The whole idea of posting this blog was to record ups and downs. I have had a lot of downs and haven't felt like writing. But I can see now I should always do it, because that's exactly the kind of record that I want. So here's a catching up.
I talked to Dad about the grass-fed beef operation. He immediately (and I mean within 60 seconds) said it would not work. From my mouth I heard, "Dad! Don't say no so fast!" I had to work to control my emotions. I wasn't expecting to be upset. I knew he'd be resistant. But not so quickly. I was expecting that the more he heard the more he'd resist, and thought I'd at least get some of it communicated first.
As I look back on it, I should have been more prepared. A lot of things to unravel here. First, I don't have experience with cows. He doesn't either, though he always thinks he does because his mom had a milk cow when he was a kid and he knows guys who do. I always hear stories, like the people up the road who brought in about a dozen head with nothing but a strand of hot wire, and of course they bolted first chance, and they ended up having to shoot one, after weeks of trying to catch her, even with people on horses. So I'm always competing with these histories.
On another level, Dad is a control freak. He is adjusting to being increasingly disabled. His back has been deteriorating for years. He had surgery for stenosis at age 38, which helped a lot of for years. But advancing problems with it and arthritis made another surgery needed about 4-5 years ago, so that the spine would not narrow to the point that his nerves would be damaged and he'd be paralyzed. It worked, but not so much that he could once again stand upright. So he still has a lot of pain and he's stooped.
His "other" hip needs repair, but he won't do it. He had triple bypass surgery last March (and this followed these surgeries and/or treatments in the past 10 years: prostate cancer, melanoma removed, stents, hip replacement, kidney removed due to cancerous tumor, and major hernia surgery). So he is understandably resistant to more, and thus he's in even more pain and slowed due to the other hip deteriorating.
He is also afraid of what would happen to Norma, his wife, who is diabetic and has been on dialysis for more than 5 years now. She is 9 years older than he, so she'll be 82 this Christmas. She's not doing well at all following a diabetic coma a few years ago that almost killed her. Her brain runs on a 30-second delay, which drives him insane. He loves her very much, and for him, is patient with her, but she is quite stubborn sometimes. She mostly sits and sleeps. He is the reason she is not in a nursing home, and frankly, though he can take care of himself, it's getting increasingly difficult for him to take care of both of them and the house and the lawn, etc.
Then the day after my birthday this year he woke up from a nap blind in his left eye, or nearly so, which was his "good" eye. Turns out that he had what amounted to a stroke in it, since the clot blocked the retina, killed tissue, and thus the sight loss. He likely had another one a long time ago, less severe, in his right. So he has 20/60 vision peripherally. The doctor said that he can drive on bright sunny days, so he does, a little. He'll drive to my and my brother's house, a quarter of a mile away. He has driven into town (5 miles) the "back way" a couple of times, but it makes him nervous. He doesn't say so, but I don't think he likes doing it. It's the hardest thing for him to accept, the not driving. Thank goodness the dialysis people can send a van for Normal three days a week. I ferry them about on Thursdays, "National Hair Day," as Dad calls it.
If she has to go to the bank, Dad sits with his friend Dick in his lair beneath the salon. If not, we go to the bank while she's getting her 'do. Then if needed, we go to the pharmacy, and because she never remembers to call in their prescriptions, we have to sit there for at least half an hour. Then to the grocery store. I'd rather just go get the stuff myself, but it's the most exercise she gets all week and she enjoys it, so we just let her do it. This takes at least 45 minutes for about 3 bags of groceries. In the meantime, I pick up a couple of newspapers for Dad, a couple of donuts, coffee, and we sit out in the truck waiting.
My brother and his kids do most of the mowing now. Dad still likes to get out there, though, so he does some. A neighbor-lady cooks for them 2-3 times a week, enough for a meal and leftovers, and then I try to take something down once a week. They have a cleaning lady. It's working to keep them home. Happily, his doctor said two weeks ago that all his vitals are excellent--cholesterol, lipids, sugar, heart function, etc. Still, he sometimes wishes he hadn't had the heart surgery, since he's not so sure anymore he wants to keep going like this, having his circle of ability closing in on him in an ever-constricting spiral.
So, really, what was I thinking? Dad is still struggling with diminished capacity. He's a control guy. So when he says no, what he's really saying is, "No, I can't do it," not "No, YOU can't do it." He still approaches these things like Mom when she taught us to ride a bike--she let us go, but she was running right along side to make sure we didn't crash and burn. Dad would only say yes if he felt that it was really his project, his responsibility, and letting me kind of pilot it.
I understand it. I am even embarrassed, now, in that I should have realized that it was too much, that I was focusing on what I wanted so hard that I lost sight of how much he's already dealing with.
