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As you travel down NC 210 Highway in the Murphytown community one notices lush green farm fields and tall stands of Pines. Sitting back off the highway, there are stands of Loblolly and Long Leaf Pines that make up the AA & S Farms, Inc. The farm has been in Albert Beatty’s family for about 130 years and he is the third generation of his family to tend its 500 acres. Most recently, the farm was recognized in Farm Bureau Magazine.
Albert Beatty said his father was born on the farm in 1904. Albert, his brother and 6 sisters all grew up on the farm. Beatty said he maintains his father’s farm and the land he and his wife, Ada, purchased when they were first married. In addition to raising Pine trees and livestock, Beatty also grows hay and vegetables.
Beatty’s livestock consists namely of cows and hogs. He breeds Black Angus, Hereford, and Gelbvieh cows. He said during a year he will raise between 24,000 to 25,000 hogs. He said one hog house can hold 1,530 pigs at a time. Beatty had just shipped his pigs to the finishing house on Tuesday afternoon and was expecting his next shipment of pigs next week.
Albert and Ada Beatty have been married for 48 years and have experienced many of life’s ups and downs together on the farm. Life on a farm can be interesting as well as rewarding. Ada related that in 1975, she was sick and had to be out of work and Albert was laid off for about 11 months from his job at DuPont so they decided to plant 15 acres of tobacco. Ada said that after getting the tobacco set out and it began to grow, Albert was called back to work at DuPont.
Ada said Albert would go to work at his job at DuPont and then would come home and work on the farm. “That fall, it turned out to be very productive,” said Albert Beatty.
Ada Beatty said their daughter Sonya Beatty also worked on the farm when she was growing up. She said she would do chores around the farm such as helping to cut okra and she even had her own Okra patch. Sonya also helped pick cucumbers and she also worked on a blueberry farm.
“We wanted her to understand the significance of agriculture,” said Ada Beatty.
Ada Beatty said one of their most exciting memories was then they had three cows give birth to twin calves. “That was just natural,” said Ada Beatty. Albert explained today, many farmers use various forms of fertility treatments to encourage their livestock to have twins.
Albert and Ada Beatty attend numerous farm and agricultural conferences and events. They have been recognized in numerous publications for their farm. They were recognized in Most recently, the farm was recognized in Farm Bureau Magazine.
http://www.ncfieldandfamily.org/farm/small-mighty-farms/
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