The Beginning Farmer

Finally, this past Sunday night I was able to stay up past my bedtime and watch King Corn on IPTV (local PBS station). This has been a long time coming considering I first blogged about the movie on October 30, 2007 … I mentioned it briefly again on December 13, 2007 … and I even wrote about it one more time on December 18, 2007. But, despite the opportunities and my HUGE desire to see the film my schedule was never able to connect with the screenings in Iowa. But, after much waiting I was finally able to see what I had been writing about when it aired on Independent Lens. I thought I would give a few of my initial thoughts and then maybe write a little more as I process everything.

1.) I think the first thing that I thought after watching the entire movie is that it was fairly well balanced. Of course I believe they had somewhat of an outline of where they wanted to go with everything, but it did really seem evident that as they learned and grew in the project and in farming knowledge they came to some conclusions that they didn’t see coming. This really comes out if you read the “Making Of” section on the Independent Lens website. I think it gives a good glimpse into a portion of their experience.

2.) For me the whole corn in the food system and going through the cattle thing was prominent, but I believe one thing that really popped out as I watched the film was that it was also a film about the loss of the family farm in Iowa. There is a great scene when the are riding and talking with the “big farmer” that does the work on their acre. Almost quietly he mentions something about not wanting to be big, but that was just part of the game. The big cattle guy said the same thing also. As a small family farmer this is something that really hits home with me and I appreciated this angle of the film.

3.) When they were in the office of the “family” rancher (that grows 7,000 acres of corn) the rancher commented that if grassfed was what people wanted than that is what they would give people, but it would be more expensive. This kind of caught me off guard because the inexpensiveness of grass finishing is one of the many reasons that we have adopted this model. Plus corn is almost three times as expensive now as it was in 2005 when the film was made.

4.) As an Iowan I think their treatment of the Iowans and the farmers was great. They didn’t make us out to be country bumpkins or backwards prairie people. One farmer in particular said it best when he expressed his feelings about corn. “We’re growing crap,” he said and then went on to talk about his indifference towards what his corn is used for. He is just selling it … that is his take.

5.) This film convicted me! As I sat watching the movie I was treating myself to a gourmet root beer (that is a weakness of mine) and eating a small bowl of ice cream. Both of those things have corn syrup in the top three. I was seriously convicted and haven’t had a pop since then. But, know one thing … I’m never cutting back on my favorite foods, corn on the cob and corn casserole!

If you can’t tell yet, I am very impressed with the movie. I think it gave a fairly balanced representation of the corn farming culture in Iowa and I like the fact that it didn’t jump into the ethanol mess. My feeling is that trying to tackle the ethanol side of things would have muddied up the movie to much because there is so much to explore there. That being said, I did read somewhere that they are also looking into the idea of making a film on some of the other issues like use of fuels and possibly even ethanol.

These guys did a good job and I am pretty impressed with the results. I also wish I could take back my comment from the first time I wrote about the move. Back in October I said, “Okay, this may be bordering on propaganda…” Now if they really want a hit I think they should make a documentary about a beginning farmer starting with nothing in the land of King Corn! I’m serious about this. In one sense I think the movie ends up asking more questions (which is great) than it answers and a look at people farming differently would provide some of those answers. If film was something I was good at I think I would jump at something like that, but of course I may have a little beginning farmer bias!

Since we have decided to build up on top of the hill (easier to grade, easier to layout, nice view of the farm, easy driveway, just plain better) we need to begin thinking about the types of trees we want to plant around the house and yard. There are a ton of positives from building up on the hill, the downside is that we have no shade and no windbreak for the winter. So, we are thinking about trees… Specifically we are thinking about planting trees in a couple of stages. Some fast growing trees to establish something, and then some slower growers that will be the trees of the future.