So, I'm regrouping. Things might still work out, just not as I had originally had in mind. Which is how it always is, yes?
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
First NRCS talk. It is not impossible!
Talked to the NRCS guy today! His name is Jason. I *think* it's good news. At least, not disastrous news. Workable news.
I'm still sorting through it all, and I'm meeting with Jason next Tuesday, but I think this is what I know so far.
The EQIP grants are designed to help farmers manage their waterways and soil (of course -- NRCS!). So, they want to be helping us with what we're doing. Which means that it's not exactly a start-up grant. This was kind of news, in a sense. What it means practically, is that in order to get your ranking higher for the grant selection process, you have to actually HAVE livestock that they are going to help you with.
What that looks like can be pretty basic, though. It can involve stringing an acre or two of electric wire around the creek area and putting two cows in it. So that when Jason comes, there is livestock there. (I'm picturing Jason with a clipboard, looking intently at the "operation" and stroking a goatee thoughtfully.) The logistics of this aren't too bad, though there are some questions. Reed can set up the wire. He does it every year for the corn. Bryan can loan me a couple of cows, and we can get some hay for them. I expect it makes sense to have *some* up-front costs early on.
Jason said we can even take them off for the winter. He hinted that he'll let me know when he's coming, so we can have cows there then. But I don't want cows all winter out there without shelter. So I felt better when he said they don't have to stay all season. They can go back to Bryan's.
The big questions revolve around timing. The farm stuff is operating on contingency money right now, because the Farm Bill hasn't passed yet. So some of their deadlines aren't set, nor the amount of money they're going to have to work with. But generally speaking, their fiscal year starts in October, and any time now they're going to open a 30-day window to apply, the "announcement window." Then there is a variety of periods for doing things, getting paperwork in order, inspections, agreements, etc. Then by June or July you find out if you are granted.
Often, people don't get their score high enough the first year, he said, so they can roll over their application. The goal is to get a high score so you are a high priority project. I have some things in my favor. I have $1000+ in farm income, I'm a new farmer (which means I would be eligible for more dollars up front as a result), and it helps that I am familiar with the process of getting an organic transition plan put together from OEFFA (Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association). I'm on the board of OEFFA representing the Heart of Ohio chapter, so I've learned a lot about how that works.
The problematic aspects of timing is wondering how long, exactly, I have to house a couple of cows. Also, there is the issue of Dad's farmer. It's a big issue. We won't know until June or July, and we might not get it until NEXT June or July. But let's assume the best, that we win the grant. I guess the best thing would be to have the farmer (Clark is his name) rent from dad for this year. It's his soybean year, so that's actually good, since it's easier to work on harvested bean ground than corn stubble.
The starter cows (!) can go on the bumpy field near the creek that Clark doesn't use. So if we do get it, then we can start the process of infrastructure in the fall after the beans are off. The fencing, for instance. That would work. However, I'd still need to compensate Dad for the money that he won't be getting from Clark in the 2014 season. And beyond, for that matter. That season, I'd be planting pasture in the spring. I have to find out how long you wait from seeding to stocking. But in any case, no income in 2014, so I'd have to come up with the money. It wouldn't be fair to Dad to not pay him rent. I have to ask him what he's getting. I think it's $60-75 per acre. Good pasture can go for as high as $200-300 an acre, so it'd be a good deal, as far as that goes.
So, right now, after I meet with Jason, it looks like step one (after getting Dad on board, not a small thing), will be contacting OEFFA to get a transition plan in place and a certifier officially working with me. That isn't frightening. I intend to just do whatever needs doing. Then Jason and I will be working on the other criteria and paperwork.
What kind of infrastructure they fund looks like it includes these things:
• Pasture fencing and rotation fencing. They will fund all the perimeter fencing EXCEPT fencing on road frontage. This is weird. There is going to be at least 2000 feet of road frontage. I'm guessing. I'll have to check the property map.
• Pasture grass for grazing management. I hope this includes "salad bar beef" kind of diversity.
• Water system, including piping. Not electricity, but you can use the piping trench they dig for electricity, so that might be doable. If we end up with buildings, we're going to want electricity, and also for water pumps for a well or for pumping from the creek. I wonder if I'd be eligible for help putting in a pond. Might as well ask while we're at it.
• A pad area for winter feeding. What they won't do is build a structure with a roof. The farmer can build a roofed structure next to it, as long as the farmer is not building something ON the thing that the grant paid for. So that's fine. I may not need to do that year one, just depends on timing.
