The Oneida County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee elected Nancy Asay as the Oneida County Farm Woman of the Year for 2014. Nancy will also serve as the District 1 Farm Wife of the Year for 2014. She will be honored on July 4 by appearing in the Sesquicentennial parade.
Nancy and her husband Bill have been active in Farm Bureau for 39 years, serving on the county board in many positions and on the woman’s board. Nancy is currently the Woman’s Board President. She has served on the State Health and Safety Committee twice. Nancy says that she learns a lot at the district, state and national workshops, all of which she can use on the women’s board and with her job at the Nell J. Redfield Memorial Hospital. She currently serves as the Director of Nursing for the county hospital.
For the past two years Nancy has been digging up 530 acres of 30-year old CRP acreage to prepare it for the new SAFE program (State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement). If you have seen a plumage of dust at the top of Pleasantview, it was probably her digging up the thick CRP grass and weeds. “It certainly was a dusty, dry job,” she said. The acres were worked over four times in the two-year period. Last fall it was finally approved to be planted.
The price of the seed was a shock, coming in at $22,000! The fuel, repairs, fencing, new equipment and weed spraying were all big expenses as well. Last fall, Nancy finally had enough and hired help for the drilling which had to be done in the months of November and December, and further mowing may be required before the project is finished. The seed planted is a mixture of several grasses that will come up with broader leaves so the dew will hold better and give the birds some dew to drink.
Nancy states that one thing she has learned through this whole process is to not force old equipment to do a job that involves very hard rocky ground, but that it is better to invest in something more modern. The first year she used rolling harrows that were very old and resulted in many breakdowns. Her two sons helped with repairs and it took some time to obtain the parts needed. The second year she purchased a set of discs, and it went much better. However, Nancy credits this to the fact that at the beginning of the second year, she had her son and all of her sisters and their spouses attend the Bountiful Temple as a family.
Nancy found the program to be very interesting. She made multiple trips to the Farm Service Agency office for advice and then had to choose what to do with the farm, as it was not very high in points to stay in the CRP program. The farm, located at the top of Pleasantview, belonged to her father, Max King, and it is known as Max King Family Farms, Inc. Nancy and her three sisters make up the corporation. Nancy is very thankful for her farming and pioneer heritage. The farm also has acreage in Buist from the Willie side of her family. The Pleasantview farm was originally purchased from her grandfather, Tom Thorpe. Her grandmother, Lucy Walker Thorpe, was a great-granddaughter of Hyrum Smith.
Nancy has enjoyed being out in the fields again, as she has really missed cultivating the land. Her father had six daughters and no sons, and so all of the girls learned to work right alongside their dad. Nancy spent many years farming with her father, digging up stubble and hauling wheat to the grain bins. The fence she helped her dad build when she was a senior in high school 41 years ago is still in good shape.
As a farm wife, one day Nancy will never forget is when she received a call at her work at the hospital telling her that the weed spraying rig and their big semi truck was stuck in the field. Nancy got the old Versatile tractor and went to their rescue. It took a lot of braking and clutching to get them out of the deep soft dirt on that hill. By the time she got both outfits out she had no tread left on her shoes!
Nancy and Bill grow a large garden and have invested in drip systems, which help to keep down the weeds. They also raise turkeys and have chickens for eggs. They do miss the dairy cows that they used to have. By the way, Nancy can do a great turkey gobble!
Taking after her mother who was also a nurse for many years for the Oneida County Hospital, Nancy has worked as a registered nurse for 39 years. She loves her job and states that she has a great staff to work with. Besides her nursing career and farm work, Nancy enjoys knitting, sewing, cooking and especially being part of Farm Bureau, where she says that the best friendships she has are with the people in farming.
Nancy has two very helpful sons, Buddy and Quincy, who both live in Oneida County. Nancy enjoys her daughter-in-law, Lillian, and especially enjoys her two grandchildren, Cora and Marshall. She has a very special stepmother, Dorothy King, who lives in Malad. Nancy’s daughter, Chanda, and her husband, Paul, live in Fairbanks Alaska where he is employed by TSA. Chanda is the assistant manager for Pier 1, a brand new store for Fairbanks.