MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Middletown Tractor Sales has awarded the use of a John Deere tractor to Chico Ramirez and Mary Oldham, the owners of Mountain Harvest Farm in the Morgantown area, who won the 2023 West Virginia Conservation Farm of the Year award. 

For many years, Middletown Tractor Sales (MTS) of Fairmont has partnered with the West Virginia Conservation Farm of the Year program to give the winners of the annual competition use of an MTS tractor.  

The couple will receive 200 hours, or three months, use of the John Deere tractor, with an option to later purchase it at a discounted rate, said Brandon Thomas of Middletown Tractor Sales.

Last year, Ramirez and Oldham also earned $1,000 for their statewide Farm of the Year win.

Thomas joined with Ramirez and Monongahela Conservation District Supervisor Mark Myers last week for photos with the tractor at Mountain Harvest Farm, which is within the conservation district, and the county that Myers represents.  

Some of the conservation best management practices at the farm are cover crops, contour farming, pollinator planting, no-till farming, crop rotation, buffer strips, nutrient management practices and more.

Ramirez and Oldham grow tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, broccoli, carrots, greens, herbs, corn, cut flowers and other produce on the farm. In addition to produce grown in open fields, they also use two high tunnels and four low tunnels to extend their growing season.

Mountain Harvest Farm follows organic growing standards and is Certified Naturally Grown (CNG), which is a grassroots alternative to USDA Certified Organic that Oldham has said is more appropriate for small-scale local growers who have relationships with local customers.

The couple provides produce to the Morgantown area through local farmers markets.

The mission of the West Virginia Conservation Agency is to provide for and promote the protection and conservation of West Virginia’s soil, land, water and related resources for the health, safety and general welfare of the state’s citizens.