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FALL 2005

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SMALL FARM QUARTERLYGood Living and Good Farming that Connect Land, People, and Communities

Supplement to Country Folks

Photo by Sergio Pinera

October 10, 2005 SMALL FARM QUARTERLY Page 3

By Anu Rangarajan

I have always been grateful for my homeand small farm in upstate NY, but especial-ly so now. The disaster that has unfoldedafter Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast inSeptember will continue to haunt families inthe region for years to come. The imageshaunt me, and I only watch from afar.While the recovery process has been griz-zly, it is only beginning. An entire economyhas been destroyed.

The impact of Katrina on family farms andrural people in the region has been fairlyinvisible in the media. Many of these farmshave sustained damage to farm buildingsand infrastructure and lost markets due tothe devastation along the Gulf Coast. Yetthere are several groups doing important

and amazing work to help these folks pickup the pieces and move on. Here, I want toshare some information with you on howyou can help these farmers and rural peo-ple rebuild. The information below is fromKathy Ozer of the National Family FarmCoalition:

The Federation of Southern Cooperatives isleading many recovery efforts. They arebased in Atlanta and have a training centerin Epes, Alabama and extensive farmercontrolled farmer marketing coops, creditunions, and housing coops in SouthernAlabama and Mississippi - regions bothheavily hit by Katrina. The Federation isoffering direct financial and technical assis-tance and support to member families inthe region with support from partneringagencies like Oxfam America, Farm-Aid,

Cooperative Development Foundation,Southern Partners Fund, Bert and MaryMeyer Foundation, Sharing Inc., and oth-ers. They are helping families register withthe Red Cross and FEMA for more shortand long term assistance but these agen-cies are moving slowly and cautiously inthe face of great needs and remote ruralconditions. They are hosting a camp inAlabama which is housing 10,000 people.

Over time the Federation would like to insti-tute more long term recovery effortsemploying self-help cooperative principlesincluding developing housing cooperatives,self-help housing, worker owned coopera-tive clean-up, rehab and constructioncrews, as well as ongoing work with farm-ers cooperatives and credit unions.

Please consider sending a donation to:Federation of Southern Cooperatives,2769 Church Street, East Point, GA 30344.www.federation.coop, and/or to any of thefollowing organizations that are working to

support Gulf Coast farmers:Farm Aid Disaster Fund. Farm Aid hasalready donated $15,000 for supplies for acamp in Alabama, a special grant to Farm-ers Legal Action Group for hurricane disas-ter response and to the Louisiana Inter-church Conference. www.farmaid.org/.

National Family Farm Coalition. 110Maryland Ave..N.E, Suite 307; Washington,D.C. 20002—NFFC has re-activated itsCredit Task Force and will be working tomake sure that the federal disaster assis-tance meets the needs of family farmers -and push for legislative fixes to existing pro-grams. www.nffc.net

Oxfam America. NFFC and the Federationhave worked with Oxfam for many yearsand they support our domestic policy work.They have also already donated $25,000 tothe Federation for the Alabama camp. Seewww.oxfamamerica.org/ for an update ontheir efforts in response to Katrina.

FROM THE EDITORSDig Deep for Those in Need

As usual, it seems that the summer hasflown by. Somehow it was still a very pro-ductive season for the Small Farms Pro-gram. Here are some of the highlights:

CHECK OUT OUR NEW ANDIMPROVED WEBSITE!

One of our summer projects was the com-plete overhaul of the Cornell Small FarmsWebsite, www.smallfarms.cornell.edu. Thenew design makes it easier -- we hope -- tofind the information you’re looking for andmakes our program activities more visible.We also think it looks very, very cool!!!!

Many thanks to our talented student web-master Tyler Garzo. Tyler not only providedan amazing level of technical expertise tothe project, but turned out to be a greatgraphic designer as well.

We hope you will take a good look at thesite and tell us what you think, using theonline feedback form. Improving the site isa never-ending process, so don’t be afraidto make suggestions and let us know howwe can make it easier to find what you’relooking for.

FACILITATION SKILLS TRAINING AHUGE SUCCESS – MORE TO COMESkilled facilitation can help groups of alltypes improve their ability to work effective-ly together and achieve their goals. Thealmost overwhelming response to our Sep-tember 14 Facilitation Skills Trainingshowed us that the demand for this kind oftraining is hot!

By partnering with Cornell’s Community,Food and Agriculture Program, Communityand Rural Development Institute, Communi-ty Food Systems Program, Farmers MarketNutrition Program, and Agricultural Com-munity and Economic Development Pro-gram Work Team, we were able to engagea large and diverse group, folks who worknot only with farmers but with non-profitorganizations, consumer groups, agriculturedevelopment teams, Farmland ProtectionBoards, multi-agency groups, and othergroups involved in food system change.

We exceeded our planned maximum of 50registrants, but managed to provide every-body with hands on experience facilitatinggroup discussion. Trainers Laura Brancaand Kirby Edmonds of Training for Change

Associates did an outstanding job, andevaluations were extremely positive. Weplan to continue this partnership effort andwill be offering additional training opportuni-ties throughout the year. Thanks to ourpartners, to TFC Associates, and to theNortheast SARE Professional DevelopmentProgram for helping make this workshopsuch a resounding success.

SMALL FARM GRANTS PROGRAMOur mini-grants program supports Exten-sion educators in developing educationalprojects that specifically target and engagelocal small farm businesses. All 2004-5grants projects were completed by the endof September. Grants projects for 2005-6will focus on three themes:1) developing farmer - to - farmer discus-

sion groups or mentoring programs.2) developing farmer group initiatives (e.g.

marketing, purchasing, new ventures)3) producing fact sheets for the small farm

audience.

Proposals are due October 15 and will bereviewed by a committee of farmers. Youcan find reports on previous year’s projectsat www.smallfarms.cornell.edu. Look under“Projects.”

NEW LIVESTOCK FACT SHEETS NOWONLINEThrough a grant from the Small Farms Pro-gram, a series of fact sheets on minor live-stock species was completed this summerby Martha Wright in Cornell’s Animal Sci-ence Department. The series includesLamb, Meat Goats, Grass Fed Beef,Cervids (deer, elk), Pasture Pigs, PasturePoultry, and Meat Rabbits. You can viewand download the fact sheets atwww.smallfarms.cornell.edu.

RESEARCH PROJECTSSeptember marked the launch of a newcollaborative research project exploring thepotential of “industry clusters” to foster suc-cessful small and mid-sized farm business-es. We also continue to collaborate on theSmall and Mid-Sized Dairy Farm ViabilityStudy. And we are waiting to hear aboutproposals for an Organic Agriculture Inno-vation Center, and a Small and Mid-SizedDairy Extension Project.

To find out more about our program activi-ties, visit www.smallfarms.cornell.edu. Clickon “Projects.”

SMALL FARMS PROGRAM UPDATE - FALL

How can I get Small Farm Quarterly?Country Folks subscribers automatically receive SFQ four times a year at

no extra cost. Country Folks is delivered weekly for $35 per year.

SFQ-only subscribers receive just the 4 issues of Country Folks that contain the SFQ insert for only $5 a year.

Cooperative Extension Associations and other organizations can offer their members a subscription to SFQ as a member benefit! Your organization collects the names, forwards them to Country Folks Subscriptions, and pays Country Folks just $2.50 for each subscriber.

Country Folks mails out the copies.

Bulk orders: You can order multiple copies of any issue for just10¢ a copy! Minimum order is 100. Orders must be placed at least 4 weeks before the publication date - Winter 2006 copies need to be ordered by December 8.

To find out more, contact:Tracy Crouse

Country Folks SubscriptionsP.O. Box 121, Palatine Bridge. NY 13428

1-888-596-5329 email: [email protected]

We Want to Hear from You!We welcome letters to the editor -- Please write to us! Or send a question and we'll do our best to answer it.

We're also looking for beautiful, interesting, and/or funny small farm photos to print.

Write or email Joanna Green, Cornell Small Farms Program, 162 Morrison Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, [email protected].

READERS WRITE

KUDOS FOR SFQJoanna,

Just a quick note to tell you how impressedI was with the newest (Summer 05)edition of Small Farm Quarterly... It wasextraordinarily well-done and shows alot of care and thought. Nice job!

Alan KnightNew York Farm Bureau

BEE STINGS FOR ARTHRITISDear Bill (Henning)

I would like to make a comment on one ofyour articles. It was in the latest (Summer05) Small Farm Quarterly. In the articleyou talked about steps to relieve arthritis. Iam a former nurse and had noticed overthe years how badly affected some farmers

were with arthritis. Visually with deformedknuckles especially. I always wondered if ithad something to do with handling milk orjust having to be out in a cold and oftentimes damp barn milking cows.

I have had sheep (100+) for 30 years and Isheared over 3000 sheep per year. About1998 the joint pains got to be too much andI had to think about ending all my farmingactivities. Then by chance we saw a docu-mentary on the use of bee venom on therelief of arthritis. In June of 1998 we got acouple hives. It took quite a number ofstings the first year but now I seldom haveany pain. The deformities in my fingers aregone too. I only have the occasional stingsnow when working with our hives. There isa saying that "Beekeepers don't get Arthri-tis nor do they get Cancer". Something toponder.

Sandy von Allmen

As the proverb says:Diligence is the motherof good fortune.By Martha Goodsell

Editor’s note: This overview is the first of aseries of articles focusing on risk manage-ment funded by the New York Crop Insur-ance Education Program under the RiskManagement Agency (USDA) and the NYSDepartment of Agriculture & Markets. Infuture issues, we will feature profiles of howa variety of farmers cope with risk, andreport on a crop insurance programdesigned specifically to help meet theneeds of small, diversified farms.

I’m a great believer in Murphy’s Law and itscorrelates: If anything can go wrong it will– and it will be the one thing you didn’t planfor as well as the one that does the mostdamage. Farming is full of risks – weatherwoes, pest- and disease-threats, equipmentbreakdowns, injuries, plunging markets andmore. But Murphy doesn’t always have toprevail.

Fortunately, you can identify risks thatthreaten your farm and plan ways to mini-mize their effects on you, your family andyour business. That’s essentially what riskmanagement is – the process of gaininggreater control over the decisions you make(or confronting those you avoid making)and weighing the tradeoffs, returns andconsequences of those decisions.

Because we have retail sales, farm toursand recreational activities on our farm,we're really exposing ourselves to a sub-stantial amount of risk. So our risk manage-ment plan helps us focus not only on pro-duction risks, but all the risks. From a curi-ous pony nibbling a finger to the potentialloss of our deer-meat market due to con-sumer fears about chronic wasting disease,we try to stay ahead of what Murphy mightthrow at us.

Some people think that risk management isjust about purchasing crop insurance. Butcrop insurance is just one risk-reductiontool that makes sense for some farmers.For others, time and effort is better spentexamining and addressing a much broaderrange of risks.

This is especially true for small farms.While no two are alike, many share somecharacteristics that make risk managementparticularly challenging. For example, limit-ed credit and capital leave a scant marginfor error, or force you to put off purchasesthat could reduce risks in the long run,such as replacing old, unsafe equipment orbuying health insurance. The small work-force – often limited just to family members– is vulnerable to disruption. And witheveryone just trying to keep up with day-to-day demands, there’s often little time left-over to keep good records, follow markets,or even develop a risk-management plan.

But a plan is exactly what you need to pro-tect your farm. You can call on profession-als to help you work through the process.(See Resource Spotlight.) Or you can startby simply reading on and using this articleas a springboard for discussions with yourfamily members.

Here are the four steps you need to take toreduce risk on your farm:

1. Know your own attitude toward risk.(See Sidebar, What’s Your Risk Toler-ance?)

2. Understand the five different types of riskyou face.

3. Develop and implement your own riskmanagement plan.

4. Develop contingency plans for whenthings still go wrong.

PRODUCTION RISKSProduction risks include weather (droughts,floods, freezes, etc.), pests and diseases,equipment failure and anything else thatreduces your harvest or its quality.

Good agricultural practices, such as IPM,nutrient management, intensive grazingand a herd health plan, reduce productionrisks. Take care of the basics: Maintainfences, facilities and equipment, and storefeeds, medicine, and chemicals properly.

Invest in risk-reducing technology, such asirrigation in drought-prone areas. Investingin equipment matched to the task canreduce breakdowns, downtime and person-al injuries while making sure that jobs getdone in a timely fashion.

Diversification is one way you can reduceproduction risks. You can add new crops,grow several varieties of one crop, or inte-grate livestock into your operation. Onepractice that reduces both marketing andproduction risks in livestock operations is tosell at various stages in the growth cycle,for example hot house lambs, market lambsand breeding stock. One caveat: Diversifi-cation has its own set of risks. Withoutcareful business planning, it can increaserisks, rather than reduce them.

Crop insurance can protect against produc-tion and, in some cases, market risks. Asgovernment price support payments andpayouts in years of crop disasters dry up,crop insurance has become more importantfor ensuring a reliable cash flow. “Cata-strophic Coverage” (CAT) and “Non-InsuredDisaster Assistance” (NAP) are affordableways to provide some help in case of seri-ous crop failures. Whether or not additionalcoverage works for you takes some pencil-pushing. A relatively new crop insuranceprogram, AGR-Lite, may better meet the

needs of small farmers than traditional cropinsurance programs. (See sidebar, Insureyour revenue instead of your crop.)

MARKET RISKSMarket risks kick in when you convert yourharvest into cash. If you sell commodities,global factors beyond your control, includ-ing increasing competition, fluctuatingexchange rates, new trade agreements,and buyer consolidation all increase yourrisk. Even if you rely more on direct mar-keting, other unpredictable factors – badweather or road construction keeping cus-tomers away for example – can hurt yoursales.

Develop and follow a marketing planregardless of what market you use.

Diversification works as well for marketingas it does for production, if it’s well planned.Consider multiple markets, such as foodbrokering, wholesaling, on-farm retail sales,direct sales to restaurants or schools, orfarmers market vending.

Cooperatives allow risk and rewards to bespread over the membership. Cooperativescan help reduce costs, enhance prices,provide access to new markets or improvebargaining strength.

Consider using contracts or professionalhelp. Futures brokers, financial plannersand farm consultants can help with hedg-ing, forwarded or deferred contracts or con-tracted production if you’re uncomfortablewith these.

Keep up to date on consumer trends, mar-ket conditions, government regulations,trade policies, and industry news.

PEOPLE RISKSSmall farms are particularly vulnerable topeople risks because they usually rely on avery limited labor pool. Obviously, death ordivorce can be catastrophic. But even ashort-term disability or a family dispute canwreak havoc on a small farm.

Maintaining a safe work environment andinvesting in health, disability and long-termcare insurance can help reduce peoplerisks, as can maintaining good relation-ships within your family and with employ-ees, neighbors and other people on and offthe farm.

FINANCIAL RISKS Financial risks relate to the ability to paythe farm’s financial obligations in a timelymanner. Interest rates and inflation impactfinancial risk.

Good recordkeeping is key to providing ahistory of where you’ve been as well ashelping to map out future decisions.Records provide the information you needto manage financial risk.

LEGAL RISKSLegal risks include the possibility of beingsued, fined or otherwise penalized. Sure,you never intend any wrongdoing. But if acustomer gets hurt on your property or byyour product, or you contaminate a water-way, then you’ve got legal problems.

Liability insurance (possibly including prod-uct liability and/or personal injury riders)and structuring your farm business appro-priately are ways of reducing legal risks.Consult legal, business and/or insuranceprofessionals to help you cope with legalrisks you identify on your farm.

WRITE AND IMPLEMENT YOUR PLANAs you’ve read about the types of risks,you’ve probably nodded your head and

Page 4 SMALL FARM QUARTERLY October 10, 2005

MANAGING RISK

Rein in Risk on Your Farm

Wih on-farm retails sales and tours, the Goodsells need to cope with risks that range fromproduct liability to curious livestock nibbling on visitors' fingers. Photo by Martha Goodsell

What’s Your Risk Tolerance?

Even before you start looking at therisks you face, it’s important that youknow your own attitudes toward risk.Which best describes you?

• Risk avoiders are cautious and donot like to take chances.

• Calculators are willing to take calcu-lated risks but only after gatheringand reviewing information, playing outscenarios, and figuring the probabili-ties and payoffs.

• Adventurers like the thrill and excite-ment associated with risk, but willonly do so if they believe there is apossibility of being successful, even ifthe odds are not in their favor.

• Daredevils take unnecessarychances and often fail, having ignoredfacts and refusing to take precau-tions.

It’s also important to realize that youand other members of your family mayhave different attitudes about risk. Rec-ognizing that fact will help reduce stressas you work out your plan. (SeeResource Spotlight for informationabout an online test, How Risk TolerantAre You?)

When it comes to managing risks on her fami-ly’s 425-acre, grass-based farm, MarthaGoodsell believes in taking Murphy’s laws headon. Photo by Ben Goodsell

Continued on next page

By Barbara Brock Carney

The day before deer season I got out all ofmy clothes, gun, shells, tag, and otherequipment. Morning came with me gettingvery little sleep. I’m real tired, but I was upat 5:00 AM and ready to go.

Now I’m dressed, have all my equipment,and am out the door. When almost to thegarage – Oh no! I forgot my hat. I can’tgo hunting without my bright orange hat.So I go back in to get Jerry up so he canmove his car so I can get my orange hat.

OK! I’ve got my hat now and Jerry goesback to bed.

I go hunting, maybe a mile down the road.I park the car and get all my things out,hide the car keys and shut the door. Youguessed it – I’m locked out of the car. I sayokay, I have my gun, the heck with the car

I’m going hunting. I walk up the road andthrough the woods to my tree stand.

Here I am at the tree stand Jerry fixed forme, with the new steps and the roof on it tokeep me dry. Nice huh? Now I go up thesteps and oh did they creek. So loud that Ithought they would scare all the deer away.I’m about four steps up and then go downone. Thinking I could trip on the way down,I continue to the top where I ram my guninto the roof – noise again. I sit down andcheck my gun out. I decide it isn’t hurt andeverything’s okay.