When it comes to windbreaks there are a few hybrids that always get mentioned, and those are the ones I’m looking at right now. The first one is the Austree. They are fast growing and used quite a bit here in Iowa. They even have a free DVD you can order from their website, but their prices aren’t published online. I do have a little experience with the Austree as some of our family has planted them before and they did alright and grew fast like they were supposed to. The next one that I see mentioned and advertised are the hybrid poplars. Supposedly you plant them nine feet apart and in three years you will have a windbreak. It looks like you can get five of them for $22.99 (3′-4′ tall). The last one that we are looking at right now is thehybrid willow. They are always advertised in the same catalogs that the poplars are in and they are appealing mostly because of their price, five for $7.50. According to the link above they come as 2-3 foot trees and grow more quickly than the hybrid poplars. At that price we could get a good sized windbreak going for a low price, but I want to learn more.

As far as shade trees go, well we have a bit more research to do. You can purchase various fast growing shade trees including in the Hybrid Poplar variety. According to advertising they can live for 30 to 50 years mature to about 50 feet tall in a few years. We would like to place something like this around the house to help shade things a little and provide a little ambiance. But, we realize they would just be temporary.

Now, when it comes to the long term plan trees… Well, let’s just say I don’t have as much of a handle on those. I know that we want to have a nice stand of pines to act as a windbreak and we like some of the hardwoods for shade, but that is about the extent of my planning at this point. I would love to hear from you if you have any experience with any of these fast growing trees or if you would like to vote for some good “stage two” trees for Southern Iowa.

In my last post I wrote just a little bit about the tractor that we just purchased. As I mentioned it is a Farmall 450 with a wide front end. According to Tractor Data they were produced between 1956 and 1958 and there were over 25,000 made between gas, lp, and diesel (with gas/lp leading the way by far). The 450 is around a 40 to 50 hp tractor (it varies between the drawbar and pto of course) and should be perfect for our farm. One interesting thing about the information listed on the Tractor Data website is that they give the original list price. For the Farmall 450 the original price was $4,100. Now, a fully restore (similar to new) could cost at least that much and maybe more! I guess that is one good thing about older tractors, if you keep them running well and taken care of they shouldn’t drop in value.

Anyways, on Friday afternoon my dad drove up to meet me at our house and then we took off about 60 miles north to the home of the Farmall 450 we were interested in … and about 50 other tractors this guy has! Needless to say, this guy loves old tractors and the color doesn’t seem to matter. There were old tractors, there were loaders, there were implements, and then there were more old tractors! Some were fully restored, some were a work in progress, and some were just waiting for their turn in the shop. Anybody with an interest in old iron would have loved a walk around this place … of course it would have helped if it wasn’t cold and rainy.

Because of the wet and chilly weather he had pulled the 450 into his shop so we could take a good look at it. The tractor was painted a couple of years ago so it had a decent coat of paint and the tin is in pretty good shape. After first glance it looks like … a red tractor! This particular Farmall 450 has a Paulson loader with one way hydraulics (hydraulics takes it up, gravity takes it down) on the loader and two way on the bucket. This isn’t the best case, but it works fine for our farm. Another add on is the three point hitch. The original 450’s either had a straight drawbar or 2 point IH fast hitch. But, there are plenty of different three point after market kits out there and this tractor has one. Having the loader and a three point hitch will be a great help around the farm.

After talking about the tractor and giving it a once over in the shed we took it out for the test drive and tried to put it through some paces as best we could on a rainy, muddy, and cold day. Things seemed to work well except for one little part … the BRAKES! They weren’t completely gone, but they were gone enough to cause concern in hilly Southern Iowa. The brakes weren’t a deal breaker though because it is a relatively easy fix and we have a pretty good idea of what the problem is. In fact the tractor is already on the way to getting fixed.

Speaking of getting the tractor fixed… Things actually worked out pretty well, because my cousin just happened to be taking three tractors up to my Uncle and was in the area to pick up our new tractor and take it to his place for the repairs. Now the tractor is in the area (within 25 miles of the farm) and waiting to get a brake job done. Once the brakes are fixed we will have plenty of work for it to do … mowing, pulling fence, putting in fence, spreading gravel, and on and on and on!

