"There's such a shift in the children's backgrounds today. Many have no association with the farms anymore," says Madison County, Va., Extension agent Brad Jarvis. That's not the case with Jerry Carpenter's family. The third-generation dairy farmer and his wife, Kathy, are as involved with 4-H as their four children. Kaitlyn, 18, Karri, 15, Mary Kate, 9, and Michael, 7, all raise steers to show at the county fair each year.
"We have quite a few animals," laughs Jerry, who's the Madison County 4-H dairy club leader. While the Carpenters have a strong foothold in the local 4-H, other programs like FFA also have an undeniable impact.
The area's FFA and 4-H teach everything from the importance of water-quality management and conservation to beef cattle and row-crop practices. And, says Jarvis, both 4-H and FFA get incredible support from the area's co-ops. But then, that's hardly surprising, given that the local government is consistently elected based on its knowledge of farming, land values and taxes.
Forestry is big business in the county; 25% of its acreage lies in the Shenandoah National Forest. But the county makes good use out of its farmland too. The area consistently has one of the healthiest cattle markets in the state, and hay and row crops support the area's livestock industry.
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"We've been in business since 1927," says Carpenter, who owns 800 acres in Oak Park and rents another 600.
As for the benefits of raising his children in the county: "It teaches them responsibility and the values of farm life," says Carpenter. "It makes you humble sometimes and brings you down to earth. You can be on a high one year and then milk prices go down, and it's a dry year, so it keeps you kind of level."
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