It’s a nice morning. I get to the tree standby 5:30 and sit until around 7:30 when herecomes a deer. I pull up my gun and swingit around to the right of me, where the deeris. It hits the post that holds up the roof.With the post being so close I pull the gunback around the post. The deer decides togo the other way. I pull the gun back

around the post again. Then the deer goesthe other way so I, again, pull the gun backaround the post. At least three times I hadto duck around that post, ever so slowly sothe deer wouldn’t see me.

Now I shoot, hitting the doe, which starts toget back up. I don’t want the deer to getaway so I stand up quick and hit my head,real hard, on the new roof. I hit my head sohard that I fall back into my stool. I breakthe seat. When I break the seat I fall back-ward and now I’m stuck between the stooland the tree. My knees are up in the airalong with my gun and I can’t move.

Then I worry about loosing the deer. Thedoe had stayed there. Seven other deerrun by her and I can’t move. I look on theother side of me and there are seven moredeer running along the creek and I stillcan’t move with my fanny stuck in a treestand. When I finally do untangle myself Isee the deer I’d shot had died.

I only got to shoot once and there hadbeen 14 deer running all around me, proba-

bly laughing at me and my tree stand. I’mbent over laughing and can’t shoot that wayeither since it gives me a headache. Somuch for a roof on a tree stand.

Final note: I did get two deer this year, notbad for a 66-year-old lady who’s still hunting.

Barbara Brock Carney lives -- and hunts-- in rural Livingston County, NY.

said to yourself, “That could be a problemfor us, too.” The next step is to make a listof those risks and ideas for reducing them.It doesn’t have to be comprehensive at thispoint. But keep it someplace handy whereyou can revisit it to add potential risks andsolutions and check off risks you’veaddressed.

As you transform your plan into action,keep the following in mind:

Think safety first. If something needs to bepicked up, removed or fixed or signageposted, then just do it. Don’t procrastinateespecially if someone could get hurt.

Use good agricultural practices. They canreduce risk while improving profitability –and they may aid your defense if someonesues you.

Use the Murphy’s Law approach. Lookaround your farm and ask yourself whatcould possibly go wrong at any location orduring any task. Make a list of things to fix,change or do.

Set priorities. Weigh probabilities and con-sequences. Deal first with those risks thatare most likely to happen and would havethe greatest impact on your farm business.

Pick the low-hanging fruit. There are proba-bly some risks on your list that you canaddress now, without any outside help.

Develop a safety net. Build a strong net-work among neighbors and others who canhelp out if needed. If there were an emer-gency, who could you get to help feed ormilk the animals? Who would help with theharvest? Tell them about your risk-manage-

ment plan and offer to be part of theirs.

Consult professionals. While the mostimportant person in your risk-managementplan is you, there are some risks that mayrequire professional help. When needed,don’t be afraid to consult professionals,such as attorneys, insurance agents, finan-cial advisors or tax consultants. Find someyou trust and are comfortable working with.(See Resource Spotlight.)

CONTINGENCY PLANNINGIt’s impossible to eliminate all risks. Evenwith the best of plans, emergencies hap-pen. What are you going to do whenequipment fails, something goes wrong, orsomeone gets hurt? Post emergencyphone numbers so they’re available in theevent of an injury or other crisis. Haveevacuation plans for fire or natural disaster.Should key equipment break down, makesure that you have product service informa-tion where it can be found quickly.

Many proverbs provide us with good strate-gies for coping with risk: Don’t put all youreggs in one basket. A stitch in time savesnine. Better safe than sorry. But perhapsthe wisest is, Never put off until tomorrowwhat you can do today. When it comes toplanning for how you manage risk, youcan’t afford to wait.

Martha Goodsell raises 1,700 deer andother livestock with the help of her hus-band and four children on a 425-acre,grass-based farm in Candor, N.Y. She isalso the Executive Director of NYFarms!, a statewide coalition of organi-zations, individuals, businesses, agen-cies and institutions committed to thefuture of New York's farms and families.

Resource SpotlightRisk ManagementResourcesRisk Management for Horticultural Crops –Cornell Department of Applied Economicsand Management website includes newslet-ter articles, case studies and otherresources, including a self-test How RiskTolerant Are You?hortmgt.aem.cornell.edu/programs/riskmgt.htm. Contact your local Cooperative Exten-sion office or visit your local library if youlack Internet access.

NYFarmNet – Cornell program offers freeand confidential on-farm consultation onrisk management and other business,financial, family and personal topics. Espe-cially recommended are their publicationsUsing Crop Insurance: Profiles of 13 Farm-ers Who Use Crop Insurance as a RiskManagement Tool and its companion work-book Do I Need Crop Insurance? Self Eval-uating Crop Insurance as a Risk Manage-ment Tool in New York State. Free to NewYork farmers. Phone: 800-547-3276. VisitNYFarmNet’s website at:www.nyfarmnet.org.

Cooperative Extension – Your local officeshould be able to put you in touch with pro-fessionals who can help you develop a riskmanagement plan for your farm.

New York State Crop Insurance EducationProgram (CIE) – Provides NY farmers withpractical, timely, authoritative information tohelp them integrate crop insurance intotheir risk management planning. Look forCIE-sponsored events on the New YorkState Department of Agriculture and Mar-kets crop insurance calendar(www.agmkt.state.ny.us/cropins.html) or theNY Farms! calendar (www.nyfarms.info/cal-endar.html). For more information, contactChristopher Reed, CIE program manager:(518) 672-7743 or [email protected].

Other states have similar programs. Hereare key contacts:

Connecticut: Norman Bender, University ofConnecticut, 860-885-2827, [email protected].

Massachusetts: Rick Chandler, Mass.Department of Agricultural Resources 413-577-0459, [email protected];Kathy Ruhf, Northeast Sustainable Agricul-

ture Working Group [email protected].

Pennsylvania: Gene Gantz, USDA RiskManagement Agency, 717-497-6398,[email protected], Kyle Nagurny, PennsylvaniaDepartment of Agriculture, 717-772-3094, [email protected].

New Jersey: Sharon Kinsey, N.J. Depart-ment of Agriculture, 609-984-1966, [email protected].

Or check with your local CooperativeExtension or FSA office.


Insure Your RevenueInstead of Your Crop

If you’ve found that most traditional cropinsurance programs don’t fit your farm-ing operation, there is a relatively newprogram that might help you defray bothproduction and marketing risks.

Instead of insuring individual crops, theAdjusted Gross Revenue-Lite program(AGR-Lite) provides whole-farm rev-enue protection against both naturaldisasters (such as drought or flood), aswell as market fluctuations. It coverscrops that are otherwise difficult orimpossible to insure (such as forage,fruit and vegetables), as well as rev-enue from animals and animal products.

AGR-Lite rewards diversification by pro-viding better coverage and lower premi-ums for farms that produce two or morecrops. If your farm business is suscep-tible to revenue fluctuations from year toyear due to volatile markets, this mightbe the insurance product for you.

To improve the program for 2006, theUSDA Risk Management Agencyrecently increased the maximum liabilityfrom $250,000 to $1 million and extend-ed the closing date to March 15. Thatshould give you with plenty of time thiswinter to investigate whether or notAGR-Lite will work for you.

We’ll take a detailed look at AGR-Lite inour Winter 2006 issue, and point youtoward informational meetings and oth-er resources that will help you makeyour decision.

Continued from prev. page

FARM FOLLIES

Good Day - Bad Day

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By Lael Gerhart

The Elderberry Pond Farm outside of Auburn, NY puts newmeaning into the idea of a diversified farm. Set on 100acres of organic farmland, Lou and Merby Lego have over30 acres in cultivation. Elderberry Pond is home to animpressive orchard with over a hundred varieties of apples,unique varieties of pears, as well as plums, peaches, andcherries.

Vegetables also abound. The Legos specialize in growingHeirloom varieties among them potatoes, tomatoes, beets,squash, and green beans. What makes Elderberry Pondunique is that the crops are not the only things that havebeen diversified, the farm business has moved from directmarketing sales in their farm store and the Auburn farmers’market, to encompass the creation of its very own restau-rant – The Restaurant at Elderberry Pond.

The idea to open the restaurant grew out of the small storethey started on the farm about 18 years ago. In the storethey featured their raw produce as well as prepared foodsuch as soups, salads, jams, and fruit pies – all made fromtheir own harvests. The Legos found that although theyhad steady sales of their raw produce, both at the farmers’market and at their farm store, it was the prepared foodthat really sold. People told the Legos, “You know youshould really do this as a restaurant.”

At that time Lou and Merby were both working off farmjobs and were looking for a way to get more value out oftheir farm. A restaurant was always something they want-ed to do, and since their son Chris had recently graduatedfrom the Culinary Institute, they thought a farm restaurantcould be a wonderful way to add to their farm income.

In 2004 Elderberry Pond received a Value-Added Agricul-tural Product Market Development Grant (VAPG) from theUSDA’s Rural Development program to help establish theon-farm restaurant, which features fresh organic food pro-duced on the farm as well as products from other regionalproducers. The Legos are staunch advocates of the sus-tainable agricultural movement and feel the restaurant isone way to help revive a local and regional farm economy.

The produce the restaurant uses is grown on the farm, butmany of the products that are not available on farm aresourced through other regional producers. ElderberryPond purchases their ground beef from a farm in Weed-sport and their poultry from a farm in Pennsylvania.

“What we are trying to do,” Lou Lego explains, “is saythat there is a better system of farming in the UnitedStates. It involves, not monocropping on huge cen-trally located farms where the whole issue becomestransportation and storage and distribution, but get-ting back to smaller local farms that produce stuff thatpeople can use locally. [Then] you are supporting alocal agricultural economy.”

The Legos also see the restaurant as a way to edu-cate the greater public about local food systems.They report that, “A lot of the people that come to therestaurant came to buy produce [at the store] andthey all believe in organic farming. That is why theycome; they want the quality and the lack of pesti-cides. But there is a whole other set of people whowould never come to the farm to buy produce but theycome to the restaurant.”

According to the Legos the restau-rant makes it easy to increase pub-lic awareness on the benefits ofeating locally. Diners frequentlyexclaim, “These potatoes are unbe-lievable! How did you get them totaste like that?” The wait staff,many of whom work harvesting onthe farm in the morning, reply,“Well, they were just dug, they arefresh from the ground, they haven’tbeen stored.”

Many restaurants are interested orare already purchasing productsdirectly from farms because theyknow the quality is superior, and

their customers can taste thedifference. Elderberry Pond isa member of Finger LakesCulinary Bounty, a collectiveof farmers, restaurants,wineries, and food producerswhose mission is to make theFinger Lakes renowned for itsunique regional cuisine, a cui-sine based on fresh, season-al locally grown and madeingredients, paired with theregion’s fine wines, contribut-ing to the well being of theregion’s farms, food produc-ers, wineries, businesses andcommunities.

Starting a farmrestaurant maynot be foreveryone,but sellingdirectly torestaurantsholdspotential forfarmers togain extrafarm incomeand increase pub-lic demand for localfoods.

For more information on restaurants interestedin purchasing local products and to learn moreabout Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty visitwww.fingerlakesculinarybounty.org. To delightin a gourmet meal featuring farm fresh prod-ucts visit The Restaurant at Elderberry Pondcall 315-252-6025 for directions and reserva-tions.

Lael Gerhart is the Local FoodPromotion Coordinator with Cor-nell Cooperative Extension ofTompkins County and serves asstaff to support to the FingerLakes Culinary Bounty Program.She can be reached at 607-272-2292.

From Farm to Table: Elderberry Farm and Restaurant


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MARKETING

A high tunnel provides greens for the restaurant, even through the winter. The Legos sees their restaurant as a way toeducate the public about local food systems,as well as a profit center. All photos byMatthew Cogger

The restaurant attracts many customers whowouldn’t otherwise come out to the farm.

By Bill Henning

There are very few, if any, managementpractices available today that offer as manybenefits to the livestock producer as Man-agement Intensive Grazing. Not the leastimportant of those benefits are the environ-mental aspects. Interestingly, this phenom-enon is so mutualistic that what is good forthe environment is also good for grazing.Perhaps the most important centerpiece ofthis relationship is the proper distribution ofquality water.

Research tells us that cattle prefer to drinkfresh water from a spring 92% of the timeas compared to drinking from a stream,which they’ll choose only eight percent ofthe time. When we keep cattle from drink-ing from a stream we also reduce fecalstreptococci bacteria in the water by 77%,nitrogen by 54%, phosphorus by 81% andtotal suspended solids by 90%. Silting ofponds can also be significantly reducedwhen cattle are fenced out.

Water distribution can also affect grazingbehavior. When traveling distance to thewater source exceeds 900 feet we canexpect to see grazed forage intake

decreasing with a concurrent decrease inmeat or milk production. In a Missouri trial160 acres of pasture only produced theconsumed forage equivalent of 130 acreswhen the cattle had to travel over 1300 feetto their water source.

Topography also plays a role in waterplacement and grazing efficiency. Inextremely hilly areas the extra effortrequired to obtain water will tend to keepcattle closer to the source, leaving areasfarther away completely ungrazed. Thustopography can amplify the effects of poorwater placement.

Grazing efficiency can also be affected, viawater consumption, as a result of herdinginstincts. Cattle tend to herd. If they haveto travel to water they tend to go as agroup. If cattle access to the water is limit-ed the timid cattle will hold back. When theaggressive animals have had their fill,should they start to leave, there is a likeli-hood the rest will follow. This will cut shortthe drinking of some. The more timid mightfollow the group without drinking at all. Aswater consumption declines so does drymatter intake, and so does meat or milkproduction.

The greater the distance the wateris from the grazing area the moreserious this situation becomes. Thesolution lies in having an adequatesupply of water available for thewhole herd to drink simultaneouslyor provide for rapid refill within thegrazing area.

Soil fertility is also affected bywater placement. Grazing cattlereturn 79% of the N, 66% of the P,and 92% of the K eaten off thepasture directly back to the land.Strategic placement of water helpspromote a more even distributionof these nutrients throughout thepasture. Keeping the water sourcewithin smaller paddocks not onlypromotes diffusion of manure and urine, itencourages more uniform grazing.

Water is our cheapest feed. Protecting itand using it wisely offers a very significantreturn on investment. Can we afford to notuse it to our best advantage?

Bill Henning and his wife Kathleen oper-ate a grass-based beef and sheep farmin the Finger Lakes region of New York.He is also the Small Farms Specialistwith Pro-Dairy/CCE-NWNY Dairy, Live-stock, and Field Crops Team.

By Monika Roth

1) Selling to restaurants can provide addi-tional marketing opportunities. Manyrestaurants will pay more for quality localproducts. Minimums of 10% over wholesalefor standard items, and higher percentagesfor specialty items (those that can not befound wholesale), are typical.

2) Work your way into a restaurant by offer-ing quality and/or hard to find items; thenbuild up the order by educating chefs aboutwhat other products you can supply.

3) Establish a consistent price throughoutthe season rather than fluctuating up anddown. This makes it easier for chefs to planmenus and pricing.

4) Provide chefs with a harvesting scheduleso they can plan their menus around it.

5) Ask chefs questions about their expecta-tions. Find out what and how much theyneed, how they want the produce/productsto look like, and if packaging is desired.

6) Make personal contact with the owner,manager or chef.

7) In order to get your restaurant orders upto a level that justifies delivery time andcosts, you need to sell a variety of prod-ucts. Consider teaming with a neighborfarmer to offer a wider variety of products.

8) Calculate your delivery fee (time andgasoline) and include this on your invoiceto the restaurant.

9) Set up an order schedule (standard dayper week). DO NOT CALL during lunch (11am-2 pm) or dinner (4 pm-11 pm).

10) Specify when orders must be placed soyou have time to harvest products before

delivery. Make it clear that you need a cer-tain number of hours or days notice for spe-cial orders.

11) Chefs often move from restaurant torestaurant, so center your business agree-ment on the restaurant and not the chefonly.

12) Be on-time with your deliveries andsupply exactly what you have promised.RELIABILITY IS A MUST!

13) Ask exactly when and where to deliverthe products, and then follow-through. Yourbuyers appreciate efforts to place the prod-ucts in the walk-in cooler, on shelf in thekitchen, etc. when delivered.

14) Help the restaurant communicate yourlocal, homegrown quality to restaurant cus-tomers. You might want to provide farm lit-erature or business cards for them to dis-tribute to customers. Also, educate therestaurant staff about your products. Whenyou make your delivery, make it a habit tospeak with the waiters and waitresses aswell as the chef. Offer to take them on atour of your farm. Show them the freshnessof your product and give them a sense ofhow things are grown or made.

15) Make sure that payment terms areclear; ask what the restaurant’s normalbilling schedule is. If you can live with that,accept it. Otherwise make separatearrangements!

Monika Roth is Agriculture Developmentand Marketing Specialist with CornellCooperative Extension of TompkinsCounty. She also serves as Secretary ofthe Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty, a col-lective of farmers, restaurants, wineries,and food producers whose mission is tomake the Finger Lakes renowned for itsunique regional cuisine.

Selling to Restaurants - Tips for Farmers/Processors


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By Linda Ameroso

There is a gazebo right inside the gate atKingsboro Psychiatric Center. It is thehome of this Brooklyn community’s firstFarmers’ Market, and welcomes residentsto step inside and experience a marketsponsored by the NYS Office of MentalHealth at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center.Urban Oasis, an affirmative horticulturalbusiness and agricultural initiative of Kings-boro Psychiatric Center has provided voca-tional training and improved employmentopportunities through “real job” work experi-ence for trainees since 1997.

Urban Oasis is under the auspices of theRehabilitation Services Department, and in2004 it expanded beyond a mini-farm andgreenhouse operation by opening a NYSFarmers’ Market where produce grown on-site is featured along side apples, pears,pumpkins and other produce supplied byDavid and Veronica Haughton, participatingfarmers from Trinity Farms in upstate NY.

