The Beginning Farmer

From time to time I receive e-mails from people asking about how they can get into farming or how we are making it financially possible (more on that specifically soon). Well, I had those questions running through my mind when I came across this old article on the New Farm website. It is from all the way back in January of 2007, but it seemed very timely to me because of the e-mails I have received lately. It also made me wish I could find a deal like this.

The title of the article is, “A Good Deed: Young farmer couple and established landowner explore innovative land access with trust, hard work and patience in Old Virginia.” Basically this couple came up with a very creative farm lease in conjunction with a land owner that was already in the business of grassfed beef, but had room to spare. To me it sounds like it was a win/win for everyone involved despite some of the problems that they have faced and surely will face.

Remember, I said the posts would be short this week… This is one of those short ones, but if you have a chance to read the article I would love to hear your thoughts. Also, I would love to hear about any other creative ways that people have gotten into farm that you know of.

Here is a continuation of yesterdays blog post… Later on in the e-mailer wrote this, “So many comments on the blog are geared to how “we” are ruining farming. Where do you think the line is between “lifestyle” and “profession”? What makes one better or worse?” I have to admit that this one is a tough one, but it is also a question that I have thought about quite a bit from time to time. It is also a question that can be very divisive, so I’ll just throw out a couple of thoughts.

There are probably a few comments from me and others on this blog about how the larger farmers are ruining farming and I will stand by that to a point. I do think that a 20,000 acre grain farm can have a negative impact on farming … just as I believe that Wal-Mart can have a negative impact on shopping and consumerism. I honestly believe the bigger is better mentality is ruining our culture.

I see it in all of the teenagers that I work with, whether it is on the soccer field … at church … or in youth group. There is a trend even among the Middle School students that goes something like this, “I need to have this to fit in … I can’t live without a cell phone … I don’t have 15 minutes a day to just sit and be quiet.” And it just goes on and on from there.

I have a feeling the bigger is better in agriculture comes from the same through process that the teenagers I work with have … I got to have it because it just seems like I need to have it or just because I can have it. Just because you can have it doesn’t mean you need it! The same goes for 20,000 acre farms I believe.

But, I think the biggest thing is brought up from the Top Producer columnist himself. Remember what he said: “Phipps said in his spring column in Top Producer that there has been little discussion about the long-term impact of an ever-increasing productivity in an industry with a fixed land base.”

I don’t think it is a question of where you draw the line, I think it is a question of why are we doing this and how is it going to turn out… Again, what are your thoughts?

My posts this week are going to be relatively short because I have a VERY busy week coming up with work and such. But, since I enjoy posting so much and I absolutely love learning from others I at least wanted to put something up each day. That being said … I will probably not have much time to comment back or respond to e-mails this week. I check in when I have a break though!

I am always surprised when people stumble across the blog and begin commenting or e-mailing me. It seems like there have been a few more of those lately and I enjoy the interaction, learning, and the opportunity to share some of my experiences. One such e-mail came last week from someone who stumbled across the blog while searching for “beginning farmer” on Google (thank you Google). I thought he had some very valid points that deserved a lot of discussion and thought … so far I haven’t been able to respond to all of those points, but I wanted to hit a couple this week.

The e-mailer wrote: “Here’s the thing, I found your site because I’m giving very very serious consideration to taking my degree next May and putting up in closet. So “Beginning Farmer” typed into Google brought me to you. After reading through your site for awhile I wondered if you’ve ever thought about the challenges that face the very few that are in line to become what you and “A[llan] Nation” describe as the Titan Farmers.”

Well, my knee-jerk reaction would be, “Challenges … they don’t face challenges! They inherit huge amounts of land and equipment and employees and whatever else. If you want to see a challenge try to figure out how to build a house, buy land, spend time with your family, work a job, and be a beginning farmer!”

But, I don’t really think that is a true response … let alone a proper response! My thought out response would go something like this…

First of all I’m all about putting the degree up on the shelf (I’m a college dropout) … but, do make sure you get the degree (I regret being a college dropout). Secondly, I have to admit that I haven’t thought about the challenges that those that are inheriting/taking over face. I guess that just isn’t what this blog is about, but I’m sure they face some major challenges dealing with management/equipment/land acquesition and more. Also, there is probably some pressure that goes along with keeping the thing going.

But, the biggest thing I would say in response is that the term “Titan Farmer” isn’t my term or even Allan Nation’s. The term comes from “Top Producer Magazine” (a mag for the big farms). And the writer that Mr. Nation quoted in his column said that he was worried about the direction of the titan farms. I would think that if someone on the inside is worried I should be worried.

Those are some of my thoughts. Now, what are some of yours?

Well, this isn’t actually a totally new blog and some of you have probably already checked it out … but, I did want to make a special post about Steven LeGrand’s (and families) new blog and farm website for Franciscan Family Farms. They have been putting up a few posts now for awhile, but I am a little behind on the times.

Steven is actually the one of the only regular commenters on the blog that I have actually had a chance to meet. I delivered a few Dexters to his place when I was on the way done to pick up our bull, Hershey, and was able to spend just a few minutes at his place late one night. It was fun to be able to meet someone in person that I had corresponded with on the blog and I hope I have a chance to meet others sometime.

