Jacob
Waddy grew up on a small farm in South Perry County. He was one of nine
children. His parents managed 175 acres of row crops and livestock. At the age
of 20, Jacob began his own farming operation where he operated the family farm
and other rented properties. He worked off the farm as well as in the vegetable
canning and processing and the steel production industry for about 11 years. In
1985, he started a contracting business with McMillan Blodel planting trees,
painting boundary lines and other general forestry work. At this point, he was
involved very little in production agriculture.
In
1995, Jacob was approached by Andrew Williams of NRCS to start a demonstration
farm in the Black Belt toencourage small farmers to diversify their operations
to possibly increase profitability. At this point, various partnerships such as
the ALA-TOM RC&D Council, Heifer International, Tuskegee University, Alabama,
A&M University, and the Alabama Department of Ag and Industries came together to
make this a reality. As a result, a 43 acre farm was identified on Highway 80
approximately four miles east of Uniontown, AL, as the proposed demonstration
site.
The first step Jacob and partner Virginia Fikes took was to
contact the NRCS Office in Perry County and develop a conservation plan for the
farm. They have worked together and implemented such conservation practices as
rotating grazing, vegetable production using plastic mulch and drip irrigation,
woodland grazing, pasture poultry, rabbit production, meat goat production, and
marketing.
In 2006, the Alabama Chapter of the National Organization of
Professional Black NRCS Employees (NOPBNRCSE) nominated Jacob Waddy for the
national Lloyd Wright National Small Farmers Award. Jacob and Virginia received
the 2nd Place award in December 2006.
NRCS in Alabama wanted to further recognize Jacob and Virginia
for their achievements in soil stewardship small farm preservation work that
they have accomplished down through the years.
Waddy and Fikes (c) review farm plan with
NRCS DC Gibbs |
Irrigation system for plasticulture examined.
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