More on Agritourism

While I was checking various blogs on Sunday evening (something that I love to do from time to time) I came across an interesting post on the "Living Off Grid" blog about agritourism. This caught my attention because it is something that we have thought about in the past (for a future project). My thinking was that it would be a great way to connect my love for interacting with people to my love of the farm and sharing it with others. So, I decided this was a post that I needed to read...

The post, titled "Using Agritourism to Finance Your Life in the Country", shares some nice links and few examples of people that are already doing it. Of course as you can see from the title the main thrust of the post is to share another way for people to get onto some land in the country (instead of waiting for retirement).

In our case it wouldn't so much be a "financial center-piece" for the farm as much as it would be another tool in the business and marketing plan (by the way, I see this as a LONG way down the road kind of thing). One of my passions is sharing the simple and quite beauty of God's creation with other people. We live in a world that is running too fast and I strongly believe it is important that we take time to get outside and away from all the things we feel we need to be "entertained". I think agritourism would be a great extension of my passion.

And, there is another angle ... it would be a great tool to get people interested in having a connection with their food. Obviously if someone wanted to take a vacation at a farm they would have a desire to get to know farm life and would be open to seeing what goes into bring food to the table. I guess you always have to be marketing...

Anyways, check out the post and let me know what you think of the whole agritourism scene. Is there anything like that around you? Have you ever been to an agritourist farm?

Passive Income on the Farm

There was a short article in the March, 2008 issue of "The Stockman Grassfarmer" on passive income for the farm or the ranch. The article relates some of the experience of Gregg Simonds who has gained a reputation for turning around ranches that were losing money. The main reason for the passive income according to Mr. Simonds is because, "Passive income combats commodity volatility." Of course the main implications of the article are for ranches or larger farms and I small diverse farms are really planning to be part of the commodity market, but there is something that can be taken away from this.

Some of the passive income sources that Mr. Simonds used were gravel mining royalties (not going to happen on a 40 acre parcel) and cell phone towers (don't really want to look at that, and I doubt anyone wants to build one in the boonies). But, the main point of the article is about leased hunting. According to the article in areas like, "Texas, deer hunting leases can bring as much as $7 to $17 an acre and quail $12 to $20 an acre." In my part of Iowa some of those deer prices may even be higher because we are the home to a few world record bucks.

Mr. Simonds also goes on to say, "On many ranches, wildlife should actually be the centerpiece enterprise and cattle should be seen as a way to enhance the range for wildlife." Pretty interesting statement there, but again not very applicable to a 40 to 200 acre farm in Iowa. I the flip side there are a few hunting "ranches" in Iowa that are around 200 acres and up that focus on deer and pheasant with farming on the side.

Even though hunting, cell phone towers, or mineral rights aren't really opportunities I will be able to pursue on our farm I do like the idea of passive income, or more specifically non-animal/crop related income that is year round. I think one path towards having a successful sustainable small scale farm is finding ways to have income all year long, not just in the growing months or when you send animals to the butcher.

Some people obtain this year-round income stream by selling animals by the cut and finishing at different times of the year so they can have a supply of meat on hand. Others have added agri-tourism components to the farm that while they are somewhat seasonal do add year-round cash flow. On thing that I have considered if we did go the route of agri-tourism or something along the lines of a bed and breakfast is to work out lease deals with surrounding land owners. That would allow more land for things like hunting or wildlife watching. It would also help provide passive income for those farmers/land owners.

I believe some sort of year-round or passive income is an important part of a diversified farm. Joel Salatin may be a perfect example of this. While I do know that he could "make it" without any of his book writing or public speaking, I also know that it provides some year-round income and more diversification on the farm. Hmmm... maybe I need to write a book also ... Let's see, I could write about ... Oh, nevermind! I think I'll stick with something else. I have to many grammatical errors and to short of an attention span to write a book!

How Much Land Do You Need?

The question of how much land is needed to farm/hobby farm/homestead came up in a post on the Homesteading Today forums came up this week. At the end of the original post (click here to read the thread) the poster asked, "How many acres would it take you to totally support your family with today's economy in mind?" That is an interesting question and brought out some good answers on the post that you should read. But, it also got me thinking about land, farming, and sustainability.

One of the first things that popped into my mind is what exactly are you planning on "farming". If you want to run a cow/calf herd and a cow/calf herd only then you are going to need a quite a bit of land. But, if you are going to have a market garden, some cut flowers, and a couple of berry patches you can probably make a living on something like fifteen acres. And, if you add value by making jams, selling flower arrangements, or something along those lines then you can add even more to your profit.

