Learning to Say No...

One of the things our "Grow Your Small Market Farm" teacher told us at the beginning of the first class was that she wanted us to learn how to say "NO".  Maybe it is learning to say no to lowering your prices, maybe you need to say no to adding operations to the farm, or probably you need to learn to say no to all of the outside activities.  I think I need to really learn how to do the last thing because I have found that saying yes often leads to time away from the farm and from the work that I need to do.

Case in point ... I'm writing this at 10:30 AM instead of having a post ready by my usual 8:00 AM each day.  I think this will become the "norm" over the next seven weeks or so as we make our way through the soccer season.  We will be working hard to fit in everything that needs to be done in the day (feeding, watering, work, family time, etc.) and then trying to squeeze everything else into that schedule.  The everything else includes the major fencing project, garden work, and the building of our shed.  I think we can do it ... if I can learn to say "NO" from time to time.

Blogging From Class...

So, I don't have much time for a post today because I'm blogging in class at the moment (this is what college kids probably do every day). This is the last class for the season, but we will meet together one more time at the end of the year to catch up on everything and learn about what has happened at the various farms throughout the summer. We aren't done with everything yet though, our teacher will be meeting with us one time in the Summer to help us with a project related our farming business ... we'll learn more about this today.

With that said though, I need to get back to class. But, I do want to point you to the "Grow Your Small Market Farm" website and encourage all of you beginning or current farmers interested in growing your farm to check out this class. It is a can't miss opportunity!

Looking For Homework Help...

As you may know, if you follow the blog semi-regularly, we are currently taking the "Grow Your Small Market Farm" class up in Ames. So far we have had four classes (I had to miss one, but I was able to listen to a recording) and each one has been a treasure trove of information. But, besides the classes each week we have homework that deals with creating a business plan for your farm and so much more. I have found the homework thought provoking, interesting, and even difficult at times ... and I love it! But, I do need some help (that is nothing new when it comes to me and homework).

In a session coming up pretty soon we are going to have a guest speaker focusing on things like brochures, advertising things, and farm logos. That is where I could use some help. Above is a what I guess is our "text logo". It is something that my wife's cousin did for us when he made the website and I think it is great. But, what I would like to have in conjunction with that is some sort of "image" logo. Something like the one for Sugar Creek Farm, Caw Caw Creek, the grass for Prairie Lakes Church, Nature's Harmony Farm's circle logo, or even Polyface Farm's tree to an extent.

You know ... I want something fun, fresh, and hip that reflects our pasture raised beef, pork, and poultry. A pretty tall order huh!?!

Of course we are fooling around with a few things, but I'm always open for suggestions. If you have any ideas no matter how silly you think they are I would love to hear them. All I know is that if we just rely on my artistic ability we are in trouble...

A Quick Hitter

Yesterday was a busy day and today proves to be equally as busy with lots of running around and some things that I really need/want to get done on the farm. So, with that in mind I thought I would just throw out a quick hit blog post today. Actually, what I thought I would do is share a website that I learned about on the first day of our "Grow Your Small Market Farm Workshop". Our teacher said that she would try and pass along good sites and this one looks like a winner.

The site is called the, "Agricultural Marketing Resources Center", or AgMRC for short. To steal a line from the website, "The Agricultural Marketing Resource Center is an electronic, national resource for producers interested in value-added agriculture". I must admit that I have stumbled across this site in the past, but never spent much time exploring it. This week I have looked at it a little bit and it looks like a great place to go for information.

One cool link I found right away on the front page was to an article about conducting local market research. If you are direct marketing I suggest you check it out.

So, that is my contribution for the day ... But, I would love to hear what some of your favorite ag related research sites are!

"Tilling the Soil of Opportunity..."

That is the title of our text book (actually a big binder) for the "Grow Your Small Market Farm" workshop that we started this past Saturday. If my first impressions are any indication we are going to learn A LOT in this class and come out so much better (as far as farming business goes) because of it. Our teacher has been leading this workshop for nine years now, so you can imagine she has a pretty good idea of what and how to teach the lessons. It also means that she has experience in a diverse array of farming opportunities available in Iowa. I am going to look forward to each class (except for the early mornings!).

Here are a few of my thoughts after three hours of class:

• I was amazed at the diversity of people and farms represented. There were people ranging from almost 72-year-old market gardeners to young singles with and without land at the moment. There were people there that were already "doing" the farming thing and those that are hashing ideas out in their minds. We were one of the few livestock farms represented and I think the only (or one of a couple) that were interested (and slightly doing) grassfed beef.
• It is great to hear a teacher say things like, "you will save money" or, "profitability is the only option". I can tell that she has a lot of good advice to pass along and I already appreciate her passion for small farm businesses.
• How wonderful is it to be around like-minded people. We were able to hear about what other people are already doing and what they hope to do. Plus, we had opportunities to share about our farm. And, to think this is only the first class. I know that by the end we will probably learn as much from the other class members as we will from the teachers.
• If only I had had classes like this when I was in college ... maybe then I wouldn't have taken such an extended sabbatical from college (I did finally receive an A.A. degree).

So, there you have it. Just a few thoughts from the first day of class. We even have some homework this week and we are supposed to begin working on our mission statement. Good stuff ... good stuff indeed!

P.S. The above picture doesn't really have anything to do with the class, but we received a nice clean dusting of snow and I couldn't resist taking a picture of our dun polled heifer Tabitha.

Going Back to School

Well, after encouragement from Kelli at Sugar Creek Farm and the folks at Blue Gate Farm (along with other great reviews) we have decided to take the plunge and attend the Grow Your Small Market Farm workshop. We had considered attending last year, but the timing just didn't work out. This year there may be a couple of classes that I have to miss because of work, but we decided there would never be a better time and this was a class that looked like it would help a lot!

The class meets each Saturday from January 24 until April 11 and after that until October there is one-on-one help at each of the farms. Finally, you end the year with one last meeting in December. Through out the weekends workshops we will be covering everything from business plans to tax stuff. I'm especially looking forward to the sessions on marketing, business plans, and of course the chance to meet with other farmers in similar situations as us.

From talking with the teacher, Penny Brown Huber, it seems like the greatest part will the the one-on-one time when she comes to your farm and helps you take stock of your resources and your business plan. It will be great to have have someone with experience on small farms to come out and take a look at our place and our plans. Also, I'm sure that we will get plenty of help hashing out some of the questions that we have.

So, this Saturday we are back in school ... hopefully I enjoy it more than the last classes I took on a college campus. I'm sure that I will!