TBF 018 :: Part Two of an Interview with Luke Gran of Practical Farmers of Iowa, Updates, and a Hard Lesson Learned

If you missed last weeks episode you might want to check it out before listening to this one because it is the first half of my interview with Luke Gran the Next Generation Coordinator with Practical Farmers of Iowa. PFI is an organization that I have been involved with since almost the very beginning of my farming journey and their staff, field days, on-line resources, and "Farminars" have helped me along the way.

In this section of the interview Luke and I talk about everything from the 100 Days, 100 Beginners campaign that is currently running to raise funds to help beginning farmers to balancing the town job with the job on the farm. If you are a beginning farmer (which is someone who has been in charge of farming for less than 10 years) I would encourage you to get connected with PFI and their wealth of information!

You can learn more about Practical Farmers of Iowa or Luke Gran by checking out these links ...

• Practical Farmers of Iowa
• Practical Farmers of Iowa on Facebook
• Table Top Farm (the farm that Luke and his wife are partners of)

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

This weeks "Hard Lesson Learned" is actually a lesson that I didn't exactly live through (although I was a toddler at the time). Last week I had the opportunity to watch "The Farm Crisis" which is a public television documentary aired on my states PBS station. The 1980's farm crisis is piece of recent history that I have grown up hearing about because it was an event that hand a deep and difficult impact on our family. But, this documentary really brought it to life for me ... maybe it is because I have a farm now ... maybe it is because I have a family now ... or maybe because it is just a difficult story to hear. There are many lessons to be learned. More than I might even want to think about, but my encouragement to you is to take about 90 minutes out of your life and watch this. It is an important part of farm history that we would do well to remember.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!

I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... 

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

TBF Show 018 :: Play in a New Window | Right Click to Download

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records) 

TBF 017 :: An Interview with Luke Gran of Practical Farmers of Iowa, Updates, and a Hard Lesson Learned

With the exception of the first episode (because I was excited to finally get The Beginning Farmer Show going) this is probably the episode that I have most looked forward to releasing. Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with Luke Gran of Practical Farmers of Iowa. Mr. Gran is the "Next Generation Coordinator" for PFI and has his hands in organizing a lot of great learning opportunities for beginning and experienced farmers! On todays show we have a wide ranging discussion covering everything from the definition of a beginning farmer to what the most identified needs of beginners are. If you are not familiar with PFI I would suggest you get over to their website today and check out the great information they have available ... whether you live in Iowa or not!

You can learn more about Practical Farmers of Iowa or Luke Gran by checking out these links ...

• Practical Farmers of Iowa
• Practical Farmers of Iowa on Facebook
• Table Top Farm (the farm that Luke and his wife are partners of)

If you have an input on the topic be sure to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five start rating and review (by clicking the link or the image on the right). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! 

I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with The Beginning Farmer and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... 

• Crooked Gap Farm
• Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook
• Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

TBF Show 017 :: Play in a New Window | Right Click to Download

**Special Note :: A few users are experiencing issues downloading the show on iTunes. If you have any experience with podcasts and how they can play nicely with iTunes I would love some suggestions.**

(if you are interested in the music in this episode check out my brother's record label, Historic Records) 

Dick Thompson :: Research Farmer!

"In harnessing land, Iowa farmer preserves it" ... that is the title of an article from a little over three months ago that somehow I missed. If you are like me and missed it too I very highly recommend this article from the Star Tribune about Boone, IA farmer (and Practical Farmers of Iowa founder) Dick Thompson. If you are not familiar with Mr. Thompson let me just give you a brief history ... he is an 81-year-old farmer who does a lot of things differently than his neighbors and he makes a living doing it ... I believe that pretty much sums it up. Really though ... even though I've never met him I do owe him a lot for my own farming journey for they way in which he helped the Practical Farmers of Iowa organization get off the ground.

This little chunk from the article was one of the great takeaways for me :: 

"That's the way my dad farmed in the 1950s and '60s," said Robert Plathe, a corn and soybean farmer west of Mason City. "If I have a market, that makes sense," he said. It would also help revive agricultural communities because farms would be smaller and more families could live off the land. 

But, he pointed out, it's a lot harder, and few people want to farm like that anymore. Animals require daily care, winter and summer. 

