Source: ASHEBORO COURIER-TRIBUNE, 5/10/17

Uwharrie Farm is cleaning up overgrown acreage using an innovative source — pigs. Larry and Judy McPherson applied for a Rural Agriculture Reinvestment Fund (RAFI) grant in order to remove stumps from six acres of their 120-acre farm on Waynick Meadow Road west of Asheboro. A couple of years ago, they harvested trees from the site and now need to remove the stumps and other unwanted growth. Enter five specially-selected pigs for the job. The Berkshire and Duroc breeds are considered naturals for rooting out stumps without the need for chemicals and, hence, protecting the environment. The approach is considered innovative and sustainable, thus making it eligible for the $8,000 RAFU grant to install fencing around the acreage and also to turn an old greenhouse into an animal shelter. The fencing is to keep predators out, Larry stressed. He added that they have a couple of donkeys to scare off coyotes. In 1987, the McPhersons purchased the farm where Judy grew up, initially raising contract poultry. When the company they contracted from demanded upgrades, the McPhersons decided instead to get into organic vegetable production. They became one of the first community supported agriculture (CSA) farms in North Carolina. That term just means they sell their goods directly to consumers, mostly at farmers markets. Uwharrie Farm became a well-known and viable CSA known for organic vegetables. But in 2013, Larry had heart surgery and the couple decided it was time to get out of the labor-intensive gardens and to raise animals. They now have pasture-raised cattle, goats and chickens. …

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