The Beginning Farmer

Okay, so I only received 8 votes … as far as I can tell … but, since four of them went to Julius Ruechel’s book “Grass-Fed Cattle” that is the one I am going to tackle first. The sub-title is, “How to Produce and Market Natural Beef” so I totally expect to learn how to do that in the 300 odd pages of this book! Or at least come away with a little bit better understanding. I have read a few grass-fed cattle books now, so it will be interesting to see how this one fits into the mix. I have a feeling it will be closer to a “Quality Pasture” type of book compared to a Gene Logsdon or Joel Salatin style.

One thing that I am continually learning, and being reminded of daily, is that I don’t have as much time as I used to for recreational reading. Between work at the church, soccer, family, and trying to figure out all the stuff with the new land I don’t have as much time for reading. So, when I do take the time read a book I want to make sure it will be a profitable read for me in the expansion of our farm. Here are some things I hope to get out of the book.

• I am interested in learning more about stockpiling winter forage and being ready for drought on a grazing operation.
• Marketing is something I am always hoping to learn more about. A lot of what is said in the different books is similar, but there are always some differences that stick out. I’m always looking to learn more on marketing.
• Finally, as I thumbed through this book I noticed a worksheet style goal setting and business plan section towards the end of the book. That is something I am really interested in checking out and I probably will have to hold myself back from skipping ahead (not that there is anything wrong with it).

As I flipped through the book I saw that there were many sections and chapters that are similar to the topics covered in other books I have read, so we will see if it is just repetition of the same old stuff or if there is something new. In any case I know that I always learn something. Of course I will report at the end of each chapter some of my thoughts. The discussion that comes out of those reports is better than reading the book!

Look for the book reports coming soon … I’ll have to remember my book light on those long soccer bus rides!

It’s going to be a short post this weekend. Life is getting really crazy now with my job, my other job coaching girl’s soccer, my other job trying to become a farmer, and my other job (the most important job) being a husband and a father! Oh yeah, and we are trying to build a farm from scratch … but, I’ll give some more updates on that next week. For today I just want to throw out some links that I found after a friend e-mailed me a link to an interview from Minnesota Public Radio.

First of all, here is the link to the interview on MPR – CLICK HERE – You will have to find the link to the audio on that page. There are actually two people interviewed. Will Allen who runs an organization that promotes and helps build urban gardens and Audrey Arner who is on the steering committee of the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings program. I’m just finishing up listening to the interview now and it is pretty cool. I wish I was closer to Minnesota so that I could to take that class.

Here are the other interesting links you need to check out in conjunction with the MPR interview.

-First of all check out the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings.

-Next you can surf over to Audrey Arner’s farm, Moonstone Farm.

-Finally, if you want to learn more about Moonstone Farm you need to check out an article from New Farm titled, “Farm, Food and Family” from a few years ago.

One last thing from the interview. Mr. Allen mentioned that the average farmer is over the age of 60 years old now … meaning we need to be thinking about where our next generation of farmers are going to come from. That is of interest to me because earlier this week I put a “rant” (they wanted to know what I didn’t like about farming) on my epi-log. One of the things I mentioned that frustrated me was the farmers that said they wanted to help younger farmers, but didn’t follow through by sharing opportunities and knowledge. You can read my post here. One comment I received was from someone who grew up (and I just noticed I had another “farms are bad” comment) on a farm and said that their dad didn’t have time to help or teach someone after all of the work. But, how then should farming be shared?

**Okay, one more last thing … If you have made it this farm, I would like your thoughts on this comment from the epi-log post I mentioned:

I see what you are saying about the “younger” farmer. However, I would have to agree with the previous comment about why someone would encourage another to get into farming. I myself grew up on a farm and saw first hand the work and toil we put in for the very minimal return. Farming is your life, not your occupation. As a kid I was never in any extracurricular activities b/c I had to be home to “do chores.” My dad was always late (if he even showed up) for any Christmas programs b/c they were usually during milking time. My dad who is now 51 has a body of an 80 year old. He’s had multiple bones broken, shattered, pitch forks stuck in extremities, you name it. I told myself I would NEVER live on a farm. However, just before I left for college, my dad tried talking me out of it and staying on the farm. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I’m thankful that I didn’t listen to him and did continue my education. My father as of recent threw in the towel and has now turned his “farm” into a winery. My husband and I dabble in forms of farming. We raise pigs and sheep. No milking for me, but you are right, farming is an art, but I have made it my “side job” as a way to provide healthy food for my family. I would say that the best advice that someone could give the “younger folk” would be to learn to live off the land. Not profit from it, but sustain your way of life.