"Farmers like their free time in the winter," he said. 

I think the article, and Mr. Thompson, raise some very good points that farmers and farm consumers (everyone) should take some time to think about. So, I think you should check out the article for yourself and I would love to hear what really hit home with you!

Finally ... if you aren't very familiar with the work of Mr. Thompson this link will take you to a great resource that I've actually been making my way through.

Greg Judy in Iowa :: April 21, 2010

What perfect timing! As I'm making my way through Greg Judy's book, "Comeback Farms" (for the second time) ... he is coming to Iowa. On Wednesday, April 21st from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM he will be in Calmar, Iowa at the Northeast Iowa Dairy Center. As you can see from the flyer below he will be covering quite a large number of topics (in a short amount of time) and there will be a lunch. If you are a Practical Farmers of Iowa member this is a free event ($25 if you're not a member).

Even though this event is almost four hours away I plan on attending as much as I can. I have to be back in town by 6:00 PM, so I won't get it all in. Nevertheless, I think it's worth it and I can't wait! If you are in the general area I hope you will join me at the event.

Grassfed Farminar

Last night was the final installment of the Practical Farmers of Iowa "Fishbowl Webinar" series that paired a beginning farmer with an experienced farm. Each presenter (the beginner and the old hand) had some time to share a little bit about their operation (or proposed operation) and then the beginner, along with those viewing the webinar, asked questions. I have watched a few of these after the fact because I haven't been by a high speed connection in the evenings when the happen, but since it dealt with grassfed beef last night I wanted to watch it live. I'm glad I did because there was some good stuff!

You can check out this link to watch the archived webinar (and this one to check out the other topics covered this winter). Let me just say this though if you take the time to watch the archive. The first part is great with Dave the beginning farmer and the last section is great with Doug the experienced grass finishing farmer. But, in the middle there were some technical difficulties that lead to "this guy" filling in and not sounding very intelligent because I'm just a beginning farmer too!

Nevertheless, these farminars/webinars are a great resource and I encourage you to check them out.

Snow Bull and Other Quick Hits ...

Since the temperatures have been slowly coming out of the single digits above and below zero I have been carrying a camera around with me a lot more and I have enjoyed taking many pictures. The above picture is one I took of our bull Sundance the other morning as he was on his way back to the shed from the water tank. It's a morning ritual for the herd (and myself) to water at the tank. I hook up the hose and fill it up while the cows come over and drink. Then I have to unhook and drain the hose ... I'll be glad when I don't have to drain the hose any more!

Anyways, I think he is looking pretty nice in the morning sun. Now ... for the quick hits. This winter the Practical Farmers of Iowa are continuing their "Farminar/Webinar" series with all sorts of great topics that you can get in on. I've been able to catch some of them live, but they also record them and put them up on the website. Here are some links.

#1 :: Next Generation Farminars - This is a series of eight farminars dealing with everything from whole farm planning to financing a farm operation. It was specifically put together for beginning farmers or transition farmers. Check out the link above for the whole series.

#2 :: Winter Farminar Series - The winter series has a variety of topics dealing with soil, vegetables, poultry, and so much more. I've really enjoyed the one on pastured poultry and I'm looking forward to the farminar on grass-fed beef production. Not all of these farminars have taken place yet, so you can check out the link and get in on it live to take full advantage of the presenters knowledge.

#3 :: Niche Pork Webinar - Finally, I've mentioned this one before but I enjoyed these so much I thought I would mention it again! Lots of good information from a variety of niche pork farmers ... in fact I think I'll watch one again soon.

Also, if you are looking for all sorts of other resources check out the Resources Page on the Practical Farmers of Iowa website.

Price Maker or Price Taker?

One of the many wonderful benefits of being a member of the Practical Farmers of Iowa is their quarterly publication. The thing about a member driven organization like PFI is that when it comes time to collect articles for their mailings they can turn directly to the membership and use the practical knowledge of our farmers right here in Iowa. That is the case of an article from the Spring issue that really caught my attention. It is titled, "How to Be a Price Maker v. a Price Taker: Ideas for pricing Meat," and it is written by Ryan and Kristine Jepsen who run Grass Run Farm.