State Farmers’ Market Nutrition Checks aregladly accepted here, a plus for this com-munity where two senior centers and majorhospitals come together to provide neededmedical services and community supportfacilities. Trainees sell their produce andtell customers how collards are grown, andtomatoes are picked and cleaned with gen-uine care. There is a sense of warmth andpride that goes along with selling, and youcan buy not only produce, but houseplantsand festive holiday gifts, specialties grownand arranged by these trained Urban Oasisemployed participants.

Halloween was not only market time lastseason, but a time of entertainment, as thisgazebo is in an open area large enough tohost activities as well. Open only one day aweek for 5 weeks last fall (2004), UrbanOasis grossed over $1600. In 2005, theirmarket has been open one day a weekstarting the end of June through October.

As a business run by a state facility, UrbanOasis works with partners at Cornell Coop-erative Extension in NYC, which helps themto network more effectively and utilize theirresources to support other food growing ini-tiatives city-wide. For example Urban Oasiscontracts with GreenThumb, a program ofthe City of New York/Parks and Recreation,to grow 150 - 250 flats of vegetable trans-plants a year. This arrangement suppliesquality transplants to community gardenersall over the City.

From 2002 to 2004, 400 flats of vegetableswere grown by program participants - that’s$4000 generated to offset salaries and sup-plies to run their business. In 2005 theyhave increased the yearly amount to 250flats of varieties grown from organic seedand suited for NYC community gardens.

With help from Cornell Extension Educa-tors, Urban Oasis has moved their minifarmoperation toward sustainability, utilizing cov-er crops and row covers, practicing IPM,and composting onsite to build soil. Theyuse mulch and wide rows for weed control,and drip irrigation to insure quality yieldswhile conserving water. Manure is gener-ously supplied by The Black CowboysAssociation, who drop off truck loads when

needed because they believe in this farm-ing effort.

Urban Oasis trainees help conduct onsitetraining workshops in production for othergrowers. This year Urban Oasis will benefitby receiving services from the HorticulturalSociety of NY through a $35,000 grant ofsupport from Vonamergin. Working togetherwith Extension and other partners, voca-tional training program efforts will continue

to extend horticultural opportunities atKingsboro Psychiatric Center and in thecommunity.

What do participants think of working inUrban Oasis? Adan, a past trainee says, “Itis work I can really depend on at UrbanOasis. With the progress I’ve made and theskills I’ve learned, I hope to further mycareer in horticulture.”

Urban Oasis trains in horticulture and agri-cultural production, but more realistically itgives training in job readiness, and uses“real job” work experience to help movetrainees toward working in NYC. In 2004, 2out of the 10 employees that worked duringthe season did get jobs in the community,

and that is one of the major goals of thisKingsboro Psychiatric Center experience.

For more information about Urban Oasis,contact Susan Braverman, Urban Oasiscoordinator at 718-221-7132 or LindaAmeroso, 212-340-2967([email protected]) Cornell UniversityCooperative Extension in NYC.

For information about selling at communitybased farmers’ markets in NYC contactJohn Ameroso at 212-340-2946([email protected]) Cornell UniversityCooperative Extension in NYC.

For information about Trinity Farm or aboutthese farmers’ personal experiences mar-keting in NYC, contact David or VeronicaHaughton at 845-883-5478.

Linda Ameroso is an Educator with Cor-nell University Cooperative Extension inNew York City.


URBAN AGRICULTURE

Urban Oasis Psychiatric Center Farm Market

Farm fresh apples supplied by Trinity Farm in Clintondale, NY lure customers inside the gazebo atKingsboro’s Farmers’ Market. Community residents can buy produce grown on-site and picked thesame morning along with fruits and vegetables grown by a participating NYS farmer.Photographer: Linda Ameroso

A “real-job” work experience uses horticulturaltherapy to bring local grown and upstate farm produce to a Brooklyn community

David and Veronica Haughton from Trinity Farmin Clintondale, NY sell fruits and vegetablesdirectly to the Brooklyn community at two NYCfarmers’ markets and also supply “UrbanOasis” with fresh NYS produce. Photographer: Alan Braverman

Trainees of Urban Oasis work all facets of this business, from growing transplants for mini-farmproduction to marketing. Photographer: Linda Ameroso

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By Glenda Neff

The key for small farms to access the bur-geoning demand for local and organicfoods is to work together for supply, pack-ing, processing, sales and distribution.Across New York State cooperatives, mar-keting associations, and business partner-ships have started up to build this “econom-ic infrastructure”. Upstate NY Growers &Packers, Farm to Chef Express, and NorthCountry Grown Cooperative are some ofthe newer entities, with Northeast Goat &Dairy Sheep Cooperative in its develop-ment stage.

Tuscarora Organic Growers CooperativeIn southern Pennsylvania, TuscaroraOrganic Growers Cooperative has been aninspiration and model for small farmercooperatives. Started in 1988, the co-opbegan with five neighboring farms. Seven-teen years later, 21 certified organic farmsmarket fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs,cheese, eggs, flowers, and plants to restau-rants and retail outlets in the Baltimore-Washington DC area. Annual sales havesteadily increased to over $1-million.

Tuscarora’s members attribute the co-op’sgrowth to hiring a professional generalmanager who developed a comprehensivemarketing and organizational plan. The staffhas grown to five, with a SalesAccount/Marketing Manager maintainingclose one-on-one relationships with theircustomers. Year-round planning and opera-tions focus on ensuring a reliable supply ofhigh-quality products. A customized data-base constantly updates product availabilityand prices; the co-ops web site has grow-ers-only and members-only sections to aidin communication.

To sustain the loyalty of their customerbase through the lean winter months,organic mushrooms, citrus fruits, andorganic olive oil have been added to theofferings of winter storage crops; the co-opis close to reaching its goal of operating inthe black all 12 months of the year.

FOUNDING MEMBERS:NEW MORNINGFARMIf Tuscarora Organic Growers can be calleda model cooperative for small farms, onecan also learn and draw inspiration from itsfounding members. Jim and Moie KimballCrawford are co-founders and their NewMorning Farm provides the home base forTuscarora’s warehouse and offices. Theirguiding philosophy exemplifies the valuesof cooperation in all aspects of the farmand co-op – from growing practices thatenrich the soil, to cultivating interns intonew farmers, to working together withneighbors to build a viable business.

Jim and Moie grow about 40 crops, includ-ing berries and herbs, on 25 of their 95acres on New Morning Farm. To keep pacewith the fresh produce market, they growmore than 50 crops of vegetables, withfrom 180 to 200 plantings each year.

As they grew their business, the KimballCrawford’s realized that effective marketingof their organic vegetables would be a criti-cal component of their success. “The sim-ple way to do it was to load everything youhad onto a truck and haul it down to the cityto the wholesale market — unload it and geta few bucks,” Jim says. “We tried that.”

They also delivered wholesale products toretailers and restaurants. But they soonrealized those approaches did not bringprices to justify the time spent managingsales. It also did not appeal much to buy-ers, such as chefs, to deal with an individ-ual farmer when they were used to choos-ing from a huge line of offerings from dis-tributors.

“We thought that by forming a cooperativeand getting a group of growers together, wecould be more attractive to the market andoperate much more efficiently,” says Jim.The Kimball Crawford’s joined with fiveneighboring growers to form the TuscaroraOrganic Growers Cooperative in 1988. TheCooperative now has a 5,000-square-footoffice and warehouse equipped with cool-ers and short- and long- term storage facili-ties located on New Morning Farm.

By marketing the produce wholesalethrough their cooperative, the farmers incura much lower marketing cost per unit. Jimdescribes the operation as a producewholesaling distributorship. The major cus-tomers of the cooperative are small retail-ers and restaurants, and a few institutions.Restaurants buy about 60 percent of theproduce.

NURTURING SOIL QUALITYJim credits the increasing capacity of theNew Morning Farm not only to the intensitywith which they farm, but also to sustain-able practices he feels have improved thequality of the land. The Kimball Crawford’sare able to maintain fertility in their land,even under intensive use, through croprotation and incorporating cover crops, min-erals and other organic matter into the soil.

“To be operating in what we think of as asustainable way, we’re not depleting soil,”Jim says. “We’re building up the resources,which is very important to us.” Each year,they test part of their acreage, usuallypatches that have generated some prob-lems.

They not only look for the soil’s phospho-rus, potassium and organic matter content,but they also evaluate trace elements likecalcium and sulfur. Jim is proud of theincreased fertility of the soil, which he sayshas improved in the past 27 years. Thoseimprovements can be seen in bothimproved plant quality and increased pro-duction.

“We started with land that was not particu-larly fertile,” Jim recalls. “We were at a fairlylow point, but we’ve seen an enormouschange in the fertility of our land since.”Their rotational system is more complexthan that of larger, conventional farmersbecause of their wide array of crops. “We’realways sure not to plant any crop in thesame ground more often than every threeor four years,” Jim says.

NURTURING FELLOW FARMERS The Kimball Crawford’s structuredtheir internship program to benefittheir seasonal workers as well ashelp with their labor needs. Notonly does an intern receive amonthly salary and free room andboard, he or she will also likelyearn an end of season bonus.Moreover, all interns participate ineducational seminars about variousaspects of production and market-ing.

Working in the Tuscarora OrganicCo-op puts the Kimball Crawford’sin regular contact with other farm-ers who share their values. Atabout six meetings a year — and inphone conversations that take placefrequently throughout the season —

the group trades information about newtechniques, pest control and the like. “It’s avery important part of co-op,” Jim says.“We’re learning all the time.”

Jim cautions that those wishing to get intoa family-sized vegetable operation mayhave a difficult time economically. Theyshould expect to take a lot of risks and putin a lot of hard work. “We’ve survivedbecause we have spent the last 35 yearstrying to develop a model that will supportus,” he says.

On a brighter side, Jim says a cooperativethat markets your produce can make all thedifference. “Marketing cooperatively is afantastic improvement,” he says. “You arepart of a much larger system of which thereis a lot more to offer to the buyer. Andyou’re much more competitive with themainstream.”

FEATURED SPEAKERSIf you’d like to find out more about NewMorning Farm and the Tuscarora OrganicGrowers Cooperative, Jim & Moie KimballCrawford will be giving a keynote address

and workshop at the NOFA-NY Annual Organic Farming& Gardening Conference onJanuary 27-29, 2006 in Syra-cuse, New York. The themeof the conference is Cooper-ation with Nature, with Neigh-bors, with Local Economies.Go to www.nofany.org for fullProgram and Registration orcall 607-652-NOFA torequest a conferencebrochure.

Glenda Neff is a freelanceagriculture writer inAuburn, NY. Portions ofthis article were excerptedfrom "The New AmericanFarmer: Profiles of Agricul-tural Innovation" with per-mission from the Sustain-able Agriculture Network(SAN). For more informa-tion about SAN or sustain-able agriculture, seewww.sare.org.


ORGANIC FARMING

Viability Through Cooperation - With Nature, Neighbors and Local Economies

Jim and Moie Kimball Crawford, founding members of Tus-carora Organic Growers Cooperative.

By Carole Fisher

Do you know what the temperatureinside your refrigerator is? Do youknow what it should be?

These are questions that the FDA’sCenter for Food Safety and AppliedNutrition and the USDA’s Food Safetyand Inspection Service want con-sumers to be aware of. Keeping foodsrefrigerated at the right temperature isone of the most effective ways toreduce the chances of contracting afoodborne illness.

The FDA and the USDA recommendmaintaining a refrigerator temperatureof 40º F or below, and using a refriger-ator thermometer to monitor it.

Why? Bacteria and other microorgan-isms that may be on foods grow rapid-

ly in warm temperatures. Keeping aconstant refrigerator temperature of40º F or below helps slow down thegrowth of harmful microbes.

This new initiative by the Partnershipfor Food Safety Education, calledBACDown!, is based on a risk assess-ment report on Listeria monocyto-genes, the bacteria responsible for thefoodborne illness, Listeriosis.Although most healthy people do notget Listeriosis, it can cause serious ill-ness in pregnant women and new-borns, older adults, and people withweakened immune systems. Thereport estimates that cases of Listerio-sis would be reduced by 70% if allhome refrigerator temperatures werekept at 40º F or below.

According to a 2005 survey, only 20%of consumers say they actually use arefrigerator thermometer. However,they are readily available at grocery

stores, discount, and hardware stores.

Other tips to keep foods cool:• Divide large portions of leftovers

into small, shallow containers forquicker cooling;

• Make sure refrigerators aren’t over-stuffed so that cold air can circulate;

• A range of 38º to 40º F is best. Toolow a temperature inside the refrig-erator wastes energy dollars andmay cause ice crystals to form onfoods.

For more information about food safetycontact your local Cooperative Exten-sion Office.

Carole Fisher is a Community Edu-cator with Cornell CooperativeExtension of Tompkins County.Reprinted with permission fromFood & Family Well-Being, Spring2005.

HOME & FAMILY

Keep it Cool!

Fefee FarmBy Carl Tillinghast

My immediate impression when I drove intothe driveway of Fefee Longmeadow Farmfor the first time over 20 years ago was thatthis was truly a “working-farm”. I knowevery dairy farm is a “working-farm,” it’s justthat this farm had a no-frills look about itwith things appearing like they were welloiled, greased, and ready to go to work.

On my trip back to the farm recently to talkwith the Fefees, my thoughts reflected backon my first visit. As I stepped from my truckI thought how little this place had changedover the years, it still has that blue-collar/working farm appearance… no frillsbut everything you need, and more, to go towork and make milk.

Having started from “scratch” in the dairybusiness some 34 years ago and beingconsider a success by your peers made mebelieve that Harry and Rita Fefee wouldhave some good advice to pass along toother young farm managers and rural busi-ness people. With this in mind, I asked Har-ry if he would consent to a visit so I mightwrite an article for others to read and possi-bly ‘profit’ from his years in the dairy busi-ness. It took a little coaxing but Harry andhis wife Rita agreed to meet with me andshare their story.

OFF TO A ROCKY STARTHarry will be the first to admit that hecaught a break when he bought the farm in1971 from Mr. Wesley Page. He knew andliked Mr. Page, having worked for himbefore and during his employment withNYABC as an A.I. technician. In 1971, afterworking for 10 years for NYABC, Harrydecided it was time to buy his own dairyfarm. Wesley knew Harry was interested inhis farm, so the two got together and con-sulted with Cooperative Extension for helpdrawing-up a land contract. As a result,Harry started shipping milk under his ownname in March of 1971.

The sun was shining on Harry the day hebought the Page property in that the farmcame with a well-bred herd of cattle andsoil resources that had the potential togrow alfalfa. In all, the farm totaled 267acres total with 110 good tillable acres. Theherd was comprised of 42 high producing

Holsteins and a couple of dozen niceheifers.

As so often happens in farming though, inthe blink of an eye, good news can turnbad. That was the case with Harry and hisnewly acquired farm when a fire destroyedthe barn in June of 1972. Fortunately theherd was not lost, but the job of rebuildinglay ahead and that was no small feat. Harrycredits his ability to weather the aftermathof the fire to the generosity of his neighborsand a federal corn/oat program that bychance was available to farmers that yearbecause of a terrible season for local crops.

GROWING THE BUSINESSOn a shoestring budget and for a sum of$21,000 he managed to build another barn.By year’s end Harry was shipping milkagain out of his own facility. He realizedearly on, if he was to prosper in dairy farm-ing he would have to grow his business,which he set about doing immediately. Firsthe began growing his herd internally, goingfrom 42 milkers in ’72 to over 80 head in’77. Then, in 1974, Harry and his brotherPeter agreed to a partnership, and the busi-ness was ‘off to the races.’

With their herd growing and production sky-rocketing, the Fefee brothers worked hardclearing and tiling every acre of land theycould on the home farm in an effort to pro-duce more high quality alfalfa. However,they soon realized they were not set up tohandle this high quality crop in a consistentand efficient manner. With this in mind in1978, they purchased their first 20’x 85’Harvestore haylage unit. Then in 1979 theyadded another haylage unit as well as onefor high moisture corn. In 1982 a third andfinal haylage unit was constructed. Duringthe late 1970’s milk prices were quite favor-able and the Fefee brothers were making awhole lot of it. With a solid income, theycontinued to grow their business by improv-ing their land base, adding a manure sys-tem, building machinery storage, and aworkshop.

TIGHT TIMESIf the 70’s were a time for growth in theFefees’ business, then the 80’s were a timeto pay down debt, and Harry admits it was-n’t easy. Interest rates in the 80’s skyrocket-ed as banks devalued farm portfolios caus-ing a significant reduction in the net worth

on most dairy farms. It was during this timethat Harry became a Director with FarmCredit, a position he held until 1998. Headmits though, that being a director did notprevent their business in the early 80’s frombeing put on a high risk “watch-list” by thebank. The business faced another majorhurdle in the mid-80’s when Peter had toleave the business because of an injury.But the brothers were able to work out adeal and the farm continued with Harry andRita now at the helm.

I asked Harry how he managed to keepfrom getting discouraged in his businessduring the ‘80’s when they were facing ahigh debt load and struggling daily with avery tight cash flow. He commented on anumber of things that helped pull himthrough. First, he mentioned that he neverstopped doing the little things right, whichultimately helped them to avoid biggerfinancial headaches down the road. Aswell, he said, “consistently doing the littlethings right made me feel better at the end

of the day.”

Second, he made a priority to get out andbelong to organizations to learn more aboutthe dairy business from other good farmersand business people. He gives Rita lots ofcredit for this one, in that she was able andwilling to cover for him on the “home-front”so he could get off the farm and serve onboards associated with Farm Credit, FarmBureau, and Cooperative Extension, NorthLawrence and Allied Milk Cooperatives.

Third, the Fefees’ consistently made a lot ofquality milk that allowed them to pay theirbills. And fourth, when times got lean, sodid they, paying down debt and purchasingnothing unless it could make them money.

As the business matured throughout the90’s, leveling off at its current herd size of alittle over a hundred milking cows, theFefees paid down debt and built equity intheir business. They continued to make


COWS AND CROPS

Lessons Learned on a Working Dairy Farm

For nearly 35 years and counting, Harry and Rita Fefee have been successful at operating a dairyfarm business in Moira, NY. They purchased the farm in 1971 and started from ‘scratch.’ Photographer: Carl Tillinghast

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improvements in the farm along the way,such as adding a commodity shed and astationary mixer to accommodate a TMR intheir tie-stall barn. Nevertheless, afterbeing in business for over thirty years, Har-ry and Rita started to think a little moreabout life after farming.

