The Beginning Farmer

Make sure you read MissPaige76 linksPart One and Part Two if you haven’t already had a chance. It is great that Kelli of Sugar Creek Farm was so willing to share! Remember if you have any questions go ahead and most them and I will pass them on … oh, and don’t forget to check out their farm blog. Kelli posts lots of great pictures and gives great insight into farming and family life on the farm.

The Beginning Farmer – How are you marketing your farms products and how did you get started with your direct marketing?

Sugar Creek Farm – We started out direct marketing because we had 3 finished steers and only needed 1/2 of one to feed our family. So we sold the remainder “on-the-hoof” to friends and co-workers. From there it just grew a little bit every year – we’d pick up a few new customers and raise a few more animals.

We have a listing on Local Harvest, and use our blog for occasional updates. At the beginning of each year we mail a newsletter to our customers with news from the farm and what will be available when in the coming year. The newsletter includes an order form. Otherwise our advertising is word of mouth.

Once we got chickens we made the leap to selling meat retail here at the farm. There are some hoops to jump through in order to be able to do that – insurance, health department, weights & measures, meat inspectors. The hardest part was figuring out who to talk to. Now that everything is in place it’s no big deal. Having everything in place made it easy to start selling beef & pork retail, and took the pressure off of having to have every head sold on-the-hoof.

This past summer we decided to try selling at Farmers Market. (A couple more hoops to jump through to do that.) I don’t think Matt thought it would amount to anything – he just thought it would get me out of the house a few hours a week 🙂 But in retrospect it may have kept us from giving up this year. It provided cash flow at a time of year when we are usually short and brought us a number of new customers. It will be interesting to see how we do at it next summer, now that we have started to build a name and reputation for ourselves there.

We have one local bulk foods store carrying our beef & pork, Kountry Kupboard in Osage. It’s been a challenge to figure out wholesale versus retail pricing, but overall it’s been a very positive situation for us because it gets our name out to even more people within the community. Some people are more comfortable purchasing there because it’s a Main Street store with set hours. And people feel good about purchasing there because with one purchase they are helping 3 local business – our farm, our local meat locker that does our beef & pork butchering for us, and Kountry Kupboard.

The Beginning Farmer – Which of your products has been the most popular or successful? Why do you think this is?

Sugar Creek Farm – I can’t really say that any one thing is more popular than another, considering we sell out of everything! But I think the one that surprised us the most is chickens. They sell like hotcakes, which was a surprise because the price differential between our chickens and grocery store chickens is wider than it is for our other products. People are amazed at the difference in flavor and texture between our free-range chickens and what you get in most grocery stores.

**Today’s picture is copywritten image by Kelli Miller of Sugar Creek Farm**

**Remember to check back tomorrow for part four**

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If you missed part one of the interview with Kelli from Sugar Creek Farm you can check it out HERE.

The Beginning Farmer – Is the farm your families main income source? Does anybody work off farm? And, how would you characterize family life at Sugar Creek Farm? (I realize this a lot of questions … but, I thought they fit together)

Sugar Creek Farm – Matt works full-time as a lineman for the local utility company. I work at home part-time as a software developer. So the farm at this point is a side business for us, and it has taken us a while to make the transition of it being a hobby to being a business. We wanted to grow the business without taking on debt. So our incomes have been both operating capital and investment for breeding stock and equipment. Our long-term goal would be to grow the farm to the point that it would replace my current part-time job. And down the road for Matt to have something to retire into at age 55.

The farm is definitely a family effort. Our daughter Madeline is 12, daughter Olivia is 10, and son Rafe is 5. Madeline has really found her niche on the farm with the pigs. She loves pigs, and is up at 6 a.m. every day to get them fed and watered before she goes to school – an especially challenging task this time of year, when ice has to be broke out of water troughs with a hammer! She has developed such a work ethic – something we see her carry over into her school work, sports, 4-H, and volunteer activities. At parent/teacher conferences I think every single teacher commented on what a hard worker she is. Olivia’s favorite is bottle calves, but we didn’t have the room to get any this year. A couple years ago she approached us to propose that she get some bottle calves in the spring, take care of them through the summer and sell them in the fall…all in order to prove that she was ready for the responsibility of a horse, and to earn some money with which to purchase one. She did just that and is now the proud owner of Star! Rafe just likes being outdoors and is already showing interest in gardening, and he also likes to help with the meat chickens when we have them.

So even if this farm never becomes a full-time occupation for us, it’s worth it because our kids are getting the experiences we wanted for them. They know where their food comes from and the effort it takes to get it to the table. Even if they don’t end up farming themselves, this knowledge will make them better food consumers as adults. And if they ever need to feed themselves, even if they’re living in a city somewhere, they’ll be able to do that with a garden and a handful of chickens.

