The Beginning Farmer

I have been holding on to this big news for quite awhile now as I waited for everything to come together… But, since my first post appeared yesterday I thought I would spill the beans and encourage you to check out the newest place to read the rambling posts of me, The Beginning Farmer, and a bunch of chefs … cookbook writers … wine affecianados … and people who just plain love food. Of course the other bloggers posts probably won’t be as rambling as mine usually are!

Hopefully this will be another great resource to help connect consumers with the producers. And, if it could be truly successful we would no longer need to call them consumers or producers … we can just connect the people with their farming neighbors. I’m pretty excited about the possibilities to share with people from across the country and around the world my passion for farming and for sustainable and beautiful agriculture.

So, make sure you check out the main website www.epicurious.com if you are interested in good recipes and other food articles. Surf over to the “epi-log” for food related topics, and of course thoughts from me a few times each week. And, if you want to have a direct link to my posts you can always click on this link in the right column:

Actually the quote by Fred Kirschenmann was, “It’s the best of times and the worst of times to start farming”. I just decided I was going to hang on the “best of times” idea since I aspire to be a glass half full kind of guy. This quote comes from an article on www.DakotaFarmer.com titled, “Advice to Beginning Farmers”. I must thank Kelli of Sugar Creek Farm for finding this article and posting it on her blog. Lately she has been doing some “ag speed-linking” and she always comes up with interesting articles. Make sure you check out her blog!

But, back to the topic at hand … I agree with Mr. Kirschenmann that it is a good time to start farming and that it could be a potentially bad time to get into farming. It all depends on what your definition of farming is. If you would like to get into commodity grain farming I’m not convinced that it is a good time to begin. Yes, grain prices are high now, but that is mostly based on the ethanol movement as Mr. Kirschenmann points out in the article. At any moment some scientist much smarter than I am could come up with a much less expensive form of energy and then all those corn acres wouldn’t be nearly as valuable. That would make it a bad time to begin farming and the possibility of slight repeat of the farm crisis of the 1980’s is possible.

On the other hand I think it is a great time to begin farming if you have the drive and determination to do something different. Mr. Kirschenmann, who spent time working as the director for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, admits that if he was moving back to his family farm today he would have 50% of the farm in row crops and 50% in livestock. He would diversify! Beyond that he would strive to make his operation as energy independent as possible, free of chemical fertilizers, and he would direct market his livestock and grains to the consumers.

I thought this quote would be an encouragement to any beginning farmers out there. “It’s a good time to get into farming, but you’d have to be smart, you have to anticipate the shift that high energy prices and a shortage of water is going to have on agriculture,” says Mr. Kirshcenmann. It is a good time to jump in, but you must plan … you must think differently than the establishment … you must work with nature rather than against it … you must build your farm based on connections and community.

It is a good time to be a farmer, and not just because of $5.00 corn. It is a good time because people are starting to desire quality food that is local and sustainable to the land and the farming family!

Last week I received my latest issue of “The Stockman Grassfarmer“. I’ve been a subscriber for a few months now and I enjoy receiving the issues. If you have never had a chance to check out this periodical I encourage you to do so (you can even receive a free sample issue). Many of the articles are based on large scale grazing operations and I have heard others say that once you have read it for a few years it all seems the same, but it seems like I always find stuff that applies to what we are doing and are interested in doing. Because last week was so busy and the fact that I was away this weekend I haven’t had a chance to dig too deeply into the articles. But, as I skimmed through the pages looking at the titles one jumped out that I just had to read right away.

This month the introduced a new column titled, “A Grass Farmer’s Guide to Finance”, by Richard Parry. According to the introduction, “the purpose of this column is to help grass farmers to become better stewards of their financial resources and to open their eyes to investment opportunities outside of agriculture.” Any time I see any article about finances and farming I am hooked, so I took some time to read this article right away.

Did you know that in 2005 household debt was 113 percent of the annual income, but before 1980 it was only 58 percent of the annual income? Or how about this tidbit, the national rate of savings in the United States is actually in the negative. On average we spend more and borrow more in a year than we make! Mr. Parry threw out a few more facts that are pretty depressing, but the main idea is that as a nation we are doing a bad job at saving our money.