This one really hit me between the eyes because I feel like we have started out in the price taker position because I came into farming with the fear of not being able to sell our product. Despite all the reading I have done about the importance of recognizing that farmers deserve a decent pay for the work they put in I have been scared by the cheap products we see in the grocery store. Over and over I have been reminded that if we are going to do this successfully we are going to have to make a profit, and in order to make a profit we are going to have to make a decent return on our time and inputs.

The main thrust of this short article is that you need to know your stuff. You need to collect as much information and data as possible and use that to set your prices and be willing to share it transparently with your customers. Collect receipts, track the time you spend, know your carcass yields, find out how much you need to gross per animal, and learn what your customers are looking for.

I think this sums it up well:

"We've found it most valuable to communicate these uncertainties to our customers and be transparent about how we make our living. It's not easy for the end client to understand that under our worn plaid shirts and (dusty) jeans, we're farmers, salespeople, inventory managers, truck drivers, graphic/website designers, bookkeepers, business analysts, and family members who routinely take work home."

Good stuff to think about this year!

Can't Miss Field Days

**This post comes a few hours late courtesy of more fence building on the farm. Hopefully we are done for a couple days.**

The 2009 Practical Farmers of Iowa Field Days are up on their website right now and the schedule should be in the mail soon to all the members, but I had to go and check them out. It looks like another great set of events that should be a help to all of those that take the time to attend. I know that I won't be able to make it to all of the field days that I want to attend, but below are the ones that I'm going to try and work into my schedule:

• Getting Started Grass-Feeding Beef (June 1st): This event takes place near Keystone, IA at the Wallace Farm. It is a 160 acre farm that has been converted from commodity crops to a diverse pasture based system. There will also be a woman from ISU talking about the cost of production.
• Making $ense of Meat Marketing (June 22nd): Mike Lorentz of Lorentz meats will be there along with a few other Iowa farmers discussing pricing, distribution, and placement among other things. Hopefully I will be able to make this one!
• Rise and Shine Farm Tour (July 11th): Taking place at the Tjelmeland farm this field day will cover their egg business, transition to organic row crops, and some discussion of prairie reconstruction. The bonus is that it also includes an egg breakfast.
• Strip Tillage, Living Mulches & Pasture Walk (July 29th): On the surface this one might not have as much interest to me because of our farm goals. But, I am interested in the pasture walk and I especially want to attend because the Abels family who is hosting the event attended the first church I worked at!
• Completing the Cycle - Soil Health to Finished Animal (August 21st): This one seems interesting because their will be a pasture walk, a look at cattle mob grazing, and a herd dog demonstration. I know there are people on either side of the herd dog discussion, but it is something I'm interested in learning more about.
• Water, Cattle & Organic Transition (August 29th): At the Grice Family Farms field day it sounds like there will be some interesting stuff to learn about cattle paddock systems and water systems. Plus, I'm always interested to hear about the ideas behind organic transitions.
• High-Density Grazing & Transitioning to Pasture Profitably (September 10th): Holistic management, high-density grazing, transitioning row crops to pasture, grazing recordkeeping, and multi-species grazing. This sounds like a can't miss! Hopefully it works into my schedule.

If you would like to check out all of the field days that are available this year just head of to the PFI website (link above). Hopefully some of you get a chance to get out to one of these great events or at least to a field day near you.

Holistic Herd Care

One of the most interesting presentations I went to at the Practical Farmers of Iowa Annual Conference was the workshop by Will Winter called, "The Art of Raising Drug-Free and Healthy Livestock". Mr. Winters had about three hours with us on Friday afternoon, but I'm thinking thirty hours would have been better for me! He had lots of great information ... some of which I caught and lots that flew over my head while I was digesting other information. I took lots of notes about things to look up later though, and I'm beginning to work my way through them. Here are some of the homeopathic/holistic medicines (I'm not sure what they call them) and other things that he spoke about:

