The Beginning Farmer

Well, the 2008 Farm Bill was finally passed yesterday by the Senate 81-15 and in the House earlier with 318 yes votes. That means that there will be no veto from the President and a bill that was supposed to be done a couple years ago will finally be signed. But, is it a good farm bill? I have been trying to follow as much as I can, especially when there was talk of letting CRP acres out early, and have just a few thoughts after reading THIS ARTICLE from FoxNews.com. I would also be interested in hearing your thoughts on the new Farm Bill.

About two-thirds of the bill would pay for domestic nutrition programs such as food stamps and emergency food aid for the needy. An additional $40 billion is for farm subsidies, while almost $30 billion would go to farmers to idle their land and to other environmental programs.

-There is where the money is going. I guess I don’t have too much to say about that one that wouldn’t possibly get me in trouble so I will just throw it out for informational purposes. Although, I wish they would knock a few bucks off of that $30 billion for environmental programs and let me take my land out … I feel like a properly managed grazing system would be better that just a bunch of scrub brush taking over a pasture.

But drastic cuts to subsidies were not possible, lawmakers said, because of the clout of Southern lawmakers who represent rice and cotton farms that are more expensive to run.

-Gotta keep everyone happy I guess, but the only way that we can get rid of subsidies is to slowly wean people off of them. Maybe next time…

“This bill has reform in it,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “Could we have done more? Perhaps. But if we’d done more we wouldn’t have gotten a bill.”

-I love that quote … “Could we have done more? Perhaps.” Yep, sounds like a lot of thought about what is actually best was put into this bill.

The farm bill also would eliminate some federal payments to individuals with more than $750,000 in annual farm income — or married farmers who make more than $1.5 million.

-Government money for farmers who make $750,000. I realize we are addicted to cheap food and it is the subsidies that keeps stuff cheap, but at what point do we realize that it may be a little absurd?

There is a lot more stuff in the bill of course and you can read about some of it in the article, but these are just a few of the things that really stuck out to me. So, what do you think?

Now that we own the land and are starting to get some work and planning done I thought I should take at least one day a week to update the blog as to what is happening. So, that is what I am doing today. As you can see from the picture above we now have an address. This is a rather small step in the whole process, but for some reason it seems to make the idea that we will eventually be living there seem even more real. Now when people ask where we live we don’t have to spend 5 minutes trying to explain how we live on just North of the 9th turn on the “Crooked Road to Melcher”. Now we can just give them an address, although since there has never been a house there before it won’t show up on any maps … but, it is the idea that counts.

Planning on the building layout is still continuing as we try and figure out the best place to put the pole building house, a hay shed, and our eventual stick built house. Because our land did not perk we have to go with a more expensive sand filtration septic system which meant that we really wanted to make sure we placed it in a location where we could easily tie into the septic line from the future house. I think we have that figured out now, but it did require a little bit of movement to the west of the pole building house. As a side note, one nice thing about the sand filtration system is that you can graze and drive over it. That would not have been true if we could have used the less expensive lateral system.

Also, this week I drove the tractor out to the farm and pulled the hay rake out also. Now instead of sitting under the carport in town it is sitting under a tarp on the farm … much more useful out there. I started to knock over a few of the anthills after I got it out there and plan on pulling the few old fence posts that are still in the fence line later this week. Now, if I could just a get a mower out there it would be much easier to pull out and put in the new fence. Maybe this weekend that will happen.

And finally, when we were out there Monday night we took a family walk through the pasture and along the woods. It was great to see the kids enjoying themselves so much (our son carried a stick so he could poke all the anthills he found) and it was nice to see how everything was greening up. My wife checked on the berries and is hopeful for a good crop this year. Finding plenty of berries on the farm takes away the sting of having to move away from the patch she has pruned and cared for in the ditch next to our house now. Also, we found that there are still plenty of wet spots on the farm (and around the state). Those will be areas that we need to stay away from during the rainy times of the year, but maybe they will hold on longer in the dry spells…

I will try and keep everyone updated on the doings on the farm and continue to through out thoughts from my reading/research. Thanks for all of the great help!

I know that I haven’t finished “Grass-Fed Cattle” yet, but as I left for my soccer game yesterday afternoon I couldn’t find that book (there was a LONG bus ride) so I grabbed “Dirt Hog” by Kelly Klober. I had heard good and not-as-good reviews of this book, but if the rest of it is anything like the first chapter (which basically serves as an introduction of the idea) I think it will be a good read. There was a lot of stuff to think about in this chapter, but a couple of quotes really made me think about life, farming, and of course pigs. Here are just a few of my thoughts…

The first thing that really had me thinking was this quote:

“He stepped out of his pickup to bring them closer and bid me to follow him. I started to decline and give the stand answer, which is that some harmful organisms might be carried in my clothes and/or shoes. His answer to my protests will surprise many; it was to get out there.”