But, I'm not much of a vegetable eater so I would have hard time running a market garden. I wouldn't know what is best, what tastes best, or even have a strong passion for what I'm doing. That made me think about how much land I would need to have a diverse operation that includes livestock, a small garden, berries, and maybe even some agri-tourism.

Of course it would really depend on the quality of land and soil in your area, but I live in the rather fertile soil of the Midwest so we will just stick with that as a basis. I'm thinking that I could sustain my family on 160 acres or maybe 120 acres if around 80 to 100 acres are pasture or tillable ground. We could use the woodlot to heat our house and do some selective harvesting of the best trees. On 80 acres of pasture I think we could raise a nice Dexter herd of at least 30 cows, a flock of sheep as big as 50 ewes, any number of heritage hogs running on the edges of the pasture and woodlot, heritage turkeys and pastured poultry following the cows and sheep, and of course some laying hens. I think we would be able to make enough hay off that number of acres to sustain the farm through the winter. If you add in some value added stuff like berries or a small garden I think you can make it work.

Now, that all sounds well and good except for one thing. I couldn't even come close to affording 120 or 160 acres of land in Iowa! So, let's tone it down a little and see what is possible...

What if a person had 40 acres (a common size of section in Iowa). If you had an acreage that size I would think about 15 acres would be a good size for the wood lot because one big piece of sustainability is the ability to heat your house instead of relying on the gas man or electrical company. So, that would leave you with 25 acres of pasture or tillable land. That doesn't seem like very much, but let us think about what we could do with it. Possibly you could run a herd of 10 to 15 Dexter cows, 20 or so ewes, a smaller flock of heritage turkey, pastured laying hens and meat birds following the livestock, you still would have room for pigs in the woodlot and on the edges. Making hay becomes an issue, but I think you could get close to enough if you had the right type of pastures (it may take some seeding and pasture management). I think this would be a great size of place to have some sort of agri-tourism and on farm marketing of berries. You could even add value by selling meat by the cut instead of on the half or whole. A lot of value adding would have to be done, but it may be possible.

Now, here are the wild cards. First of all, I'm assuming the use of management intensive grazing in all of these scenarios, and possibly even ultra high stock density grazing. Secondly, one of the biggest keys to a sustainable farm is that you are using your farm to provide as much food for your family as possible. What is the point of raising food and having the land to raise food if you aren't eating it yourself? But, that is what many modern farms are doing!

What do you think? How much land do you need to sustain a family in todays world?

As an extra . . .
In no particular order here are my 10 favorite books that help guide farming thoughts... for the moment. I have also included links for each book if you are interested in purchasing them. These links are affiliate links, so if you are interested in one of the books and enjoy the show it does support the show a little.

• You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise by Joel Salatin (The very first farming book that I read ... and I've since read it more than once) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about Joel Salatin

• All Flesh is Grass: Pleasures and Promises of Pasture Farming by Gene Logsdon (A passionate call to pasture based agriculture) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "All Flesh is Grass"

• The Contrary Farmer by Gene Logsdon (The yeoman farmer does not have to be a thing of the past) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about Gene Logsdon

• The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture by Wendell Berry (A great book for the person interested in the "culture" of agriculture) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about Wendell Berry

• The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (Maybe controversial depending on your views, but I did take a lot away from it) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "The Omnivore's Dilemma"

• Making Your Small Farm Profitable by Ron Macher (The nuts and bolts of beginning a farm) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "Making Your Small Farm Profitable"

• Comeback Farms by Greg Judy (One book that I wish I would have read before I began farming) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "Comeback Farms"

• Dirt Hog by Kelly Klober (Lots of knowledge ... maybe read this one after the next one on the list) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "Dirt Hog"

• Small-Scale Pig Raising by Dirk Van Loon (Recommended by Walter Jeffries of Sugar Mountain Farm, that is enough of a reason to read it if you ask me) -The Beginning Farmer blogs about "Small-Scale Pig Raising"

• A Bountiful Harvest: The Midwestern Farm Photographs of Pete Wettach, 1925-1965 by Leslie A. Loveless (A book that I pick up when I need to be encouraged in my farming ventures)

It's Time to Think Outside the Box

Yesterday I mentioned in my post, almost in passing, the importance of "thinking outside of the box". Well, it is fitting that I did because this afternoon I was checking out the New Farm front page again and I stumbled across this ARTICLE titled, "On the Plains, there’s room outside the box" by Pete Letheby. It is a short little OP/ED article that gives a short summary of what the Switzer family from Nebraska has done.