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will be able to share so tractor work pictures, but for now I’ll just enjoy the picture of the tractor on the trailer … close to the farm.

Shopping is something it seems like I have been doing a lot of lately. First we went shopping at the “land store“, then we went shopping at the “hay equipment store“, and yesterday I went shopping at the “tractor store”! The other day I mentioned that I had found a tractor that I wanted to check out. Yesterday my dad and I traveled up to take a look at it and see if it would work out for the new farm. It was rainy and it was muddy, but luckily the tractor was in the shed so we were able to check it out in relative comfort.

The tractor in question is a IH Farmall 450 from the mid/late 1950’s. As you can see from the pictures it is in pretty good shape cosmetically and seemed to be in fairly good shape mechanically. We looked it over, took it for a test drive, talked about some of the other tractors the guy had (probably 50+), haggled about the price, and eventually decided to make the purchase! I’m glad my dad was able to make the trip with me because his help was much needed and the conversation is always good in the car.

The other good news is that my cousin is going to be coming through the area this weekend with an empty trailer. That means he will be able to pick it up and bring it South. It’s nice when stuff works out like that! I’ll tell you more about the tractor next week…

I hear a lot about distillers grain. corinna kopf cumshot Most weekdays I listen to the Big Show on WHO Radio (farm reports and farm talk) and their markets are often sponsored by Hawkeye Gold, a seller of dried distillers grain. On the radio the announcers are pretty high on the stuff (they are paid to be impressed though) and I know that it is starting to take off around the state, especially with the high corn and feed prices. Despite all of the good things I have heard about distillers grain I am beginning to hear some people that think it is a bad idea.

There was a tiny blurb in this months issue of “The Stockman Grassfarmer” titled, “Distillers’ Grains Twice As Likely to Create Deadly E.Coli Strain”. Basically the article outlines the findings of researchers at Kansas State University. They found that, “beef carcasses that cattle fed distillers’ grains (ethanol byproduct) have twice as much E. Coli 0157 compared to cattle fed regular feedlot rations.

The article went on to say that this certain form of E. Coli is especially dangerous for humans because our stomach acid doesn’t kill it. I’ve never been one to be an alarmist and I do recognize that this article is coming from a publication that does have a reason to promote grass-finished, but it does cause one to think.

What is the reason behind the increased push to feed distillers grain? Is it because we need to use up all that is left behind in ethanol production? Is it because it is a good cheap source of feed for the feedlot owners? Or is it because the ethanol industry needs another thing to make ethanol seem like a good idea? (In keeping with the idea of full disclosure I should admit that I always fill up with ethanol … it’s cheaper)

I do know one thing for sure. Any bad press about distillers’ grains being used in the feedlots is good press for the grass-finishers out there. And I plan to do a little more research into this.

About a month ago I wrote a little bit about our pasture on the farm. Right now the entire 26 acres of pasture is in the Conservation Reserve Program and it appears to have been seeded into switchgrass at some point during its tenure in CRP. The switchgrass is a nice warm season grass that we hope to maintain as part of the pastures (it will be difficult), but judging by the amount of small trees and brush growing it has been awhile since it was last burned off or mowed. So, the grass is really tall and not really ready for grazing by our Dexters. Which leads us to the question at hand … Mow, Bale, or Burn?

The picture above (click image for larger picture) shows some of the grass still standing and some of the area that we mowed on Tuesday. My dad test drives County Clipper ZTR mowers so I had him bring one up and we mowed the area around the building site so we could more easily envision the project and to see what it looks like after a couple of passes with a mower. Of course there is a lot of residue on the ground after mowing, but it is fairly well chopped up. One thing that I did notice after mowing was that there are there are clumps of switchgrass and then there are spots were other grasses are coming on. We are supposed to get some rain tomorrow and then a slight warm up on the weekend, so we will see if the grass pops.