With no one in the immediate family inter-ested in taking over the business, theyhave been working with their formeremployee Steve Damon on a transfer oftheir farm assets. Approximately 8 years

ago, Steve came to the farm with his familyto work as their herdsman. Over the years,Harry has been very pleased with Steve’swork and dedication to the farm. So whenSteve expressed an interest in the businessthey talked it over and came to an agree-ment.

Currently they are about midway through a5-year agreement to transfer the herd toSteve with Harry and Rita retaining owner-ship of the land, buildings and equipment.As part of the agreement Harry still doesthe crop work on the farm and sells Steve

forages at an agreed upon price per ton. Todate, this agreement has worked well forthe two families.

WORDS OF ADVICEI wrapped up my visit by asking severalquestions that I thought might be of interestto people starting out in dairy farming. First,“What advice would you offer to a youngfamily striking off in the dairy business?”

“Plan for your retirement from day-one anddo not plan on the sale of the farm to pro-vide you with your retirement income,” Har-ry and Rita both agreed. Harry also added,from the male point of view, that a farmerneeds a wife who understands farm life andwill be supportive of the business. Headmits that he knows first hand the impor-tance of this one.

Next I asked: “Do you think it’s possible fora young person to get a start in dairy farm-ing today?”

“Yes,” Harry replied, “but there will lots ofhard work, sacrifice and not a whole lot oftime off.” He went on to say that youngpeople also have to look for the right com-bination of factors when they establish theirbusiness.

Last I asked him: “What do you think is thebiggest challenge facing dairy farm busi-nesses in the future?” Harry thought thatmaintaining competitive milk markets in theface of global marketing trends would be achallenge for dairy farm managers in thefuture. He also added that producing qualitymilk should remain a top priority for all

dairy farmers, now and in thefuture.

When I asked Harry specifi-cally about labor as a chal-lenge, he replied that laborhas the potential to be achallenge but they have man-aged to maintain a very goodworkforce over the years bytreating people fairly, givingthem time off and makingsure they were paid on time.

As for the future, the Fefeeslook forward to using theirnew camper a bit more andtaking a little more time nowand again to enjoy life withthe family. For the time beingthough, the Fefees are farfrom being fully retired, andlook to remain active in vari-ous aspects of the farm busi-ness and within the ag com-munity.

In closing I want to thankHarry and Rita for sharing acup of coffee with me and fortheir time so I might gatherthe information needed to putthis story together.

Carl Tillinghast is Agricul-tural Educator and Execu-tive Director with CCE ofFranklin County, NY. Hercan be reached at 518-483-7403 or [email protected].


By Darlene Price

With more than two-thirds of Americansoverweight or obese, achieving and main-taining a body weight that optimizes healthis important for reducing the risk of prema-ture death and array of chronic diseasessuch as cardiovascular disease, cancer,and diabetes.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans isthe federal government’s science-basedadvice to all Americans, age 2 and older,who are healthy now and want to stay thatway. The Guidelines promote health bygiving recommendations about food choic-es to ensure that key nutrients are part ofone’s diet plus emphasizing the importanceof physical activity throughout life.

The 2005 Guidelines include some recom-mendations focusing on special population

groups such as children, women who maybecome pregnant, and the elderly. Impor-tant Changes in the 2005 Recommenda-tions include:• Cups and ounces are used instead of

“servings,” making it easier to measureyour intake.

• Increase consumption of fruits and veg-etables daily to at least 2 cups of fruitand 2 and _ cups of vegetables. Choicescan be fresh, frozen, canned, dried andshould include a wide variety using avariety of colors as your guide.

• Whole grains are encouraged while totalgrain consumption is reduced. Consumeat least 3 or more ounce equivalents ofwhole grains each day (1 slice of bread, 1cup of cereal, _ cup cooked rice or pasta.Look for the word “whole” in the list ofingredients.)

• More milk: 3 cups low-fat or fat-free milkor equivalents.

• Greater emphasis on choosing “nutrient-dense” foods such as whole grains, low-fat or fat-free milk, lean cuts of meat andlimiting added sugars.

• Consume more potassium rich foods(fruits and vegetables) while reducing theamount of salt intake.

• Avoid trans fats and saturated fats. Fatsources should be from plant sourcesrather than animals.

• Avoid unpasteurized milk and juices, andundercooked eggs and meats

• Engage in at least 30 minutes of physicalactivity each day – aerobic, strength train-ing or flexibility.

The Guidelines have been published since1980 and are reviewed every 5 years sothat they reflect the most up-to-date scien-tific knowledge. For more information aboutthe new dietary guidelines contact yourlocal Cooperative Extension Office or visit

www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines.

Darlene Price is Family & Consumer Sci-ences Issue Leader/Nutrition with CCEof Orange County, NY, 845-344-1234, [email protected]. This article is firstappeared in Family: Life and Times,March/April 2005.

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SMALL FARM QUARTERLY October 10, 2005

Small Farm Quarterly

Youth Pages

By Grace Seeley, Independent 4-H Club member, age 16

When you think of careers in the equine world you don’t nec-essarily think of being a dentist, cobbler, or even a construc-tion worker…or do you?

Eleven 4-H girls including myself now think of these occupa-tions as part of the vast equine realm. The 2005 EquineCareer Camp held at 4-H Camp Bristol Hills was an electrify-ing experience for me. Although all of the girls who attendedthis camp came with some knowledge of horses and a defi-nite interest in them, all of us left camp with much moreknowledge about horse related careers and how we want topursue them.

We were introduced to people who have successful careersrelated to horses. We met people in careers as specific to

horses as a farrier, all the way to a pro-fessional salesman for tin buildings.These men and women were all outstand-ing in their field and shared many storiesincluding situations that helped getthem there and how they overcame diffi-culties.

This camp significantly helped me find apath to follow in the future. Shortlyafter attending the program I decidedmy college major, college of choice, and what I plan to focuson in order to achieve a successful career. I am so confidentabout my decision that I even attended a small group tourand talked with a guidance counselor at Morrisville StateCollege. I had always known I wanted a career directly with

horses but the Equine Career Camp helped me to refine thatto a specific area.

Equine Career Camp took us to the widest points of theequine arena and has influenced the way I think about whereI’m going in the future.

Grace Seeley learns about the horse industry from Tim Phelan, head trainerat Sugar Hill Farms during Equine Camp.

By Hannah Young, Independent 4-H mem-ber, age 18

My name is Hannah Young. I am eighteenyears old and live on a dairy farm in CliftonSprings.

I started 4-H at age seven, the same yearthat I showed my first calf. Now, my herdhas grown to twenty-four animals and I’m onmy way to Cornell to study animal scienceand pursue a career in the dairy industry.Through the dairy project, I have developedmy Holstein herd and have been recognizedas a Junior Progressive Breeder by the Hol-stein Association; however, I feel my biggestaccomplishment has been coming in firstplace at New York State Dairy Bowl. Eversince my brother went to the National Con-test in Kentucky with his team I havedreamed of going too. Now my dream iscoming true and I am captain of the team,and my brother is the coach.

4-H has introduced me to a number of otherprojects as well. I sewed my first skirt atage nine and won a blue ribbon at state fair.Now my skills have developed to the point Imade a designer pantsuit from wool with acoordinating stole and purse. With this out-fit I represented New York State at theNational Make it Yourself With Wool Contestin January of 2005.

I have also dabbled in dog obedience. Itstarted when I acquired my Shih-Tzu in2001. Our first year showing we came awayfrom State Fair as Champion of the Begin-ner A class. Two years later the second dogI have trained (daughter to the first)received Reserve Champion Beginner B. I amnow expanding my dog obedience activitiesinto agility, grooming, and handling.

Another highlight for me has been attendingthe Junior Dairy Leader Program. In this wetoured farms and learned about differentaspects of the dairy industry. Most impor-tantly, we learn about ourselves. One memo-

ry stands out for me. While at the ropescourse, learning how to work as a team,another girl and I decided to attempt the“Giants Ladder.” After watching a boy climbonly halfway up, we figured we’d only make itto the second rung. The rungs were made ofunstable wood logs and got further apart asyou climbed. A team of two people wasrequired to make it to the top. So we start-ed climbing and after some hard work wefound ourselves on the fourth rung. Welooked up at the next ring and thought thereis no way we will make it to that one. I wouldhave to stand up with nothing secure to bal-ance on and nothing to hold onto in order tograsp the next rung. I thought there was noway I could ever do it, but we were finally

coaxed on by the people below. I cautiouslystood up, reached… and Yes! I grabbed thenext rung! From there my partner and Imanaged to sit on that rung. We were veryexcited about our accomplishment.

4-H has certainty made the best of my lifebetter, and continues to help me with mycollege education.

Where Can A Kid Explore, Experience,Make Friends and Have Fun?

AACCTTIIVVIITTYY

Hannah Young with her champion Shih-Tzudogs.

Horse Equine CampInspires Career Choices


By Jessica Brown (15), Mary Boerjan (16) and Carrie Sheppard(16), members Orleans Groovy Girls

The Orleans Groovy Girls 4-H Club is a tradi-tional 4-H Club comprised of girls who love thesimple life of country living. For the past 7years, we have enjoyed learning to cook, sew,make wonderful gifts using the talents of ourhands while exploring our own creativity, andhelping people in our community.

We started out small doing just the basics –like how to make homemade cookies, how tohand sew, and how to have fun with people ofall ages. Along the way we learned valuablelessons – how to tell the difference betweensalt and sugar, that a thimble really doescome in handy, and it’s always better to givethan to receive. Now we are planning andpreparing healthy three course meals for ourfriends, family and fellow 4-Hers, sewing CivilWar and Renaissance dresses, and giving backto our community. Our 4-H Club is communityminded and most of our activities revolvearound organizing and participating in variouscommunity activities.

For example, every year we put on a communityHalloween Party for all the local kids. We useour sewing talents to make our own costumes.We make homemade cupcakes and punch for the kids. Weplay games our parents and grandparents enjoyed such asbobbing for apples and eating doughnuts off of a string. Wealso make our own piñatas out of newspaper, flour and waterand decorate them with a Halloween theme. The kids enjoythe challenge of breaking the piñata open.

Not once, but twice our 4-H Club has put its cooking talentsto the real test when we accepted the challenge of cooking ahomemade spaghetti dinner for 200+ people. We preparedand served our fellow 4-Hers and their families a well bal-anced home cooked meal at 4-H Camp Bristol Hills. The din-ner kicked off the annual Achievement Day Program whichprovided 4-Hers throughout the county the opportunity tocelebrate their accomplishments over the past year.

We also enjoy the art of clowning, make ourown clown costumes, and have even developedour own character. We put our clowning tal-ents to work by volunteering to paint facesand make balloon animals at our localschool’s family night and Cub Scout func-tions. Our clowning skills also came in handywhen we volunteered our services at a “TotLot” babysitting clinic at a local Cub Scoutcamp to watch the children of the adult vol-unteers.

Aside from clowning around, we do get seri-ous about improving our public speakingskills. Our Club participates in both County

and District 4-H Public Presentation competi-tions and has had the opportunity to representour County at State competition three years ina row. There you are judged on how well you knowyour topic, your visuals, and how comfortableyou are talking in front of people. Presentationsare very nerve-racking, but they also help you inschool when you need to give a speech. Youlearn how best to present yourself. It will alsohelp later on in life when we are interviewing forcollege and jobs.

Our state 4-H slogan is “4-H Takes You Places.”In our opinion 4-H does take you places, bothto new surroundings and to places inside of youthat you might never have discovered.

Articles for the fall edition of the Youth Page have been contributed by teens from the Ontario County 4-H Youth Development Program. Anyone can connect to 4-H project resources at: http://www.cerp.cornell.edu/4h/

By Casey Cazer, Casa de Llama 4-H Club,age 14

Breeding and showing rabbits is a rewardinghobby. It teaches responsible pet ownership,management, and breeding practices. It alsooffers opportunities for recognition of hardwork and perseverance.

I received my first rabbit when I was justfour years old from my grandmother. It wasof mixed breed and I did not show it but Iloved its loveable personality. I acquired andshowed many different breeds over theyears including American Chinchillas, FrenchAngoras, Mini Rexes, and Satins. I broughtthem to my county fair once a year andtried my luck at local 4-H shows.

I received a broken Holland Lop doe as aprize from an essay contest when I waseleven years old from a former 4-H’er. Ifound a quality Holland Lop breeder andbought three more rabbits, two bucks and adoe. I love the Holland Lop’s curious person-ality and small size. They have a unique, bull-dog type body.

Currently I am trying to expand my herd sizewith brood does in the hopes of having morelitters. My goal is to produce winning rab-

bits and create my own blood-line.I have produced two winning rab-bits so far, but I do not haveenough to try starting my ownblood-line. The purpose of breed-ing rabbits and creating blood-lines is to show off your winnersat national and state level shows.

I make an effort to attend at least onestate show per year and bring at least fourrabbits. At the state show last year I washonored to win the title of rabbit duchessfor my knowledge of rabbit breeds and sci-ence. This year I also had the chance toattend American Rabbit Breeders Associa-tion (ARBA) Convention and Show duringNovember in Providence, Rhode Island. One ofmy bucks placed second in his class of 50+,which made me very proud of all the condi-tioning work and research I put into him.Rabbit judging is “judge based”, not “handlerbased” as it is in other species like dogs, soit is up to the judge to pose the rabbit andall the handler can do is to condition therabbit to its best potential and look on. Anational show is also a great time to buyrabbits from lines across the nation, notjust from your local area. I purchased a doeat the Providence show so that I can addher good qualities to my line.

Rabbits havegiven me aninterest ingenetics andbiology. Today,most of theresearch on rab-bit genetics isdone on coatcolor. I find itfascinating. In myown herd, I hopeto study thegenetics that cre-ate good and badbody types, such as large heads or propor-tional bodies. I like to share my knowledgewith other 4-H’ers in my county and so Ilead clinics on topics from genetics to show-manship and tattooing rabbits. Sharing myknowledge with others in 4-H is rewarding. Ihave seen the pride in the eye of a youngCloverbud as he learned to safely and effi-

ciently turn over his rab-bit for a health check andnail clipping. Somedaythese young rabbit own-ers will be teaching theirown clinics to the nextgeneration of 4-H’ers.

I hope to acquire my reg-istrars’ license fromARBA next year which willenable me to examinerabbits for disqualifica-tions and issue registra-tions. After that I plan toget a judging license sothat I can judge rabbitsat ARBA shows.

Rabbits take up littlespace and care but arerewarding all the same. Itis exhilarating to watchyour rabbits win titles onthe show table. There arealso opportunities foryouth to win awards for

their knowledge of rabbits. ARBA offersmany opportunities for older youth also,becoming a registrar, judge, or an officer ofyour local rabbit club is a great goal. Thereis a lot to experience when you decide toraise rabbits, and besides, it is great fun!

Casey Cazer of Ontario County is shownhere with one of her award winning Hol-land Lops. She has exhibited at local,regional, state and national shows.

Multiplying Rabbits

Jessica Brown, Mary Boerjan and Carrie Sheppard, Orleans Groovy Girls,shown here clowning around.

The Orleans Groovy Girls choose a theme each year for

their 4-H Fashion Show sewing projects. They have previ-

ously constructed Wizard of Oz costumes and the 50's

Rock'n Roll. This year they each wanted to construct a peri-

od dress from a favorite historical period.

Orleans Groovy Girls Love the Simple Life of Country Living

By Fay Benson

The market for organic milk has fluctuatedsince the 1960s, but a stable market, whichhas a critical mass of consumers to supportthe processing of this raw commodity, hasonly been around the northeast since the1990s when Peter Flint started “OrganicCow“ in Vermont.

Here in New York State, organic milk salesbegan with a number of businesses thatstarted around 1995, including Juniper Val-ley, Elmhurst Dairies and Sunnydale MilkProducers who started a partnership with“Natural by Nature.” You may recall that1994-1995 was the time when Monsantointroduced BST to the dairy industry. Thisgrowth hormone caused concern in a lot ofconsumers and farmers alike, thus BSTwas the catalyst that gave organic milk itscritical mass of consumers, allowing it toexpand into more and more markets.

DEMAND FOR ORGANIC MILK ISSTRONGER THAN IT WAS IN 1997I completed my organic certification in 1997and began selling milk to Natural byNature; at the time they were selling someof their milk to Organic Cow in Vermont. Myfirst organic milk left this area on a truck,which had to travel 1200 miles every otherday in order to fill the truck and deliver it to theOrganic Cow facility in Vermont. It took twotruck drivers to load and complete this trip.Fortunately, the farmers don’t pay trucking.

The market is still driven by demand, andthe need for more producers in NY is obvi-ous with the importation of 15 million lbs. of

milk into our state every month to help bal-ance the market. To help with questionsfarmers may have concerning the transitionto organic dairy, Cornell Cooperative Exten-sion South Central Dairy and Field CropsTeam recently held a transition to organicdairy workshop. We visited Phil Stauder-man’s farm in Genoa, NY.

Phil completed his transition in the fall of2003 and now ships to Horizon Dairy. Atthe workshop there were over 40 partici-pants, most were transitioning or thinking oftransitioning. In addition to hearing how Philhandled the challenges of transition, wealso had representatives from the threemajor buyers in this area: Horizon, OrganicValley, and the newest buyer, Hood.

Organic Valley is a farmer-owned coopera-tive, their representative Jim Gardinerspoke about the strong cooperative spiritthat differentiates Organic Valley from theother two companies. Horizon and Hoodboth are associated through Dairy MarketingServices (DMS) for procurement, trucking,and inspection. Their representatives out-lined similar benefits that included: $1 percwt. for the 12-month (cow) transition, asigning bonus of $1 per cwt. for the firstthree months, quality premiums up to $1 percwt., free trucking, and a base price of $22per cwt., which will increase 1.5% annually.

