The Beginning Farmer

Okay, I realize that I spent two days already discussing this, but I have to admit that it is what has been consuming much of my farm thought lately. Each day as I’m out doing chores and uncovering things under tarps all over the farm I am reminded of how nice it would be to have a place of storage for some small square bales, pig feed, the tractor, tools, and so much more. In fact I’m also reminded of how nice it would be when I’m in the house also because right before we started building we decided to add a room and that room ate into the storage area.

So, earlier I mentioned what the buildings were that I was considering (check the link to refresh yourself) and then after that I talked about location (again, take the link). I think that I have settled on spot number three for our location because it is good proximity to the house, the garden, the water hydrant/line, and the electrical box. Also, it is a relatively flat area with a nice flat area behind it that would be a good place to have the cattle when the rest of the farm is fairly wet.

What I can’t figure out is what kind of building to build and how big to make it. The building above is what the “carport” style barn would look like and it does have its pluses. First of all I could get a 34x26x12 building for just over $6,000 and it would be installed fairly quickly. Also, this building would have three bays with all of them being 12 feet wide. That would be nice for running equipment in, and I could then live the middle bay for hay which I could stack up to the highest point of the building. I guess the down side is that it is basically a carport…

On the other had for that same amount of money I could only build a pole building with steel siding about half that size. That would mean that I would also out grow it more quickly. On the plus side I feel like it could be a bit more sturdy and it may be better if I wanted to do some additions on my own.

Lastly, I have heard the idea of a hoop building thrown around. I don’t really know much about these or their costs and would love to hear some thoughts. If you have any more opinions I would love to hear them … if not, well now you know what is going through the mind of a beginning farmer!

I have heard and read that the updates to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) was one of the highlights to the 2008 Farm Bill. I must admit that I didn’t know much about the CSP until I started hearing/reading that so I looked it up and tried to figure out what it is all about. Like most governmental programs it was a little difficult to figure out, but I did just come across the “Conservation Stewardship Program Fact Sheet #9“. You can check out the .PDF file for yourself by clicking on the link.

So, here are some of the “facts”:

• The CSP used to be called the Conservation Security Program … the name change is probably to make us feel good (I am just kidding).
• It is a program for farmers that are using or interested in using conservation practices on land that they are currently farming for row crops or pasture … unlike the Conservation Reserve Program.
• It seems the new and improved version of the CSP is open to all farmers, not just those in certain watersheds as with the previous version. I would think this is a good thing for farmers out there that are actively farming and working on conservation at the same time.
• Whether or not you receive a CSP contract (5 year contracts) will depend on how many acres are enrolled and what conservation practices the farm is using and whether or not they are willing to do more. I’m still not totally clear on what kind of conservation practices they are talking about, but I’m sure that is because I just don’t know enough about the program (old or new).
• The amount of the CSP payment will take into account three factors. 1) What are the environmental benefits. 2) What costs does the farmer have because of the measures. 3) Will there be some income lost by the farmer.
• You will be happy to know that the payments have been capped at $40,000 per year (per farm) instead of the “virtually unlimited payments” of other programs. (I’m being a little tongue-in-check here, but they did say those “virtually unlimited payments” can go to millionaires and corporations)

So, there you have it. Facts from the fact sheet … with a few comments along the way. Like I said, I don’t know too much about this program other than the fact that some people felt like it was one of the best parts of the Farm Bill for conservation minded farmers. I would love to hear from someone that knows more about it, or anyone else interested in agriculture policy!

Well, yesterday was what it was and the results are what they are. That is about all the comment you will get from me on the election. But, I don’t really believe the voting is done … in fact I honestly believe that the campaigning needs to continue and that the people need to vote and keep voting. I’m talking about voting with their forks, stomachs, and food purchases! Those are the votes that will matter to the small scale farmers out there. Those are the votes that will matter to the people that want to see America’s agricultural systems change. Those are the votes that really matter because they are more than a popularity contest.

Out in California it looks like their Proposition 2 will pass which will put some more regulations on the confinement industry. On the surface that may seem like a victory for grass-based or free-range producers, but I have a feeling that it is going to take more than a ban on confinement agriculture to really change the face of farming in the United States. What it is going to take is for consumers to start dictating what they want with their purchases.