I’m not sure if the residue from chopping up the grass is too much cover for new grass to come through or if it is just really good organic matter that can be incorporated into the soil. That is why I have been thinking about the second option, baling. I could go out and mow and rake the grass and then have a friend come in and bale it up to get it off of the ground. The bales would be much good for feed, but they could be used for composting or something. The main reason behind this is to open up the growing grass to more sunlight, but maybe the mowed grass residue would help keep moisture in?

The final option is to burn it off. Maybe this would be the most natural way to manage a pasture full of native switchgrass, but I’m just sure that I have the patience. Right now there are plenty of wet spots around the farm because of all of the rain, and judging by the forecast they will be wet for a while longer! Also, there is a waiting list that we are on to have the Rural Fire Department do the burn and it could be a while before they get to us. I think I just may cross this option off of the list unless I come up with some compelling evidence to make me patiently wait.

What are your thoughts?

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Now that the land is finally in our name our plans are beginning to feel real. With that in mind we went out the property right after signing the paperwork and talked about some more of the specifics of the layout. And then today we actually did a little bit of work, but more on that on another day! While we were out there on Monday afternoon I did take a few minutes to run down to the gully that I mentioned last Tuesday and Wednesday. On those days I didn’t have a picture of the “major” problem area, but as you can see I have some now.

As you can see from the picture above we are losing a bit of land due to erosion. In fact that tree you see in the middle of the picture used to be on ground about two feet higher, but then it the whole chunk slid down into the ravine. Also, as evidenced by the picture on the right, you can tell that someone else thought this was a big enough problem that they also tried to fix it. Their fix involved throwing in some logs and brush along with the old woven wire and barbed wire fences that were taken down from some of the perimeter. That is not the kind of “fix” that I want to do. But, I do want to do something because I really don’t want to lose that much more land down into this hole full of sticks and wire!

This last picture on the left shows some of the water shed that is funneling down into this gully and when you are there you can easily see the grass laid over from the rush of water coming down on all sides. This is not unexpected and isn’t the end of the world, but it is something that can be addressed with good farming practices … or fishing pond building … but that may just be the fisherman in me speaking! Of course there is always going to be a rush of water in the spring with the combination of melting snow and spring rains, but it will be interesting to monitor this spot throughout the year to see how much water really runs off down the hill and into the gully.

I think my main method of attack will be to slow the water down, either by man made methods or by slowly increasing the organic matter throughout the farm so more precipitation would be soaked up by the ground and less will run off. Of course there will never be a perfect solution and it is totally natural for water to create a path of least resistance down the hill, we just want to make sure things don’t get out of hand because of our bad stewardship.

So, any more ideas? What do you think about pulling the wire out of there? I’m not sure that it is really doing the job that it was intended to do and I also don’t like the idea of just leaving junk laying around. But, I’m always open for more ideas. I do like the idea of a small livestock reservoir that can be used to water livestock below the “pond”, but I think that will be in the long term project file.

Lots of work to do, but we are excited!

Chapter two of Julius Ruechel’s book, “Grass-Fed Cattle” was a pretty interesting read because it was a topic that I think about often as we plan the direction for our growing Dexter herd. The chapter was titled, “Genetics and Breeding: Selecting the Right Animal for Your Herd,” and was an interesting discussion of that topic. I think it would be understatement to say that Mr. Ruechel likes the idea of culling! But, I tend to agree with him that all too often we are selecting our cows, heifers, and bulls for all of the wrong reasons!

The biggest pitfall that Mr. Ruechel talks about in this chapter is the problem of falling into single trait selection. You know selecting cows only for their milk production, bone structure, color, or any other single trait. Obviously in a dairy operation special attention needs to be paid to the milking ability of a cow, but if that is the only trait you select for you may end up with a super milker that is a horrible cow! And, we are supposed to be raising cows not machines. According to Mr. Ruechel we should be selecting for low-maintenance and high-fertility (and all that goes with those things). He also has a short section about making sure that your climate and the natural climate of the breed is taken into consideration when selecting.

