Largely rural Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey counties experienced widespread damage to infrastructure, people, homes, roads, bridges, and the land itself. As relief transitioned to recovery, several organizations banded together to invest in equipment and efforts to support farmers and landowners and to mitigate fire risk.
“In collaboration with Beacon Network and Blue Ridge Resource Conservation & Development, Yancey County Cooperative Extension purchased a T50 Agri-spray Drone with a seed spreader system to help pastures, fields, landslides, and riverbanks stabilize and recover. Grant funds also purchased $60,000 worth of seed.
This drone is used weekly and has assisted 92 farmers, homesteaders, and landowners with planting 453 acres of annual forage, 712 acres of permanent forage, 28 acres of cover crop, and roughly 18 acres of native grasses, which were planted in efforts to restore streambanks and repair areas damaged by landslides.” – David Davis, Yancey County Extension Director.