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Article: Worms not just for the birds.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- February 22, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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DUCKERS, Ky. _ In a greenhouse where burley tobacco seedlings once sprouted, James "Mickey" Reed prepares to harvest a very different crop: millions of red, wriggling, twisting, turning worms.
Woodford County is better known for production of the Kentucky triumvirate: horses, tobacco and bourbon whiskey. Equine and burley income together funnel $283 million to Woodford, second only to Fayette in cash agricultural receipts.
But reductions in tobacco quotas have farmers looking for alternatives, and among them was Reed, 71, who one day read about vermiculture (worm farming) in a magazine.
"I had to try it," Reed said.
Now a greenhouse ...