FACES & PLACES
Livestock sales critical to region Fauquier Livestock Exhange's Stan Stevens explains how the local ag economy relies on a regular rotation of sales
Stan Stevens has worked at the Fauquier Livestock Exchange nearly three decades.
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Quite a mouthful ….
Stan Stevens knows from experience the nightmare of spring, 2020 to a livestock producer. “Offering these livestock sales is important to the community,” says Stevens, acting general manager at a sales facility in Marshall. “We have an agricultural base to this county. We have producers and growers, people with cattle, feeders, calves, some dairy cows, and they need a place to buy and sell. “If we close for long, the ag economy suffers, and everybody loses.” Stevens, who’s worked at the Fauquier Livestock Exchange nearly 30 years, says though their twicemonthly cattle and livestock sales are popular, their equipment sale is even bigger. “We missed our April sale because of COVID,” Stevens explains. “We’re having one in October,
and it’ll be wild. The traffic will circle the block,” and he means a country block. “We sell everything from claw hammers to bulldozers. People will come from everywhere to buy, to sell, to trade, to talk. “It’s been a strange year.” He’s been acting manager since the prior general manager resigned. “This year, especially, you need a strong general manager, someone who’s out in the community,” says officer manager Shelley Merryman. “Even through COVID, we never closed. Everybody’s pitching in to keep these sales going for the farmers, to bring it back to what it was.” “I look at it as a wake-up call,” Stevens says of the lockdown crisis. “I mean, you should have a garden, even just a few plants in pots on your porch if that’s what you can do. You should have a side of (local) beef in your freezer. We’ve got to go back to the self-reliance method, or we’re doomed.” Cattle sales are scheduled Oct. 9 and 23, Nov. 13 and Dec. 11. A horse and tack sale is set Oct. 17. fauquierlivestockexchange.com
COURTESY PHOTO
Jesse Straight
What one grower has to say about local, seasonal eating (hint: it’s all good) “Our current context for many people has prioritized health and reliability over cheapness and convenience. Of course, I am the most biased opinion to be had, but I heartily concur. If you want the healthiest food for you and your family, the best source is from a local farmer you can know, who is raising food with practices that most imitate natural biological systems. Here at Whiffletree, that means animals are outside on continually fresh pasture, non-GMO feed, no antibiotics, no chemicals, and beef that is 100% grass-fed. (We call this eating) local and sustainable for health. But also, (we should) eat local for beauty. Part of what many people think is special and worth preserving in Fauquier County is the beautiful farmland. Exploration in any direction in Fauquier leads to green fields, babbling streams and peaceful forests. Many people do not have the luxury of all this beauty that we have all around us. The best way to preserve farmland is to support farms that are producing the tastiest and healthiest food. When a farm is economically viable, they stay a farm.
Your local farm purchases keep beautiful farms as your neighbors. Also, eat local for your economy. When you purchase from any independent, locally-owned business – including local farms – you’re putting your hard-earned money in the hands of other community members who are the most likely to care about our community. Let's fill up our community with people who live and work here – those are the people who are most likely to have our community's long-term interests at heart. – JESSE STRAIGHT Whiffletree Farm, Warrenton FALL 2020
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