• Rescue Remedy: If you go to this website you will find that Rescue Remedy is like "yoga in a bottle". I'm not sure what exactly that means, but Mr. Winter uses it when he is shipping or working livestock, trying to calm livestock, and even to help lower stress in people. Sometimes these things sound too good to be true, but there was a lot of positive feedback about this one ... maybe I'll check it out.
• Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide: This is one that he recommended for livestock suffering from shipping fever. He said it needs to be the strong stuff (35%), but that you only add 8 ounces to every 1,000 gallons of water. Should be interesting to look into this one a little more.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: I know a lot of different people that add ACV to their livestock water tanks and to their own diets. I'm not exactly sure what it is all about, but there is a book that tells a lot of the story titled, "Folk Medicine". It is also supposed to help lower cholesterol ... do you think it does that for bovine also? :)
• Desert Dyna-Min: One of the commenters mentioned that they keep this one around at all times and Mr. Winter spoke very highly of it. They described it as the bouillon cube of minerals for cattle. We are talking about 2 to 4 ounces per day, but I'm not sure how they feed this ... maybe someone can chime in.
• Hemocel 100: This is a product by Agri-Dynamics (same as Desert Dyna-Min) that he likes to give to sick animals as a rumen starter. The companies website touts this one as a dairy supplement as well.

Of course most of those things are something that you add when there is trouble or to prevent trouble. The biggest thing that I got out of this workshop was that holistic herd care has as much or more to do with preventation as it does with treatment. Mr. Winter spoke a lot about soil health and forage quality being key to a holistic approach to care ... but, that does take time.

I would be interested in hearing anyones thoughts on the ideas of holistic vet care and herd health as it is something that is really starting to interest me.

Saturday at the PFI Conference

Saturday at the Practical Farmers of Iowa Annual Conference was just as great as Friday, but in a different way. Of course because of the snow and the wind I woke up in Marshalltown and didn't have as far to travel to get to the conference, so in a way that was nice. Once I got there I had a great day attending the keynote by Joel Huesby, a session on the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), a great lunch containing all Iowa food, my session on websites and blogging, a great little discussion with other beginning farmers, and finally a cluster group on alfalfa and grass mixes. It was a great day filled with lots of information! So, instead of detailing everything I just thought I would share some of the notes I took and then take time to disect things later.

• Here is the first thing I wrote about the CSP session, "apply through the NRCS". But, after that and lots of questions and discussion from the group I started writing things like this, "this is pretty confusing ... not sure if anyone will ever get it" and this, "there seems to be a disconnect on what is in the 2008 farm bill." That is not to say that it wasn't informational, but rather that things are so confusing that there were many different interpratations represented in the room. It kind of made me dislike governmental bureaucracy a little bit more.
• "EQIP: more interesting than CSP". Water systems ... inside fencing ... frost seeding clover in released CRP ground ... wind breaks ... need to find out about this.
• "Iowa Micro Loan Foundation: not ready yet, but very soon."
• "72 dpi for photos intended for the internet will help dial-up users view your website more easily"
• "Hmm, Kelli Miller had a quote on the 'Grow Your Small Market Farm' display that was about me! I guess I should attend those classes." (By the way, it looks like we will be signing up)

Like I said, those are just some thoughts and quotes from my notes. Even from that sampling I can tell how useful these two days were for me. Besides the notes I made many good contacts and picked up a bunch of great information. The way that I summed up the weekend for my wife describes it best I think ... "I learned a lot this weekend, and I also learned what I need to learn about". Basically, I did pick up a ton of information and then I also jotted down more information about things I wanted to research. At least I should have good blog discussion fodder for a while now!

Day One of PFI Conference Report

Day number one at the PFI Annual Conference ... Great! I gotta say that I really enjoyed my first day at the conference from the workshop to the food and especially the "King Corn" guys. In fact the only down fall for the event so far has been the weather. After getting out of the conference at 9:40 PM I found the snow and wind a bit greater than I expected. I drove a little ways and decided that driving as slow as I was would mean about 2 1/2 hours until I got home. So, I decided to stay in Marshalltown and pony up for a hotel. But, everything else was great.