The Beginning Farmer – Are there any organizations, conferences, or research materials you used as you got started?

Sugar Creek Farm – We joined Practical Farmers of Iowa and have attended their annual conference the past 2 years. The ATTRA website is a treasure trove of information, as are other farm bloggers.

In 2004 I took the “Grow Your Small Market Farm” class given by Penny Brown Huber. It was a turning point for us in treating the farm as a business.

I still feel like we’re beginners at this! So I still read everything I can get my hands on, bounce ideas off other farmers that are already doing what I want to do, read lots of farming blogs, and attend conferences and workshops. I am always thinking about ways to diversify the farm, so there is always something to learn! We added Muscovy ducks to the farm last year, but so far we’ve not eaten (or sold) any. They just sort of free range about and we have a hard time getting near them. So right now I’m learning about ducks, trying to come up with a plan to actually manage them.

**Today’s picture is copywritten image by Kelli Miller of Sugar Creek Farm**

**Remember to check back tomorrow for part three**

If you have been following the blog for a while you will remember that I recently did a question and answer interview with Tim of Nature’s Harmony Farm (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). I found the interview very interesting and information and I know that others did as well … so, we are going to take another stab at it! This time I have had the pleasure of conducting an interview with Kelli Miller of Sugar Creek Farm in Osage, IA. This was an especially interesting interview because they are from our state and because they have a pretty neat thing started. I will be posting two questions and answers each day this week (Monday – Friday) so make sure you check back each day.

The Beginning Farmer – Kelli, thanks so much for your willingness to tackle this. I’m pretty excited to hear from someone who has been working for a while and who lives in my general area! First of all could you give us a little background on how you came to Sugar Creek Farm? Why did it get started, how did it get started, and when did it get started?

Sugar Creek Farm – We both grew up on farms and always wanted to get back to it on some level. We wanted that experience for our own kids, of stewardship and responsibility for land and animals. In 2001 our oldest daughter was old enough to show a bottle calf at the county fair. My brother thought she ought to do that, so he bought 3 Holstein bottle calves and helped her break one to lead at the fair. After the fair they came to live at our house for the rest of the summer, since we had pasture not being used. That lit the fire under Matt and the next summer we bought 4 of our own Holstein bottle calves. Nevermind that our daughter didn’t want to show one again (though she did show again another year.)

When it came time for vaccinations and castrating, I remember asking Matt if we had to implant them with hormones. I don’t know if I thought it was a law, or what, but he said no we didn’t have to. So we didn’t. When you live in a very rural, traditional, commodity-farming community you have to be able to defend your ideals if you’re doing something “different”. So I started researching and thus began our journey into sustainable agriculture.

At first our only goal was to raise the kind of food we wanted to eat – animals raised on pasture without added hormones or unnecessary antibiotics, and organically grown vegetables. We figured we’d raise what we needed for our family and sell any surplus to cover costs. We started to build a beef breeding stock herd so that we would know how our animals were treated from birth to butchering. A year or so later we added pigs and chickens to our farm.

The Beginning Farmer – What does Sugar Creek Farm consist of (livestock, crops, etc.)? How did you end up with the combination of ventures you have on your farm?

Sugar Creek Farm – We have 12 acres and raise beef, pigs, and meat chickens. Up until this year we also rented 20 acres of hay ground. I think we ended up with those because that’s what we like to eat! These are also the animals we enjoy raising. Matt has experience with sheep & goats and just doesn’t enjoy raising them. Our farm is all in pasture, so we also purchase feed from our local elevator.
We also have a large organic vegetable garden but at this point it’s just for our own family, not a business venture. Extra’s are shared with friends and neighbors. But if one of our kids ever wants to try a vegetable business I’d sure let them!

**Today’s picture is copywritten image by Kelli Miller of Sugar Creek Farm**

**Remember to check back tomorrow for part two**

As I mentioned yesterday I needed to make a trip down to the farm yesterday to do a couple of things for my dad. I was more than excited to have a reason to go down, even if it meant getting behind on my work, because it had been so long since I had a chance to see the herd. As you can see from this picture there is plenty of snow in Southern Iowa right now and even though we had grass stockpiled it is under snow and ice at the moment. So, it seems they spend much of their time up in the front lot where we feed them and where they have water.

