Date:
8/4/2003 12:00:00 AM
Title:
Virginia Operation is ESAP Region I Honoree
Llangollen Farms Wins NCBA Environmental Stewardship Award
Washington, D.C. (August 5, 2003) – Roy Ash, owner, and John Wilkins, manager, of Llangollen Farms southwest of Washington, D.C.,are regional winners of the Environmental Stewardship Award, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) announced today. Llangollen Farms is one of seven regional winners nationwide, and represents NCBA’s Region I, which includes 17 mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states.
Sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, the Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP) recognizes cattle producers whose stewardship practices are inventive, cost-effective and contribute to environmental conservation. The recipients of this top U.S. beef industry environmental award are selected by a committee of representatives from university faculty, federal and state government agencies, and conservation and environmental organizations.
“We’re so proud of our ESAP winners and the philosophies they embody,” says NCBA President Eric Davis. “Ranchers like Roy Ash and John Wilkins have an innate love for the land that benefits the environment, their communities, their businesses, and serves as an example for all of us.”
On the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 40 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., lies Llangollen Farms. Parts of the farm have existed for more than 200 years, and the current operation consists of three properties. The primary business is a cow-calf operation with backgrounding/stocker and replacement heifer enterprises as complements. The cow herd consists of both a commercial and a purebred Angus unit.
Owner Roy Ash purchased the property at an estate auction 14 years ago, saving the property and community from urban development planners who wanted to raze the site and build a multi-home housing complex.
Farm manager John Wilkins has since made it a priority to create and implement a conservation program that protects the water on the land. He created forest and wildlife habitats to protect the animals that live there, and developed programs for manure management, streams and wetland protection, forage management, and soil preservation through no-till planting practices.
Wilkins has added acres of new riparian buffers to create habitat for wildlife. The new plots are attracting quail, turkeys, and rabbits – all of which have been on the decline in the area. In addition, red-tailed hawks are commonly sighted, and Wilkins reports a recent sighting of a bald eagle.
Active in the local agriculture community, Wilkins is often asked to speak at local farming workshops and planter’s groups, and has even spoken to Virginia Tech’s animal science classes on both conservation and beef production programs. But Wilkins says the neighborhood interaction and “talking with other producers over the fence” has the greatest impact on cattle farming in the area.
“Owner Roy Ash and Manager John Wilkins have certainly set an extraordinary example in raising the bar for attention paid to environmental improvement,” says John Crouch, executive vice president of the American Angus Association. “Their dedication to protecting and improving the environment is a worthy example for all cattlemen.”
Llangollen Farms worked with many organizations to achieve their environmental goals, including the Virginia Cooperative Extension, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Loudoun Soil and Water Conservation District, Virginia Department of Forestry, Virginia Forage and Grasslands Council, USDA Farm Service Agency, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Virginia Tech Animal Science Department and Ducks Unlimited.
Llangollen Farms will be formally recognized for its regional ESAP award at the 2004 Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show in Phoenix, Ariz., next January, when the national award winner will be announced.
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Editor’s Note: For additional information, news releases and fact sheets on individual winners, contact NCBA’s Washington office at 202-347-0228.
Producer-directed and consumer-focused, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is the trade association of America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.