Here are a few bullet points from the day:

• The workshop I attended led by Will Winter, DVM was great. I ended up taking a few pages of notes ... most of which I didn't completely understand. But, the reason I wrote down all those notes was so I could go home and do a little more research. Mr. Winter is a Holistic Veterinarian who only works with natural remedies and of course focuses on prevention more than anything. I wrote down words like: Desert Dyna-Min, Hemocel 100, Rescue Remedy, Selenium, and so much more. I feel like I have the beginning of an understanding!
• There are a lot of interesting vendors and what not in the Exibition Hall. I'm kind of shy when it comes to going up to people I don't know, but I have had some good conversation in there and collected some good information. Hopefully I'll have some more to write about from what I looked at there.
• The food is good! Local chili, local cornbread, local ice cream, local milk ... what is there not to like. I can't wait for lunch today.
• I have recognized a few faces that I have seen around before at things like auctions and field days. It is great to know that there are others out there who are and are willing to think differently about farming.
• The highlight of the day without a doubt though was the "King Corn" guys (specifically Aaron and Curt). If you have been following the blog for a long time you might remember that Aaron found my post and started interacting. He had a lot of great stuff to say and really opened my eyes to what the film was about and the possibilities. I had hoped to met him soon after that, but our paths never crossed because of one thing or another. Well, we finally got to meet! And I'm happy that he remembered me ... honestly I never would have expected him to. I had a good conversation with him and also was introduced to Curt. One more cool thing ... it seems that Aaron has opened a grocery store in the Brox that sells food "that you know where it came from". Check out the website for Urban Rustic.

Gettin' Me Some Education...

Today I take off for the Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) annual conference in Marshalltown, IA. I'm pretty excited for a couple of reasons. First of all, this will be my first opportunity to attend a the PFI conference and it will also be my first farming conference of any sort. I had hoped to go to quite a few others, but they all landed smack dab in the middle of a youth event. The second reason that I'm excited to attend is that I will have a chance to share some of my thoughts about farm blogging (and I will get to learn more about website design and such). Hopefully I'll be able to share a little bit and encourage others to start blogging about their farm life and work.

But, my little session isn't what I'm most excited for. I am most excited for the different sessions and speakers that I will get to see. I thought it would be fun to share with you all what sessions I'm going to, and then when it is all said and done I'll report back on some of the things I heard, saw, and learned.

On Friday afternoon there are a set of workshops that you can choose from, and this was probably the most difficult choice I had to make when it comes to what I am going to attend. There is one called, "Fledgling Farmers" that features some farmers that started their farms from scratch and a person that helps beginning farmers find land. That sounded pretty interesting, but since we already have the land I thought I didn't want to hear what I should have done (just kidding). Instead I decided to go with the workshop titled, "The Art of Raising Drug-Free and Healthy Livestock". This session will discuss a holistic (from the animals to the soil) approach to herd and flock health and is led by Will Winter who works with Thousand Hills Cattle Company.

The rest of Friday evening features different food and gatherings until 8:00 PM when we get a sneak peak at a new film by the "King Corn" guys. You know I can't wait for that!

Saturday morning will find me attending the keynote and then in the session titled, "The New Conservation Stewardship (Security) Program". Since I have written about this a couple of times on the blog I thought it would be good to get some more information on the program and see if it is something that would fit a farm like ours. It should be pretty interesting.

In the afternoon I'll be working with another farmer on the session called, "Cyber Farmers: Using Websites and Blogs". As I mentioned I'm really looking forward to this ... mostly because I think there will be a lot for me to learn.

After that session there will be some time to meet with other farmers and then a sort of "what the attendees want to know" session where they will tackle some of the topics that people ask about. All in all it sounds like a great two days!

Now all I have to do is make sure I schedule in the time to finish my sermon for Sunday...

Does the Farm Bill Make the Grade?

I realize that the 2008 Farm Bill is kind of old news at this point, but since I didn't spend much time writing about it I thought I would include some tidbits from a recent article in "The Practical Farmers of Iowa" newsletter. They interviewed a few PFI members and asked them to grade the Farm Bill and give some of their thoughts about the positives and negatives. The grades and comments that followed were very interesting. I would love to hear some of your thoughts on the Farm Bill or on the grades and comments given by these Iowa farmers.

The four different farmers gave the bill a "D", "B-", "C-", and another "B-". That averages out to a solid "C" grade ... which does mean that overall it received a decent passing grade. But, it is also obvious that they weren't overly excited about the contents of the bill either. Let's start with the positive comments.