• They CAN build a roofed structure for manure management, if run off is a problem. This would be cool. They can set up the "compost facility" to just be for letting it sit for 4-6 months to break down into compost. This is fabulous for a farm that also grows organic vegetables. The cows will deposit manure in the warm season on the pastures, so I can use this for the vegetable areas. Happy poopy dance. : )
I guess the amounts can go as high as $20,000. The pool for organic and transition organic is state, not county, so he can't know, really, how we measure up to other applicants. It sounds like that would cover it, though heck, I don't really know at this point.
Other details, good and bad:
- The money has to be turned into the IRS as income. Gad!! On the other hand, it's deductible. So I guess it balances out.
- New farmers can get up to 30% of the grant up front to cover start up costs. That would be cool.
- You have 12 months to "commence a practice," and then as long as you are making progress, you're golden.
- You do stuff, then they inspect it, to make sure it meets their specs, and then they pay you. You can do it in parts (fence, water, etc.). If I had the 30%, that would help. I think that my contractor would do the work with some up-front money, and materials cost, since Jason said that 2-3 days before you're finished, you "schedule a check out" and request payment. Seems that it isn't a long turn-around at that point.
There is one more piece of good news. OEFFA is now offering farmers low-interest loans, though a program funded by private investors. I can talk more about that later. The bottom line is that I think that if the timing is right, I can borrow money from that fund for up-front costs that EQIP will later kick in money for. There will be, though, some things I just have to cover, such as the frontage fencing. However, the GOAL is to sell beef. The first profits will go toward paying that off. I think I'll be making enough on the vegetables to make payments, which should be fairly low.
So what does it look like? Well, maybe something like this (which I'll get a better idea of after I speak with him Tuesday):
2012
I talk to Dad and convince him that we can and should do this. Not a small thing. Probably deserves a post of its own. Dad is never sanguine about my farm ideas. But in general, anybody with a farm brainstorm gets shot down with tales of great toil and pain. My brother once brought up hay-making and was firmly discouraged. But I'm not easily daunted, and I'm coming armed with details. But I'm still scared. It's why I've always planned to do this once I own the land, but my job situation demands more immediate action. So I'm going to have to beard the lion.
So assume success here (I'm assuming a frippin' LOT of success in this post, and I know it, btw, but you have to gloss over the rough spots, at least to an extent, because otherwise you never have the courage to do what you CAN do). I start all paperwork for NRCS and OEFFA.
Then we put up some electric fence, get some hay, and borrow two cows from Bryan. Will he let me do that? Well, I sure hope so, or at least maybe he could help me get two young cows that he can then later house himself. After all, eventually they would be in with the herd anyhow. Maybe build a rough shelter.
Jason comes over and looks at our "livestock." Makes all his assessments. Does his end of the paperwork. At that point the cows can probably go away for awhile. By June or July, we hear. He said sometimes there is money not dispersed for the state, so sometimes you can find out as late as September, which is probably fine and I'd be delighted, if we had missed the main-season date. They have to spend all their money by the end of the fiscal year.
2013 We could start on the fencing, after the beans are off in the fall. Maybe even the water. I don't know when the best time is to start pasture, but late Sept. could be too late.
2014
So we might have to seed in the spring of 2014. Then how long does it take to establish the pasture? Don't know yet. The pad and manure structures and the loafing shed for the cows could happen that fall, if we have cows later in this year. It's for winter use. Maybe I'd be making enough from the vegs to do that. Or again, there might be OEFFA money.
2015
But cows might have to wait for a year for pasture to establish, so they come in 2015. In which case we could hold off till that fall for the pad. Cows in spring, pad/manure structure in fall.
So it'll be awhile before we could actually have beef to sell. I'd love it if we could get cows in 2014. But we'll see.
Up front costs before I make any money from beef include the frontage fencing and Dad's rent. Possibly shelter/hay storage. Then, of course, my half of the cows.
One more note. Jason spoke briefly of the High Tunnel grant (up to 2178 sq. ft. - figure 20x100), which I will be applying for. Might as well get started on winter markets, for when the beef comes in. That's extra cash. I'd love to be able to save up for this stuff as much as possible. But I still need to pay off the barn and tractor. I had thought to put all our profit toward that, but it might be better to save it up. After all, the tractor is interest free.
Okay, I'm tired. I'll proofread this (if my eyes are still functioning). I needed to get it straight in my head before talking to Dad tomorrow. Maybe he'll be in a good mood. He loves Thursdays, getting out of the house. Plus a doctor's appointment! Plus getting his CCW renewed! We can hope. ; )
I'm still sorting through it all, and I'm meeting with Jason next Tuesday, but I think this is what I know so far.
The EQIP grants are designed to help farmers manage their waterways and soil (of course -- NRCS!). So, they want to be helping us with what we're doing. Which means that it's not exactly a start-up grant. This was kind of news, in a sense. What it means practically, is that in order to get your ranking higher for the grant selection process, you have to actually HAVE livestock that they are going to help you with.