Here is what I think this means… If you are a producer/farmer who believes in the ideas of grass-based agriculture and the fact that it can feed our country you need to get out there and campaign. Not for legislation to help you (although it may be a good idea to campaign for less regulation in some sectors), but rather campaign to the consumers … the people who buy food for themselves and their families. Let them know what is so great about a farming system that is different from the current conventional norm and then let their stomachs and their forks do the voting.

And, if you are a consumer … well then get informed, make your decision, and cast your ballot (so to speak). Don’t just make the assumption that a cheap food culture is the best way, or that government regulation will give you the safest and healthiest food available. See what is out there. Talk with your local farmers. Then start eating!

I have often wondered what it would look like if a number of farmers in Iowa just began converting their row crop operations back into grass for pasture. It would be quite the site and I’m sure there would be many other farmers who would look at it like the farmers looked at Ray Kinsella when he made a baseball field in the middle of his corn field (yep, that is a “Field of Dreams” reference). But, what if it really did happen? What if some of those flat and fertile acres in central Iowa were taken back to pasture and managed with rotational or mob grazing? I bet they could support quite a few head per acre!

This is exactly what one farm family in South Dakota has done. I read the article quite awhile ago in the October issue of “The Stockman Grassfarmer”, but hadn’t had a chance to write about it yet. The farm family in question had been raising conventional row crops and feedlot cattle on family land when the decided that the wanted to make the switch. So, the moved from away from their crops and machinery and planted wheatgrass, big bluestem, switchgrass, and other grasses … oh, and now they only have one tractor that they try not to use very often.

Along with their switch to grass they also made a chance in the cattle genetics and moved their herd to smaller framed bovines of the Irish Black and Hereford breeds. They feel, just as many others feel, that genetics and frame size has a big impact on how well a beeve will finish on grass and they have been very pleased with their results (at least that is what the article indicated).

One other thing that was mentioned in the article was their use of windrow grazing. This is a technique that I have read about previously, but must admit that I don’t know much about it. What they are doing is using three of what had been their hayfields and rotating through those. Each year they will use two to make hay for their calves after weaning and then use the third for windrow grazing (sort of like strip grazing). Each year the windrow graze a different field in the winter in order to spread around the fertilizer.

I’m not exactly sure this windrow grazing idea would work on a farm our size, but it is an interesting concept and something I would love to learn more about. Plus, the article encouraged me … maybe in 20 or so years when our place is mostly paid off the row crop field across the road will come up for sale. Then I could see what the transition looks like first hand!

With fall here (although it is going to reach the upper 70’s today) and winter right around the corner there are a number of small-scale farming conferences across the country. These conferences are a great place to get ideas, learn about different techniques, discuss what works with other farmers, and just plan learn how to do stuff. In fact you can find sessions at these conferences on everything from processing to marketing to transitioning you operation to a new direction. Below are a few conferences that I know about, but I would love to hear any that you know of or what you think of these if you have ever attended them.

• 2008 Small Farm Today Trade Show and Conference (Nov. 6-8): This one is right around the corner, so I suppose if you haven’t made plans to attend already it might be a bit late. I’m not able to go this year, but this seems like it would be a great place to learn because of all the great speakers and sessions they have every year. If the calendar works out next year it will be high on my list.
• 2008 Acres USA Conference and Trade Show (Dec. 4-6): Acres USA is a pretty popular publication (I’ve just read samples and online articles) and their conference is fairly popular as well. Their list of presenters is pretty cool, including a session led by Joel Salatin. They even have a pre-conference intensive class that you can take if you would like.
• 2009 Practical Farmers of Iowa Conference (Jan. 9-10): This is one that I’ll actually be attending. In fact I will even have the chance to do a short presentation there about blogging! But, my little bit is hardly the reason to go. This year the theme is “The Biological Harvest: The Sustainable Farmer’s Hidden Opportunity”. In fact they are even having the “King Corn” guys back!
• 11th Annual Midwest Value Added Agriculture Conference (Jan. 22-23): I had actually not heard of this conference until I started looking through the Practical Farmers of Iowa events calendar. It does look like a pretty neat conference though with wide variety of speakers.

