Contributed photo Folks gather to hear speakers and singing at the kick-off event at Sandhills Research Station in Jackson Springs, getting ready to start the annual Sandhills Farm Tour.

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The Sandhills Farm Tour this past weekend visited more farms than ever before.

Stopping at 17 farms throughout the day, anyone who registered could learn about a variety of farming practices and other things farmers are doing on their property.

This year the farms were spread across Anson, Richmond, Moore and Montgomery counties.

“I think the farm tour was another success this year,” said Montgomery Cooperative Extension Agent Danelle McKnight. “We are still totaling the feedback from the visitors and we are already planning to make some changes for next year. We had so many farms on this year’s tour that we will either expand the hours or possibly have two days for the tour so each farm gets adequate time with the visitors. Some of the farms had visitors staying past the 2 p.m. time slot to get to all of the farms.”

One attraction that is new to the event is the kick-off celebration that was held at the Sandhills Research Station in Jackson Springs.

“We did have highlights on the tour. Kerry Collins made a special appearance and provided the guided tours of his ranch,” said McKnight. “Jane Bright (Shadow Hill Shetland Sheepdogs of Jackson Springs) provided dog agility and herding demonstrations. The Sandhills Research Station was definitely a highlight with the live music from Will McCanless, Honey Love Apiary provided vital information on Honey Bees, and the staff of the Sandhills Research Station were excellent hosts for our kickoff event.”

“The kick-off event was here and had a good number of participants,” said Sandhills Research Station Director Jeff Chandler. “Comments I received were that people were very appreciative of the event and felt like they learned a lot. They said this was a worthwhile thing for them to do on a Saturday morning.”

Chandler said there are other farm tours around North Carolina, like in the Pittsboro and Carboro areas, that are larger and well established; the Sandhills Farm Tour is young still.

The purpose of the event was to bring awareness and understanding of local farms. Visitors continuously questioned the growers and farmers about their production, purpose, and practices, said McKnight.

“So, overall we think this was a great tour and can’t wait for next year to be bigger and better,” she said.

— Staff Writer Dawn M. Kurry can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 15, or by email at dkurry@heartlandpublications.com.