What that looks like can be pretty basic, though. It can involve stringing an acre or two of electric wire around the creek area and putting two cows in it. So that when Jason comes, there is livestock there. (I'm picturing Jason with a clipboard, looking intently at the "operation" and stroking a goatee thoughtfully.) The logistics of this aren't too bad, though there are some questions. Reed can set up the wire. He does it every year for the corn. Bryan can loan me a couple of cows, and we can get some hay for them. I expect it makes sense to have *some* up-front costs early on.
Jason said we can even take them off for the winter. He hinted that he'll let me know when he's coming, so we can have cows there then. But I don't want cows all winter out there without shelter. So I felt better when he said they don't have to stay all season. They can go back to Bryan's.
The big questions revolve around timing. The farm stuff is operating on contingency money right now, because the Farm Bill hasn't passed yet. So some of their deadlines aren't set, nor the amount of money they're going to have to work with. But generally speaking, their fiscal year starts in October, and any time now they're going to open a 30-day window to apply, the "announcement window." Then there is a variety of periods for doing things, getting paperwork in order, inspections, agreements, etc. Then by June or July you find out if you are granted.
Often, people don't get their score high enough the first year, he said, so they can roll over their application. The goal is to get a high score so you are a high priority project. I have some things in my favor. I have $1000+ in farm income, I'm a new farmer (which means I would be eligible for more dollars up front as a result), and it helps that I am familiar with the process of getting an organic transition plan put together from OEFFA (Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association). I'm on the board of OEFFA representing the Heart of Ohio chapter, so I've learned a lot about how that works.
The problematic aspects of timing is wondering how long, exactly, I have to house a couple of cows. Also, there is the issue of Dad's farmer. It's a big issue. We won't know until June or July, and we might not get it until NEXT June or July. But let's assume the best, that we win the grant. I guess the best thing would be to have the farmer (Clark is his name) rent from dad for this year. It's his soybean year, so that's actually good, since it's easier to work on harvested bean ground than corn stubble.
The starter cows (!) can go on the bumpy field near the creek that Clark doesn't use. So if we do get it, then we can start the process of infrastructure in the fall after the beans are off. The fencing, for instance. That would work. However, I'd still need to compensate Dad for the money that he won't be getting from Clark in the 2014 season. And beyond, for that matter. That season, I'd be planting pasture in the spring. I have to find out how long you wait from seeding to stocking. But in any case, no income in 2014, so I'd have to come up with the money. It wouldn't be fair to Dad to not pay him rent. I have to ask him what he's getting. I think it's $60-75 per acre. Good pasture can go for as high as $200-300 an acre, so it'd be a good deal, as far as that goes.
So, right now, after I meet with Jason, it looks like step one (after getting Dad on board, not a small thing), will be contacting OEFFA to get a transition plan in place and a certifier officially working with me. That isn't frightening. I intend to just do whatever needs doing. Then Jason and I will be working on the other criteria and paperwork.
What kind of infrastructure they fund looks like it includes these things:
• Pasture fencing and rotation fencing. They will fund all the perimeter fencing EXCEPT fencing on road frontage. This is weird. There is going to be at least 2000 feet of road frontage. I'm guessing. I'll have to check the property map.
• Pasture grass for grazing management. I hope this includes "salad bar beef" kind of diversity.
• Water system, including piping. Not electricity, but you can use the piping trench they dig for electricity, so that might be doable. If we end up with buildings, we're going to want electricity, and also for water pumps for a well or for pumping from the creek. I wonder if I'd be eligible for help putting in a pond. Might as well ask while we're at it.
• A pad area for winter feeding. What they won't do is build a structure with a roof. The farmer can build a roofed structure next to it, as long as the farmer is not building something ON the thing that the grant paid for. So that's fine. I may not need to do that year one, just depends on timing.
• They CAN build a roofed structure for manure management, if run off is a problem. This would be cool. They can set up the "compost facility" to just be for letting it sit for 4-6 months to break down into compost. This is fabulous for a farm that also grows organic vegetables. The cows will deposit manure in the warm season on the pastures, so I can use this for the vegetable areas. Happy poopy dance. : )
I guess the amounts can go as high as $20,000. The pool for organic and transition organic is state, not county, so he can't know, really, how we measure up to other applicants. It sounds like that would cover it, though heck, I don't really know at this point.
Other details, good and bad:
- The money has to be turned into the IRS as income. Gad!! On the other hand, it's deductible. So I guess it balances out.
- New farmers can get up to 30% of the grant up front to cover start up costs. That would be cool.
- You have 12 months to "commence a practice," and then as long as you are making progress, you're golden.