If you know of any other good ones let us know…

So, this weekend I’m spending my time with 400+ high school students in Des Moines. Last night I had about 2 hours of sleep beginning at 4:30 AM. Today I’m going to spend my time cheering on kids as they compete in various things… So, this is all I have time to write today. I would love to hear your thoughts on our possible building though … check out the Thursday and Friday posts to see what I’m talking about.

Enjoy your weekend!

Yesterday I asked for some advice and thoughts on building types. We are looking at the possibility of putting up a shed this fall and I’m having a tough time wading through the available options. So, I thought that today I would confuse the matter all the more and discuss farm layout … in particular our farm layout and our thoughts behind what we are doing. With that in mind I put together this wonderful (just kidding) layout with the powerful tools included in Microsoft Word. First let me give you a quick run down of everything and then I share some of my thoughts.

Most things in the picture are pretty self-explanatory, but here are some specifics. The house faces the south and has a large sliding door that opens to a small storage area on the west side (there is actually a mudroom on the east side I forgot). The garden is positioned so that it can have some good morning sun and still be close to the house (the window above the sink looks out over it.) Just to the south of the “proposed fence” the land starts to slope away to the south and the carries on to the “future house?” location (we would have a walkout basement). The electric transformer is an immovable object, but there is enough room to drive around it. With the proposed spots the buildings would be open to the south.

Spot #1: This location is relatively flat and probably would require any grading before building. The upsides would be that it is close to our “future house” and that it would be a bit further from the road. The downsides are that it is a long ways from water at the moment and it would be difficult and expensive to build a drive to it at the moment. Ideally if we built there we would put a drive behind the house to get to it because we would like to leave the front of the house open for a yard. Going behind the house would me quite a bit of gravel and if we ever did build the “future house” would basically become obsolete because we would then just continue our current drive to the “future house”.

Spot #2: This location has a bit of a slop to the north and slightly east. It isn’t really steep at this point, but it would require some grading … especially if we went with a carport or carport barn style structure. The slope along with the fact that it would be quite a distance from the “future house” are probably the biggest downsides to this location. The upsides would be that it wouldn’t take very much rock to have a drive to it making it easier to get things in and out in mucky conditions and it is close to the water.

Spot #3: This one is kind of a compromise between the two (and it is literally between the two). While it is a bit further from water that #2 it is closer than #1. Plus, it is about as close as you can get to our electrical stuff (any idea of which would be less expensive to run, water line or power line underground?). The land here is relatively flat and wouldn’t require much grading, but it might need a slight amount of leveling on the east side. The good things would be that it compacts our farm the most so we have a close walk to everything, it would take just a short drive extension, and if we did go with the “future house” it would be relatively close considering the fact we would turn our current house into some sort of storage/store/whatever.

There are a few factors that we realistically have to think about, but one big factor. The biggest thing is that “future house”. That is something that would be way … way … way down the road. I’m talking 20 years or more most likely so at that point we might have had the time to build other buildings in different places for different reasons.

Finally, here are some of my thoughts on farm layout. I would love to hear your thoughts and comments and of course your opinion on which spot you like for a building.

• There is something to be said about having your out buildings close to the house. The closer they are to the house the less you have to travel to do chores. Also, the proximity to an existing water hydrant is a good thing.
• Arranging buildings with weather in mind is always import, especially on the top of the hill. We are looking at open front buildings (all three of our options) and it just makes sense to have them open to the south if you are going to have an opening.
• We have 26 acres of pasture ground on our farm. The more we spread our buildings out, the less land we have for livestock. I want to be very intentional about our layout so that we don’t waste land. Whichever location we choose for this building we will be utilizing the other area for grazing … not for yard!

For a little while now we have been debating shelters. Of course there is still plenty of work to do with our own house, but we are also beginning to think about some sort of barn or shed. With that in mind I have been doing a bit of research about what is out there and what prices may be. Basically we have come up with three options (building our own from materials on the farm is a fourth option, but not feasible this year). Option number one is to have another post frame building built. Option two is to have a three-bay barn built that is made from the same materials that you see the steel carports made from. And, option three is to just build a carport.