THE DOWN SIDEWhen I became certified, organic corn was$170/ton, and soy bean was $500/ton.These prices seemed high but I figured thatwith these prices eventually there would bemore grain farmers entering the market and

this would bring down the price. What I did-n’t count on was that human consumptionwas going up at the same time so the live-stock feed had to compete with that, sonow shelled corn brings $230/ton and soyis $600/ton if you can find it.

Managing these higher costs plus the otherchallenges of producing milk organically

makes organic dairy farming a manage-ment intensive business. The producer hasto rely less on solutions to problems suchas animal health, and more on preventionof the problems in the first place. I tell farm-ers that it helps to not look at themselvesas milk producers, but rather as herdsmencaring for their animals, which happen toproduce milk. Focusing on the animals' wellbeing helps reduce stress which is a key toa healthy animal.

WHERE I THINK THE MARKET WILL GOWith more than ten years of escalatingdemand for organic milk, this market is not afad similar to the blip the Atkins Diet had onthe food market, which lasted 1-2 years.Organic milk supply has never caught up withconsumers' demand. Sharad Mathur of DairyMarketing Services says there is currently ashortage of 5-6 tractor trailer loads of organicmilk every day in New York State alone.

But there are some gray clouds out there;with the USDA taking over control of therules for certifications there has been somefear that two major loopholes will favorlarge dairies. The first loophole is the “Ori-gin of Livestock” which some read to sayany heifer might be brought in as long asthey are fed organically for the year beforethey start milking. The stricter reading ofthe rules would say that the animal has tobe raised organically for three monthsbefore it is born (last third of it’s gestation).

The other major loophole, which is current-ly being addressed, concerns the require-


MARKETING

The Fast Growing Organic Milk Market: In Need of Producers

Shoppers like Sarah Regenspan and her dadDavid can find several brands of organic milk atGreenStar Co-op in Ithaca, NY. Like many otherconsumers, they say they’re turning to organicmilk to avoid antibiotics, synthetic hormonesand pesticides in their food.

A growing number of small-scale creameries like Sunrise and Evans Farmhouse Creamery alsoserve the expanding market for organic milk.


The Northeast Organic Farming Associa-tion has announced the completion of theNOFA Organic Principles and PracticesHandbook Series; ten handbooks thatpresent the most proven and successfulpractices of organic farmers around theregion. All ten handbooks, illustrated and60 - 110 pages in length, are written by tal-ented farmer-writers and include tables,references and farm profiles and are fullyindexed. Pre-publication review by farmersand scientists with relevant backgroundshas assured that each covers up-to-dateexperience and research.

The NOFA Handbook Series is designed togive you a clear, comprehensive view ofkey farming practices from the organic per-spective. The content is geared to seriousfarmers, gardeners and homesteaders andthose looking to make the transition. Goodfarmers arrive at their own best methods tosuit their situations of place and pocket-book. These handbooks may help organicpractitioners review and recon-sider their concepts and prac-tices in light of holistic biologi-cal realities, classic works andrecent research as well asfunctioning, on-farm examples.

HANDBOOK SERIESTITLES:• Organic Weed Management,by Steve Gilman• Organic Soil Fertility Man-agement, by Steve Gilman• Vegetable Crop Health:

Helping Nature Control Dis-eases and Pests Organically,by Brian Caldwell• Whole Farm Planning: Eco-logical Imperatives, PersonalValues and Economics, byElizabeth Henderson and KarlNorth

• Compost, Vermicompost and CompostTea: Feeding the Soil on the Organic Farm,by Grace Gershuny• Soil Resiliency and Health: Crop Rotationand Cover Cropping on the Organic Farm,by Seth Kroeck• Marketing and Community Relations, byRebecca Bosch• Humane, Healthy Poultry Production: AManual for Organic Growers, by Karma Glos• Organic Dairy Production, by Sarah Flack• The Wisdom of Plant Heritage: OrganicSeed Production and Saving, by BryanConnolly with contributing editor CR Lawn

The series was funded by the NOFA Inter-state Council, NOFA/Mass and USDA’sSustainable Agriculture Research and Edu-cation. Suggested retail price is $7.95. Bulkprice $4.50 per book (minimum 6 books ofany title), $3.50 order fee plus 30¢ perbook postage. To order, visit www.nofa.orgor contact Elaine Peterson [email protected] or 978 355-2853.

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ORGANIC FARMING

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ment for pasture. There are some 3000-cow organic herds that are not able to pas-ture their animals, and the rules are notclear enough to this issue. One of thesefarms, Aurora Dairy located in Colorado,sells their milk in New York under the

“Nature’s Promise” label. Colorado’s Agdepartment certifies the milk. Consumershave a perception of organic production;animals on pasture are one of the percep-tions they expect. A definitive pasture rulewould help to protect the confidence thatconsumers give to organic dairy products.

The use of pasture is a benefit to the healthof the animals, to their products, and theenvironment.

I believe that these loopholes will eventuallybe sorted out without any major change tothe market, providing that those involvedwith setting the rules remember the mostimportant part of the market equation is theconsumers. They are the ones paying a dis-tinctly higher price for a product they believeis better for them and the environment.

For more information on becoming acertified organic dairy producer, contactLisa Englebert with the NortheastOrganic Farming Association of NY at(607) 724-9851 or visit the NortheastOrganic Dairy Producers Alliance atwww.nodpa.com.

Resource SpotlightOrganic Milk Handlers

CROPP Cooperative/Organic Valley-Familyof Farms Contact: Peter Miller East Region Pool Coordinator 888-444-6455 ext/407 [email protected] www.organicvalley.coop

Dairy Marketing Services Contact: Sharad Mathur1-800-654-8838 or [email protected]

HP Hood Contact: Mike SueverVP of Milk Procurement and Processing

617-887-8419 [email protected]

United Ag Services / OrganicDairy Farmers CooperativeContact: Jim Patsos800-326-4251 or [email protected]

Upstate Farms Cooperative Contact: Bill Young585-768-2247 [email protected]

Organic Cow/Horizon Organics Contact: Cindy Masterman [email protected]

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By Gary R. Goff

With the March 2005 discovery of captivedeer infected with chronic wasting disease(CWD) in Oneida County, New Yorkbecame the easternmost state to harborthis fatal disease of deer and elk. Sincethen, two wild deer have been documentedto have the disease. Then on September 2,West Virginia Division of Natural Resourcesposted a news release confirming that aroad-killed white-tailed deer from Hamp-shire County, WV, tested positive for CWD.The 2.5-year-old buck was discoveredabout 25 miles south of thePennsylvania/Maryland line, due south ofBedford County, Pennsylvania.

THE DISEASECWD is a nervous system disease of deerand elk only. It belongs to the family of dis-eases known as transmissible spongiformencephalopathies (TSEs). CWD is in thesame family of diseases as bovine spongi-form encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow dis-ease) in cattle, scrapie in sheep andCreutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) inhumans.

It is believed that CWD is transmittedthrough deer-to-deer contact and environ-mental contamination. There is no scientificevidence that CWD is transmissible to otheranimals by contact or through consumingmeat from an infected deer. In addition,

there is no evidence that humans can con-tract the disease from either consuming themeat or handling parts of infected deer.

Although there is no CWD link with humandiseases, health officials provide recom-mendations for venison processors andconsumers that will provide protection fromCWD and any other disease that deer maycarry.

CWD can incubate in deer or elk for 15months to several years before exhibitingclinical signs. As the brain deteriorates, theanimal begins to exhibit clinical signs thatcan include weight loss, behavioralchanges such as isolation, blank facialexpression, nervousness, excessive saliva-tion, teeth grinding, increased drinking, andfrequent urination. Once symptoms occur,animals die within days to a few months.

EFFECT ON WHITE-TAILED DEER POPULATIONSThere has not been enough research todraw conclusions on CWD’s long-termeffects on deer populations. However, thereis enough known to cause concern amongdeer biologists. In states such as Coloradoand Wyoming where the disease has beenpresent for more than a decade, the preva-lence of CWD in wild deer populations hasbeen observed at 1%-15%.

This rate, by itself, is not sufficient to causesignificant reductions in deer populationsize. However, these observations occurredin states where deer populations do notachieve the high densities that occur in NY,WI, and now WV. In captive deer herds,CWD can reach remarkably high infectionrates of more than 90%. Such infectionrates in wild deer populations would havedevastating effects.

THE MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR CWDHunting is the wildlife manager’s mostimportant tool for regulating deer abun-dance. High deer population densities leadto more rapid spread of CWD in an infectedherd. Consequently, programs to reducethe deer population, which may includeincreased harvest of female deer, will beimplemented in areas where CWD hasbeen detected.

New York has 178 licensed white-taileddeer farms, 77 registered elk farms, andapproximately 1 million free ranging white-tailed deer. The Department of Environ-mental Conservation (DEC) and theDepartment of Agriculture and Markets(DAM) are the lead State agencies whodevelop plans to protect wild and captivedeer and elk herds and monitor the effectof CWD. Although the actions taken bythese agencies to protect the state’s animal

FOREST AND WOODLOT

Chronic Wasting Disease Now in NY State and West Virginia

When processing deer for meat, minimize han-dling of brain and spinal tissue, and take care indisposing of hide, brain, spinal cord, eyes,spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes, bones, and head.


resources differ, the overall objectives areto prevent the importation of infected ani-mals and/or materials and stop the spreadof CWD.

DEC and DAM have collaborated with stafffrom the NYS Department of Health (DOH),the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animaland Plant Health Inspection Service(USDA-APHIS), and Cornell University’sCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Animal

Health Diagnostic Center, and Departmentof Natural Resources, to create a contain-ment and management plan for CWD.

PREVENTING CWD ON DEER AND ELKFARMSDAM has issued an emergency rule(1NYCRR Part 68) aimed at preventingCWD on NY’s deer and elk farms. The rulerequires individual animal identification,fencing standards and testing, and imposesstrict controls on animal movement. DAM isdeveloping a permanent rule for deer andelk farms which will replace this emergency

rule. Provisions include:• Mandatory testing—Required for all deer

and elk 16 months or older that die,show signs of disease or go to slaughter;and annual testing of a minimum numberof deer from every farm.

• Imports from other states—Importation oflive deer and elk from other states is pro-hibited unless they are from CWD-freecertified herds and from known CWD-free areas. DEC restricts the movementof carcasses and parts from deer or elkoriginating from states or provinces withknown CWD infections.

• In-state movement—Farmers that movedeer or elk off their premises must beenrolled in the herd certification program.For the first five years of enrollment herdcertification status level is increased.Those farms receiving animals can onlyreceive animals from instate herds thathave equal or higher herd certificationstatus.

• Quarantine, condemnation—If any animaltests positive for CWD, the herd will bequarantined and animals may bedestroyed. In most cases,owners will be eligible forindemnity payments.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF IOBSERVE OR HARVEST ADEER THAT I SUSPECTMIGHT HAVE CWD?Call your local DEC regionaloffice during normal businesshours.

Gary R. Goff is a SeniorExtension Associate in Cor-nell’s Department of NaturalResources. He can bereached at 607-255-2824, [email protected].

Resource SpotlightMore About ChronicWasting DiseaseNew York State Conservationist is anaward-winning, ad-free magazine featuringstunning photography and informative arti-cles. The October 2005 issue features anin-depth article on CWD, from which ourarticle is adapted. You can subscribe toConservationist online at www.theconser-vationist.org or by calling 1-800-678-6399.

NYS DEC Bureau of Wildlife CWD pageswww.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/wildlife/deer/currentcwd.html

Department of Agriculture & Markets CWDpageswww.agmkt.state.ny.us/AI/cwd.html 1-800-554-4501 or by [email protected]

Cornell Cooperative Extension CWD pageshttp://wildlifecontrol.info/CWD/default.htm

By Peggy Murray

Kevin and Amy Sullivan operate a 65-cowdairy in Lewis County where they both grewup on dairy farms. After graduating highschool, Kevin started farming with hisfather. In 1985, he rented his existing farmfrom his parents and starting milking 35cows. He grew hay, corn silage and graincorn.

After a couple years of traditional dairying,Kevin and Amy took a suggestion from con-sultant Jim Martindale and converted torotational grazing in 1987. Kevin switchedhis 170 acres to all grass and legumes, andthe herd is grazed from May through Octo-ber.

Starting in 1991, Kevin and Amy made asecond, and bigger, transition. They beganswitching to seasonal dairying, whichrequires that all cows be dried off simulta-neously from January through March.

At the time the Sullivans didn’t know any-

one who milked cows only about 46 out of52 weeks a year. So Kevin researched sea-sonal dairying by reading articles on thetopic, and he turned to Amy and other fami-ly members such as his father for guidance.It took until 1993 for the Sullivans’ herd tobe fully seasonal.

The Sullivans milk in a tiestall pipeline set-up during the winter months when the cowsare housed. During the grazing months, thecouple milks in a flat-barn parlor that Kevinbuilt in 1999 for approximately $1,200.Using the flat-barn parlor cuts down onsummer barn cleaning and milking time.

The couple also stopped harvesting all theirown crops and hired Kevin’s brother to cus-tom harvest them. This cuts the family’smachinery costs and gets their crops har-vested faster.

Mechanics, Management & ResourcesGrazing and seasonal dairying make sensefor Kevin and Amy. They didn’t want to livein their barn and wanted to make things

easier for themselves and their herd. Sea-sonal dairying suits them since they enjoysnowmobiling and skiing and usually take avacation during the wintertime.

So when Jim Martindale suggested graz-ing, the timing was good. To implement thetransition, the Sullivans wrote down their 5-and 10-year goals for their banker. Kevinreviewed those goals five years after hewrote them and discovered that he andAmy had met those goals.

The transition went better than expected,though people initially thought they “werecrazy.” The couple eased into the changes,taking three years to become a seasonalherd.

The biggest hurdle was training the cows tothe flat-barn parlor. The first year the Sulli-vans almost gave up, but now the cowsremember from one year to the next. Kevintrains first-calf heifers to the parlor beforethey freshen so they are used to it afterthey calve. Pasture management also was

challenging in the beginning.

The transition has been a lifestyle changefor Kevin and Amy. But they firmly believe iftheir cows are happy, then they’re happy.“Comfortable cows make happy people,”Kevin says.

Kevin manages the livestock, cropping andpastures, while Amy cares for calves up tosix months of age. Kevin does the farm’sbookkeeping, and he and Amy make finan-cial decisions together. The couple doesn’tuse any type of computer program forrecord keeping.

The Sullivans’ dairy was profitable beforethe transition, and their reason to make thechanges wasn’t financial. But money andbudgeting were their biggest concernsabout the transition to seasonal dairy.

Their cash flow was tight the first year ofseasonal dairying, but they never borrowedmoney to finance the changes. When they


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Continued from prev. pageChronic Wasting Disease

Processing Deer Meat Safely• Identify and store meat and trimmings from each deer separately. Each hunter

should get meat only from animals he/she shot.• Process all deer from a CWD containment area separately.• Wear rubber or latex gloves.• Minimize the handling of brain or spinal tissue. If removing antlers, use a saw desig-

nated for that purpose only, and dispose of the blade.• Dispose of hide, brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes, bones, and

head. Seal in plastic bags and dispose at a sanitary landfill or via a licensed wastehauler

• Remove lymph nodes in and near joints.• Bone out meat from the deer and remove all fat and connective tissue. This will also

remove lymph nodes.• Do not cut through spinal column. Avoid using a saw.• Liberally cut away and dispose of meat near any spinal cord wounds.• Thoroughly clean and sanitize equipment and work areas with bleach before using it

for other processing.• Use a solution of equal parts chlorine bleach and water. Wipe down countertops and

let them dry. Soak items such as knives one hour. When finished, dilute the solutionfurther and pour it down a drain.

• Dispose of all unwanted carcasses or parts at a sanitary landfill or via a licensedwaste hauler.



converted to a seasonal herd, Kevin’sfather, who holds the real estate mortgage,offered to let them skip a payment. Kevinand Amy have never taken him up on hisoffer.

The Sullivans don’t make less money thanbefore the transition, but it comes mostly inthe summer. Budgeting is critical to theirhaving money during the winter monthswhen Kevin and Amy’s herd is dried off andthey don’t receive any milk checks.

They find that during those months it’s easyto spend a lot of money on entertainmentand eating out. Their awareness of this haz-ard makes Kevin and Amy more carefulabout spending.

THE FUTUREThe Sullivans’ dairy is more profitable afterthe transitions. The couple owns all the live-stock, equipment, buildings and facilities.

They have no plans to expand since theyare fully using their land and don’t want togrow extra forages to feed their herd in thesummer.Kevin and Amy’s long-term goals are to:• Be debt free. They have two children and

want to keep the option open for them tocome into the business.

• Fine-tune practices.

• Improve milk quality.• Convert from storing forages in upright

silos to bunk silos.

The couple doesn’t push forproduction. Still their cowsaverage 70 to 75 pounds dur-ing May and June before theweather turns hot.

TRANSITION TIPSSuccess depends on severalthings. Weather, of course, iscritical to cropping and graz-ing. Kevin relies on long-termforecasting accessed throughthe Internet and by satellite tohelp him plan for the weather.

Kevin began putting oat seeds in his hay-seed mixture, using oatlage as a backup inhis pasture. And cows like it. Kevin doesn’tspend a lot of money on exotic seed;orchard grass works well.

The couple has suggestions for others whoare considering grazing and seasonaldairying:• All aspects of the business transition are

critical to success. All your eggs are inone basket so be careful.

• Make arrangements to board cows thatdon’t get bred on time and, therefore, arenot dried off with the rest of the herd.Kevin usually doesn’t have a problemfinding someone to take cows, he says.

People are often looking to fill theirbarns, and Kevin gives them the milkincome.

• It’s important to get the cows bred backon time. The Sullivans cull cows that getbred late, and they cull hard for fertility.They raise approximately 20 heifercalves and sell between 12 and 15 dairyanimals each year.

• As with any transition, go slowly, talk toother people and use all the resourcesavailable.

