The Beginning Farmer

Never give up. Plain and simple one of the biggest lessons that I have learned and it is one that I always desire to pass on to everyone that I meet (especially my children and all the students I work with). Over the course of building the farm (which still is not complete, nor will it ever be) there have been many times when I felt like it might be time to give it up. When we have faced set backs, blocks in the road, or when it just plain felt like it would never happen there have been twinges of doubt that would creep into my mind.

I understand that there may come times when the best result is to step back and reevaluate, but that does not mean giving up. That may just mean that we need to make changes for a time or recognize that our passions aren’t matching up with our farm, but it does not mean we just throw up our hands and throw in the towel.

Farming (as much as I have learned) is a process of ups, downs, and not many “normal” days. There are times when that sort of life can bring a person down or at least make them think that things just aren’t working out. I have tried to learn from of the downs and apply them to our farm! But, know this … I’m not giving up!

This is one of the lessons that I have really begun to appreciate the deeper we get into our farm. The lesson that I have learned is that farming is not a solitary occupation, or at least it should not be a solitary thing. Really I can’t do this on my own and I don’t even think I should be trying to do it on my own. In fact I’m I think the solitary society that we have created recently in our American culture is kind of not the right thing…

The biggest part of my help comes in the form of my wife (and even my kiddos). She helps with the fencing, getting escaped animals back in, daily chores when I’m busy, encouraging me, helping with the farm plans, and so much more. Our extended family has also been a huge help and encouragement as we set out on this journey.

But, the help doesn’t end there. I think one of the greatest things about farming is and should be the community that comes with it. I know that I have received amazing amounts of help from my friends and neighbors and I am beginning to have opportunities to share the love. Right now I’m on the receiving end of so much help and I am very thankful for it.

As we grow on the farm it is my desire to continue the tradition of community that has been a cornerstone of agriculture of centuries. It just works…

I guess this is starting to become a little series, but I think that is a good thing. Not only does it hopefully help others that are beginning or are contemplating beginning a farm, but it also helps me put things into perspective. Sometimes I need a little reminder of the lessons I have learned and what I need to do to apply those things. Today’s lesson is, “knowing when to say when,” and it is one that I continually need to be working on. The people pleasing side and the dreamer side of me don’t like to say no.

It doesn’t matter if you have left your job and thrown yourself completely into the farm or if you are like us and you are combining your town job and your farm job the skill to know when to say enough is a very important thing. When you make the decision to begin a farm it is something that you need to recognize will take a lot of time, effort, passion, and energy. If you are constantly saying yes to things that take away from your main farm goals (whether they are farm related things or otherwise) you are putting yourself in a difficult situation.

Some of you may know that in the spring for the past five years I have coached varsity girl’s soccer at the high school. This is something that I absolutely love! I love the interaction with the players, the parents, and the school staff. I also love the job of coaching and teaching these girl’s about the game (and even life). The problem is a high school varsity sport takes quite a bit of commitment. Five days of practice or games each week for ten weeks, and when there are games I’m usually gone all day (until around 9:30 PM). I need to be able to objectively evaluate things like this and seen where I should be spending my time.

But, learning to say no isn’t just about off farm activities. On the farm there are a LOT of things that I would like to do. There are different livestock options I would like to add, projects I would like to do, and things I would like to take on. For example, as badly as I would like to add some broiler chickens right now (or four weeks ago) I need to stick to my “no” guns and realize that now is just not the time. There are other things that need to take priority.

For a guy like me that loves to dream and look towards the future learning to say no is a difficult thing, but it is a thing that I need to do!

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of patience when you are beginning a farm (or living your life), today I wanted to share another lesson that has become very evident to me. The thing about being a beginning farmer, like myself, is that there are a lot of things I don’t know. I have tried to fill the void in my farming brain by reading as much as possible and seeking out all the information that I can find. But, let me just tell you … there is no replacement for the joy and increase of knowledge that can be found by seeking out other farmers and picking their brains.

Here in Iowa I have the benefit of an organization like The Practical Farmers of Iowa that has helped me connect with and meet other farmers that have similar goals and practices that we desire to have for our farm. I have been able to ask questions, observe their farms, and generally pick up as much knowledge as I can.

But, there is also the huge benefit of living in an agricultural state that has farmers all over the place. At our church there are many farming families (mostly farmers that also have town jobs) and they are a wealth of knowledge. I may not want to duplicate their some farming practices on our place because we have different farming goals with our direct marketing, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t learn TONS from them. Many of these farmers have done the same things we are working on doing now (some have just moved up to “bigger and better things”) and their knowledge is priceless.

So, my lesson learned … seek out and connect with other farmers. Gather that knowledge, ask them questions, and apply what you learn because often times what you can learn is gleaned for years and years of experience!

Now that we have have been living on the farm for over six months, owned the farm for over a year, and started this thing over two years ago I think it is time for me to offer some lessons learned from time to time. Of course there has been a lot that we have learned over the past couple of years, but specifically I want to share some lessons that pertain specifically to beginning the farm and getting everything going from scratch. Today’s lesson … patience is a good thing!

As I was standing out in the sprinkles yesterday moving a fence for the five heifer calves so they could have new grass (and because they were out already) I realized how many of our struggles and problems could have been avoided by a little bit of patience. For example … we bought our first Dexters before we even had a farm, we bought our first pigs before we had their pen completely built, and then we moved the Dexters to the farm before we had any perimeter fence built. On top of that we could really use a shed/barn of some sort to keep everything out of the weather.