- You do stuff, then they inspect it, to make sure it meets their specs, and then they pay you. You can do it in parts (fence, water, etc.). If I had the 30%, that would help. I think that my contractor would do the work with some up-front money, and materials cost, since Jason said that 2-3 days before you're finished, you "schedule a check out" and request payment. Seems that it isn't a long turn-around at that point.
There is one more piece of good news. OEFFA is now offering farmers low-interest loans, though a program funded by private investors. I can talk more about that later. The bottom line is that I think that if the timing is right, I can borrow money from that fund for up-front costs that EQIP will later kick in money for. There will be, though, some things I just have to cover, such as the frontage fencing. However, the GOAL is to sell beef. The first profits will go toward paying that off. I think I'll be making enough on the vegetables to make payments, which should be fairly low.
So what does it look like? Well, maybe something like this (which I'll get a better idea of after I speak with him Tuesday):
2012
I talk to Dad and convince him that we can and should do this. Not a small thing. Probably deserves a post of its own. Dad is never sanguine about my farm ideas. But in general, anybody with a farm brainstorm gets shot down with tales of great toil and pain. My brother once brought up hay-making and was firmly discouraged. But I'm not easily daunted, and I'm coming armed with details. But I'm still scared. It's why I've always planned to do this once I own the land, but my job situation demands more immediate action. So I'm going to have to beard the lion.
So assume success here (I'm assuming a frippin' LOT of success in this post, and I know it, btw, but you have to gloss over the rough spots, at least to an extent, because otherwise you never have the courage to do what you CAN do). I start all paperwork for NRCS and OEFFA.
Then we put up some electric fence, get some hay, and borrow two cows from Bryan. Will he let me do that? Well, I sure hope so, or at least maybe he could help me get two young cows that he can then later house himself. After all, eventually they would be in with the herd anyhow. Maybe build a rough shelter.
Jason comes over and looks at our "livestock." Makes all his assessments. Does his end of the paperwork. At that point the cows can probably go away for awhile. By June or July, we hear. He said sometimes there is money not dispersed for the state, so sometimes you can find out as late as September, which is probably fine and I'd be delighted, if we had missed the main-season date. They have to spend all their money by the end of the fiscal year.
2013 We could start on the fencing, after the beans are off in the fall. Maybe even the water. I don't know when the best time is to start pasture, but late Sept. could be too late.
2014
So we might have to seed in the spring of 2014. Then how long does it take to establish the pasture? Don't know yet. The pad and manure structures and the loafing shed for the cows could happen that fall, if we have cows later in this year. It's for winter use. Maybe I'd be making enough from the vegs to do that. Or again, there might be OEFFA money.
2015
But cows might have to wait for a year for pasture to establish, so they come in 2015. In which case we could hold off till that fall for the pad. Cows in spring, pad/manure structure in fall.
So it'll be awhile before we could actually have beef to sell. I'd love it if we could get cows in 2014. But we'll see.
Up front costs before I make any money from beef include the frontage fencing and Dad's rent. Possibly shelter/hay storage. Then, of course, my half of the cows.
One more note. Jason spoke briefly of the High Tunnel grant (up to 2178 sq. ft. - figure 20x100), which I will be applying for. Might as well get started on winter markets, for when the beef comes in. That's extra cash. I'd love to be able to save up for this stuff as much as possible. But I still need to pay off the barn and tractor. I had thought to put all our profit toward that, but it might be better to save it up. After all, the tractor is interest free.
Okay, I'm tired. I'll proofread this (if my eyes are still functioning). I needed to get it straight in my head before talking to Dad tomorrow. Maybe he'll be in a good mood. He loves Thursdays, getting out of the house. Plus a doctor's appointment! Plus getting his CCW renewed! We can hope. ; )
Monday, November 12, 2012
First talk to partner #2
Talked to Eric yesterday. He's thinking about the sweet corn. The thing is, I realize that he doesn't need me to grow sweet corn. But I said for me, I'd prefer to be more involved in the labor and seed cost and split the difference than just take 10-25% (don't know what the going rate is) for selling it for him. Plus, my markets won't like that.
I've talked with Laura at Clintonville about how this partnership idea is definitely the future, if markets want to keep small growers. She's going to talk with the board about it. But I don't think they're going to want me to just sell what other people grow unless I'm more involved. She seemed to be open to the idea of partnerships, though, as I described them.
As a doctor, Eric can spend an extra day at the hospital and make what I make in a month. A week anyhow. So I can understand how he has to look at things. He loves his farm, though. He's raising two pigs and three calves. He's hoping to train two of them to do oxen work. He and his lovely wife Liz mostly want to be able to feed their family and just enjoy their farm.
I suspect that if Eric decides to do this with me, it'll be because he's got a heart bigger than Dallas and he wants to help us. If he does, I just want to make sure that whatever we do doesn't take too much extra time on his part, and that I don't cause him aggravation.