Basically, he talks about bulls looking like bulls should look (masculine) and cows/heifers looking like cows/heifers should look (feminine). With that basic picture in mind Mr. Ruechel says we need to look at our herd with a predatory eye, just as a predator would in a natural situation. Because our cattle are domesticated animals we need to fill the role of the predator not only through fencing, but also through selection.

There is a lot of other interesting stuff in this chapter, but there is one last thing that especially piqued my interest. I think I am safe in saying that Mr. Ruechel isn’t high on registered-purebred breeding. That is not to say that he doesn’t see the importance of it, because he also strongly believes in terminal cross-breeding (crossing two purebred animals, but not using the offspring for re-breeding). His biggest problem with the registered breeding world is that he feels they too often select for a single trait, especially traits that are most popular for the moment.

The reason I found this so interesting is because I tend to agree with it to a point in the Dexter world, and I know some others that agree also. When I began my search for a dun Dexter bull I had a horrible time finding a bull that actually looked like a bull. My theory is because people aren’t really culling animals based on fertility or “bullish” characteristics, but rather they are either focused on color, breeding lines, or the feeling that every Dexter born must be used because they are a small breed. This bull problem led me all the way to Southern Missouri for a bull that was dun, relatively masculine, and had a good temperament. As we develop our growing Dexter herd I want to make sure that I have that predatory eye to an extent. Our breeding program will be based on breeding for the true dual-purpose characteristics of the Dexter.

All in all, this was a pretty good chapter and I would say it redeemed the book for me after being somewhat disappointed with the first chapter.

On Saturday, September 23, 2006 I made my first post on the blog creatively titled, “The Very Beginning“. I followed that with some mind-numbing drivel on buying work boots and a seriously lame examination of some livestock market numbers at the time. A few weeks later I wrote another impressive blog post (impressive because it actually received a comment … from a close friend) titled, “Why FARM“. In that inspired post I came to the realization that I had more reasons not to farm than I had to farm, but that I still wanted to farm. Since those first few posts I have now made a total of 223 entries dealing with all the aspects of my quest towards farming. Research, experiences, disappointments, plans, and plenty of hopes.

I began this blog as a journal of sorts or maybe you could call it a research diary. I began the blog because I realized that I learned by writing and processing the things that I had read, researched, heard, and experienced. I began the blog because I had a hard time finding the reflections and journey of a farmer starting from scratch. And, I will even admit that I began the blog in hopes of helping others with the same dream as I had. A dream to farm that has been kicking around inside of me from the time that I was a child disappointed that my mom was going to pave our driveway in town … because there was no way I could use my pedal tractor on cement! Farmers drove on gravel … not some fancy pavement.

Now as I sit and type late on Sunday night (sometimes I cheat and write my posts ahead of time) we are on the verge of taking the next step in the journey. It is an exciting step and yet at the same time it is a scary step that is bringing about much personal reflection.

Can we really do this? Can we really make this a business? I can take care of animals, but can I do all of the marketing on a larger scale in order to take everything to the next level? What do I need to do in order to keep this from becoming an expensive hobby? How are we going to get everything done … can we create this farming out of nothing!?! Lots of questions are running through my head, but mostly I am excited.

So tomorrow, at 11:00 am we are going to sign on the dotted line and then in the afternoon we can go out to OUR farm (which really is just a bare piece of land full of grass and trees). There is so much to do and so much to think about, but right now I am just enjoying thinking about the journey it has been.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has commented with encouragement, instruction, advice, and thoughts. The discussion and information that have come in the form of the comments have added so much to this blog that I even began to feel like people could get something out of reading it … as long as they were reading the comments left by people other than myself! Thank You!

From the days of driving the pedal tractor in the yard pulling the wooden plow my dad made until now. I think the immortal words of Bear Claw Chris Lapp and Jeremiah Johnson (in the movie Jeremiah Johnson) sum it up best.

Bear Claw – “You’ve come far pilgrim.”
Jeremiah – “Feels like far.”
Bear Claw – “Were it worth the trouble?”
Jeremiah – [half-joking] “Ha? What trouble?”