Here is what I thought. That doesn’t surprise me at all, and yet it does surprise me. On one hand it doesn’t surprise me because that seems just about right for a confinement farm based on quick growth and nothing else. It does surprise me because I would have never thought that would ever be a thing to worry about, I mean we are talking about pigs … of which unfortunely, I know too much about being around. They should be able to handle people around them I would think. Mr. Klober often writes in this first chapter that the current confinement system is more about looking good and being easier for the farmer not about what is best for the pigs.

Another big thing that I got out of this chapter was encouragement. This book came out in 2007 and even though the hog market is in the dumps right now I see reason to be encouraged by hog raising, if you do it on the range. If you are rotating your pigs and not spending tons of money on buildings and infrastructure there is still a way for pigs to be the age old “mortgage lifter”.

I think this was a great chapter and hopefully just a sign of things to come from the book. If I were to make a recommendation on the first chapter alone I would say it is a must read. But, we will wait and see what the rest of the book holds.

Yesterday evening I drove the tractor out to the farm and pulled out the hay rake because I was getting tired of people commenting about the fact that I had a tractor in town! No, really I took the stuff out there so I would be able to get to work. But, while we were out there we decided to take a walk across our 26 acres of soon to be pasture ground and again the wheels in my mind started to turn. In the past I have considered mowing, baling, or burning, but none of that has happened for various reasons. First of all I don’t have a bush hog, secondly it probably wouldn’t work to well to mow with our haybine because of the anthills and brush, and finally they haven’t made it to my name on the burn list yet (Have I mentioned it has been very wet).

So, as I was walking through the pasture-to-be yesterday I began to think about a fourth option (one of the comments mentioned this) which is just sticking the herd out there and trying to graze it down. There is quite a bit of green grass coming up between the matted down tall switch grass and if they were given enough area they would have plenty of food. Also, I was thinking/wondering if their hooves tramping around the pasture would break down the old switchgrass?

Of course this would be the most inexpensive way to begin conditioning the pasture and it is beginning to feel like it would also be the fastest. With the late planting season this year it has been difficult to borrow/hire/work with other farmers. They just are so focused on their planting right now it is impossible for them to get the old bush hog out of the shed or do baling in May.

So, what do you think? The downside is that I probably wouldn’t be able to get as much hay off the ground this year as I had thought was possible. I may be able to scrounge up a pull behind mower in the next week or so and then maybe I would just mow it all, but maybe doing some mildly high intensity grazing along with spots of mowing would be the best bet. Also, Dexters do have a reputation for browsing … that would help with some of the brush that has sprung up in a few areas.

I look forward to hearing what others think on this subject. Click on the picture above to see a bigger picture of what the pasture looks like.

In my most recent issue of the The Practical Farmer, published by Practical Farmers of Iowa, there was a very short blurb about acorn fed, organic pigs. Along with the short article there is also a partial transcript of a story about acorn pork that was on Iowa Public Radio in November 2007. The interview includes quotes from Jude Becker (a farmer raising acorn pork) and Kathy and Herb Eckhouse who own La Quercia Artisan Cured Meats, located in Norwalk, Iowa. If you are interested in listening to the radio interview click here.

As a brief aside there was also a nice article by Kelli Miller of Sugar Creek Farm about farm blogging. Good stuff!

Acorn pork is a tradition that comes to Iowa from Italy and Spain (and that region) and according to what I have read produces some of the best hams out there. Others must agree because La Quercia has already taken a bunch of reservations for pork that won’t be ready until 2009! Some of the chefs on the waiting list include the Iron Chef and Lydia Bastianich of public TV. That is some pretty crazy stuff!

But, the real key here is what the farmer is doing. Mr. Becker lives up in Northeast Iowa and has been raising organic hogs for the last 11 years. Right now he is raising and finishing 50 Chester-white and Berkshire-cross pigs now and is feeding them entirely organic feed. In the radio interview he said that the goal is to have 50% of their weight gain to come from the organic acorns (what is a non-organic acorn?). His pigs consume about 4 bushels of acorns a day, but it is also important to point out that organic acorns cost between $50 and $60 per bushel!

A couple of thoughts came to my mind after reading the article. First of all I thought … man, those must be some expensive hams! This is definetly a niche market, but it also shows that there are many niche markets out there and there is probably a niche market available for many farmers if they look for it and help create it. But, the second thing that came to my mind is that although the pigs wouldn’t get 50% of their gain from acorns they would receive a portion of it if they were pastured with access to the woods. For me that is just another reason, among many, to raise hogs outdoors in movable fencing.

Mother’s Day is tomorrow. Yesterday I wrote about an article that I came across detailing how much a mom’s work is worth. Well, today I just want to give a “big thumb’s up” and a “way to go”. This morning she went up to the bank to turn in all of the bids, plans, contracts, and details pertaining to our building. It was a pretty cool thing to me, but it was like the weight of the world lifted off of her shoulders. She had been doing all of the leg work, pencil pushing, phone calling, and research to put together our materials lists and bids. Now it is in the hands of our local lender.