So, go check out the (fairly) new Franciscan Family Farms website and if you are in his area I encourage you to check out his farm.

Well, if you have been following the blog during our building project you may notice not much as changed in this picture. On Sunday we had a serious storm roll throw with 60 mph winds and lots and lots of rain out at the farm. That tore off about half of the Tyvek from the building, but didn’t really do any other damage. On Monday I was surprised to see the contractor and crew out there putting the Tyvek back up and then they put steel on the front of the house. I’m really liking the looks of the building!

That picture was taken on Monday … well, nothing else has changed since that picture. I suppose this is the way contractors work, bouncing from job to job, but with only about two days left of work I was really beginning to get excited about having the building all closed in. Needless to say the lack of work this week has been a little disappoint, especially considering the dry weather we have had all week long.

Other than that not much has changed at the farm except for the weight of the pigs. We did make their pen twice as big tonight and moved them partially out onto pasture until I get my electric netting. Also, I built a new hut for the pigs so they can have some more shade during this little heat wave we are going to have this weekend (94º).

Hopefully there will be more building updates next week.

Last week I wrote about our need for a farm website (I still need to get back to a few of you, but I had so many helpful e-mails and offers). It todays world, and being a 28-year-old that has had the internet since I was 13, I realize how important it is to have a web presence of some sort. Of course we don’t really need to have an online store or anything fancy, but a website that tells our story and helps people connect with us is a must. As I was talking with my wife’s cousin last night he reminded me how important it is to have a website so that you can put it on your business card. That way after having a conversation with you the people can go home and find out more or be reminded of why the were so impressed with your farm (at least that is what we hope).

So, with websites on the mind I thought it was pretty cool when I came across an article titled, “How to get your farm Web site to the top of the list on Google“, over on the new Sustainable Farmer Online Magazine. Ranking high on Google has got to be good … I mean use Google everyday at work looking for ideas for messages, events, or games … so, a high ranking on Google can be a huge bonus for your farm.

I can’t say it any better than they did (and I have to get to work today) so I’ll just leave you to the links if this is something to interest you. But, I do think it is a good time to point out the importance of having a website for your farm if you are or will be direct marketing. It can’t be the only tool of course, first hand communication will always win, but I see it as another piece of the puzzle.

**One More Thing** I just wanted to add that I’m really impressed with what they are doing over at the Sustainable Farmer website and just want to encourage you (again) to check it out. They have some good articles and information there.

Okay, here is the second part of my thoughts on Monday’s blog post. I think some good discussion has come out of this and it truly makes me thankful for all the help I receive from the readers of this blog. Today’s part includes some of the things that popped into my head after reading through those great and well thought out comments and a couple of closing thoughts.

• “I feel that America in a whole has fallen into the trap that everything must be convenient and everything priced that way. I feel that is what has gotten us here, lets let govt control our foods, subsidize them, and keep everything on a level playing field. I feel that if uneducated consumers, would take the time to go and visit their local farm, maybe even work for a bit with them, that they would quickly see and be more than willing to pay the premium price for their premium foods.” This quote comes from Kramer and I think he is totally right! The things he said about the government and how we got to where we are have been stated on this blog by myself and other commenters ten times over. But, how do we get Joe Blow to come to the farm and educate themselves? I think that may be one of the most serious questions a direct marketing farmer has to answer. It is easy to get the people to the farm that have already figured it out, but how do you get the guy who grew up on a conventional farm (and then left it) in the middle of an Iowa cornfield to come out to your farm and see why they should be willing to pay more? Of course like a total loser I’m not offering up any answers … just posing the question, but I will say that it is a similar question to the one that I seek to answer everyday at my job (youth pastor).
• “…it gets frustrating when you hear that your premium cared for products should be priced closer to factory farmed products.” Again from Kramer (not picking on him … he just had a lot of good stuff to say). I hope that I didn’t come across with that type of viewpoint, because I wholeheartedly agree you should receive what you deserve for your work. Also, I just wanted to throw out how I have been surprisingly encouraged by the responses I have had from within my own community and from readers (and the staff) of Epicurious. Of course it is frustrating, and I’m sure it happens in every line of work (sometimes it feels like I’m paying these contractors too much … but then I realize how much better they are at their job than I would be), but this is where education comes in again. As you can tell education keeps popping up … more on that later.
• “If your customers are drawn to your product because of the combination of quality, uniqueness, and a “decent” price (but not cheap), they will be more likely to pay more and less likely to seek a cheaper alternative (as long as the price doesn’t become outlandish).” I love this summary from Rich because I think he nailed what I would like to say on the head. It has to be a combination of all of those things (and education) in order to remain sustainable in every sense of the word.

