Making Your Small Farm Profitable :: Chapter 5 Book Report

**Sorry about the late post today. I have been experiencing some problems with blogger and just realized that my post never made it up! Hopefully we will be back on schedule for our first thing it the morning post tomorrow**

"Weatherproofing Your Farm" is the title of chapter five in Ron Macher's book, "Making Your Small Farm Profitable". While there was plenty of information in this chapter that I have gathered from other sources it did contain a bunch of new thoughts on the subjects of weather and climate. Plus, I think the title alone made me think about the ideas of windbreaks and water in a totally different way. When it gets right down to it you have to realize that your weather and your climate greatly effects how profitable your farm is going to be. With that in mind if you can do little things to, "weatherproof" your farm you may be one step ahead in the game.

The chapter begins with a short overview of the effects of climate on the farm and of the importance of water to the farm. But, Mr. Macher quickly gets to the topic at hand, "altering your farm environment. The discussion begins with a look at shelter. According to the author, and I tend to agree, the best sort of shelter is three-sided, portable, has lots of bedding, and isn't overly tall for the animals using it. For most of the year (including very cold or warm times) animals will do fine without shelter, but in extremely cold and windy weather or possibly on a really hot day shelter does add to their comfort (although a three-sided building wouldn't probably make it warmer on a hot day). Besides a man made shelter tree groves or stands of cedar trees can also make a good shelter when the weather gets rough.

Conserving water is another important way to alter the weather on your farm according to Mr. Macher. Basically there are just a few ways to provide water for your farm ... you can wait for it to rain, you can use irrigation, or you can just save and conserve every drop of water that hits your farm. Waiting for rain and irrigation each have their place on farms across the country, but saving the water that hits the farm is probably the the most sustainable for the small farm. Ponds are one way to save the water that hits your farm. It is important to fence your livestock out of the pond, but ponds can provide water for your livestock through pumping or gravity. Plus, you can stock your pond to provide recreation or another income source. Cover crops also help save water by helping to control water and wind erosion. The cover crop will slow down the water as in runs down the field and give it more time to soak into the ground which always helps later in the season or in dry times. Finally, Mr. Macher talks about timing. When you plant your crops and work the soil is important to water loss. Whenever you have bare soil you are going to lose water through evaporation, so it is important to do these things in the spring when there is plenty of moisture available.

Much of the rest of the chapter discusses windbreaks and their role in creating microclimates on your farm. According to some University research a wind break will have up to a 40% energy savings for your buildings and farm. That kind of savings makes them impossible not to have I think! Plus, windbreaks of trees and bushes provide needed environments for the diversity of your farm. Another interesting concept that Mr. Macher discusses is the use of grain crops as windbreaks. Planting taller crops in strips with shorter crops between those strips will create a wind break that will benefit all the crops. For the small farmer thinking outside of the box like this is something that will increase sustainability and profitability (two very important 'bilities...).

Of course you can also extend your growing season buy using such things as greenhouses, grow lights, plastic covered hoops, cold frames, and so much more. Not everything will help everyone's profitability, but it is important for small farmers to find ways to at least lessen the effects of our climate and temperature. So, take a walk around your land and observe the climate and weather. Are their places that don't get the early frost? Places protected from the wind and weather that would make great calving areas? What does your farm have and need to alter the effects of climate and weather?

Making Your Small Farm Profitable :: Chapter 4 Book Report

Soil quality is one of the most important things for a small scale beginning grass farmer. If you doubt me, then check out the great comment from Kramer in this post, or just browse through any small scale farming book or grazing magazine for a few minutes. You soil is the basis for your forages which makes it the basis for the entire farm (if grass farming is your thing). It is something you should take into consideration when purchasing a farm or planning you farm. So, with all of that in mind I was glad to see a chapter in Ron Macher's book, "Making Your Small Farm Profitable".

Here is some perspective from Mr. Macher on the importance of your soil on the farm, "The foundation of your farm and your most important production tool is a living, healthy soil." With that in mind it is important that you know about your soil type, of which there are over 18,000 varieties in the United States. You can find that information from local agencies in your area, and I suggest that you do because there can even be multiple soil types on your small farm. It is just one of the puzzle pieces of knowledge when it comes to creating and maintaining good soil.

While soil type is important it is most important that you know what your soil contains according to this chapter. Three major soil contents in the US are sandy soils, clay soils, and loam soils. Your sandy soils are are going to be up to 70% sand and drain pretty well because the sand allows the water to pass through. The sandy soils don't contain a lot of nutrients because the water washes them away most of the time. The clay soils will contain at least 35% clay and they aren't very good at draining away water because they are so compacted. Just think of working with clay in art class ... when it was wet it was slimy and sticky and when it was dry it was hard ... that is like clay soils. Loam soils are the best to have in most situations. They contain a mixture of roughly 45% sand, 40% silt, and 15% clay particles which allows them to take some of the best characteristics of the other soils.

Another important aspect of soil management that Ron Macher touches in this chapter is the reality that our soils are full of living things ... and they should be! The living stuff in soils (such as insects, earthworms, bacteria, and fungi) do tasks such as aeration, fertilization, nitrogen conversion (into something that is usable for plants), nitrogen-fixing, and they contribute in decomposition which all helps create better soil. If we desire to increase the quality of our soil we need to cultivate all of these living things in our soil instead of hindering them.

Crop rotation is something that I have touched on in other posts, but this chapter includes a good overview of the idea and some of the advantages. Ron Macher also throws out a few different 5-year rotation ideas. I think this idea of a crop rotation really fits well with Gene Logsdon's idea of "cottage" farmers. Adding crops to the farm does add the need for more equipment, but it also adds a bit of diversity and provides the ability to be more self-sufficient in your farming ventures. It is something I think our family is going to look into, especially as we begin adding more poultry and pork.

Of course what conversation about soil quality would be complete without a short mention of the numerous benefits of rotational livestock grazing. Management Intensive Grazing or Ultra High Stock Density Grazing are all about creating quality soil and quality forages.

It is evident that Ron Macher knows his stuff, and while there is a lot of basic information that I find in this book that is covered in similar books I think his specific guiding principles that he mentions in each chapter really give the reader something to think about and process.