The prominent role that agriculture plays in the local economy is reflected on the cover of the new Moore County Telephone Directory, which features Alex Martone and David Letteney smiling in a peach orchard.

“I’m excited about the cover because it shows farming for the first time,” said Kit McKinley, the directory’s general manager. “It’s young. It’s bright. It’s not your standard phone book cover.”

McKinley said the cover was shot earlier this year on Ken Chappell’s farm near Jackson Springs.

Agriculture is Moore County’s largest industry, and the directory has become the most prominent phone book in the county since it was first published by The Pilot more than a decade ago.

“The phone book has become an important part of our business, both financially and strategically,” said David Woronoff, publisher of The Pilot.

With features like large print, extensive community information, coupons, a detachable dining guide and its popular companion, the Mini Book, the Moore County Telephone Directory remains the “book of choice.”

“We’re excited by the enthusiasm with which the community has embraced our telephone directory,” Woronoff said.

The 2011-2012 directory was delivered last month to every residence and business in Moore County.

“We printed 58,000 copies of the main directory and 5,000 copies of the Mini,” McKinley said. “We also printed 6,000 additional copies of the dining guide for use in tourism and economic development.”

McKinley noted that the directory has a new logo this year, and the dining guide was printed on high-gloss paper and includes retail advertising for the first time.

“We’ve tried to step-up the appearance,” she said. “We added retail ads for businesses in Aberdeen, Pinehurst and Southern Pines because we thought retailers would benefit from being seen in the dining guide. That has proven to be the case.”

Copies of the directory are available at The Pilot, Moore County Chamber of Commerce, Seven Lakes Hardware, the Robbins office of Thigpen & Jenkins law firm, and the law firms of Arthur Blue and Rowland & Yauger in Carthage.

The main directory is free, while the Mini is $5. But the Mini is free if one presents a coupon from the main directory.

Woronoff said the directory and its local search engine, MooCo.com, complement the newspaper and PineStraw magazine, which is also published by The Pilot.

“We view ourselves as the source for all local information, whether it’s a telephone number or a story about the recent Town Council meeting,” Woronoff said. “And we want to be able to give that information to you both online and in print.”

The 10th annual recycling contest, which saw public ands private schools in Moore County collect 15,380 pounds of directories that were recycled at Wagram Paper Co, was conducted from Oct.24-Nov.7. It was sponsored by the Moore County Telephone Directory, Keep Moore County Beautiful and The Pilot.

Aberdeen Primary won the public schools division, with West Pine Middle finishing second and West Pine Elementary third. The top collecting student was Brad Dawson, of West Pine Middle. The private division was led by The O’Neal lower school, with Meredith Whitley, of the lower school leading all collectors.

Books collected at the participating schools were taken by the Moore County school system’s maintenance department to a large Dumpster behind the adminstration offices, where they were unloaded by the inmate work crew. The Dumpster was taken by Waste Management to Wagram Paper Co.

Contact Ted M. Natt Jr. at tnatt@thepilot.com.