Speaking of water … along with lots of snow it has been really cold lately and we don’t have any tank heaters in the cattle pen. So, when I arrived the tanks were solid ice from top to bottom (guess you can’t always trust the Amish to do your chores the way you would do them). I spent a while hacking out the ice with an axe, and constantly pushing my cows out of the way so I had room to swing the axe! They were rather friendly today and I was able to get my hands all over them. As you can see from the picture they were also rather thirsty.

The picture on the left is of one of our heifers, Billie of K&K. She came to us from the Anderson farm in Missouri and I think she is shaping up rather nicely under that heavy winter coat. This coming year she will be bred to our incoming herd sire, SGF SANT Hershey, who is also dun. Of course we are hoping that she will throw us a nice little dun heifer calf in 2009, but we will just have to wait and see!

Now, this last picture is … well, it is of my confusion bull! I call him that because I’m just not sure what to do with this little guy. He is around six or seven months right now and is smaller than everyone else that is younger than him. Because of his lineage there is a possibility that he carries the chondrodysplasia gene, which isn’t the best thing if you would like to use him as a sie. So, he will probably end up in someone’s freezer. Unless… someone has some non-carrier cows and they would like to use him to bring down their size? I think he has a good look to him for his size and age, but he is just so darn small. Either way, I’m not sure he will be ready to finish next fall!

So, there are some shots of the Stoneyfield herd in the snow. I was very pleased with the way the are looking this winter and I can’t wait to see them in the coming spring!

Make sure you check out the blog on Monday because I’m having another farmer question and answer series…

Today I had to make the drive down to the family farm to do a couple things for my dad and check out the cows (more on the cows tomorrow). As part of the trip I picked up their mail, because they are out of town, and started looking through an issue of the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman. In the middle of the front page is a big headline, “Iowa farmland values increasing at record pace.” Good news for some … not so good news for a beginning farmer!

Here are some farmland average prices from around the state. In Marion county, where I live and would like to buy, the average price for acre is $3,555 which is an increase of 21.5% over last year. Up in Black Hawk county, where I’m from originally, land is a whopping $5,083 per acre (average). That Black Hawk county number is up 28.6%. The highest priced farmland in the state … Sioux county at $5,204 per acre! Just let these numbers sink in:

• The average increase of $704 per acre is the highest in the 66-year history of the survey.
• The state average is $3,908 per acre, 22% more than last year.
• Since 2000 Iowa’s average acre of land has increased by $2,051.
• There are 99 counties in Iowa … in 2007 51 of those counties had average land prices between $4,000 and $5,000.

Do you want to know why these land prices are going up at such drastic rates? In one word … CORN! Iowa has seen it’s share of land price spikes … and large falls (the farm crisis of the 80’s), but this seems to be different. Most analysts tell us that the current increases are not tied to an increase in farm debt like in the 70’s and 80’s. Also, those who study these things believe we haven’t hit the top yet!

So, what does this mean? As I mentioned earlier this is a good thing for those that are selling land I guess, but for a guy like me that would like to buy some land in the future it is sobering news to say the least.

As I read the article I was reminded of all the advice I had read in books over the past year. Joel Salatin, Allan Nation, Gene Logsdon, and others always tell you to rent land if you can’t buy land to get your start … that advice has never been more correct at a time like this … except for one thing. One thing that they weren’t able to factor in because their books were written years ago is that rent prices are on the rise. Mike Duffy, who works for the ISU Extension, expects cash rent prices to go up 25% in the coming year.

So, what is a beginning farmer to do … especially if they don’t want to raise corn in a corn crazy state? Well, I’ll just keep on doing what we are doing now and see how the chips fall. The increasing land prices will make it more difficult for young beginning farmers to get a start, but I don’t think it is the end all. In reality, I can hope for the bubble to burst or for a market correction, but I’m not sure if that will happen anytime soon!

Just some sobering news for the day … but, to keep things in perspective I’m sure that land has crazy prices elsewhere too. If you know what average land prices are for farmland in your area let us know!

Over the last week I have seen blog posts on the various blogs that I read about a new short movie out called the “Story of Stuff”. Tim over at Nature’s Harmony Farm blogged about just the other day and I finally had a chance to watch it yesterday. I’m not going to comment on the first ten minutes of the movie. It deals with production, pollution, the theory of why we have disposable stuff, and all those kinds of things. That isn’t a battle that I want to fight, or something I want to promote on this blog which is about beginning farming … but, at the 10 minute and 12 second mark I think it gets pretty interesting. In fact I believe it speaks to the core of what makes a small-scale farm work … and work full-time.

