The New Castle Conservation District (NCCD) has chosen the Armstrong family of Two Eagles Farm, LLC, as 2012 Cooperator of the Year.
The Armstrongs have owned and farmed their “piece of heaven” in southern New Castle County north of Smyrna since 1946 and were selected for their continued environmental stewardship and implementation of various conservation practices.
“We are pleased to honor the Armstrong family for their continued conservation efforts,” said Robert Emerson, chairman of the NCCD Board of Supervisors. “Their dedication to improving the environment is an example for all to follow.”
Currently, the farm is operated by Larry and Helen Armstrong and their son, Larry Armstrong Jr., and his wife Kathleen. Of the 410 acres the Armstrongs manage, 120 acres are tillable, 120 acres are woodland, and the remaining acres are tidal marsh. They are currently raising 58 Angus-Hereford beef cattle and 12 sheep, and working a seven-year rotation of corn and soybeans with winter cover crops, as well as hay and pasture.
The Armstrongs were recipients of the Governor’s Agricultural Conservation Award for New Castle County in 2004, and since that time have continued to improve and increase conservation practices on the farm.
The NCCD and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service have worked with the Armstrongs to implement a number of important conservation practices for improving soil and water quality and wildlife habitat. These practices include installing shallow wildlife ponds, a manure storage structure, rain gutters on farm buildings, cattle watering stations with heavy use protection areas, warm season grass plantings and a cool season grass meadow.
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