In a perfect world where I was perfectly patient I would say that by now it would be best if we only had our chickens and a few pigs. Then as we had our fencing in and a shed up we could start bringing in the cattle. But, it is not a perfect world and I am very far from perfectly patient! I admit that I really just wanted to get this farm going and in doing so I pushed things along a little too quickly.

So, my advice to others wishing to begin a farm: Get the basics in place before you get going. On the surface I thought we would get a jump start on our cattle herd because that is something that takes time to grow, but in reality we would have probably been equal with or even ahead in the game if I had just slowed it down a little bit. Make sure you have the fence in, water figured out, shelter from the storms (if needed), and a plan. We just had some of that (water and a plan with some holes).

That could be the title of the post I read over on Allan Nation’s “Stockman Grassfarmer Blog”. You can check the post out for yourself, but this little bit really says it all:

“The Truthful Labeling Coalition estimates that American consumers annually spend an estimated $2 billion for added salt water in commercial grade chickens, The Wall Street Journal reported. Currently, roughly one-third of fresh chicken sold in the USA is “plumped” with water, salt and sometimes a seaweed extract that helps the meat retain the water.”

The poultry companies claim that they have been forced to go this route (have no reason to doubt them) because the large chains want a uniform product and by adding as much as 400 mgs of salt per 4-ounce serving they can get that uniformity. The rub for some people is that the companies are still allowed to call these “plumped” chickens 100% natural or all natural.

I suppose you could say that salt is a “natural” thing, but finding it in such high amounts in a serving of chicken is pretty unnatural I would think…

On the farm we are continually to the mercy of so many things. It seems we are always dealing with the consequences of the wind, snow, cold, rain, mud, escaped animals, lack of infrastructure, time constraints, daylight, and so much more. This week it has been the rain! In fact since midnight we have received well over 3/4 of an inch and as I type right now it is still raining (although I think we are getting to the end of this round of showers). All of this rain really is a double edged sword though.

On one hand it I know that I should never curse the rain because then I will complain when it is gone, but in our situation it really does hinder our progress. I suppose on a farm that was all set up this much rain would be a hindrance, but it wouldn’t bring all progress to a stand still. This weeks plans included the tilling and seeding of our front yard (a much needed project), but now we just have a lake again in the front yard.

The rain also slows down our perimeter fencing preparations because I haven’t been able to get to a few places to clear out some brush and get ready for the corner posts. On top of all that the rain, and more importantly the mud that it brings, will slow down the progress on our new shed. They have not started yet, but everyday that it pours like this our project gets pushed back a little.

But, I will say this about the rain … as I walked around the fence this morning checking on the cows in my mud boots and rain suit I did enjoy the sound of the rain. I think just about every type of weather or condition is beautiful in it’s own way on the farm and I’m thankful for all of that beauty!

Even though I’m not writing for the Epi-Log I still love to check in and comment when there is something there that really piques my interest. Such a post popped up yesterday from James Oliver Curry. He wrote about a recent New York Times article that outlined a new emphasis by Hunt’s and Lays Chips on the local ingredients they are using in some of their products. This quote from Mr. Curry’s post sums up the idea:

“The New York Times today ran an article about how the folks behind Lay’s potato chips (Frito-Lay is owned by PepsiCo) and Hunt’s canned tomatoes (ConAgra) are placing the spotlight on the local people and communities involved in making their products (carefully worded not to say “locally grown”). Yes, some potato farmers in Florida supply the ingredients for the chips that are made in Florida. But does that count? Local to the manufacturing plant? Local to Floridians? Am I a locavore if I eat a Lay’s potato chip in New York? That’s stretching it.”

This particular post hasn’t drawn a ton of comments just yet, but I would be interested to hear what your thoughts on the subject are. On one hand I can understand the comment that says that it is good that they are at least building the local economy by using things from local farms and employing locals at their plants. But, there is also a strong point with the other side that says calling something like a potato chip local may be a bit of a stretch.

To me the big question is what is the motivation. Are these companies trying to jump on the “localvore” bandwagon just like large corporations jumped on the “organic” bandwagon recently, or are they just trying to highlight the fact that they have American employees?

One of the many wonderful benefits of being a member of the Practical Farmers of Iowa is their quarterly publication. The thing about a member driven organization like PFI is that when it comes time to collect articles for their mailings they can turn directly to the membership and use the practical knowledge of our farmers right here in Iowa. That is the case of an article from the Spring issue that really caught my attention. It is titled, “How to Be a Price Maker v. a Price Taker: Ideas for pricing Meat,” and it is written by Ryan and Kristine Jepsen who run Grass Run Farm.

This one really hit me between the eyes because I feel like we have started out in the price taker position because I came into farming with the fear of not being able to sell our product. Despite all the reading I have done about the importance of recognizing that farmers deserve a decent pay for the work they put in I have been scared by the cheap products we see in the grocery store. Over and over I have been reminded that if we are going to do this successfully we are going to have to make a profit, and in order to make a profit we are going to have to make a decent return on our time and inputs.

The main thrust of this short article is that you need to know your stuff. You need to collect as much information and data as possible and use that to set your prices and be willing to share it transparently with your customers. Collect receipts, track the time you spend, know your carcass yields, find out how much you need to gross per animal, and learn what your customers are looking for.

I think this sums it up well:

“We’ve found it most valuable to communicate these uncertainties to our customers and be transparent about how we make our living. It’s not easy for the end client to understand that under our worn plaid shirts and (dusty) jeans, we’re farmers, salespeople, inventory managers, truck drivers, graphic/website designers, bookkeepers, business analysts, and family members who routinely take work home.”

Good stuff to think about this year!