I'm calling the EQIP people tomorrow. I hope they are encouraging. Once I get a sense of how likely it is that we could win the grant, I can present the scheme to Dad and see if how much of an obstacle he's going to be. What I hope for is that after his initial declaration of impossibility, that he'll kinda get excited about the idea.
So today is pins and needles day. Well, every day is pins and needles day. Some just more so than others.
I've talked with Laura at Clintonville about how this partnership idea is definitely the future, if markets want to keep small growers. She's going to talk with the board about it. But I don't think they're going to want me to just sell what other people grow unless I'm more involved. She seemed to be open to the idea of partnerships, though, as I described them.
As a doctor, Eric can spend an extra day at the hospital and make what I make in a month. A week anyhow. So I can understand how he has to look at things. He loves his farm, though. He's raising two pigs and three calves. He's hoping to train two of them to do oxen work. He and his lovely wife Liz mostly want to be able to feed their family and just enjoy their farm.
I suspect that if Eric decides to do this with me, it'll be because he's got a heart bigger than Dallas and he wants to help us. If he does, I just want to make sure that whatever we do doesn't take too much extra time on his part, and that I don't cause him aggravation.
I'm calling the EQIP people tomorrow. I hope they are encouraging. Once I get a sense of how likely it is that we could win the grant, I can present the scheme to Dad and see if how much of an obstacle he's going to be. What I hope for is that after his initial declaration of impossibility, that he'll kinda get excited about the idea.
So today is pins and needles day. Well, every day is pins and needles day. Some just more so than others.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Dream steps
Just a short note today.
Going to talk to Eric on Sunday about the partnership. I'm so hoping that it's something he is interested in doing, that he has time to do. He's so busy with his family, his own animals and growing, and of course he's a doctor, so you can imagine how full his days are.
Talked with Bryan some more last Sunday, and he says he thinks about this a lot throughout the week. It makes me feel really responsible for doing this right.
Everything is such a dream right now. It's miraculous, really, to think about how a dream comes into focus, then into reality step by step. That's one reason why I want to document it with this blog, so I can come back later and remember what I was thinking, how things will have unfolded.
I have a plan for Monday. I'm going to sit down and review all my bookmarks. I'm going to review my emails to Sean at SARE. I'll read the PDF's I've printed off. First I have to identify what I'm eligible for. Then figure out how to start the process. I also need to find out how to determine the start-up costs.
Fencing
Water system
Shelter
Hay and equipment storage
I don't know about equipment and stock.
I wonder about transportation, which will have to include refrigeration (freezer). (Silverbridge has its new truck made by Freight Liner [I think. Website doesn't show it].)
There are also marketing costs, such as labels, logos, social media, gas, etc. Getting to that point is exciting to contemplate.
It's been my experience in life that sometimes Universe cooperates, even encourages (or kicks ass). Things fall into place. Openings widen. Obstacles diminish. Hard work is always part of the recipe. But the results seem magnified. I think that one day I'll look on our job cut-backs at work as part of that process. Something had to goose me into making these larger steps. Discomfort is a good motivator. : )
Example: This week OEFFA announced its new program for administrating loans for small farmers. $2,500 to $250,000. If I don't qualify for grants, then maybe I could qualify for a low-interest loan. that's kinda scary, but maybe it would be less of a burden than I think.
So, here's to the next step.
Going to talk to Eric on Sunday about the partnership. I'm so hoping that it's something he is interested in doing, that he has time to do. He's so busy with his family, his own animals and growing, and of course he's a doctor, so you can imagine how full his days are.
Talked with Bryan some more last Sunday, and he says he thinks about this a lot throughout the week. It makes me feel really responsible for doing this right.
Everything is such a dream right now. It's miraculous, really, to think about how a dream comes into focus, then into reality step by step. That's one reason why I want to document it with this blog, so I can come back later and remember what I was thinking, how things will have unfolded.
I have a plan for Monday. I'm going to sit down and review all my bookmarks. I'm going to review my emails to Sean at SARE. I'll read the PDF's I've printed off. First I have to identify what I'm eligible for. Then figure out how to start the process. I also need to find out how to determine the start-up costs.
Fencing
Water system
Shelter
Hay and equipment storage
I don't know about equipment and stock.
I wonder about transportation, which will have to include refrigeration (freezer). (Silverbridge has its new truck made by Freight Liner [I think. Website doesn't show it].)
There are also marketing costs, such as labels, logos, social media, gas, etc. Getting to that point is exciting to contemplate.
