NEWS RELEASE
September 24, 2026
Richard Boylan
Area Agent, Small Farm Management
On-Farm Training Workshop for New, Small-Farm, Shared-Use Tillage and Cover-Crop Equipment
Did you know that Cooperative Extension in Ashe and Watauga Counties now has two-wheel tractors available for rent to farmers? The economics of small farms in the High Country have always been challenging, and recent inflationary trends around land, fertilizers, fuel, and other agricultural inputs have only worsened matters. Cooperative Extension has always been dedicated educating farmers about paths toward agricultural profitability, but these challenges require innovative approaches. One way that your local Cooperative Extension and Soil and Water offices have developed over the past few decades is keeping a stable of shared-use equipment: between offices in Ashe and Watauga, growers have been able to access equipment such as biochar kilns, subsoilers, a potato digger, a seed drill, and more. Thanks to a grant from the Tobacco Trust Fund of NC, Cooperative Extension can now add small scale tillage and cover crop equipment to this range of offerings.
The Tobacco Trust Fund grant has enabled the purchase of two BCS 853 two-wheel tractors, along with a range of implements that these small tractors can power. Unlike what most of us picture when we hear the word “tractor,” these BCS tractors are walk-behind units, ideal in managing patches of ground from ¼ acre to perhaps a couple of acres. These tractors and implements are available to working farms in Watauga and Ashe counties. Over time as other surrounding extension offices (Avery, Burke, Caldwell, and Wilkes) join in trainings, growers from those counties can potentially rent this equipment as well. The two wheel tractors and implements are suited for field preparations, cover crop management, and related farm tasks on areas from ¼ acre to up to one acre. These tractors are not available for home garden use; growers wishing to use them must provide a USDA Farm Number and identify the crops produced for sale and intended markets.
Available implements include a drop-spreader for cover crop seeding and small-scale lime applications, a rotary plow for primary tillage, a rototiller for incorporating amendments and heavier secondary tillage, a rotary harrow for shallower secondary tillage, a strip tiller for planting seedlings into cover crop residues, plus both a roller-crimper and a flail mower for terminating mature cover crops. These tools can allow new farmers to prepare moderate areas of ground for market gardening. They can also facilitate existing and experienced farms in the region the opportunity experiment with innovative equipment (cover crop rollers, rotary harrows, strip tillers, etc.) and practices (managing cover crops for soil health, etc.) ahead of any significant investment in new equipment of their own.
Any farmer wishing to access this shared-use BCS tractor equipment must complete two rounds of safety and operation training: a workshop and a 1-on-1 session with Cooperative Extension. The next workshop is scheduled for October 7, 2026, and will be held at Young Fields Farm in the Helton Community of Ashe County.
Registration for and more details about this free workshop is available at the following link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/on-farm-two-wheel-tractor-training-tickets-2001591879192?aff=oddtdtcreator
For more information about the opportunity, email Area Agent Richard Boylan at rj******@**su.edu or call Watauga Cooperative Extension at 828-264-3061.
