Abstract:
State farmers are developing new products from longtime crops to attract customers and increase their income. For example, Covington Spirits, based in Snow Hill, makes vodka purchased from locally grown sweet potatoes, mostly from nearby Ham Produce Company, which supplies them to the distiller in a pureed process Hams helped to develop. A number of farmers are cutting out the middle man and packaging their own harvest for the marketplace, thereby putting more money into their own pockets.