Initially Kevin found little information aboutgrazing and, especially, seasonal dairying.But things have changed: More resourcesand programs on both management prac-tices exist today. He faithfully reads and

subscribes to New Farm(www.newfarm.org) and GrassFarmer (www.stockmangrass-farmer.com) magazines. AndKevin researches things on theInternet. Cooperative Exten-sion has organized grazinggroups and pasture walks.Talking to other farmers isalways helpful.

Kevin and Amy measure theirsuccess by the quality of theirfamily life and their checkbook.As long as they can pay theirbills, they feel they are suc-cessful. Good management isthe key to their success. AndKevin and Amy are excellentmanagers.

Peggy Murray is a farm busi-ness educator with CornellCooperative Extension ofLewis County. This article isone of twelve in the new

“Profiles of SuccessfulStrategies for Small DairyFarms” publication, fundedby the Northern New YorkAgricultural DevelopmentProgram (NNYADP), afarmer-driven research andeducation program specificto Essex, Clinton, Franklin,St. Lawrence, Lewis andJefferson counties. Otherprofiles are online atwww.nnyagdev.org.

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The Sullivan’s dairy herd is grazed from May through October. When they made the transition to agrazing operation, the Sullivans switched 170 acres to all grass and legumes

The Sullivan farm in Lewis County operates as a seasonal, grazing dairy.

By Bernadette Logozar

In 2004, a group of farmers, economicdevelopment folks, town supervisors andextension educators from Essex, Franklinand Clinton counties in New York took a bitof a jaunt north of the 49th parallel to learnabout how farms, economic developmentand government are cooperating to pro-mote and sustain their small and largefarms in southern Quebec. We broughtback a wealth of ideas, innovations andgoodies from our trip.

THE CIRCUIT DU PAYSANThe five farms we visited are part of theCircuit du Paysan, which enables visitors totake a ‘country trip’ in the southwestern partof Montérégie. The area is located at thefoot of the Adirondacks, bordering the Unit-ed States between the Richelieu River andLake Saint-Francis. The entire Circuit is 194kilometers and takes about 6 hours to tra-verse.

Each business on the circuit reveals per-sons passionate about their art or theircraft: artisan, wine maker, cider maker,farmer, breeder, chef and innkeeper, eachwilling to share their knowledge of theregion as well as their know-how, oftenderived from traditions of past generations.

WHERE DID WE GO? Our first stop was Fromagerie Fritz KaiserInc., a cheese plant and dairy. Fritz Kaiser,Master cheese maker and leading pioneerin the creation of the Canadian “Raclette”,specializes in the production of firm andsemi-firm washed rind cheese. Situ-ated in Noyan, QB, an agriculturalcenter of the Richelieu valley, Fro-magerie Fritz Kaiser benefits fromthe rich soil and quality local milkproduction.

Mr. Kaiser began crafting his cheesesin 1981 according the traditionslearned in his original home ofSwitzerland. Over the years, he hasdeveloped a large assortment ofcheeses and presided over thegrowth of his Fromagerie. Mr.Kaiser’s latest achievement, theDouanier cheese, is a washed rind

cheese with a distinctive line of vegetableash running through the middle.

Next we headed over to Les Fraises deLouis Hébert in St. Valentin, QB. This fami-ly strawberry and raspberry farm has beenin business for 45 years. They are pioneersin the field of self-pick or U-pick fruit farms.Visitors to Louis Hébert’s can pick straw-berries, raspberries and blueberries as wellas purchase homemade pies, jams, jelliesand of course, wine. In addition to the fruitfields, they also offer a visit to their smallanimal farm, and a guided tour of their on-farm winery. In 2003 Louis Hébert planted4000 grape vines; their winery will sooninclude grape-based wines as well.

About that wine…Le Valentin is an alcoholicdrink made from strawberries and raspber-ries. This sweet wine is best suited as anaperitif or digestive drink. It should beserved chilled and it is suggested that youdrink it with a frozen strawberry or raspber-ry. It is also excellent when drunk with achocolate shooter (another locally madeproduct). Le Valentin is a mistelle with 18%alcohol. Louis Hébert offers another alco-holic beverage called Le Louis Hébert.This is a strawberry/raspberry wine with12% alcohol. This wine, I am told, is bestserved at a cool temperature and is verygood with salmon and triple cream cheese.

Our third stop was at La Face Cachée de laPomme where you can sample a taste ofQuébec's winter and warmth! La Face


COMMUNITY/WORLD

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Visitors to La Face Cachee de la Pomme were able to sample the variety of wines this cidery offersfor sale. Many took the opportunity to purchase product for the trip home.

Françios Pouliot explaining how he makeshis apple icewine.

Cabane à Sucre L’Hermine offers visitors everything from maple syrup to maple sugar and everypossible product in between.

La Fromagerie Fritz Kaiser, milk house, cheese plant and retail outlet all located on the farm. LaFromagerie uses milk from their own herd as well as from surrounding farms in the region. Thusthe cheese reflects the “terre roi” the flavor of the land.

Cabane à Sucre L’Hermine uses reverse osmosisto remove as much water from the sap before itis sent to the evaporator. The water which isremoved is held in a holding tank above theworkshop. Once the season is over, the waterwhich was evaporated from the sap is used toflush the system.

These are the stainless steel vats where theLouis Hebert mistelle et Le Valentin are aged.


Cachée de la Pomme means “the hiddenside of the apple”, which is a very applica-ble name since at this cidery they makeapple ice wine or ice cider. The unique fla-vor of ice wine is born in January, when theorchards are cloaked in winter white. By askillful method of slow fermentation, thisnaturally sweetened nectar develops acomplex aroma of candied fruit andachieves the perfect balance between thetart and the mellow. The cidery's produc-tion has soared from 2,500 bottles in 1999to 150,000 bottles of Neige in 2002.

Their marketing is well thought out and

very targeted. Owner François M. Pouliotsays, “Whatever the best shop or bestrestaurant is in a city, that is where I wantmy wine to be. And that is the only place Iwant it.” So far this has been working verywell, as La Face Cachée de la Pomme hasdoubled production every year.

Next we headed for the bush, well the sug-arbush that is. The proprietors of Cabane àSucre L’Hermine (Sugarhouse) are Mastersugar producers and have an internationalreputation for excellence. This family busi-ness has been in operation since 1963.They make everything from maple syrup tomaple sugar and all the stages of maple

products in between.

Located in the heart of century-old maplesand the largest linden trees in Quebec, theyhave 110,000 taps every year. At L’Her-mine you can take an educational tour,sample some products, buy the things youlike or hold a wedding reception. And if aday is not long enough then you can spendthe night at their inn and explore the bicyclepaths amongst the trees.

Finally before we headed home we stoppedat Boucherie Viau where you could pur-chase the “best old-fashioned cured ham,”bacon, fresh cheese, locally made tortiere(meat pies) and a wide range of processed

meats from their home delicatessen.

WHAT DID WE LEARN? The key theme running through our entiretrip was this: Find what you do well, do itthe best you can and market it as such.Maybe your motto is as simple as FrançoisPouliout and you want your product not inevery store or restaurant but the “best shopor restaurant”. Then work to do so.

The success of these businesses is builtupon a number of factors: marketing, quali-ty product, strength of the agriculturalindustry of this area of Quebec and family.And their success did not come aboutovernight or without hard work and determi-

nation. It developed over-time. Each started with thesame beginning. They hadan excellent product to mar-ket and built from there.

The five farms that we visitedare all relatively small farms.They are all family-ownedand operated businesses,with less than 10 employees;generally most of the employ-ees are family. Any productsthat are made on the farmsutilize what is grown either onthe farm itself or from theimmediate surrounding areathis enables the farms tocapture the “terroir” or the fla-vor of the land in the prod-ucts they are making.

The success of the Circuit duPaysan shows what can hap-pen when individual busi-nesses work together toattract tourists – and theirdollars – to a rural area.Rather than viewing eachother as competition, all thebusinesses participating inthe circuit benefit fromshared advertising and pro-motion.

Granted not all things areequal on both sides of theborder. There are differencesthat will have an effect on thesize and breadth of success;however, looking at the rangeof alternative agriculture thatis going on north of the 49thParallel may provide farmersto the south a bit of food forthought and fodder to growideas on. I would suggesttaking a bit of a jaunt Northof the 49th to gather someideas for your business, andif you need a tour guide Iwould be more than happy tojoin you.

For more information aboutthe Circuit du Paysan I wouldencourage readers to visitwww.circuitdupaysan.com orcall 1-800-378-7648. Theyhave a great map, whichdescribes the various loca-tions and the routes.

Bernadette Logozar is Rur-al & Ag Economic Develop-ment Specialist with CCEof Franklin County. Shecan be reached at 518-483-7403 or [email protected].


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By Rebecca Schuelke

To curb brown knapweed and bedstraw inhis hay fields, one Central New York farmerhas tried intensive mowing, herbicides andliming.

Bob Huot of Columbus has released wee-vils, even a flock of sheep, in his experi-ments with conventional -- and less com-mon -- methods to combat invasive weedsin his pastures.

Huot and his wife, Carol Kinne, raise dairyreplacement heifers among the hills ofChenango County. In the past severalyears they have added to their resume astudy in eliminating brown knapweed andbedstraw from their pastures, one whoseresults could someday help other farmersrid their land of these unwanted plants.

“I didn’t know what knapweed was, butabout five or six years ago I noticed therewere these bales the heifers wouldn’t eat –unless the only other choice was stones,”Huot said with a laugh. “When it dries,knapweed is like a thistle. I don’t blame theheifers for not wanting to eat it.

“I knew I had to do something.”

Brown knapweed, or centaurea maculosa,is a biennial that produces a purple flowerin its second year. It develops thistles anddries brown by the end of the growing sea-son, making it unpalatable to most live-stock.

The more widespread bedstraw, or galium,is a green plant with many small, whiteflowers. Occasionally referred to as wildbaby’s breath, bedstraw is a low-grade for-age that provides little nutrition to livestock.

STUDY IN WEEDSHuot first tried plowing up and reseedingthe fields with the greatest brown knap-weed growth, which seemed to work well atfirst. But, by the second and especiallythird year after reseeding, knapweedseemed to be back with a vengeance.

“I thought I could kill it off, but I was wrong.I probably created better growth conditionsfor knapweed by bringing up seed in theground,” Huot said.

Huot said he knew many in the agriculturalcommunity would recommend herbicides toget rid of the unwanted knapweed and bed-straw but, while not opposed, he is reluc-tant to use chemicals, partially out of con-cern they are not good for the environmentand also because he worried plants willdevelop resistance to herbicides.

Instead, Huot decided to enlist some help.He contacted the Central New YorkResource Conservation and DevelopmentProject, where Huot is a member of theboard of the directors, and Cornell Cooper-ative Extension of Chenango County.

Huot and the agencies applied for andreceived a grant from Northeast SARE, orSustainable Agriculture Research and Edu-cation, a program of the US Department ofAgriculture.

The three-year project was awarded in thefall of 2003 and included $7,800 to examinevarious methods that might destroy or pre-vent brown knapweed and bedstraw in hay-fields.

The efforts explored on Huot’s farm includeapplication of broadleaf herbicides, liming,intensive mowing, intensive grazing and theintroduction of weevils thought to feast onknapweed.

WHOLE FARM“My interest in this project is not just in con-trolling knapweed and bedstraw, but inlooking at the whole farm ecosystem andhow treatments affect it,” said Phil Metzger,coordinator of Central New York ResourceConservation and Development.

Meztger described the knapweed and bed-straw project as biological monitoring,including examining the effects on nearbyplants, soil quality, exposure to groundwaterand more.

“The best method is not necessarily onethat kills all the knapweed or bedstraw, if itleaves the ground bare or kills all theinsects,” he said. “We need to select treat-ments that control problem plants economi-cally while maintaining groundcover toavoid re-infestation.”

Huot raises approximately 60 heifers eachyear. He owns 215 acres at a main farmand another 93 acres at nearby site, andestimated that 45 percent of his land is inproduction, either as pasture or harvestedin the form of approximately 10,000 squarebales annually.

Since Huot and his wife do the bulk of thefarm work themselves, they typically balehay continuously throughout the summer.Hay baled at the end of summer seemed tocontain more of the dried, mature knap-weed that his heifers shunned.

“We see knapweed issues throughout thearea,’’ said Rebecca Hargrave, a horticul-ture and natural resources educator forCornell Cooperative Extension of Chenan-go County and an advisor in the knapweedand bedstraw study.

Knapweed, thought to have originated insoutheast Europe or southwest Asia, hasbeen in the US for approximately 100years, with higher concentrations of theweed in western states, including Montana.It’s unclear how knapweed came to the USor Huot’s farm in particular, though hespeculated it might have come in through ahayseed source.

“Knapweed spreads quickly and producesa high number of seeds,’’ Hargrave said.“Knapweed generally likes recently dis-turbed areas, which is why we see so muchof it on roadsides.’’

Hargrave said she hadn’t encounteredanother knapweed infestation as profuse asHuot’s.

“Part of that could be because so muchrural land is unused,’’ she mused.

RESULTS NOT INWith one year still to go in the study, Huotand his technical advisers were not readyto draw conclusions about the best controlmethods, but they shared some of theirearly observations. Each method was triedon a different plot of land at the main farm.Although field sizes varied, they usedapproximately half-acre plots in hopes theresults would be more apparent in smallerfields.

Herbicides: Brand names Dicamba tocombat knapweed and Crossbow to attackbedstraw have shown some success inlessening the weed populations, but neitherchemical treatment has yet eliminated theproblem plants, the group members said.

Liming: Working on the premise that theweeds might be drawn to greater or lessquality soil, one test plot received a heavydose of lime in an effort to increase soil’s pH.

Hout said he was not surprised that limehas thus far not proved to be a deterrent.

“Everything grows better with lime, includ-ing knapweed and bedstraw,” he chuckled.

Mowing: Huot has beenexperimenting with “over-mow-ing” areas with high bedstrawand knapweed infestation. Hehas devised a method of mow-ing four-acre plots once, two-thirds of the area twice andone third of the area threetimes.

Although steady mowing is afairly tried and true means ofridding unwanted plants, Huotobserved, his attempts so farhave not eliminated eitherknapweed or bedstraw.

Grazing: Huot has experi-mented with fencing sheepand dairy heifers in smaller-than-usual paddocks, employ-

ing the belief that over-eating within a con-fined area may eliminate weeds. On thesame line of thought, some have speculat-ed that additional traffic from the animals’hooves within small paddocks may helpsnub out certain plants.

“Both heifers and sheep will eat knap-weed’s blossoms and the soft, upperstems. They will eat it when it’s youngerand fresher,’’ Huot said. “It’s a form of con-trol (over the weeds), but it won’t get rid ofthem. The drawback to intensive grazing is,of course, the animals eat the more desir-able plants to the ground. They are fatigu-ing the grasses.”


GRAZING

Got Knapweed?

Bob Huot of Columbus inspects weevils munching on the flowers of brown knapweed, a weed thatthreatens to overrrun the heifer grower's hay fields. Huot is leading a study to determine if wee-vils can be used to destroy or control the knapweed population.

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Farmer unleashes sheep, weevils in SARE-fundedstudy to control noxious pasture weeds

These Jersey heifers are part of a study that is exploring whether livestock can be used to curbproblem plants when the animals are permitted to “overgraze'' in small paddocks for short periodsof time.


Tapping USDA’s Conservation ReserveEnhancement ProgramBy Karen Clifford

Maintaining water quality and avoiding fil-tration is a high priority for New York City.In an effort to encourage farmers in theNYC Watershed to further protect the waterflowing through their farms on its way theNYC reservoirs, the Conservation ReserveEnhancement Program (CREP) was initiat-ed here in 1998. Since then over 130watershed landowners have signed con-tracts with the USDA to establish almost2000 acres of riparian forest buffers pro-tecting over 140 miles of streambank. Thisis the tale of two farms’ experiences withCREP.

Donald and Joanne Hosking have beenrunning a 150 cow dairy farm in Hobart,NY for 20 years. Their farm consists ofapproximately 160 acres owned and rent-ed. Joanne is very particular about her

farm and keeps it neat and orderly. Animalhealth and wildlife habitat are very impor-tant to the Hoskings. When they heardabout the Conservation Reserve Enhance-ment Program (CREP) they liked the con-cept and began working with their wholefarm planning team to enroll in the programto create a 22.3 acre riparian forest buffer.

The Hoskings CREP plan was complex. Awatering system involving the constructionof two ponds was developed to ensure asufficient supply of water for the animals. Ahalf mile livestock laneway, a mile and a

half of high tensile fence and 12 acres oftree and shrub planting had to be coordi-nated as not to create excessive hardshipson the animals or the farm operation. Theproject was fully completed this past July, alittle more than two years after the planningbegan.

Don is very happy with the program. “Thewater system works very well, the cowsalways have plenty of good water to drink,”he says. “The animal trail has neededsome repair from heavy storm runoff but isholding up well. The trees and shrubs aredoing fantastic, some are up to five feet tallalready and there has been an increase insong birds and other wildlife in the area.”

“But the biggest benefit is the improvementin animal health. Since the animals havebeen out of the wet swampy areas theyhave not had any hoof problems, includingfoot wart, or any incidences of mastitis.”

“There have been some operationalchanges due to the installation of the buffer.We did not realize how much feed the cowswere actually getting off of the buffer area,so we had to increase their feed consider-ably while they were in the barn for milk-ing.”

Don continued, “We first thought this was aproblem, but using the rental paymentreceived for the CREP land, good bottomland is rented to grow corn on. The pro-duction on the newly rented land is at leastdouble what the amount produced on theCREP land, and it is keeping this very pro-ductive land in agriculture. The cows haveadjusted, now instead of having to go outand bring the cows in for milking, they arealready at the barn waiting for me”.

For the Hoskings the CREP has improvedtheir entire farm operation from both awater quality and herd health perspective.

Randy and Lucci Kelly have a slightly differ-ent reason for enrolling over four acres ofriparian forest buffer in the CREP. Randy isa forester by trade, therefore, trees andwater quality are what are really importantto him. Randy and Lucci wanted toenhance their property and help maintaingood water quality for the future. Randyraises Scottish Highlanders and said “theylove to be cool especially when it is hot outand with the new spring development theanimals have more water to drink than theyknow what to do with”.

