“I never thought of doing
such a thing,” Charles said.
“If I had thought of it, I
would have done it years
ago. It really works.”
Charles and Rachel Stalnaker have been
married for nearly 61 years, and for 55 of those
years they’ve been farming together in Calvin,
West Virginia. Both grew up on farms, but when
they were first married, they did not have an
adequate amount of land to grow and produce.
The Stalnakers felt that something was missing
from their lives, and as soon as land became
available to purchase their own farm, they
jumped on it.
Although the Stalnakers have had many
decades of farming experience and learning
opportunities, the couple took a suggestion
from Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS) that has made their workload on the
farm significantly less taxing.
The Stalnakers raise hay and 21 head of
cattle on around 92 acres of land, most of which
is fenced. For years Charles struggled to keep
his fences in working condition because deer
would run through and break them down. “The
deer were tearing down in one night what I built
in a week,” he said.
One day an NRCS agent made a visit to the
Stalnaker’s farm, and while there, he asked if
they would be interested in trying something
new with their fence. The agent told the
Stalnakers about reflectors that could be used
along their electric fence to make the thin wires
that stretched around their fields more visible
to deer and other wildlife that passed through.
These reflectors could be attached by zip ties,
and would not only keep animals from crashing
through the fences, but would also protect the
wildlife.
Charles and Rachel agreed to try the
reflectors, technically known as Wildlife Friendly
Fencing, and enrolled in the Conservation
Stewardship Program (CSP) through NRCS.
The Stalnakers agreed to a five year contract,
which provides them with the benefits of NRCS
technical and financial assistance as they use
the reflectors on their fences. “I never thought
of doing such a thing,” Charles said. “If I had
thought of it, I would have done it years ago. It
really works.”
Charles was able to prepare and set up the
reflectors in his spare time which was typically in
evenings after he had finished his other chores.
He has lined an estimated 80-90% of his fence
to date, but noted one could probably get away
with only lining around 60% by spacing the
reflectors farther apart. The simple set up did not
take long, and only improved his daily routine.
“The reflectors