As I have mentioned before this is a busy time of year for me. Of course I have all of my church work that still needs to be done, soccer season is still going strong with three weeks left, and I’ve been still trying to get some work done on the farm and with our cattle. With all of that going on there is no way that I could have gotten everything together for our loan. So, my wife picked up everything and took off.

She has done a ton of work, made a lot of phone calls, learned about stuff she probably didn’t really care about, made more phone calls, researched different options, and then called more contractors to remind them about the bid they were supposed to be sending us. I have tried to help out as much as I could, but she knew all of the details so I usually just did what she asked.

Above is a picture of the plans from the packet that she turned in today. If you want to read all of the fun details make sure you go and check out “The Beginning Farmers Wife.”

Happy Mother’s Day to my lovely wife and to all the mothers out there!!

With Mother’s Day right around the corner (don’t forget) I thought it was fitting to give them their due. Especially after I found this article from FoxNews.com titled, “Study: Stay-at-Home Mom Worth Nearly $117,000 a Year“. What they did was look at the various jobs that moms do at home and took those average salaries into consideration. Some of the jobs that were included were housekeeper, day care teacher, van driver, psychologist, chief executive officer, and more. Those stay-at-home moms do all that and more (Mom’s who work away from home were worth $68,405, plus their other job’s salary).

The article said that a big portion of the theoretical pay comes from the large amount of overtime that moms have to work. Most mom’s, according to the survey, work an average of 94.4 hours each week! But, many times they don’t receive the credit for so much great and hard work.

I also think it is important to point out that the stay-at-home farm mom probably should receive a raise above and beyond the $116,805 suggested in this article. My wife does everything that is mentioned in the article, but adds in tending the garden, canning food, helping with the yard, and doing chores. If it wasn’t for her help, dedication, and encouragement our journey to farming would not ever be an option.

Even though I won’t be able to pay my wife as much as she is worth we do take joy in knowing how much money she is saving us. Because she stays at home we don’t have to pay for child care, fancy work clothes, as much food (because of the garden and food from scratch), gas needed for going to work, and more. It is a choice and sometimes it is a difficult choice to make, but I am so glad that my wife is able to stay at home.

I love my wife so much and I pray that she can see how much our children and I appreciate all that she does for our family. So, enjoy time with your wives and mothers this weekend and let them know how much you love them and appreciate the work they do.

It seems like everywhere I turn these days I see more and more evidence for a roll back to the smaller family farm (not that they have to be as small as mine). This time the story comes from the May issue of “The Stockman Grassfarmer”. The article, titled “Small Feedlots Being Done In By High Priced Feeder Cattle”, gives a glimpse into the state of the feedlot industry in the United States. A couple of things that really “hit” me after reading the short article were that small feedlots these days are for 10,000 to 15,000 head, just 200 feed lots (100,000 head or more capacity) finish most of the nations beef, and that it requires $12 million in capital to fill a 15,000 head feedlot.

Check out this quote from the article:

“Top Producer Magazine recently had an article chronicling the decline of “small” feedlots in the 10,000 to 15,000 head range in the Great Plains. This comes 30 years after those then-large feedyards eliminated the 200 to 1000 head Midwestern farmer feedlots.”

So, following that logic (and I feel safe doing so) the next in line to go out of business is the 100,000 head feedlots that will be replaced by super feedlots that have a 200,000 head capacity. It would promoted as a step towards maintaining the cheap food that Americans love, but think of all the problems that would ensue.

But, above all the $12 million figure is the one that blows my mind. I totally understand why it takes that much, but it makes me wonder. It makes me wonder why more people aren’t doing grass-finishing. It makes me wonder why more people aren’t doing Managed Intensive Grazing. It makes me wonder why more people aren’t High Stock Density Grazing.

In the “King Corn” movie the huge feedlot owner stated that they would grass-finish animals if that is what people wanted, but that it would cost more. I tend to disagree. But, I’m not out there doing it on a super-sized scale. Although I do know that there are people that do it…

That is what we have at the farm after doing some digging for our perk test. Actually we have about 4 inches of topsoil, 6 inches of a mix of topsoil and clay, and then at least a couple feet of clay (they only dug down a bit over three feet). It’s not perfect, but it is pretty common for this area and we probably couldn’t have found anything much different if we tried. I guess all that clay could be a bonus if/when we build a pond, but for right now it is kind of a bummer.

The bummer factor is that our ground didn’t perk, so we have to go with a more expensive septic system. If we would have had some good perking land (which we are now finding out isn’t super common in our area) our septic system could have cost as little as $3,000, but since we have to have to install a system that is quite a bit more involved it could cost as much as $7,500. That isn’t exciting, but you need a septic system.

The other side of the soil coin is that it would be nice to build some more topsoil over time so that we could have more organic matter (OM) on our ground soaking up the water (instead of running off the ground). Last summer we collected coffee grounds from a local coffee shop in town and spread them around our garden. Yesterday when my wife was putting in a few plants she noticed more earthworms than the year before in the areas where she heavily put the grounds. Worms are great components of soil building so we will want to encourage their presence as much as possible.

Hmmm… maybe I can get coffee grounds from all over town and fill a spreader!