Lucci also speaks highly of CREP, saying,“the program is very important to the smallfarmer. It enables us to do our part for theenvironment and be a better steward of theland by managing our stock better”.

Randy has a vision of what he wants thebuffer area to look like in 50 to 60 years.Along with maintaining the trees andshrubs planted to establish the buffer,Randy is continuing to plant a variety ofspecies within the buffer to develop anarboretum for future generations.

“It is important to reforest the streams andutilize the land for what it is best, attractinga variety of wildlife, not only game specieslike rabbit, grouse, and deer but also songbirds. The buffer has to be something youbelieve in, not just plant and forget about.”

In the NYC Watershed, CREP is jointlyfunded by the USDA Farm Service Agencyand the Watershed Agricultural Council,which receives major funding from the Cityof New York.

For more information on the ConservationReserve Enhancement Program pleasecontact you local County Soil and WaterConservation District, USDA Farm ServiceAgency or USDA Natural Resources Con-servation Service.

Karen Clifford is the Riparian BufferCoordinator with the Delaware CountySoil and Water Conservation District andcan be contact by phone at 607-865-7090 or via email at [email protected].


STEWARDSHIP AND NATURE

A Tale of Two Farmers

Don and Joanne take great pride in their farm and animals.

349 Roses BrookSouth Kortright, NY 13842

(607) 538-9464

See us for information on any of theabove company lines.

DairySanitations

In Huot’s tests, four heifers ranthrough a half-acre paddock in twoweeks. Six sheep could graze thesame size area for a week or twolonger, he said.

Biological control: Perhaps themore uncommon form of pest con-trol Huot has employed is the intro-duction this spring of weevil larvae.

Blunt Knapweed Flower Weevil andthe Knapweed Root Weevil werepurchased from Biological Control ofWeeds, a Bozeman, Mont. firm.

The flower weevils have been spot-ted feeding on knapweed.

“They are eating, which is a goodsign,” Metzger said, adding that it istoo soon to determine if the weevilsare eating enough to make a dent inthe weed population.

LOOKING AHEADThose involved in the knapweed andbedstraw project said they hopedtheir work would be helpful in findinga solution that other farmers mightbe able to use.

“Our three-year analysis will not justconsider how much knapweed andbedstraw was eliminated in eachtest, but will look at the larger pic-ture,” Metzger said. “How many oth-er plants were eliminated? What isthe insect count in that plot? Howmuch bare ground has been createdby this method?”Hargrave said she was especiallyintrigued by the weevil and the ideaof biological control, but said shehoped the study would provide ananswer that is not too costly or laborintensive for the average farmer.

“We hope we can find a realisticpractice that the farmer could do,”Hargrave said. “So many of the cur-rent recommendations have to dowith costly spraying, mowing 12times per year or other measures.We need a solution for organic farm-ers and those that do not want to putchemicals on their fields.”

Rebecca Schuelke is a member ofthe editorial team of Small FarmsQuarterly and is employed by Cor-nell Cooperative Extension ofChenango County.


The Hosk-ing's cowsare proud

to do theirpart to pro-tect theircountry's

water quality.

Randy proudly shows off an Atlantic Cypresswhich he has added to the buffer.

By Karen Skrill

“Jan. 31, 2000. This afternoon I was start-ing the chores by myself. Stewart wasworking on something else. Just beforestarting to throw hay into one sheep pen, Inoticed a very small white movement in thepen. At closer inspection, I discovered thetiniest lamb I have ever seen standingalone in the midst of what was giant sheepcompared to this tiny creature. The firstthing I did was to get one of the portablepens called "jugs" for the new lamb and itsmom. Once that was in place I picked upthe lamb for an inspection. It was a perfect-ly formed and healthy ewe lamb, but notany bigger than a couple of pounds of but-ter. At first I could not find the mom,because there was no one attending thelamb, but it had been cleaned and was dry.When I took the baby over to the jug, asmall ewe came over, crying for its baby. Ireunited the two of them in the pen andwent to get water for the mom. Then Stew-art arrived. It was the smallest lamb he hadseen as well. He made sure it was nursingand OK before we continued with chores."

The above entry from my journal was writ-ten one and a half years after my arrival inVermont and the start of my new life as afarmer. I remember when I first moved herefrom southwestern Ontario in 1998, thatVermont seemed like stepping back in timeabout 80 years. The people were friendly,but it didn’t take me very long to find outthat there was a definite difference betweentrue Vermonters and "flatlanders" like me.

Fortunately, the local people did not holdthat against me and welcomed me into thecommunity. I joined the Grange and found itwas a great place to meet and socializewith neighbors that I normally would rarelysee. When you live on a farm you quicklylearn that trips into town were on an "asneeded" basis, and not recreation.

This whole lifestyle was completely new tome, a city girl from Canada. I alwaysenjoyed the surprised reactions I got whenasked why I came from Canada to the mid-dle of Vermont. I explained that I met myfarmer-husband, Stewart, on the Internet.

At 52 I had found myself divorced, strug-gling to make a living on my own, and tiredof the hidden agendas and political gamesof the singles scene in city life. I remem-bered that all my life I have known farmersand they always seemed to be sincere, realpeople, so I decided that it was time tomeet a farmer. I signed on to the Internetand went searching. I found a web sitecalled "Ag Singles". It was free so I posteda little bit about myself and within a coupleof days I received two replies. One wasfrom a man in Idaho and one was fromStewart in Vermont.

While I corresponded with both men, it wasStewart who wrote to me more often andsoon we were also speaking on the phoneas well. We communicated by email sooften that I filled two three-ring binders withcopies of our notes before I actually decid-ed to accept his invitation to come to Ver-mont to meet him.

My friends were dismayed that I would trav-el so far to meet a man that I did not know."You don’t know, he could be an axe mur-derer," one friend advised me. But we hadtalked and written so much that I was com-fortable with the plan. I found out later thatStewart’s best friends also told him, "Shecould be an axe murderer!" We had a goodlaugh about that.

When I made the decision to move here toVermont, I packed up what little I could stuffinto my station wagon and small "pop-up"camper, and left my house in Canada in the

care of my oldest daughter. While I do missCanada, and my family, I am really enjoyingmy life here on the farm. It is such a differ-ent way of life, but a much more free andhealthy life. With all the new skills that Ihave learned from Stewart and the farm, Ihave learned that it is possible to sustainmyself if I need to. And I have learned that,indeed, people here are "real, and sincere.”

We raise sheep, breed working dogs, growgarlic and other garden crops that I enjoyselling at the farmers markets. In 2000 wejoined Vermont Quality Meats Cooperativeand have since been getting the best pricefor our lambs that we have ever gotten, andall year long as well.

In the first few years we tried growing theusual variety of vegetables to sell, buteventually settled down to just the garlicand cucumbers and tomatoes that I pickle. I

make a garlic jelly that I have found to be avery good seller. We try to keep our prod-ucts unusual and have developed a verysmall niche market.

Most of Vermont’s farmers markets requirethat what you sell, you produce, so I alsogrow our own herbs that I use in makingthe pickled green tomatoes. I make an oldtraditional cucumber pickle called TonguePickles which uses the older, yellowcucumbers that I would not use for the reg-ular varieties of sour pickles that I make.

Two years ago, we loaded up our one tontruck with all the wool we had stored in thebarn and I drove to Prince Edward Island toMacAusland’s Woolen Mills and had blan-kets made. We have been selling them atthe farmers markets and on the Internetthrough a web site called Local Harvest(www.localharvest.org).

We also developed a web site for the farm,which is named Bulrush Farm after theMorgan stallion Bulrush Morgan. The sto-ries say that he was sired on our farm to amare owned by Moses Belknap by JustinMorgan’s stallion, Figure.

Life here has been good, but hard work.There are always unexpected things hap-pening; some good, some not so good. Likethe time a hired hand was bringing a roundbale down the road and a tractor tire blew,swinging the tractor off the side of the road.Stewart was away, and with both of usbeing new to farming, we were not surewhat to do. I called the local tractor repairdealer and was told that if I could get thetire off the tractor and bring it to them, theycould fix it.

Well, just as I was going to the garage toget a jack, a friend, Mike McPhetres whofixes tractors for a living drove in the yard.He made short work out of taking off thattire. I asked him later what brought him tothe farm and he said Stewart had men-tioned that one of the tractors needed work.Similar events have happened severaltimes, so are always thankful when ourguardian angels are on the job. I havelearned that it can be very expensive tokeep the equipment on a farm repaired andyou really need to be a Jack-of-all-trades.

One surprise for me is that it really is verynice to work outside. I used to sit in anoffice and look out the window at menworking on the railroad that ran past myworkplace and think that I would neverwant to have to work outside in all theunpleasant weather. After coming to thefarm and actually working outside in allkinds of weather I now know why peoplechoose those jobs. As long as you aredressed for the weather, the rewards faroutweigh the discomforts. I also found thatmy back no longer bothers me because Iam not sitting in a chair eight hours a day.

It has been good, but now, at ages 60 and71, we find that the farm is beginning tobe too much for us to work by ourselves,and we don’t make enough to pay a hiredhand on a steady basis. We have to makechanges from what we would like to do, tosomething we can do. None of our familymembers are interested in farming, so weare going over our options.

Meanwhile, the farm is up for sale but thelocation is too beautiful for us to want tolive elsewhere so we are looking at divid-ing the farm so that we can build and stayhere. We have gotten too used to lookingdown the valley each morning and won-dering at God’s handiwork, ever changingand awe inspiring.

Karen Skrill farms with her husbandStewart in Randolph Center, Vermont.


NEW FARMERS

View of the valley from our hayfield.

Giant pumpkins were fun to try, but now we stick to garlic, tomatoes and cucumbers.

“You’re never too old to make changes in yourlife if you really want to,” says author Karen

Skrill, shown here with husband Stewart.

Some of our 100 ewes and lambs feeding from a round bale feeder in the corral beside the barn.The lamb on top is playing King of the Hill.

My (New) Life as a Farmer

By Bill Henning

When will it take more than a barrel of oil inenergy to extract a barrel of oil from theearth? According to James Howard Kun-stler, author of The Long Emergency: Sur-viving the Converging Catastrophes of the21st Century, that just might happen soon-er than we think.

The logic is that the world is very close toits peak oil withdrawals, no new significantdiscoveries have occurred since before2003, and no more significant discoveriesare expected. The oil that was the easiestto get has been gotten. The remaining oilwill be increasingly more difficult to obtain.

Furthermore, as third world countries con-tinue to develop the demand for oil is goingto expand dramatically. China is an excel-lent example. The agricultural ramificationsare enormous for much of our current farm-ing practices rely heavily on the petroleumindustry.

Regenerative farming offers us some use-ful alternatives to lessen oil dependency.Regenerative farming need not be organic,although the two terms are often consid-ered synonymous. You don’t have to beorganic to include some regenerative prac-tices on your farm. You can still gain benefits.

The following covers some of the gleaningsfrom a July 22, 2005 Rodale Institute FieldDay in Kutztown, PA. Staff at the RodaleInstitute, faculty from Pennsylvania StateUniversity, and researchers from theUSDA’s Agricultural Research Service(ARS) provided information.

FARMING SYSTEMS COMPARISONFor about twenty years three farming sys-tems have been compared at the RodaleInstitute: conventional, non-animal regener-ative, and animal regenerative. The cropsconsidered included corn, soybeans, andoats. The conventional system uses con-ventional inputs. Non-animal regenerativeuses legumes as a nitrogen source. Ani-mal regenerative uses composted manure.

Yields of the three systems have beencomparable. In stress conditions theregenerative farming systems out yieldedconventional farming. It was also found thatcorn can take a 4,000 lb. DM /acre weedload before showing any effect on yield.

Transitioning to regenerative farming hasoften been associated with yield reduction.Rodale has found that this is usually due toa lack of nitrogen. They recommend start-

ing with crops that are less nitrogen sensi-tive like legume hay crops.

After a few years of regenerative produc-tion, yields increase. Rodale’s yield aver-ages usually meet, or exceed, the yieldaverages within the county. The regenera-tive systems consume 30% less energyand only require a 6% price advantage tocover the added expense. Considering thatcertified organic production usually com-mands a price premium of from 35 to 140%the systems are proving to pay for the extraeffort.

The question of soil phosphorus (P) accu-mulation arose. The Rodale staff said theyhave not specifically studied P accumula-tion but do have a somewhat elaborate sys-tem for monitoring ground water. Eventhough considerable P additions have beenmade via compost to soils that already hadhigh P levels, ground water analyses haveindicated safe P levels by EPA standards.

BIOLOGICAL NO-TILL FARMING Using a specially designed chevron config-ured roller in front of a tractor that is alsopulling a modified no-till drill, Rodale hassuccessfully no-tilled soybeans followingsmall grains without chemicals. Smallgrains, when killed and knocked down formulch, suppress weed competition. Theroller kills the small grain plant whenapplied at the flowering stage.

Three small grains have been compared:oats, wheat, and rye. The oats gave thepoorest results and the rye gave the best,actually rather good, results. The rye pro-vided the most straw and also the mostorganic matter. Organic matter in the soil isfairly close to double the carbon content.Carbon to nitrogen ratios ran 20:1, 30:1,and 40:1 for oats, wheat, and rye respec-tively. The nitrogen content of the threestraws does not vary greatly. While the ryeprovided the most straw, it also providedthe most carbon.

TILLAGE TIMINGAt any given time we have a seed bank inour soils. For the most part those are weedseeds and only about ten percent of themexpress themselves through growth abovethe soil surface. That leaves 90 % of theseeds lying dormant below the soil surfacejust waiting for the right opportunity forexpression.

Rodale tilled ground that had a uniformcropping history. They tilled different plotsin intervals two weeks apart. Differentweed populations grew in each plot. While

not a controlled experiment, it does indicatethat we might be able to control a weedpopulation that would be more compatiblewith a certain crop if we can time our tillagepractices appropriately.

Seed exposure to light was also addressedduring this session. Weed seeds have theability to determine when the environmentalconditions are just right for germination andexposure to even a nanno-second of light isenough to trigger the process. This expo-sure to light can occur during tillage or cul-tivation. As a result it has been determinedthat tillage at night, without tractor lights,using night vision goggles, can reduceweed populations.

Rodale also found that later plantings oftendid not hurt yields, and sometimes-increased yields, due to less competitivesuppression from weeds.

ENHANCING SOIL NUTRIENT EXTRAC-TION AND SOIL STRUCTUREArbuscular mycorrizal fungi (AMF) areancient microorganisms that have evolvedto aid plants absorb nutrients from the soil.They especially help in the uptake of lessmobile nutrients like phosphorus. Mostplants are mycorrhizal, that is, they cantake advantage of AMF.

AMF have hair like projections calledhyphae. Hyphae grow up to two inchesbeyond the nutrient depletion area aroundthe root zone accessing more soil andallowing the plant to acquire nutrients moreefficiently. Hundreds of yards of hyphaecan grow within a teaspoon of soil.

In the early 1990s the USDA identified acompound called glomalin on the hyphae ofAMF. Glomalin acts like bark on a tree tokeep water and nutrients from getting loston their way to and from the plant. Gloma-lin is very tough. It can last anywhere from10 to 50 years in the soil.

When a hypha stops transporting nutrients,the glomalin from that hypha is available tothe surrounding soil. Remaining hyphaeact as a frame on which soil particles cancollect while the glomalin available to thesoil glues the particles together, thus form-

ing and stabilizing aggregates of soil. High-ly aggregated soils are more porous andless prone to erosion.

The USDA/ARS lists these considerationsconcerning Arbuscular mycorrizal fungi(AMF):

AMF benefits crops by:• Increasing a plant’s uptake of nutrients• Increasing a plant’s disease resistance• Enhancing a plant’s ability to grow indrought conditions• Improving soil structure around rootzones

AMF benefits farms by:• Decreasing input costs• Increasing crop yields• Improving the environment

Seven steps to cultivate your soil’s nativeAMF populations • Eliminate phosphorus fertilizers• Don’t till more than necessary• Don’t let fields lie fallow over winter• Do plant cover crops• Do develop a diverse crop rotation• Do grow crops that support AMF• Do relax a bit on weed control

SO WHAT IS IN YOUR WALLET?No doubt there are some who have readthis and thought, “what a bunch of radicalhogwash.” Almost all of us have only expe-rienced a world full of cheap energy andwondrous technology. Much of that tech-nology is itself highly energy dependent.What we have experienced has only exist-ed, for the most part, for less than 70 yearsout the eons of the earth’s history. It is theculture in this time period that has indeedbeen radical.

The real currency of life is energy. Regen-erative farming just might be the key towhat we do keep in our wallets.

Bill Henning and his wife Kathleen oper-ate a grass-based beef and sheep farmin the Finger Lakes region of New York.He is also the Small Farms Specialistwith Pro-Dairy/CCE-NWNY Dairy, Live-stock, and Field Crops Team.


COWS AND CROPS

Regenerative Farming – What’s in Your Wallet?

Chevron roller for biological no-till. From left to right: oat straw, wheat straw, rye straw.

The plot on the left was tilled two weeks after the plot on the right. That is the only managementdifference. The weed on the right is fox tail. Pig weed is on the left.

By Madeleine Charney

It was a steamy summer evening at theWhately, Massachusetts town hall whenseventy-five women gathered for the firstmeeting of “Women in Agriculture” on July27th. “No matter,” said Mary L. Peabody,keynote speaker, referring to the nearly100-degree weather, “we’re farmers!” Herlight-hearted dismissal was met with around of laughter and the evening was offto an energized and productive start.

Earlier, the energy in the room had alreadybeen palpable as the group filed in andjoined the potluck line. Fresh, local foodwas served up as the women perused atable laden with literature and found seatsstrategically arranged in clusters. Oldfriends greeted one another as new con-tacts were made with handshakes and theexchanging of business cards. Group intro-ductions revealed a wide range of opera-tions and experience.

