Local Farmer a Partner in Environmental Efforts

From left to right, Carson Peed, his father Jeffrey and his grandfather Floyd.

Floyd Peed has been farming more than 1,000 acres of land near Aurora, NC since the early 1960s. His father Russell farmed the land for decades before him, and his sons, Jeffrey and Scott, and their families are continuing the tradition. Floyd and his father sold some of their farmland for the phosphate mine that PotashCorp operates today near Aurora.

"It's weird, but the thought of selling some of our property never really bothered me," Floyd Peed said. "But finding a buyer we could trust scared the heck out of me. I would only sell to a true environmentalist, because they were going to be our neighbors. And with PotashCorp, all I can say is we couldn't have picked a better neighbor. We know we can trust them to do the right thing."

Today the Peeds consider PotashCorp a partner in their land conservation efforts. Together they maintain the ditches and waterways that traverse the farm and protect it from erosion and runoff.

"They work with us to keep the land both productive and protected," says Jeffrey, a third-generation Peed farmer. "Their wetland areas are beautiful, and the deer, quail and fish populations in the area are really building up. They're also not looking to become a land developer, so the land is being kept in agriculture and in natural areas. That helps everybody thrive, without overdevelopment."

Officials at the Aurora mine reciprocate their admiration.

"The Peeds are excellent farmers, they maintain their land, replace the soil nutrients removed by their crops to achieve high yields, practice no-till, pay close attention to drainage, and their crop land is identifiable because of the excellent condition it is in," said Curtis Brown, Land Supervisor, PCS Aurora.