When Adam Switzer returned to the family ranch they thought that the conventional cattle ranching of the area wouldn't pay the bills like in the past. Long story short, they looked at their land and tried to think of ways that they could use it to work for them. While they still run a cattle operation on their ranch they have built added an extra source of income ... a source that has become their largest. What started out as a couple of cabins has turned into 70 lodging units that is often full. They realized that they had more than just acres of range for cattle, they also had things that others would come and enjoy. They had prairie chickens (people like to watch them), they had spring-fed streams for canoing, they had wide open spaces for horse riding, and they had hunting opportunities. They thought out of the box ... beyond what their neighbors were doing.

So, what other "outside of the box" opportunities are there out there for farmers to boost their income. Agri-tourism is something that has been thrown out there a lot, but there can only be so many B&B's on the farm ... hunting places are starting to pop up around our area, but they don't always mesh with a livestock operation if you have limited amounts of land ... grassfed beef/pork/poultry is something that is growing and I see that as a great thing ... I think that capitalizing on new ideas is going to be the key of successful small-scale farmers in the time to come. Yes, grassfed and naturally raised is here to stay, and allowing people to come to the farm and experience where their food comes from is great ... but, what else can we do?

That is one thing that I'm thinking about a lot these days. In any future farming venture we do I would like our pastured animals to be the centerpiece, but we are beginning to think of other ideas. Maybe we could add Christmas trees, not open to the public, but as a bonus opportunity for our customers. Possibly an Amish market ... more than just a farmers market, but a place where multiple Amish gather together to sell their goods. How about becoming a respected breeder of purebred cattle (that is one direction I would like to go)?

There are a lot of "outside the box" ideas out there that are being done and that haven't even been tried yet. It is time to be creative and build on those ideas! Do you have any ideas...?

Conventional Wisdom...

From Wikipedia:
Conventional wisdom (CW) is a term coined by the economist John Kenneth Galbraith in The Affluent Society, used to describe certain ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public.

Conventional wisdom is not necessarily true. Many urban legends, for example, are accepted on the basis of being "conventional wisdom". Conventional wisdom is also often seen as an obstacle to introducing new theories, explanations, and as an obstacle that must be overcome by such revisionism. This is to say, that despite new information to the contrary, conventional wisdom has a property analogous to inertia, a momentum, that opposes the introduction of contrary belief; sometimes to the point of absurd denial of the new information set by persons strongly holding an outdated (conventional wisdom) view.

Sometimes I feel like this is the toughest battle a beginning farmer will face. I realize that it probably is not the case because I really haven't experienced very much, but it is an obstacle that needs to be overcome.

While I have not really grown up on a farm, I did spend my weekends on the farm with my dad as a child and have been surrounded with farmers my entire life. As I begin to take steps towards creating a farm and a farm business I am running smack dab into the brick wall of conventional wisdom. In my search to create a farm that is profitable for my family and that will provide an income that we can live on, I kept coming back to alternative/outside-the-box types of agriculture. You know, things like grass-finishing beef, pastured poultry, agri-tourism, u-pick berries, premium priced meats, etc. I was encouraged about what I have read and the conversations that I have had with people that I have talked with. I have had talked with people who are making it work, I have seen toured farms that are doing it or that are almost there, and I have read many success stories.

Yet, whenever I talk with my family I run straight into the conventional wisdom brick wall, and it is starting to hurt. In not as many words this is the answer, "It works for some people, but that is not going to work here." That just kills me! And, what kills me even more is then people suggest doing conventional farming as the answer.

I need to prove that it will be able to work. I have tried passing along books with hi-lighted sections so people don't have to read the whole thing. I have related experiences I have had farm tours. And, I have passed along articles from and about people that are farming outside of "conventional wisdom". But, that is just regarded as "propaganda"!!!!

I am not broken, but I am frustrated. It is obvious that there are farms out there not making money, yet they aren't willing to try something different. I thought that these alternative farming methods and relational direct marketing were really starting to take hold ... in fact I was worried that I had missed the boat. I guess that not everyone is convinced yet, so maybe there is still room for me.

What do you think?