It's More than Farming...

"Business success or not, Warren pledges to fight to the very end. This, he says, is more than about one individual's business. It's about the individual farmer's right to obtain a better price for a better product. The battle, Warren asserts, is about everything from the future of American liberty and justice, to the health and well being of its people. "This isn't about what we're doing now," he emphasizes. "It's about where we're going. It's about providing better milk and a better future for our children."

The above quote comes from the cover story on the April Issue of "Graze". The article is titled, "Bringing Back That Old-Time Milk Flavor" and tells the story of Warren Taylor and his Snowville Creamery that produces grass-fed milk. Mr. Taylor's plan is an ambitious on that included a brand new milk processing facility and a commitment to what he calls, "Same Day Dairy". Things are off and running now and even though they have not met their sales goals yet you can see from the above quote that he is still serious about the idea.

What this article (and the above quote in particular) really made me think about though is what is our purpose behind what we do. Do we do things because we honestly believe in them and the goals and methods behind them, or do we just do things because that is the way that they are done in our society and we want to keep up with society?

That is a big question in all of my life at the moment and I think it is completely applicable to our farming ventures. Why have I decided to raise grass-fed beef? Why do I want to raise pigs on pasture and farrow in huts and larger pens? What is the point behind all of this direct marketing if I could just go through the markets that are already there?

There are many answers to those questions, but I think Mr. Taylor answers them pretty well in the quote above. It is about my values and goals. And, it is also about the belief that I can be paid a competitive price for the work I do on the farm. But, the main thing I want to remember as we work towards our farming goals is that it is not about me. If it was ... well, then I don't think I should be doing it.

Once-A-Day Milking

Even though I'm mostly interested in "None'ce-A-Day" milking (I don't really want to be a dairy farmer) I read the cover story of the February issue of "Graze" with great interest. The title of the article is, "The economics of once-a-day milking", and it deals with the experiences of veteran dairyman Cliff Hawbaker and his transition not only to once-a-day milking, but also a little bit of no-grain dairying. That is what I love about "Graze" so far ... they go straight to the source and it seems like the articles are just straight forward, "here is what is working and here is what isn't working," kind of stuff.

Like I said, I'm not really interested in running a dairy (or even having a milk cow at this time), but what I can respect and what I actually love to read about is someone who is going against the grain and against conventional wisdom. In a time when there are dairies moving to three-a-day milkings and souped up cows the fact that Mr. Hawbaker is transitioning to a seasonal, grass bassed, and once-a-day dairy farm is really against the grain.

But, from reading the article it doesn't seem that he is doing it because he has a deep desire to have grass only cattle or because he is trying to reach a specialty market. The reason that he has changed and is in the process of changing is because he wants to make better use of his time and resources so that he can make more money! I guess maybe bigger isn't always better. The other thing that Mr. Hawbaker said he liked about the seasonal/once-a-day milking is that he has time for family and his partners have time for family also. That isn't to say that they aren't plenty busy, but rather you can work your schedule a bit more when you only have to milk once.

Of course there were plenty of numbers and figures in the article that didn't make a lot of sense to this non-dairy guy, but between and around all of that there were some great insights on making the transition from conventional dairy to un-conventional dairy and all the while continuing to sell to the conventional market. It hasn't been easy for them and while he bought more land to begin an all new grass based herd he is also transitioning his old herd to the new system.

They have had trouble with dry weather and the lack of organic matter in their soil from the years of conventional farming, but even still he thinks this is the best fit for him and his farm. I love his attitude!

If you want to read a little bit about Mr. Hawbaker and his seasonal/once-a-day dairy farm I did find this online article. Any of you with dairy experience or thoughts want to comment on this?

So There is Money in Farming...

Yesterday I was looking for a new magazine to subscribe to because my subscription to "The Stockman Grassfarmer" had expired (great magazine, but I can only do one at a time so I wanted to try them all out). I just wanted to get a glimpse of what some of the articles were like in the various magazines out there for small scale farmers when I ran across an interesting article from "Graze". The title of the April 2008 article was, "From zero to $300,000 in five years". That caught my attention because I was under the impression that there was no money in farming, especially if you were starting with nothing.

Well, I don't have time to pontificate on the article too much, so I will encourage you to go and check it out. But, before I go I will leave you with a few thoughts of mine after reading through the article one time.

• Even though we bought land I do believe renting is one of the best ways to go if you can make it work for you. The reason we bought was because we were going to build our own house and spend about the same as a couple in our position would on a house in town.
• Having someone to help you get started is a wonderful thing. I haven't had the chance to have a mentor like I would have loved having, but the connections I have made through this blog and field days that I have attended have really been a help in planning.
• "Sweat-Equity" really does work. Just read the article to see what they were able to do.
• Record keeping, record keeping, record keeping! I love how detailed the information is in the article.

I believe this was a very encouraging article. There are plenty of risks to be hand in such a venture, but I think there are risks no matter what you do these days so you might as well enjoy your risks. If the rest of the articles are like this one I think I'll enjoy a year's subscription to "Graze". Do you have any other magazine suggestions before I pull the trigger?