STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA ) OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONERS

) STOKES COUNTY GOVERNMENT

COUNTY OF STOKES ) DANBURY, NORTH CAROLINA

) OCTOBER 20, 2005

The Board of Commissioners of the County of Stokes, State of North Carolina, met for a Conservation Tour sponsored by the Stokes Soil and Water Conservation District on Thursday, October 20, 2005 beginning at 9:00 am with the following members present:

Chairman John Turpin

Vice-Chairman Leon Inman

Commissioner Sandy McHugh

Commissioner Joe Turpin

Commissioner Jimmy Walker

Other County Personnel in Attendance:

County Manager Richard Morris

Clerk to the Board Darlene Bullins

Sheriff Mike Joyce

Tom Smith – District Soil/Watershed Conservationist

Janice Pack – District Administration/Education Specialist

Sara Jo Durham – District Technician

Others in Attendance:

Rep. Bryan Holloway – NC House of Representatives

Senator Don East – NC Senate

Jim Cummings – NC Department of Agriculture

James Booth – Chairman, Stokes Soil/Water Cons. District (SWCD) Board

Willis Overby – Secretary/Treasurer, Stokes SWCD Board

Jack Nunn – Member, Stokes SWCD Board

Johnny East – Member, Stokes SWCD Board

Dede DeBruhl – District Conservationist

Jane Dobson – Soil Technician

Conservation Tour

The Conservation Tour began at 9:00 am at the Old Courthouse (Danbury) with the following stops:

Bob & Tilda Lindsay Farm

• Largest poultry producer of 7 in Stokes County – 40,000 breeders (egg layers)

James & Nancy McKinney Farm

• 1992 Conservation Farm of the Year
• 43 acres field strip-cropping
• .7 acres grassed waterways
• 1.7 acres grassed field borders
• 5.0 hay land, land smoothing

Donnie & Penny Sawyers Farm

• Stock trails & Heavy Use areas
• Stream Crossing and Fencing
• Roof Runoff Management
• Pasture & Hay land Planting

Craig & Debbie Boyles Farm

• 34 acres of strip-cropping
• 3,000 linear feet of grass waterways & critical areas
• 5,800 feet of field borders
• Crop rotations
• Marion & Kate Boyles – 1994 Conservation Farm of the Year
• Conservation-minded family for 65 years

Hunter Farm

• 125 acres no till soybeans
• Field strip-cropping
• 74 acres of flue-cured tobacco
• 5 acres burley tobacco
• ½ acre bell peppers
• 10 acres sweet potatoes

Flood Control Structure Little Yadkin #4 (Pinnacle Watershed) –Pinnacle

• Completed July 1, 1977
• One of 24 flood control structures in Stokes County
• 46 acres surface area
• approximately 3.6 miles shoreline
• largest of 18 structures in the Little Yadkin Watershed area
• 10 different landowners
• 17 parcels
• County benefits
• Flood Control
• Wildlife & Recreation

Pilot Mountain Vineyards, LLC – Philip Hammond - Landowner

• 30 acre tract
• First vineyard in Stokes County
• 5.5 acres (3.5 producing)
• Grossing $6,000.00/acre

Board members received a booklet, which further outlined each site visited along with the following information:

• North Carolina Agriculture Cost Share Program
• USDA Environmental Quality Incentive Program
• Educational Programs
• Educational Calendars
• Voluntary Agricultural Districts
• Map of Flood Control Structures in Stokes County

(a copy of the booklet will be retained by the Clerk to the Court and Stokes Soil/Water District)

The Board’s tour ended with lunch provided by Soil and Water District at the Old Courthouse.

_________________________ _____________________________

Darlene M. Bullins John M. Turpin

Clerk to the Board Chairman