FUTURE OF FARMING TAKING ROOT IN EAST WILCO

FROM THE EDITOR

[email protected] FUTURE OF FARMING TAKING ROOT IN EAST WILCO

With spring in the air, it’s not unusual to ponder the growing season and the amazing contributions being made by East Wilco agribusiness pioneers thinking outside of the planter box.

While the family farms that fueled the economy of Central Texas and built towns including Taylor and Hutto are fading, innovations in planting and harvesting still make this an exciting time.

It’s true the children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren of the farmers of old are moving on to new careers, but there are enough ventures in East Wilco agriculture to give a glimmer that all is not lost.

Even as amazing digital technologies rise from the Blackland Prairie to help usher in the 21st century and beyond, farmers, researchers, engineers and more are also developing promising new ways of growing that will promote healthy fare and sustainable practices for decades.

Both Taylor and Hutto this year are celebrating their 150th birthdays. Planners in the two cities are giving credit to the farmers who harvested the cotton the railroads shipped to the rest of the country and world, making a tidy profit that fueled the region’s prosperity. But even though that is the past, a new kind of history is being made, one that stays connected to the traditions of tilling the soil. The area has not yet completely severed its farming roots.

Coupland is where some of the most fertile ideas are taking root and flourishing.

For starters, consider Vermillion Farms. Will and Danielle Vermillion own and operate Vermillion Farms, the only aeroponics concern in Williamson County.

Aeroponics is the process of growing produce without soil. There are different variations, but they all involve plants’ roots being exposed and not buried in dirt.

Vermillion Farms plants its crops in 12-foot towers, which is why many label aeroponics “tower farming.” However, other aeroponics systems use flat boxes on tables, stacked on top of other tables with grow lights hanging between.

Not far away from the couple’s installation is the John Deere Austin Test site, where the company is evaluating revolutionary farming equipment ranging from robotic tractors to targeted spraying of pesticides to protect the environment.

Rather than take away from the works of human farmers, these devices add to their output and crop control.

The Coupland facility works closely with The Stiles Foundation Farm in Thrall, which is under the umbrella of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension services.

Innovators there delve into longterm conservation tillage and covercrop research, agriculture technologies, breakthroughs in beef cattle production, the finances of small-acreage horticulture and using drones in agriculture production.

Farming may have changed in the Blackland Prairie, but it hasn’t ended. The seeds of the future are being planted here every day.