I think it is fairly obvious that the post-frame building would be the most substantial. But, that also means that it would be the most expensive. If we were to go this route we wouldn’t be able to get as many square feet under roof for the amount of money we are able to spend this year, but it might be better for us in the long run. Our design for a post frame building would just be a plain three-sided shed open to the south. We could use it for hay, equipment, and to run animals in if there is one that needs some attention.

The second option is a three-bay carport barn. This is basically a free-standing building anchored to the ground with mobile home anchors that twist in. These buildings are built from 16 gauge steel for the frame and 29 gauge steel for the siding and roof (this is the same as our house). The building we are looking at would have a 14 foot wide bay in the middle flanked by 10 foot bays on either side. Also, the wall height in the middle bay would be 12 foot high. For about 6,000 dollars we could get 1,000 feet or so under roof.

Finally, we could go basic and just have a carport put up (something like 18×21). Of course this wouldn’t be able to hold very much, but it would go up quickly (the same as the barn) and not cost quite as much. If we went this route then we would probably need to build something next summer. Of course we could always use this somewhere else because it would be portable I think.

So, what do you think? Go with option one that will give us a smaller building, but it will probably be pretty sound. Do option number two that will give us room to grow into and take away the need to build right away next year (I’m not sure about the durability of this … it could be great). Or, just do the third option and go with the carport. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Yesterday I mentioned an article from the New Farm website and threw out a few quotes that I found interesting after one quick read (I didn’t have much time for a post yesterday … so I just threw that up). If you didn’t have a chance to read the article I would encourage you to do so by clicking on the link above. But, I also said that I would take some time to day to share a few thoughts that I had after the article.

The folks at New Farm asked one of their interns (who worked in the communications department) what it might be like if she and another English major (like herself) were asked to start an organic farm. It seems that they told her that she would start with $10,000, internet access, five acres, and the friend. What followed was her thoughts on whether or not they could make it … in a nut shell she felt that it would be tough to do and probably take several years of failure to make a profit (something Rich addressed in the comments yesterday).

The author said,

“I can see that farming is a huge undertaking, and I simply don’t possess the skills or knowledge to pull it off. Interested as I may be in the concept of organic farming and feeding people, the scope of work that would be required by such a mammoth task would be too daunting.”

I have often said (I have heard it lots of places) that you have time for what you want to have time for and money for what you want to have money for. For example people who complain about never having enough time find the time to watch plenty of TV, or people that worry about their lack of money somehow can find a way to have a few cell phones, internet, satellite TV, and much more. To an extent if you want it you will find a way to have it.

Now, I’m not saying that is true with everything because I’ll never be a starting shortstop for the New York Yankees (something I would like), but it is often the case. When it comes to farming I think it is something that is obtainable. Of course you have to have certain abilities and there will always be people that are just GREAT farmers, but if you have the passionate desire to pursue a life in farming I think it can be done … no matter how daunting or mammoth the task may be.

I do believe that the author was right on when she talked about how she would go about things if this was something she was going to do. She mentioned that she would read as much as possible, try to learn from others doing what she wants to do, find classes and other educational resources to help, and learn from the mistakes. That is a lot of what we are doing as we continue our journey into the life of beginning farmers/home builders/everything else.

One last thing… Up in the introduction to the article the editor’s note says,

“Her things-to-learn list and honest assessment shows the wisdom of a prudent person recognizing that this is one undertaking where experience and confidence are the foundation for being able to use even the best information and financial incentive.”

I think that is a very true statement … as long as we understand that experience and confidence can be cultivated. I have life experiences that lead me to believe that I can tackle tough problems and think on my feet. Those may not be farming experiences, but they can help me as I grow into farming. Also, I have confidence that I can learn and can succeed if I am willing to sacrifice, work hard, and be humble.

I agree that becoming a beginning farmer is a very tough “row to hoe”, but I don’t think that means it is impossible. At least I hope it isn’t impossible…