So, if you want you can watch the entire thing … or you can download by clicking on THIS LINK and find the download button (then start watching at the 10:12 mark … or you can go straight to the “Story of Stuff” website and wait for the movie to load at the top of the page, then click the chapter marker for “consumption”. The “consumption section lasts for about five minutes, but I won’t stop you from watching the rest…

Okay, that is how you get to the movie … now, what does it have to do with farming? I believe one of the biggest road blocks to becoming a full-time small-scale farmer is consumerism. And, that one of the things that will make beginning small-scale farmers succeed is for people to jump off the consumerism bandwagon and slow their lives down.

Consumerism is the exact opposite of living the small farm life. Small-scale family farming is not about having the biggest green or red tractor, the largest truck, the whitest fences, the biggest house, the most involved in extra-curricular activities kids, or about keeping up with the Jones’. Small-scale family farming is about interacting with your family, with your livestock, with your crops, with your consumers/customers, and with your family some more. One image I loved from the movie was their illustration of the consumerism circle … we watch TV find that we need more stuff to fit in, so we go to the store and buy more stuff to fit in, but since we bought more stuff we need more money … after spending the money we need more so we go to work, get tired from working so much, come home and turn on the TV … and then the cycle repeats! If I am going to live out my faith, spend time with my family, and become a small-scale full-time farmer I’m going to have to opt out of this broken consumerism cycle. It is dangerous, it is painful, it is un-Biblical, and it is just plan wrong! Yep, consumerism is the opposite of the small farm life … small farmers need to produce things that last (I understand that food goes away, but quality sustainable food does have lasting benefits), they need to produce stuff that is quality, and they need to produce stuff that contributes to their surrounding community.

Also, as I mentioned, I think as people jump off this consumerism bandwagon they will be seeking out these small-scale family farms to purchase their food from. And I see people jumping off the consumerism bandwagon left and right. Not just back to the land hippies (no offense if that describes you) or environmental wackos (again, no offense intended), but also conservative Bible believing suburban people who work as teachers, lawyers, church employees, business people, and so much more. There is a counter-culture out there when it comes to consumerism … and it is growing. As a small-scale beginning farmer I think it is important to catch these people as they try to opt-out of the cultural norm and connect them to their food and the countryside that surrounds them. In fact I would say that this short section of the “Story of Stuff” movie really energized me in our journey towards farming.

Like I said, watch the whole thing if you would like and take anything away from it that you want. Agree with it, disagree with it, yell at it! I don’t really care, but I was most interested in the section on consumerism … or maybe we should call it greed (which is another word that doesn’t fit with small-scale family farming).

**The website doesn’t appear to be working this morning … I’ll put up the links that I can and you can just check back throughout the day. Sorry about that, but I do hope you check it out.**

Earlier I gave you a little preview of the first chapter in Ron Macher’s book “Making Your Small Farm Profitable” on this post. Today I’m going to give my full on chapter book report. As I mentioned in another post I have heard mixed reviews of this book, but I must admit that after reading the first chapter and browsing through the table of contents I’m pretty interested to see what I will find.

The title of chapter one is, “Deciding to Farm”. On one had I have already “decided” to farm, but on the other hand it is never to late to change my mind! Really, this is a good overview of some things you need to think about as you make the decision to farm, and why people want to farm.

One interesting nugget from this chapter is a report on why people chose to farm. In the 1950’s the top three reasons were: 1.) I like to work outdoors; 2.) It’s a good place to raise my children; 3.) I’ll always have a place to life and food to eat (Mr. Macher points out that isn’t true if you have a mortgage). At the time the 14th of the 15 answers provided by most farmers was because, “it provides a good income”. Fast forward about 40 years and you will find that the first three answers were similar as the 1950’s survey because they were all about lifestyle, but you will also find that a “good income” moved up to seventh place. Mr. Macher writes that income should be your number one goal … but probably that isn’t why you farm.

The chapter also gives some definitions from the USDA, IRS, and the author himself as to what a “small farm” really is. According to the definitions small farms make up 79% of all the farms in the US today, so small farmers are not alone. In fact small farm numbers are one the rise (possibly because big farmers are having to become small farmers due to the rising costs of farming?). Mr. Macher also throws out some definitions for “family farms” and “sustainable agriculture”. I think almost everyone has different view points on these terms … so, I’m not even going to touch this!

Another interesting section of the chapter was the pros and cons of full-time versus part-time farming. Let me sum it up for you… starting out as a full-time farmer (no off farm job) is really hard and starting out as a part-time farmer gives you a little bit of both. Jumping in whole hog to full-time farming is especially difficult (put totally possible) if you don’t have much experience or capital. And, I would say that having capital is really the key because you need money to begin things, pay for mistakes, and buy food for yourself as you get things going. If I had capital I would be all over it … But, there is something to be said for part-time farming. In the words of the author you can, “have your cake and eat it too.” Of course when you are part-time farming you often have to tailor your farming schedule around your “town job” schedule. Oh … so much to think about!

