verdant fields of this pastoral city may seem like a farmer's paradise, there could be clouds on the horizon.

Federal peanut subsidies are scheduled to phase out after 2002, eroding one of the area's major cash crops.

With that in mind, local farming officials invited farmers to an alternative crops seminar Thursday.

Sponsored by the Virginia Cooperative Extension, the seven-hour conference included tips on planting, natural fertilizers and alternative cash crops ranging from cut flowers to seedless watermelons.

About 40 farmers milled around exhibits on Arthur L. Whitener's farm in Holland to listen, question experts and swap stories about what grows and what withers.

Clifton A. Slade, an extension agent who organized the third annual meeting, said the goal was to get farmers to reconsider their operations.

``You don't have to farm 1,200 acres of land to be profitable,'' he said. ``You've got to find your niche.''

Produce markets for Suffolk farmers will change in five years, at the end of the peanut subsidies. The current subsidized price for peanuts - $600 per ton - could plummet when supports are eliminated, Slade said.

``The peanut program is going away,'' he said. Farmers, he added, ``have to look at all of the options.''

Slade suggested that farmers try alternative crops on a small scale before fully committing to them.

Rex Alphin, who runs his family's 1,000-acre Sunset View Farms in Walters, said large farmers needed to plan for a future with uncertain income from peanut crops. He has tried to expand his hog-raising operations and grow more sweet corn, cotton and vegetables such as zucchini.

``We're not sure what's going to happen,'' said Alphin, who farms about 250 acres of peanuts. ``I'm trying to be creative.''

Farm officials urged others to do just that. Andy Hankins, an extension specialist at Virginia State University in Petersburg, said fresh and dried flowers could be moneymakers for local farmers.

``We have extremely strong sales of cut flowers in Virginia,'' he said. ``Every little town has a florist.''

Few local farms, however, grow flowers for florists. About 75 percent of the cut flowers sold in the United States are grown in South America, where labor costs are cheaper, he said.

Hankins said flowers with local potential include those that do not ship well from South America, including gladioluses, lilies, and snapdragons.

Other presentations explained ways of planting sweet potatoes and pumpkins without tilling the fields, and a trellis system to support grapevines.

Most farmers said they felt it was a good idea to consider new crops.

Jimmy Oliver farms 600 acres on his family farm near Chuckatuck. He said he might be able to interest his wife in growing cut flowers with him, if the market is good.

``We need to experiment,'' he said. ``I'm keeping my ears open.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos

JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot

A seminar Thursday in Suffolk focused on alternative crops, which

will become more important when subsidies on peanuts are phased out

after 2002. Farmer Dan Rogers, left, got a close-up look at one

alternative, dried flowers.

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