It's been my experience in life that sometimes Universe cooperates, even encourages (or kicks ass). Things fall into place. Openings widen. Obstacles diminish. Hard work is always part of the recipe. But the results seem magnified. I think that one day I'll look on our job cut-backs at work as part of that process. Something had to goose me into making these larger steps. Discomfort is a good motivator. : )
Example: This week OEFFA announced its new program for administrating loans for small farmers. $2,500 to $250,000. If I don't qualify for grants, then maybe I could qualify for a low-interest loan. that's kinda scary, but maybe it would be less of a burden than I think.
So, here's to the next step.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Breaking Ground on New Farm Ventures
I have a lot of work to do on this blog, but I wanted to get started on it.
About two weeks ago I found out that first, there are cut backs at my teaching job, and second, my teaching job is probably going to evaporate within the next five to 10 years. I'm fifty, so I have some decisions to make.
For almost 10 years my husband and I have been operating a business called Meadow Rise Farm. You can search us on Facebook and find our page. We grow organically-raised vegetables and sell them at farmers markets here in north central and central Ohio.
My choice right now is to either quit farming and find another full-time job, which would entail driving an hour where I could do what I'm doing now, or, develop the farm business.
I know where my heart is. So I'm going to listen to it.
We're going to develop the farm.
It'll take time. Some things might happen sooner than others. I wanted to blog about this from the beginning, so I could keep track of events, as well as what I'm thinking and feeling about it.
Some wag once said it's a "recession" when the economy is bad and people start losing their jobs. It's a Depression when you lose yours. Well, it's been kinda depressing around here. I teach at an OSU regional campus (Mansfield), and enrollment has been dropping for the last 3 years. Suddenly THIS year the decision has been made to cut back on the number of classes taught by the non-tenured faculty, of which I am one. I teach first-year composition, upper-level composition, introduction to fiction, and occasionally other classes, such as next spring's Environmental Citizenship.
But the writing on the wall, according to administration, is that the Governor and the board of regents want students to take more college credit before we see them, which is being done increasingly in a number of ways, including dual high school credit, placement exams, MOOCs, etc.
As a result, eventually, students may enter college with up to a year's worth of credit. In some ways, of course, this is good, in that it will save students a lot of money. The reason I think it's a bad idea, aside from its effect on my job, is fodder for another post. The bottom line is that I'm highly motivated to start developing myself in other directions.
I've been kicking ideas around for years, but I always put my priority on my "regular job." Plus, it takes money to develop a business, farm or otherwise, and that's what I DON'T have right now.
But I do have nearly 10 years experience selling at farmers markets. We have name recognition. So I'm following up on ideas with potential partners and researching grant possibilities.
My first idea is to bring up a partnership idea with a good friend. He has land and equipment and experience using it -- on a bigger level than I do. I'd like to work with him to develop a few acres into sweet corn, potatoes, and winter squash (maybe melons). These crops take a lot of space, and it's hard to work into the acre of ground that we grow on now.
If he provided the ground prep, soil amendments, and planting/cultivating, then we'd supply the seed, specialized tending (such as organic control for ear worms), harvesting, and marketing. I'm going to work on numbers and such and discuss it with him, I hope on Sunday.
The other venture is grander and will take at least two years to get going -- grass fed beef. My dad rents 60 acres adjacent to our farm to another guy who does a conventional corn-beans rotation on it. I want to find a grant to help me set it up for pastured beef. I need perimeter fencing, a water system, and shelter. I know that EQIP grants have helped others do this, so I'm going to investigate. I've spoken with another good farmer friend who knows cattle but doesn't have enough land to do what he wants to do.
I'm not interested in making tons of money. My thought is that we can all help each other to develop more sources of revenue, so that this network of mutuality can help all of us make it. My first partner can grow organic hay that we could buy, and he'd be able to sell more than to just us. There's a huge demand for organic hay and straw.
My idea is that although we'd be individual farms, we could also form a partnership. I'd like to call it Dayshine Farms, because we'd commit to sustainable growing based on RECENT sunlight. Thom Hartmann wrote a book called The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. The premise is that we are dependent on dwindling supplies of cheap, abundant, easily-accessed fossil fuels. (Fossil fuels=ancient sunlight -- decomposed plant material). But if we could develop on-farm ways of growing, then we would not be dependent on fossil fuels for diesel, fertilizer, and certainly not pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc., all of which are by-products of fossil fuel.
Of course, we'd still use gasoline to get it to market. But maybe eventually, not even that. My 2nd partner is such a great natural engineer, so I'm going to suggest he consider getting into bio-diesel production, at some point, so we can even dispense with the fuel for the tractors, and then maybe the truck. Our joint name, DayShine, would reflect that emphasis on renewable resources.
Other schemes -- a grant for a high tunnel for winter production. Contacting large-scale wind power companies -- windmills go well in pastures, and no one lives close enough to complain about them. That would be a source of local power and also income for us, since they usually pay rent. I'd just have to make sure their access agreement wasn't egregious. Again, more homework, but you have to dream first, yes?
