Protection a Top Priority for Hay Supplier
Cohen Farm, located in Pittsboro, North Carolina, grows some of the most nutrient filled hay in the state of North Carolina. For more than 30 years, Cohen Farm has provided hay to customers throughout a surrounding 60 mile radius. For horse owners to llama operations to dairy producers to sheep and goat farmers, Murray and Esta Cohen provide an invaluable service to a variety of agricultural producers.
In the summer of 2002, a severe drought hit the area and devastated the agricultural community. 'Livestock feed was scarce to say the least,'' says Esta. ''It was a situation where the demand far exceeded what we were able to supply. The drought was so bad that farmers were selling off their heifers and cows; there was just nothing to feed them. Hay Hotlines were set up to buy hay and some people were traveling out of state to purchase trailer loads of hay.''
Fortunately, the drought was only one year in length which for some seemed like an eternity. 'The year following the drought was a boom year. In fact we had so much hay we ran out places to store it,'' says Esta. ''We had a large surplus of round bales but because we had nowhere to store the bales out of weather exposure, they went bad. We realized then that if we were able to store those round bales for future use, we would be much more prepared for future droughts. Droughts are never predicted and when they do happen, it''s difficult to adjust your farm operation unless you have already prepared beforehand for the possibility of a drought. All it took was a year of drought and a year of seeing tons of hay go to waste to realize that a Cover-All hay storage building would be a wise investment.''
'A good friend of ours highly recommended a Cover-All building. He bought one for his dairy operation and he couldn''t say enough good things about the building and the people he bought it from,'' says Esta.
The Cohen's purchased a 40 foot wide by 112 foot long Cover-All Legend building which is the ideal size to store 500 hay bales. The building is also used to store all sorts of farm machinery such as a stack wagon, back hoe, tractors, goose neck trailer, etc. 'In an average year, we produce 800 - 1300lb round bales, and 5000 – 70lb square bales of high quality hay,'' says Esta. ''We take care of our land, we don''t use pesticides or herbicides; the only soil enhancer we use is composted chicken manure. We stand behind what we sell and our clients know that, so the more we can control the quality of product we sell, the better it is for the customer and for us. We are thrilled with our Cover-All building. It's an investment we should have made years ago.''
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