With the current state of financial affairs (growing debt, rising consumer spending, etc.) Mr. Parry believes that now is the time to be contrarian, and not just in an agricultural sense. He writes, “Now is the time to build your cash reserves and pay off debt. In the coming years there will be once in a lifetime opportunities to purchase assets at fire sale prices.”

Mr. Parry does admit that the prudent use of borrowed money is a good thing. He also adds that you don’t have to save just cash, but building your equity is a good idea too so that you can borrow when those golden opportunities arise. Financial independence and intelligent savings are two huge keys to successful small scale farming … or farming in general.

Towards the end of the article he briefly mentions the importance of investing … this is something he says will be covered in future columns. I am really looking forward to those! Make smart decisions and contrary decisions with our money has long been a goal of my family. I think one of the keys to building a small scale farm that is sustainable and long-lasting is to build it without great debt. By only taking on moderate and truly needed debt you may have to build the farm slowly, but I think you will cut down on the possibility of disaster, fear, and stress. And all three of those things can ruin your farm and your family!

It’s been a busy week around here so today I will just post a few photos from Stonyfield.

With a foot of snow on the ground, we can’t wait for Spring! I’m sure the cows are excited for some green grass too.

Well, I can’t really say that I had time to do it … but, today we took a few free moments and took off to the farm to see the latest additions to the Stoneyfield herd. As you may remember reading a couple days ago our first calf was born in a little bit of snow on Sunday afternoon. That was the heifer calf Naomi that you see in the pictures here. Then out of the blue a little bull calf was born on Wednesday as we were in the midst of receiving around a foot of snow! Yep, they chose great times to make an entrance.

RAD’s Naomi was born to RAD’s Victoria, which was the first Dexter we purchased this summer. We bought her with the understanding that she was bred and that she would calve roughly around this time. For Victoria this was her first calf and I would say that she handled things okay considering the weather. As best as we can tell she had the calf around 2:00 PM and it is only by the grace of God and the fact that my brother needed a ride to a Super Bowl party that we found her. After finding her we did take her away and warm her up because she wasn’t making it up on her feet right away. As soon as she warmed up she was up and at ’em and took to nursing right away. Now she seems to be doing pretty well and is growing very quickly!

The bull calf born on Wednesday was born to Lazy J5 Bailey. I mentioned that this calf was out of the blue because we weren’t expecting her to calve until March at the earliest. In fact we were under the impression that her calf was only around nine months old right now … guess that isn’t the case. She too picked a great day to calve and the calf needed some help warming up and getting away from the snow (12 inches). He just wouldn’t figure out the nursing thing so we ended up milking Bailey (I’m not certain, but I think she may have been milked before) and bottle feeding the bull calf. We still haven’t seen him nursing and had trouble getting him to take from the bottle today so we are keeping a close tab on him. But, he to seems to have quite a bit of energy and was bounding around tonight before dark.

I can say we learned quite a few things through these two calvings, but the biggest thing is more of what we confirmed rather than learned. We saw in these two births the vital importance of calving in schedule with nature and the seasons. This is just not a great time to try and talk care of a calf … for the mother and the farmer! We are looking at April or May calvings and while there can be storms or weather issues in those seasons (snow, floods, thunderstorms) we can count on the season being slightly better. At least we know that the season must work most of the time because that is the time the animals have chosen. I’m already looking forward to the 2009 calving season when every calf will be a Stoneyfield calf and hopefully none of them will be born in February!

Lately I have a couple readers write and tell me that I should write a post about the proposed Nation Animal Identification System. Up until this point I have to admit that I didn’t really know much about it other than the fact that it wouldn’t be a good thing for small farmers and their consumers. I just didn’t feel that I had a good enough grasp on the situation to throw my thoughts into the fray. But, after reading a little and being encouraged to write about it I thought I should at least throw some things out for discussion. Today, I just wanted to share some links that I have used as I try and learn more about this proposed system and what it means to me … and my animals!

