Feb. 1, 2008 — It's official: The V.I. Farmers Cooperative (VIFC) has begun to clear fertile farmland for major vegetable production and an accompanying farm market on St. Croix.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday proclaimed the initiative on the farmland in Estate Grange between Catherine's Rest Road and Beeston Hill.
"This is so exciting, and it looks like all the farmers feel the same way about the farm," said Eugenia Brady, VIFC member.
More than 40 farmers and officials from various government branches gathered at the recently bulldozed site. It was not the typical dress-up ribbon-cutting ceremony, since it was on farmland. People walked gingerly through clumps of rich dark soil, still damp from an early-morning rain.
"This soil is gorgeous," said Errol Chichester, deputy commissioner of agriculture. "It's like gold," he said, picking up a handful of dirt. Dead grass and leaves decomposing for years have naturally enriched the soil, he said.
His department is behind the co-op "101 percent," Chichester said.
The Farmers Cooperative began making plans for the farm in May 2005. In May 2007, VIFC entered a lease agreement with the Armstrong Trust for the vegetable-production operation on 120 acres of farmland, initially using 60 acres.
Frazier McKenzie, representing the trust for property owned at one time by his grandmother and uncles, said the family is delighted to be working with VIFC.
"We wanted to be sure the land would be used to enhance the structure of lifestyles," McKenzie said.
Friday's effort is just the beginning of three planned phases, said Dale Brown, president of VIFC. The first phase is the Estate Grange Farm, with vegetable production and a farmers' market.
"We are going to produce food security for the islands, and better food," Brown said. "We will eliminate the use of chemicals for fertilization."
The cooperative plans to transition "hobby farmers" into full-time farmers at the site, he said.
"Our agri-business has been in a slump, and with the farm market we will bring retail into the picture, too," Brown said. "We are expecting the development of our territory's agricultural industry to make an economical impact on St. Croix."
Planting may begin in April, said Evette Brown, VIFC vice president. First the farmers will clear the land and put up fencing, then put in wells and pumps, Brown said.
The collaboration between different entities was evident Friday, with a Department of Agriculture employee bush hogging on a tractor from the department. The co-op is working with the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to make the operation beneficial for the entire community.
The good soil should produce good crops, said Jim Rakoci from the UVI Agriculture Experimental Station. UVI will provide technical assistance and classes for farmers, he said. The USDA will assist with policies and how to keep the land productive, with production schedules suggesting when and how to market the produce.
Fifteen farmers have committed to the project, Dale Brown said. They will work on three-to-five-acre plots, done in groups or individually.
The cost of the effort is $370,000 over all, with the membership of VIFC initially committed to $60,000 to start the operation.
Phase two will be the La Reine Forage Field, with production of baled hay, green chop forage and compost production. Following the successful implementation of phase one and two will come Windsor Farm, which will be an agro-eco-tourism development.
"So far things look good for all the phases," Dale Brown said.
Maj. Brian O'Reilly of the V.I. National Guard said he heard about and joined VIFC while stationed in Iraq.
"The farmers in the co-op have their act together and seem pretty progressive," O'Reilly said. "This is an opportunity to prove that farming in the Virgin Islands can work."
Another VIFC member, Henry Knight, said he can hardly to wait to start planting crops in the rich soil.
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