Now for a couple of last thoughts…

• If you read Joel Salatin (and a few others) you get the idea that if our agricultural system trended more towards what it was in the past (grass-based and local farms) that we would be better off. Is that true or will we always need large agri-businesses that ship their products all over the country? Is it true that we will need a system that is based on growing in one place and finishing in another and then processing in yet another? Just some questions…
• Also, the word “education” popped up a lot in my ramblings today (and that is really what they are) and in the comments yesterday. How do we go about educating people of the different choices that are out there? And I think more importantly how to handle their money. Because if these articles and blog posts are to be believed and people aren’t buying organic/natural because they are running out of money then the problem is fundamentally that we are bad with money as a nation (yeah, yeah, I know … no news flash there). Being a good steward of your money is something my wife and I are ultra-passionate about because if we weren’t there is no way we would be building a house on 40 acres … just wouldn’t be possible with a youth pastors salary and a stay-at-home mom. It is possible with stewardship. Remember, you always have money for what you want to have money for … now we just need to help people realize they need to spend money on healthy food.

**Just in case you were wondering I chose these pictures of people talking over the fence because I like that image of the conversation on the blog … and in this picture I want to be the guy holding his pipe down from his mouth because I like his hat 🙂

Yesterday’s post birthed some pretty lengthy comments (which is awesome!) from some readers. The comments were so good and and well thought out that I decided to share some more of my thoughts from the article I referenced, the blog post I referenced, the comments from my post, and of course my own post. I think it is great that there is so much discussion on here from time to time because I often type these posts in a matter of minutes and then just move on, but the discussion really forces me to think about many issues. With that in my here are some of my thoughts in a bulleted list:

• “Consumers are going from national brands to private labels and from more expensive produce, and that would include organics, to lower-priced produce.” That is what Brian Todd of The Food Institute has to say about consumer buying habits. I would say that it is a pretty vague comment, but he did also say that the data isn’t in yet. Now, here is one thing I take from that quote … if people are switching from higher priced organic/natural items to lower priced items that were conventionally grown/raised then they were never really buying products because of any great moral conviction (otherwise they would have found a way to continue). Maybe they were just buying those products because it was trendy and they could afford it at the time? I think this proves that maybe there needs to be more and more education for the consumers (just like Kramer mentioned in one of his comments).
• “My sister shopped at an urban farmers’ market the other day, one that supposedly caters to the low-income residents who live nearby. ‘There was nothing there you could buy for $2, even greens or onions,’ she said. ‘The shoppers were almost all upscale people from downtown offices, not locals.'” This quote comes from the original blog post that I cited and of course is just anecdotal evidence, but it does sort of coincide with the point that I was trying to make in my post. That point being that there is a possibility to price ourselves out of the “local” market. Especially if education is not involved the sales/transactions.
• “I believe it is important that farmers are paid an adequate amount for their work and realize that a natural/organic product will involve more labor, but are the prices getting a little too gourmet? I believe one of the benefits of grassfed natural beef is that it shouldn’t cost as much to finish (even though it takes a little longer). But, I’m beginning to wonder if that savings is passed on to the consumers in all cases.” This quote of course comes from my own post yesterday and I just thought I would clarify a few things, because I don’t always communicate things as well as I would like. People can charge whatever they feel that they need to charge … I think that there is some economic principle that says that. But, we have to make sure that we charge a price that fits. There is no way that I believe we need to compete with the supermarket … it wouldn’t work. But, price is a factor no matter how great your product is. As far as the grassfed beef thing goes I think it is true to a point, but it sure is open to debate.

**After rereading what I had written I decided that if anyone was going to make it through the whole thing I need to shorten it up! So, I decided to break it up into two parts … Today’s part contains my thoughts from the article, the blog post, and my blog post. Tomorrows part has some of my thoughts after reading the awesome comments and a couple closing things … Thanks for the great discussion and keep it coming! Oh, and I want to be the guy leaning against the fence in the picture 🙂

I found an interesting blog post from the folks at www.Sustainablefarm.com titled, “Does the recession threaten the localvore movement?” The basis of the blog post is from an MSNBC article which tells about the slowdown in the organic and local foods movement because of the economic slow down. I should point out that they use the word recession, but since I don’t participate in recessions (farms have recessions too … I think they call them floods or droughts) I don’t want to use that word. I do understand that things are getting difficult financially, but that just means we have to tighten our belts and be smart … it doesn’t mean we need to continually talk about how bad things are and feel sorry for ourselves. People who work hard, save, scrounge, and basically survive will always make it through!

But, the post did make me think and evaluate the entire local foods movement (there is that word again). The article said that the people who are still buy fresh organic foods at stores or markets are not always the locals per se, but rather the more wealthy who come out to get the food. Now it isn’t a bad thing that the organic/local food market can cater to the upper class, but does it have to be like this.

I believe it is important that farmers are paid an adequate amount for their work and realize that a natural/organic product will involve more labor, but are the prices getting a little too gourmet? I believe one of the benefits of grassfed natural beef is that it shouldn’t cost as much to finish (even though it takes a little longer). But, I’m beginning to wonder if that savings is passed on to the consumers in all cases.

On the flip side I know that if you are selling organic hogs there will have to be a higher price because they will have to be feed more expensive organic grain. I think our sustainable farmers need to reach a good middle ground. A fair compensation for their work, but also a price that their local consumers can afford. If we can’t do that then I’m not sure if we are truly sustainable farmers…