The first site I went to on my search was, NoNAIS.org. This website is run by Walter Jeffries of Sugar Mountain Farm in Vermont. I often read his blog so I have read his thoughts on NAIS from time to time and I have seen the link … but, I am sorry to admit that this was the first time I visited the website. On this site you will find posts updating you on what is going on with the NAIS and links to other articles and sites that will help keep you informed.

Another great article I read (found through NoNAIS.org) that gives a good overview of the system and what is at stake is, “The National Animal Identification System: A new threat to rural freedom?” The article appeared in Countryside and Small Stock Journal and was written by, Mary Zanoni, Ph.D., J.D. This article is a few years old, but it is very relevant even today. If you have no knowledge of the NAIS or a limited knowledge I encourage you to check it out.

One last link you should check out is the NAIS Comments thread on Homesteading Today. The thread is over 1,000 posts and counting. I think that says a lot to the importance of this issue. If you take some time to read through the thread (I just took a little time to skim) you will find people for and many people against the NAIS. I think communication is the key here … the more we know and the more we can communicate with each other what is going on the better off we are.

So, if this is fairly new to you check out those sites and inform yourself. One neat thing you will find on NoNAIS.org are links to discussion groups for most if not all states against the NAIS. Join the one for your state and make sure you are informed and communicating.

If you know quite a bit about the NAIS and have followed it closely enlighten those of us who have passed over it for too long.

There have been a few developments around the Stoneyfield farm lately so I thought I would take a few moments in the middle of the week to update everyone.

• First of all is an exciting piece of news. I was hoping to make this a post of it’s own, but with the snowy weather and busy happenings at work I don’t know when I will able to dedicate some space and pictures to this little tidbit of good news (I eventually will make this it’s own post). This past Sunday afternoon our first Dexter heifer, RAD’s Victoria, had her first calf. And, it was a heifer! Victoria just went off by herself in the early afternoon and had her calf under a thick stand of cedar trees … as it was snowing! It wasn’t a perfect birth because my family did have to bring the calf inside to help her warm up and gain some strength, but after a short time inside they were able to take her back out to her mom (who was under cover by now) and she started nursing. Now a couple of days later the little girl is bouncing around and doing pretty well. As soon as I’m able to get down and take pictures I will post them for everyone to see.
• I mentioned in an earlier post about the current hay situation on the farm. If we continue to have a full cover of snow like we have now we will probably be able to make our hay last until the end of February. If the snow cover were to melt away we would probably be able to stretch it a little further. With the ground completely covered in deep snow our nine cows and four steers go through about four small square bales each day. But, if it is mostly open ground we can get by with between one or two bales. In fact yesterday (before the snow came) they only ate one bale. The good news in the whole deal is that we probably have hay available to buy from my uncle. He has some big round bales from this past summer or some year old square bales. We will probably go and check it out and get a little of both. Next year we plan on making three cuttings of hay if the weather allows so hay shouldn’t be a problem.
• As I just wrote our first calf was born on Stoneyfield, but I think it won’t be too long until the second calf comes along. The next cow we expect to calve is A.A. Mandy who is ten years old and dun. She is also breed to a dun bull so in the best case we would have a dun heifer born! Along with Mandy there is a chance that three other cows could cave later in the spring. We bought them as pasture exposed to a bull so hopefully they are bred. If all goes well the Stoneyfield herd will have five new faces in the pasture this summer.
• The last little bit of news is kind of something that I don’t want to totally unveil at the moment. But, if you are inclined to pray we would appreciate your prayers for discernment and guidance!

Yesterday I blogged about the bleak picture that analysts are painting for pork farmers in 2008. I was prompted by an article that I read in the “Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman”. Today, I wanted to share some good news from an article in the same issue. As soon as I saw the title, “Young farmers getting creative with products,” I was hooked!

“With soaring land prices and increasing production costs, Iowa’s newest farmers are coming up with creative, non-traditional ways to get started in agriculture,” writes author Teresa Bjork. Let’s break that down… Land prices sky high and farming inputs costs are really high … TRUE! New farmers in Iowa are being creative … TRUE!