Overall, I think the best thing about this chapter is that it makes you think. I have been doing a lot of reading lately about the process of farming. Things like raising livestock, managing pastures, choosing forages, and raising crops are really good to help get a sense of the practical knowledge needed, but really it is good to take a reality check from time to time and take off the romantic farming glasses. Mr. Macher throws out some good things to think about without trying to spell out a step-by-step process. It is important that beginning farmers work things out for their specific passions, desires, and reality … I think this book will be a good reality check.

Remember to check back regularly as I will be posting a book report for each chapter!

I’ve never been that much into resolutions. Maybe it is just because they seem so cliche or because most people end up breaking their resolutions, whatever the reason is I’ve haven’t ever been one to make resolutions. Goals on the other hand… I’m all about goals (don’t ask what the difference is). I believe it is important to have a vision of where you want to be and how you want to get there. I have goals in my personal life, in my ministry, and now I have a few farming related goals … of course these goals are subject to change depending on how the year develops.

1. Read six farming related books … Knowledge is power, or at least I heard that once. I realize that doing is the key, but I also know that learning is important. I already have three books ready to start reading (see this post) and then I would like to pick out a few more that provide various viewpoints. Along with the reading I will continue to blog about each chapter … it helps me retain the information and hopefully provides information to others that is helpful.
2. Begin rotational grazing … It is important to set goals that make you stretch, but that are also obtainable. I’m not sure if we will be living on farm with our cattle this coming year so we probably won’t be ready to do a management intensive grazing system, but we can begin rotating every few days. To begin a rotational system we will have to work on permanent fencing and begin experimenting with the temporary electric fencing.
3. Add another dimension to the Stoneyfield livestock operation … We are hoping that we can diversify a bit this coming year. As I have mentioned lately we have been thinking about sheep and hogs. Who knows maybe we will end up with both, but I know that I want to expand somehow. Sheep sounds good because of their pasture management benefits, but pigs sound good because pork is tasty! In order to do this we’ll need to do some more research, building, and fencing. Also, we need to think about whether or not we are going to raise grade animals or possibly heritage breeds
4. Expand our backyard laying operation … This past year has been a good year of learning with our backyard movable laying hens. I think I would like to redesign our pen this year (make it lighter and slightly larger) and add one or two more hens. Also, we are going to get new layers this year so hopefully we can experiment with a couple different breeds and begin selling a dozen or two eggs. Also, we are going to continue trying out different feeds.
5. Build a Stoneyfield website and expand the blog … We are going to begin having animals ready to be marketed in the coming year and plenty more in the years to come so I would like to continue to build a presence on the web. This will not be a main marketing tool (beef and eggs will be sold local), but it will help with our purebred Dexters. Also, I think it can be a great communication devise for potential customers and those interested in learning. As I began my quest to become a farming I specifically started looking for accounts of people who went through what I wanted to do … I didn’t come by many. So, this blog has become an account for those that would like to see the journey from not farming to farming. Not just day to day activities, but also my research, thoughts, and plans. I hope that it is helpful and that others continue to stumble on and comment. The comments that people have shared since I began blogging regularly have been better than any research I could have done because many of them come from real life experience.

So, those are a few of my 2008 farming goals. I’m sure that I will add more as I have time to think about it and as the year unfolds, but these are a good starting point. I pray that you have a wonderful day and a blessed 2008!

Well, if you have been following the blog for awhile now you may recognize this picture. It was taken on our trip to Missouri to pick up some Dexters. On that trip we lost a bearing (which we fixed), but Grandpa’s Trailer has a little more wrong with it this time! The trailer will need two new axles before we take it out on the road!

That is a pretty big problem … but, it is magnified by the fact that we have a bull to go pick up in Missouri. So, I’m taking a shot in the dark here.

Do you have, or do you know somebody, or do you know somebody that knows somebody that has a livestock trailer for sale? We need a bumper pull trailer in the 12 foot to 14 foot range (I guess we could deal with a 16 footer, but we would like something smaller). Something that can haul two or three Dexters would be right up our alley! As far as height goes … well, something between five feet or six feet on the inside would do, but I would consider something a little taller if the price was right.

I’m sorry to post such a boring want ad today, but this is something that we need right now. So, if you are in Iowa (or Missouri) or you know somebody that is with a trailer for sale just let me know! Oh, I guess a rental might work also…