So, this is long enough for an intro about all the directions my mind has been wandering. It's a start.
We're Breaking Ground. : )
About two weeks ago I found out that first, there are cut backs at my teaching job, and second, my teaching job is probably going to evaporate within the next five to 10 years. I'm fifty, so I have some decisions to make.
For almost 10 years my husband and I have been operating a business called Meadow Rise Farm. You can search us on Facebook and find our page. We grow organically-raised vegetables and sell them at farmers markets here in north central and central Ohio.
My choice right now is to either quit farming and find another full-time job, which would entail driving an hour where I could do what I'm doing now, or, develop the farm business.
I know where my heart is. So I'm going to listen to it.
We're going to develop the farm.
It'll take time. Some things might happen sooner than others. I wanted to blog about this from the beginning, so I could keep track of events, as well as what I'm thinking and feeling about it.
Some wag once said it's a "recession" when the economy is bad and people start losing their jobs. It's a Depression when you lose yours. Well, it's been kinda depressing around here. I teach at an OSU regional campus (Mansfield), and enrollment has been dropping for the last 3 years. Suddenly THIS year the decision has been made to cut back on the number of classes taught by the non-tenured faculty, of which I am one. I teach first-year composition, upper-level composition, introduction to fiction, and occasionally other classes, such as next spring's Environmental Citizenship.
But the writing on the wall, according to administration, is that the Governor and the board of regents want students to take more college credit before we see them, which is being done increasingly in a number of ways, including dual high school credit, placement exams, MOOCs, etc.
As a result, eventually, students may enter college with up to a year's worth of credit. In some ways, of course, this is good, in that it will save students a lot of money. The reason I think it's a bad idea, aside from its effect on my job, is fodder for another post. The bottom line is that I'm highly motivated to start developing myself in other directions.
I've been kicking ideas around for years, but I always put my priority on my "regular job." Plus, it takes money to develop a business, farm or otherwise, and that's what I DON'T have right now.
But I do have nearly 10 years experience selling at farmers markets. We have name recognition. So I'm following up on ideas with potential partners and researching grant possibilities.
My first idea is to bring up a partnership idea with a good friend. He has land and equipment and experience using it -- on a bigger level than I do. I'd like to work with him to develop a few acres into sweet corn, potatoes, and winter squash (maybe melons). These crops take a lot of space, and it's hard to work into the acre of ground that we grow on now.
If he provided the ground prep, soil amendments, and planting/cultivating, then we'd supply the seed, specialized tending (such as organic control for ear worms), harvesting, and marketing. I'm going to work on numbers and such and discuss it with him, I hope on Sunday.
The other venture is grander and will take at least two years to get going -- grass fed beef. My dad rents 60 acres adjacent to our farm to another guy who does a conventional corn-beans rotation on it. I want to find a grant to help me set it up for pastured beef. I need perimeter fencing, a water system, and shelter. I know that EQIP grants have helped others do this, so I'm going to investigate. I've spoken with another good farmer friend who knows cattle but doesn't have enough land to do what he wants to do.
I'm not interested in making tons of money. My thought is that we can all help each other to develop more sources of revenue, so that this network of mutuality can help all of us make it. My first partner can grow organic hay that we could buy, and he'd be able to sell more than to just us. There's a huge demand for organic hay and straw.
My idea is that although we'd be individual farms, we could also form a partnership. I'd like to call it Dayshine Farms, because we'd commit to sustainable growing based on RECENT sunlight. Thom Hartmann wrote a book called The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. The premise is that we are dependent on dwindling supplies of cheap, abundant, easily-accessed fossil fuels. (Fossil fuels=ancient sunlight -- decomposed plant material). But if we could develop on-farm ways of growing, then we would not be dependent on fossil fuels for diesel, fertilizer, and certainly not pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc., all of which are by-products of fossil fuel.
Of course, we'd still use gasoline to get it to market. But maybe eventually, not even that. My 2nd partner is such a great natural engineer, so I'm going to suggest he consider getting into bio-diesel production, at some point, so we can even dispense with the fuel for the tractors, and then maybe the truck. Our joint name, DayShine, would reflect that emphasis on renewable resources.
Other schemes -- a grant for a high tunnel for winter production. Contacting large-scale wind power companies -- windmills go well in pastures, and no one lives close enough to complain about them. That would be a source of local power and also income for us, since they usually pay rent. I'd just have to make sure their access agreement wasn't egregious. Again, more homework, but you have to dream first, yes?
So, this is long enough for an intro about all the directions my mind has been wandering. It's a start.
We're Breaking Ground. : )
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