All four of the respondents were pleased with the changes to the Conservation Stewardship Program, which I admit is a program that I know very little about (check out the link to read more). Also, it seems like they were happy with some of the changes in the beginning farmer supports. I for one am going to look into some of those changes and see if there are any new benefits for us. Finally, a couple of the mentioned the positives of the growing "organic" segment of the bill.

The dislike portion of their responses were very interesting. They were interesting because not everyone had a huge list of dislikes, and in some cases had more positive to say than negative. But, it was also very interesting (and telling) that all four of them listed the same thing as one of their dislikes. Care to guess what that was...?

"(Dislike) The continued high subsidies for unsustainable ag production. (How will it impact your farm) The high subsidies for corn and soybeans will mean a continuation of commodity farming for most of my operation - I have to go were the profits are."

"It is frustrating that Congress again failed to pass commodity payment limitation reform in this Farm Bill."

"As far as commodity programs, they failed to put limits on payments."

"The lack of reform in the commodity subsidy program was discouraging."

I think it says a lot that these farmers (which come from slightly different backgrounds/viewpoints) all pointed to the lack of change in commodity subsidies as one of the major downfalls in this bill. I also think the first quote above says a lot about our agricultural industry. I'm not quite sure where I would grade the 2008 Farm Bill, but I suppose I would call it average ... for now.

Overwhelming

Today was a pretty overwhelming day in more ways than one. It was overwhelming because I was trying to squeeze a lot of work into the day and we had something pop up that I needed to handle. But, the cool reason that it was overwhelming is because I was able to attend a Practical Farmers of Iowa Field Day featuring Gearld Fry! I only had two regrets from the field day. First of all I regret that I wasn't able to stay the entire time (I know I missed out on a lot!). And secondly, I regret that I wasn't intelligent enough to take it all in...

Although I was only there for two hours I could tell that Mr. Fry knew what he was talking about and I that I didn't know nearly enough. He spent some time talking in the barn and then we went out to the corral where he was evaluating come cows and eventually bulls. I was only able to be there while he evaluated two cows, but it was pretty interesting. Once I have some free time I know that I'm going read and re-read all of the articles on his website ... I was that impressed!

While I can't do it all justice and can't remember half of what he said (it was very overwhelming), let me just throw out a few bullet points from the day:

• If you aren't line breeding you aren't doing the best that you can do. This is a pretty a pretty bold statement and it did prompt a few questions, but Mr. Fry was pretty strong in his beliefs ... I can't even begin expound on this idea, but it was very interesting.
• Butterfat has a huge influence in meat tenderness. And a bald udder is an indicator of high butterfat content. Oh, and there were a couple of questions about genetic testing for tenderness. Mr. Fry said that it was good research, but also said he had no reason to give people money to do testing that he could do by looking.
• There is a dime sized spot of hair on the back of a cow near the front shoulders that can indicate whether or not a cow is pregnant.
• From about August through December (I think I got that right) is when a cows body most wants to get pregnant (you get the idea).
• You gotta get your bulls from your own herd, and I think this is where he mentioned the importance of a paternal herd ... I think.
• Bulls need to look masculine and cows need to look feminine.
• Finally, this is the one I liked the best. We need to be studying what our forefathers of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries wrote about cattle, because they had it down!

There is just a little bit of what I heard/learned today, but I would suggest that you check out Mr. Fry anytime you have the chance ... oh, and don't leave early :(

Breaking the Conventional Mold in Crop Rotation

One of the many great benefits of being a member of the Practical Farmers of Iowa is that they have their own e-mail List-serv. The e-mail list has hooked me up with potential customers, been a good place to go to when I'm looking for help, and has also been a good source of great research. That was especially true last week when an e-mail came through with a PDF of an article titled, "Benefits and barriers to perennial forage crops in Iowa corn and soybean rotations". I suppose it is more of a research paper than an article, but it was great nonetheless.

I haven't had time to tackle all of it yet, but I will share a couple quotes and thoughts from the introduction:

• Basically, things changed around WWII (which has been discussed here a lot). Before that most Iowa farms were very diversified in crops and livestock and had multi-crop rotations in place. Those rotations included forages, something not seen these days.
• Between 1950 and 2004 corn and soybean yields have just about quadrupled. Way to go crop specialists! I assume that means that the amount of money the farmers are making is also increasing...
• But, that is not the case. First of all the number of Iowa farms during that same time period has dropped by more than 50% and the net income per farm (after inflation adjustment) was actually 9% lower in 2001 than it was in 1960. I'm not sure if that changes with $7.50 corn or not, but I'm guessing it doesn't because all the inputs have also jumped sky high.