The article goes on to feature a “community supported agriculture” farm and grass-fed beef operation both located in Iowa. The CSA mentioned in the article is Blue Gate Farm, which I have visited and happens to be just a few miles away. Jill Beebout and Sean Skeeham (owners of Blue Gate Farm) expect to serve 30 CSA customers this year along with the buyers that visit their booth at a Des Moines farmers market. After only three years they have already built a loyal customer base and even have a waiting list for their CSA subscriptions. That is creative, that is outside-of-the-box, that is great!

Grass Run Farm was the other beginning farm that was featured in the article. I had just recently heard about this farm so it was interesting to read a little more about their operation and decisions. Ryan and Kristine Jepsen raise beef, pork, chicken, and veal on a certified organic farm in Northeast Iowa. They also recently began a rotational grazing system on their farm and were able to use a cost-sharing program to get it up and running.

This is all great news and I am so glad that it is being reported on. But, I can’t help but dwell on one little thing as I digest this article.

Jill Beebout and Sean Skeehan moved to Iowa three years ago (from Houston) to start Blue Gate Farm. And, although Ryan Jepsen had attended Luther College in Iowa they came from Idaho to start Grass Run Farm. That hit me in the head like a ton of bricks! Why are all of the creative farmers coming into Iowa to begin their farms? Or more importantly, why aren’t more born and raised Iowans being the creative beginning farmers?

I have always thought of Iowa farmers being resourceful, industrious, hard-working, and even creative. But, when it comes to moving to non-traditional ways of farming, and making money, it seems that Iowa farmers are behind. Listen, I’m not saying that this is true in all cases … but, it does seem to be a trend.

Hopefully Iowans will begin to show their creativity … begin to show their work ethic … and begin to change the way they farm and the way the world is fed. I am so thankful for the beginning farmers in Iowa that are thinking outside-of-the-box and being unconventional, but now I think it is time for the locals to catch up and take advantage of the resources they already have.

Lately my father-in-law has been saving his issues of the “Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman” for me. He keeps up with my blog pretty regularly (probably will read this) and thought that some of the articles would be interesting and make good fodder for my blogging. Well, he was right! I enjoy thumbing through them and seeing what is going on in the industrial, conventional, local, worldwide, and even small scale farming worlds. The latest issue that he dropped off had an article about the 2008 outlook for pork farmers that really drew my interest.

The title of the article is, “Pork farmers facing difficult 2008 due to high feed costs; soft market”. I think the title says it all… Recently the Iowa Pork Congress was held in Des Moines and much of the time was spent tying to work out some solutions to the possible coming crisis. This quote from the article wouldn’t give me much hope though: “But based on current analyst forecasts and predictions for 2008, there may not be any good short-term solutions.” And, one analyst, Dr. Steve Meyer, said, “It could actually get worse”.

For many pork farmers the best solution may be just to break even or even have just a small loss. How in the world can we keep propping up a system thats best solutions ever 10-20 years is to, “break even or have a small loss”! The article continues with no real recommendations other than to do your best and feed any stored grain you have. And then just to make everyone feel even better they throw out the possibility of a drought coming to the Midwest this summer. Yep, just a real good time to have hogs.

But, is it all bad news? The prices that they conventional farmers are being paid are heading down and the grain prices are heading up … but, the prices at the store are staying relatively even. There is the good news. For farmers who are not tied to the commodity market they may find a bit of insulation from these drastic ups and downs. Not that the direct marketer will feel the pinch from the growing grain prices, but they have more room to move and hopefully more dedicated customers.

It is amazing reading through these articles. The margins are so razor thin in the commodity and conventional markets that if there is even slight movement one way or another it can literally make or break the year. On the other had a diversified farmer who takes the time to connect and market directly with the consumer can weather some of the storms … it doesn’t mean it is easy, but it does make it more bearable.

So, after reading this article I’m still ready to have some hogs. Now we just need to figure out what works best for us…