Source: MOUNTAIN XPRESS, 3/8/17


Russell Hedrick started out farming 30 acres in Catawba County; six years later, he’s managing 1,000 acres. He’s reduced his herbicide and fertilizer use by 60-70 percent, relying instead on things like multispecies cover crops and the integration of animals such as cattle, hair sheep and pigs. Last year, Hedrick took first place in the dryland and no-till divisions of the statewide corn yield contest with 318.15 bushels per acre. He placed second in the state soybean contest with 86.5 bushels per acre.

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