It will be interesting to make my way through this paper as they explore the environmental and financial impacts and benefits of switching back to an intensive crop/livestock rotation. They are also going to look at socio-political things that prevent farmers from making the change (I'm really looking forward to that section!).

Planning My Summer Schedule

Even though I am going to be plenty busy on the farm this summer I am already beginning to plan my summer out around learning opportunities. When it comes to learning I am still reading as much as I can (not as much as in the winter), working with other farmers when I have a chance, and of course the discussion on this blog is a huge plus! But, because of the Practical Farmers of Iowa I will have quite a few opportunities this summer and fall to get out and see what other farmers are doing. Here are a few of the over 30 Field Days they will be a part of this year. Although I doubt I will be able to make it to every single one these are the top on my list.

• Grass-Based Organic Dairy Systems (June 21): This will begin at Radiance Dairy which is a 236-acre, 80-cow, grass-based, and certified organic dairy. They process and sell on farm which is pretty cool. I would like to attend because they will be talking about different watering systems and fly control among other things.
• Grass-Finishing, MOB Grazing, Next Generation (July 16): This one takes place up in Northeast Iowa so it may be more difficult to make it, but I would love to hear what they have to say about the topics of Holistic Management, MOB Grazing, and Generational Family Succession Planning. This event takes place at Herman's Heartland Farm.
• Live Animal Evaluation (July 23): I cannot miss this one! It is only 10 or 15 miles away and will feature Gearld Fry talking about linear measuring and cattle genetics. This event will be at the DeCook ranch which also hosted a pasture walk last year that I attended. I'm really looking forward to this field day.
• Grass-Fed Field Day (August 13): Water systems, grazing summer annuals, handling livestock, and more are some of the topics that will be covered at this PFI event. The farm where the event will take place sells finished beef to Thousand Hills Cattle Company and direct to customers. Should be a informational day.
• Marketing Grass-Fed Beef (August 19): This is probably another one that I shouldn't miss, and it isn't too far away. A couple of interesting topics on this day will be a discussion of deworming with copper sulfate and sorghum-sudangrass for finishing cattle ... along with marketing of course.
• CRP to Grazing (August 21): Since this is what I'm doing (even though I will be started by the time this day comes around) I would love to check out what they do. It is close by and will be covering some of the ins and outs using cost share to put in fencing and water systems.
• Monitoring Cattle Performance (August 27): This one looks interesting because it covers a wide range of topics (not just cattle). They will be talking about grazing summer and winter annuals, multi-species grazing, sheep, and poultry. It would be a nice event to attend.
• Farm Crawl (October 5): I attended this Farm Crawl last year and had a great time learning from farmers in my area. Someday I would love to be a part of this event ... we will just have to see.

You can find all of these events (and more) on the PFI link at the top of this post. I know that I won't be able to get to all of these, but these are the ones that look the most exciting.

Getting Creative ... The Farming Way

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.

Practical Farmers of Iowa

I've had a link to the Practical Farmers of Iowa website over on the links menu on the right for a while now, but I just wanted to point out this great organization. The tag line for their vision statement say, "Healthy Food, Diverse Farms, Vibrant Communities." (check out their entire vision statement by clicking on the quote) The 'Wild Country Ranching' field day I attended earlier this year was supported by the PFI as well as the Farm Crawl that I will be attending on October, 7th. They host field days with a wide range of topics all over the state of Iowa and are a source of so much good on-farm research and information.

The Practical Farmers of Iowa was birthed from the farm crisis that crippled the Midwest in the 1980's. According to their website in the eighties, "Evidence of the negative ecological consequences of current farming practices was mounting; the collapse of commodity prices called into question the economic sustainability of agriculture; and the demise of thousands of farms was draining the vitality of rural communities." The PFI is helping farmers in Iowa connect with each other to share ideas, success, and marketing ideas. I encourage everyone to check them out.

Practical Farmers of Iowa Website