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. ; )
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