Today I ran a cross a little more fallout from the Hallmark/Westland beef recall. When clearing the articles from my RSS news reader I came across this article, “School Districts That Got Recalled Beef Are Listed“. As has been reported in various articles most of the meat that was recalled had already been consumed, but for good measure the USDA just released the schools that had received the recalled beef. As I scrolled through the list (you can take the time if you like) I saw a lot of school districts in Iowa listed. And, I thought … “boy I am glad my mom, the teacher, takes a sack lunch to school!” Okay, that isn’t exactly what I thought, but it did cross my mind.

Running across that list of schools who received the recalled beef really didn’t mean much to me until I came across this article, “Food Program Brings Together Schools, Farmers,” from a couple of days ago. Basically it tells about the “Farm to School Program” that helps connect local farmers with school districts in their area. Some farmers have formed co-ops to be able to supply the food that is needed while others have just expanded their operation or changed some of their focus.

I think this is a really cool program that probably deserves more publicity and even more adoption throughout the country. In fact it seems like a win – win. The farmers are able to sell their products locally so they don’t have to deal with trucking or huge market swings and the students are able to eat fresh food instead of pre-packaged, pre-made, yuck! Of course it would take a change in the way school districts prepare their food, the article points this out also. This alone will probably keep many schools from jumping on board, but I think once people see it working in other places they may be more willing to try.

One thing did bother me though. According to the “Farm to School” website the State of Iowa only has 3 districts and 6 schools involved. I know that the Universities are involved and I was able to read about one school district on the website that is part of the program … but, in the state of IOWA … in the CORN BELT … that is all we can come up with? I don’t know where the disconnect is or why this isn’t taking off in the state, but I plan on looking into it.

What better way to support our students and our farmers than by connecting them together. There is no reason for all of those districts listed on the USDA site to be buying beef from Hallmark/Westland (I know … money is the issue) when Iowa can produce all the beef our school kids need. Of course there are many, many, many reasons that more schools aren’t participating, and I know what many of the reasons are. But, that doesn’t make it right.

Just something to think about on a Friday…

For quite a while I have been planning the farm layout in my head. I have thought about where I would put the hay shed in relation to the house and how far away would the garden be … even how big the garden would be. But, now it is coming close to the time when I need to stop dreaming about and start nailing down some plans! We have the land (almost), so now we need to choose a building site and start laying out our buildings and future buildings. That will be the key, not only finding a spot for what we can build right away, but also thinking about how things will layout in the future.

There are two main building spots on the land that we are in the process of buying. From the very first time we saw the place we have looked at those two spots and thought that the place on ridge (sort of a ridge, I guess more of a flat spot on the Southern slope) near the woods would be the ideal place. It is down hill a little bit so we could hopefully have a bit of protection from the elements, it is near the woods so we have a neat view, and you could position the house so that you don’t really see any other houses from your windows.

But, when we were out there the other day doing some measuring for the land release (for the building loan) we started to have second thoughts. At that building location the house would take up the most level part of the hill, and then we wouldn’t be left with much else for other buildings. At the bottom of the hill it is rather wet and mushy in the spring and lots of snow collects there in the winter, so you wouldn’t be the best idea to build down there.

I realize that I don’t plan on having lots of buildings. But, we will eventually have a house, a hay shed, some sort of equipment storage, probably a brooder house, and of course the garden which will take up space. As I keep examining what we thought was the best site I have a hard time seeing the layout.

The second location is on the corner of the property where the road curves around. It is the highest point and fairly flat. The reasons that we have written in off in the past is because it is close to a neighbor and because it is up on the hill with no trees for protection.

But, it is back in the mix now because it would be the easiest place to layout a “barnyard”. We have been researching fast growing trees like the austree to get up a wind, dust, privacy hedge quickly. Then follow that with some quicker growing pines and finally some hardwoods for shade. We need to go back out there and look at how a pole building (that we would live in), garden, hay shed, equipment storage, other odd buildings, and a future stick built house would all layout.

It is time for us to start doing … instead of just thinking! That is exciting and scary at the same time!

Yesterday I posted my last “chapter report” from Ron Macher’s book, “Making Your Small Farm Profitable“. Today I would like to recommend it to others who are (or wanting to be) beginning farmers like myself or those that are looking to take a different direction with their small farm. It is well written and organized in such a way that it is easy to read in small chunks (a good thing for a busy person). Also, I think it is full of good practical advice and principles to follow (or at least consider).

As I have mentioned in some of the “chapter reports” it is a little different than some of the books by Gene Logsdon, Wendell Berry, or Joel Salatin. While all three of those writers include many practical tips and advice in their books they also include many philosophical thoughts behind the reason to do things certain way. Mr. Macher doesn’t get into some of those areas and sticks with the basics. Things like what livestock or crops to choose, what to consider when buying machinery, how to set goals, and so on.

Here are the links to all eleven of my “chapter reports: Chapter 1 … Chapter 2 … Chapter 3 … Chapter 4 … Chapter 5 … Chapter 6 … Chapter 7 … Chapter 8 … Chapter 9 … Chapter 10 … Chapter 11

Now that I’m done with this book it is time for me to start the next one. Here are my choices: “Harris on the Pig: Practical Hints for the Pig Farmer” by Joseph Harris … “Dirt Hog” by Kelly Klober … “Grass-Fed Cattle” by Julius Ruechel. Vote in the comments for what you think I should read next.

**In a totally unrelated note I encourage you to go over to the Epi-Log and vote on the, “Eat Me: Farmer Ethan To Name A Calf After Michael Y. Park“. This is a funny little thing that he came up with and I thought it was silly enough to go along with. Of course he already has a vegetarian implying that he should only eat veggies, but that doesn’t mean you can’t vote!**

Well, I have finally made it through the last chapter of Ron Macher’s book, “Making Your Small Farm Profitable”. It has taken me a little longer than I had hoped, but not because it wasn’t an interesting read. This chapter is titled, “Where Are We Going” and it gives a brief history of agriculture (according to Mr. Macher) followed by his thoughts on the direction of farming in the United States today in and in the future. This is the kind of stuff that really interests me and I would love to takes some time in the future and read more on the history of agricultural from a practical and cultural standpoint.

Basically, Mr. Macher writes that in the beginning of U.S. agriculture we would use the land until it didn’t produce any more and then we would just move and start over. Of course in the 1930’s the problems with this method showed their ugly face and people become more concerned about soil conservation and land in general. After WWII people began wanting a “taste” of the country life so they started moving from the cities to slightly more rural areas and businesses and industries followed them. According to Mr. Macher (don’t know where the stat comes from) we lose 2 of farm land to development ever minute.

With the industrialization of farming post WWII we began to see that fewer and fewer farms were producing more and more of our food. With that increase those farmers began to specialize and focus their efforts on one type of livestock or crop. Of course this spread everything out so much that almost all of the food had to be shipped a great distance to get to the consumers … this wasn’t a big deal at the time because transportation was cheap.

Of course you had John Deere, the plow, “fencerow to fencerow”, bigger is better, and then the farm crisis. In the 1980’s there were farms lost, lives taken, and marriages and families broken apart because of the get bigger mindset (and the willingness of the land bank to give money out so freely). Those that survived either barely did or got bigger in the process because they were able to buy up what was suddenly available. It kind of sounds like a bleak picture … but, Mr. Macher points out some good news. The number of small farms (178 acres and down) is growing and with that the opportunity of small farmers to diversify and make a living.

That is some interesting stuff, and like I said is a book in and of itself that I would like to read. But, he closed with four last points for a beginning farmer (or one that wants to change). I’ll leave you with those points:

• Experiment – Start farming wherever you can (unless you live in my town, then don’t have chickens in your backyard). Grow a garden, set aside a small piece of land to do something different, or at least start planning. Just get doing!
• Rent Land – In some ways I think this is becoming more difficult with the current high grain prices than it was 10-15 years ago when many of these “you can farm” books were written. But, it is still a god staring place and it is important to remember that you can rent a pretty small piece of land (even in town) to get started with a market garden.
• Lean As You Grow – You don’t have to have everything or do everything right away. In fact you probably wouldn’t be able to handle it just like I am not going to be able to handle it all at once. But, take is slow and as you learn and experience more then you can grow.
• Always Watch Your Bottom Line – Bigger isn’t better, sometimes you can do more with less or if you can’t do much with a little then you probably can’t do any better with more! It is easy to treat farming as as “hobby” if you are just getting started and have a town job that is supporting your family and beginning farming. Don’t do that! Make sur the farm is working for itself no matter how big it is (this could be as simple as cutting your grocery expenses).

I don’t exactly remember how I came across this, but I stumbled on it sometime last week when I was searching. “Family Farms in an Era of Global Uncertainty” was the title of a lecture that John Ikerd gave at Iowa state about one month ago. By clicking on the link you can find audio of the lecture, notes from the lecture, and an interview Mr. Ikerd did on Iowa Public radio. Mr. Ikerd is a retired professor, who still holds a position at the University of Missouri, an author, and of course a lecturer.

I have not had a chance to listen to the entire lecture yet (or read the notes), but I have listened to the radio interview and Mr. Ikerd has quite a few things to say on the issue of family farming. In fact I loved his definition. It basically goes like this … a family farm is a farm where the family and the farm are an inseperable part of the whole. The farm would be different without the family, and the family would be different without the farm. That is a pretty interesting definition if you take time to really think about it. He also brought out the point that a family farm needs to be an important part of the community and not harm the community. Food for thought in the state of Iowa…

This quote from Mr. Ikerd is a good summary of much of his lecture and the radio interview:

We live times of growing uncertainty regarding the future of our economy, our society, and of humanity. These uncertainties are all symptoms of the same basic cause: our unrealistic demands on an unsustainable economy. Some have suggested biofuels as a solution to the twin challenges of fossil energy depletion and global warming. However, the greatest challenge for agriculture will be to feed more people better with less fossil energy. The food security of any nation depends on the willingness and ability of its farmers to take care of its land and to care for its people. The future of humanity of in these uncertain times depends on the thoughtful, caring, and committed people who choose to live and work on family farms.

The word “sustainable” pops up a lot in his vocabulary, and I think he has a lot of great things to say and things for us to think about. Of course I don’t agree with everything, but that is just to be expected! One thing that I took away is the importance of stewardship … I think stewardship and sustainability go hand in hand and that comes out in his words and works.

If you have the time I encourage you to check out the radio interview or the lecture. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts on his ideas…

Easter is tomorrow so I hope everyone has a chance to spend time with family and friends and celebrate the Risen Savior! That is what I’m going to be doing today and tomorrow at least … but, I didn’t want to leave my blog blank on a Saturday.

So, I found this video by searching for “Iowa” on YouTube. I love my state, and I have never wanted to live anywhere else. In fact I believe Iowa is one of the most beautiful places in the country. But, I can still laugh at myself … and there probably is a bit of truth to this video.

Enjoy the video … but, more importantly enjoy the weekend!

Ron Macher begins chapter 10 of his book, “Making Your Small Farm Profitable”, with this great statement:

Successful farm management is two things:

1. Farming is taking all you can from the soil so you can sell the surplus to make a profit.
2. Farming is also putting back into the soil all you can so you can maintain and increase fertility.

That seems like pretty sound advice to me, and the start of a mindset that sees your farm management practices as a tool (also what Mr. Macher is advocating).

This chapter discusses many of the same things you will see in other books of this type. Rotate your crops to help build and maintain N-P-K … use your livestock to work for you … know what your resources are … work smarter, not harder … gain as much knowledge as possible through reading, discussion, and seminars … and build reserves of money, crops, and livestock (if needed). But, there were a couple of sections in this chapter that I payed close attention to.

The first section that I read closely was the section on using family labor. Watch out parents/brother/sister … I’m coming for you! Okay, maybe not that kind of family labor, although their help is always appreciated, but more specifically my immediate family. Mr. Macher talked about he importance of helping your children learn to love the farm. One thing that I have understood from the beginning of this journey was that if my family wasn’t behind it then it wasn’t going to happen. With that in mind I want to do as much as possible to get the family involved from the beginning.

Even though my children are only 2 and 4-years-old we are trying to get them involved in farming. We have “discussions” with them about our Dexters, chickens, or other things we would like to do this summer (most include Caleb telling me that he is going to buy a cow for a price that he makes up in his head). We take the kids out to the land and talk with them about what we will be doing out there. We have them help name our calves and make sure they see them when the are born. Basically, we are trying to make it fun for them. As the grow older the ways to “make it fun” will change, but the principles will be the same … and it will always be important that the whole family enjoys farming.

The final thing that really stuck out to me in this chapter was his section on, “Planning for Farm Efficiency”. The reason this section made an impression is because we will be starting from scratch with our farm layout so we should do it the most efficient way possible. One book Mr. Macher quotes says that for, “every 100 feet of unnecessary distance between the house and farm adds up to 14 miles of travel a year for each daily round trip.” With that in mind I see the importance of laying out our buildings and facilities according to a plan … rather than just what looks best at the moment. As we have time (and as the grass is either burned or mowed down) we plan on spending plenty of time at the land and planning our layout. No reason to waste footsteps, especially when you are farming in addition to another job!

This chapter was a good overview of some basic farm management principles and gave me plenty to think about. There is only one more chapter left, so keep an eye out for my thoughts on it and then a short review of the book.