THE NEED The meeting was inspired and organized byCommunity Involved in Sustaining Agricul-ture (CISA), a non-profit organization basedin South Deerfield, Massachusetts. CISA’smission is to sustain agriculture by buildinga secure local food and farming system,strengthening relationships between con-sumers and farmers, increasing farm prof-itability, promoting environmental sustain-ability, preserving rural communities, andensuring that fresh, healthy, locally grownfood is available, affordable and accessibleto everyone.

Therese Fitzsimmons, Coordinator forCISA’s Women in Agriculture Program,oversees a community outreach projectfunded by the USDA’s Risk ManagementAgency. The project includes a formal men-toring program. However, when Fitzsim-mons directly queried women farmersabout how CISA could assist them, sheheard their repeated request for an informalcounterpart, a forum in which to sharehands-on learning and visit one another’soperations.

“About twenty of the women farmers spokeof their positive experiences with businessnetworks,” explained Fitzsimmons. Thesenetworks provided the women with speedyand relevant answers to the questions theytossed into the ring.

It seemed like a natural step to form a net-work that addresses specific farming needsand allows women to gather and pool theirknowledge base, and so Fitzsimmons washappy to organize this successful initialmeeting. A second meeting of CISA’s“Women in Agriculture” network was heldon September 21st with plans for meetingevery other month.

THE WAGN MODELAs Director of the Women’s AgriculturalNetwork (WAgN) in Vermont, Peabody wasa logical choice to jumpstart this new net-working opportunity for women farmers inthe region. WagN, a collaborative effort ofthe University of Vermont Extension Sys-tem, University of Vermont’s Center forSustainable Agriculture, and the USDA,provides education and technical assis-tance to individuals starting or enhancingfarms and ag-related businesses.

WAgN offers a series of educational, tech-nical assistance, and networking opportuni-

ties. From developing and assessing a busi-ness idea through the advanced planningand implementation phases, WAgN offers aprogram to support and encourage thesevarying levels.

The WagN vision is to increase the numberof women owning/operating profitable farmsand ag-related businesses and their profilein leadership positions throughout the agri-cultural sectors of business, governmentand community. Peabody’s rousing presenta-tion provided fertile ground for the seeds ofsuch a network in Western Massachusetts.

WOMEN FARMERS ON THE RISEPeabody centered her talk on someremarkable statistics. “Yes, there really aremore women farmers,” she declared. Quot-ing from the USDA 2002 Census of Agricul-ture, she pointed out that in 1982 therewere 121,599 farms and ranches withwomen as principal operators. Comparethat with 237,819 principal operators in2002. That’s nearly a 100% increase in onlytwenty years! She then went on to illumi-nate some of the origins of these changes.

New recruits (women 18-30), mid-lifecareer changers, and family matriarchs areon the rise. Combined with changing pur-chasing patterns, consumer behavior, andeconomic conditions, this complex scenariobecomes clearer. Women’s farms tend tobe small (35% are between 10-49 acres),diversified, sustainable/organic, a part-timevocation, value-added, direct marketed, andless mechanized than the average farm.

Women’s farms also have a larger portionof their farms in the lower sales classesthan men operators. Why is this? What are

the barriers?Peabody’s researchshows that settingsmaller goals, limit-ed connections,physical limitations,less confidence withtools/equipment,limited access toprograms, risk aver-sion, and a socialperception thatfarmers are mencontribute to womenfarmers’ lower eco-nomic gain.

The obvious ques-tion then is how todissolve these barri-

ers. The obvious answer: With networkssuch as WAgN and “Women in Agriculture.”These networks, according to Peabody,provide a “safe” place to learn and explore,support systems, reality checks to dispelisolation, stories and information, a way tofoster creativity, and a community withwhom to celebrate. “Women know how tocelebrate!” she reiterated. Case in point --the smiles and conversation sustained asthe women filed outside and made theirway down the road for a tour of a localwoman’s farm.

To find out more about Women’s Agricultur-al Network (WAgN) in Vermont, contactMary L. Peabody at (866) 860-1382 exten-sion x13 or [email protected], orvisit www.uvm.edu/wagn.

For more information aboutCommunity Involved in Sus-taining Agriculture and its newWomen In Agriculture network,call the CISA office at (866)965-7100 or visithttp://buylocalfood.com.

Madeleine Charney is Infor-mational Resources Manag-er with the New EnglandSmall Farm Institute inBelchertown, Massachu-setts.

Resource SpotlightWomen in SustainableAgriculture ConferenceOct 21-23

The 2005 Women in Sustainable Agricul-ture Conference will bring together farmers,educators, and activists involved in sustain-able agriculture to share educational andorganization strategies, build technical andbusiness skills, and address policy issuesall aimed at expanding the success ofwomen in sustainable agriculture. The gath-ering, to be held in Burlington, Vermont, willwork to set the agenda for the next decadeof supporting women in agriculture.• Who? Farmers, ranchers, growers, serv-ice providers, educators, social and politicalactivists, and those who care about food,fiber and the natural world.• Why? To honor the role of women in

agriculture, to celebrate the power ofwomen's networks to create change and toplant the seeds for future work.• Happenings? A sensory feast... Speak-ers to capture your imagination… Work-shops to engage your hands and mind…Art to delight your spirit... Networking tostimulate your creativity… Activities to nur-ture the child within and… Locally grownfood that celebrates the bounty of the sea-son.Register online atwww.uvm.edu/wagn/womeninag.html or bycalling the Women's Agricultural Network at(802) 223-2389 ext 15.


COMMUNITY/WORLD

Women Farmers’ Network Launched in Western Massachusetts

BERGMAN MFG.2866 Quail Ave., Arthur, IA 51431

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CISA Board Chair Faye Omasta, right, chats with Therese Fitzsimmons,Coordinator of CISA’s Women in Agriculture . All photos by Kelly Coleman.

Participants in the July Women in Agriculture network meeting in Deer-field, Mass.

Mary Peabody of Vermont Women in AgricultureNetwork (WAgN)

By Bill Van Loo

The TransitionAfter 30 years of working in the newspaperindustry, Loren Ortman started dairying in1999 with his wife, Cynthia. Tending dairycattle wasn’t new to the Brasher Falls, N.Y.,couple. They had raised and sold heifersfor several years.

When reorganization in his industry forcedthe career change, Loren originally plannedto run a conventional dairy. He and Cynthiaremodeled their tiestall barn and seededtheir pastures to annual Italian ryegrass.But it took only two years and an entire silofull of moldy silage to convince the couplethat rotational grazing and baleage feedingwas a better dairy strategy.

The couple switched to rotational grazingand stopped growing corn. To keep invest-ment low, the Ortmans partner with theirneighbors to put up baleage for the winter.In 2004, they planted brown midribsorghum Sudan to feed during the summerpasture slump. Yields were quite acceptable.

MECHANICS, MANAGEMENT &RESOURCESThe transition to full-time dairying was diffi-cult, and the lack of cash sometimesstrained the Ortmans’ relationship. Cynthianow works part time off the farm to supple-ment the farm’s income.

In spite of cash-flow gaps early on, thecouple has stuck to the goal of paying offdebt and fixing production problems. In ret-rospect, the Ortmans say just “taking theplunge” was the most difficult part.

For help during their transition, the Ort-mans relied on the Natural Resources Con-servation Service (NRCS), Cornell Cooper-ative Extension, neighbors, their veterinari-an, their nutritionist, and lots of books andmagazines.

Much of what Loren learned, he taughthimself. He wishes there could have beensome sort of mentoring program to helpthem through the first couple of years get-ting started.

To track their progress, the Ortmans watchtheir debt closely. They have an Excelspreadsheet ledger as well as Quickbooksto keep their records.

THE FUTUREThe Ortmans have aggressive plans fortheir dairy. To begin with, they plan to bedebt free in five years. They also plan toimprove all their paddocks, build soil fertility,expand to 60 cows, and install a pasturewatering system and, eventually, irrigation.

Reaching these goals, the Ortmans say,will help them achieve their most importantobjectives: to grow equity while raising theirfamily on a farm.

TRANSITION TIPSThe Ortmans, who are more than willing totalk about their transition experience withother farmers, have this advice:• Get advice from a reliable source. Then

follow it.• Open your mind to new ideas.• Be willing to admit that you may be

wrong every now and then.• Don’t take the easy way to pay bills. That

is, don’t use credit cards or sell assets tocash flow your farm.

Bill Van Loo is an agriculture and ruraleconomic vitality educator with CornellCooperative Extension of St. LawrenceCounty. This article is one of twelve inthe new “Profiles of Successful Strate-gies for Small Dairy Farms” publicationfrom the Northern New York AgriculturalDevelopment Program (NNYADP). Otherprofiles are online at www.nnyagdev.org.


NEW FARMERS

Weathering A Dairy Start-Up:Ortman Dairy

The Ortman family (l to r): Loren, Michael, Cynthia, and Mallory. Loren and Cynthia’s daughter, Lind-say, is missing from this family photo. Photographer: Joe Danko

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By Martha Goodsell

I said to my two oldest children that it wouldbe good for them to get some off-our-own-farm employment for the summer so thatthey could have the experience of workingfor someone else. A friend and fellowfarmer conveniently located just down theroad agreed to hire them…as blueberrypickers.

As it happened there were a few dayswhen the orders at the local farm-standswere more than the two of them could pickin a day and so I agreed to help them out.We were paid by the pound and if wepicked right along the pay was good, nearlyas much as I earn sitting at my desk all day(which I ended up doing at night). I wasthrilled to have the opportunity because Iactually love picking blueberries. I can’thear the phone ringing or my computerannouncing “You’ve got mail”. It’s quiet, it’speaceful and it gives me lots of time tothink. So I journeyed to the berry fieldwhere I walked down memory lane, caughtup with my kids, and listened to the latestnews. It was greatly needed therapy.

As a kid my mother would pack my brother,my sister and me into the station wagonalong with pails, baskets and tins and offwe would go to her father’s blueberry fieldsin Northern Pennsylvania. It seemed likehours to get there, and even longer having

to wait for my mother and grandmother topick until all of their containers were full.With fifty acres of high bush blueberries itwould seem like they would have a winter’sworth of berries with just one trip and therewould be no need for a return trip back toClark Summit. But we traveled south atleast once a week during blueberry season.As we got older the trip grew shorter andwe no longer imitated the “kerplink, ker-plank, kerplop” of Blueberry Sal. Now it wasan outright competition: who would fill theirpail the first, who would clean a bush thefastest or who would pick the most poundsin a day. Blueberry picking grew serious.

But it wasn’t my competitive nature thatdrew me back to the berry fields. It was thetranquility. I was able to relax and took theopportunity to really connect with my kidswith no distractions and no interruptions.We worked and we talked and we workedand we talked some more. The subjectswere endless and we talked for hours abouttheir after-work plans with their friends,their friends, their dreams, my dreams, theirwork, my work, our work, the drought, thebirds, the bees and the beetles, and ofcourse the blueberries.

But so too did the u-pickers who came onweekends. The blueberry field is bigenough to require a couple of pickers butsmall enough to eavesdrop on nearly everyconversation. It wasn’t like I was a fly on

the wall, it was more like a beetle on thebush, a blueberry bush that is. Everyonediscussed the blueberries: too tart, toosweet, not ripe enough, not blue enough,not large enough. The complaints seemedendless but everyone ate and picked justthe same. A doctor lectured about thehealth benefits of blueberries to the friendshe had brought into the field. A few home-steaders commented about small farmsand sustainable agricultural practices. Oth-ers talked about organic systems andspraying and wondered aloud what the restof the world was putting on their crops andcommented how they would rather go hun-gry than to have to eat residues. A coupletraveling from China who had never beforeeaten blueberries visited the field and theyspent their time eating as opposed to pick-ing. Older women talked about canning andpreserving and shared with each other theirfavorite blueberry recipes. Young mothersencouraged their children to pick. And justonce I heard the “kerplink, kerplank, ker-plop” as one mother recited Blueberry Salwhile her son and husband picked alongside. I envisioned Little Bear and Little Salsitting under the bushes on that hot Julyday.

“How would you like to pick berries for a liv-ing?” one friend asked another. I never didhear his answer because I was thinking ‘Iwould love it.’ I thought about the immi-grants who travel thousands of miles topick. I thought about how much they mustreally love their work. I thought about thelabor issues and all the controversy I hear

and I wondered to myself ‘Are those whoare reporting really listening. If I like pick-ing, aren’t there others who enjoy it aswell? Why is it hard for others to acceptphysical work as enjoyable?’

‘Maybe’ I thought ‘it’s time we all visit theberry fields and become for a while, a bee-tle on the bush.’

Martha Goodsell raises 1,700 deer andother livestock on a 425-acre grass-based farm in Candor, N.Y. with the helpof her husband and four children. Sheis also the Executive Director of NYFarms!, a statewide coalition of organi-zations, individuals, businesses, agen-cies and institutions committed to thefuture of New York's farms and families.


FOOD FOR THOUGHT

A Beetle on the Bush

Resource SpotlightWorkshops for Beginning Farmers

What better way to develop farming skillsthan by learning alongside others? Eachyear in our region there are literally hun-dreds of workshops, farm tours, and confer-ences that can help you learn how tobecome a better farmer. We can’t possiblyprint them all in Small Farm Quarterly.Here are some good online Events Calen-dars that you can refer to:

ATTRA: National Sustainable AgricultureInformation Servicehttp://attra.ncat.org/calendar/index.php/2005/07/National events with some taking place inthe Northeast

Community Involved in Supporting Agri-culture (CISA) http://www.buylocalfood.com/events.htmlLocal farm and food events sponsored by

CISA and other organizations, farms, andbusinesses in Western Massachusetts

MOFGA Maine Organic Farmers andGardeners Associationhttp://www.mofga.org/events.htmlTraining, conferences, classes, and commit-tees in Maine and the Northeast

New Jersey Department of Agriculture,New and Aspiring Farmers: Calendar ofUpcoming Workshops and Eventshttp://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/sadc/new-farmercalendar.htmWorkshops and events of interest to newfarmers in New Jersey

New York Farms!http://www.nyfarms.info/calendar.htmlConferences, workshops, seminars, activi-ties, and demonstrations all around NewYork State.

Northeast Organic Dairy ProducersAlliance (NODPA)http://www.nodpa.com/events.html

Discussions, gatherings, workshops, fielddays, and pasture walks.

Northeast Organic Farming Association(NOFA) - Massachussettshttp://www.nofamass.org/calendar/index.phpTours, gatherings, workshops, and presen-tations around Massachusetts

Northeast Organic Farming Association(NOFA) - New Hampshirehttp://www.nofanh.org/calendar.htmlTours, gatherings, workshops, and presen-tations around New Hampshire

Northeast Organic Farming Association(NOFA) - Vermonthttp://www.nofavt.org/calendar.phpTours, gatherings, workshops, and presen-tations around Vermont

Pennsylvania Association for OrganicAgriculturehttp://www.pasafarming.org/eventCalendar.html

Field days, programs, conferences, work-shops, and gatherings throughout Pennsyl-vania

South Central New York Agriculture Teamhttp://www.cce.cornell.edu/scnyag/events/Events of interest to agricultural producers,horticulturists, and rural land owners inSouth Central New York

University of Vermont Center for Sus-tainable Agriculturehttp://www.uvm.edu/~susagctr/sp99calen-dar.htmlEvents in Vermont and throughout NewEngland

The Women's Agricultural Networkhttp://www.uvm.edu/wagn/calendar.htmlEmphasizes the business aspects of farm-ing, including hands-on workshops,symposiums, conferences, and field days.

Compiled by Madeleine Charney, Infor-mational Resources Manager, New Eng-land Small Farm Institute.

By Carole Fisher

The color pink in cooked turkey meat raisesa “red flag” for many diners and cooks.Conditioned to be wary of cooked freshpork that looks pink, they question the safe-ty of cooked poultry and other meats thathave a rosy blush.

The color of cooked meat and poultry is notalways a sure sign of its degree of done-ness. Only by using a food thermometercan you accurately determine that meathas reached a safe temperature. Turkey,fresh pork, ground beef or veal can remainpink even after cooking to temperatures of160º F and higher. The meat of smokedturkey is always pink.

To understand some of the causes of “pink-ing’ or “pinkening” in fresh turkey, it’s impor-tant to know first what gives meat its natu-ral color.

WHY IS POULTRY LIGHTER IN COLORTHAN BEEF?The protein myoglobin is the major pigmentthat determines meat color. The main rea-son that poultry meat is lighter in color thanbeef is that it is dramatically lower in myo-globin. Also, as an animal becomes older,its myoglobin content usually increases.Turkeys today are young – 4 to 5 monthsold at the time of slaughter.

WHY ARE WHITE AND DARK MEAT OFPOULTRY DIFFERENT COLORS?

This is also due primarily to the oxygen-storing myoglobin which is located in themuscle cells. Muscles that are exercisedfrequently and strenuously – such as thelegs – need more oxygen, and containmore myoglobin than muscles needing littleoxygen. Turkeys do a lot of standingaround, but little if any flying, so their wingand breast muscles are white, while theirlegs are dark.

WHAT CAUSES WELL-DONE MEAT TOBE PINK?There are several possible reasons for this.Chemical changes can occur in the meatduring cooking that may cause a pink orred color. The presence of nitrates andnitrites either in the feed or water supply atthe poultry farm can cause a pink color inthe meat.

Often meat of younger birds shows themost pink because their thinner skins per-

mit oven gases to reach the flesh. Therethey react with hemoglobin in the meat tocause a pink tinge. The amount of fat in theskin also affects the amount of pink color.

HOW TO TEST FOR DONENESS:The best way to be sure a turkey – or anymeat – is cooked safely and is done is touse a food thermometer. If the temperatureof the turkey as measured in the thigh hasreached 180º F and is done to family pref-erence, all the meat – including any thatremains pink – is safe to eat.

Carole Fisher is a Community Educatorwith Cornell Cooperative Extension ofTompkins County. Reprinted with per-mission from Food & Family Well-Being,Spring 2005. Reprinted with permissionfrom Food & Family Well-Being, Fall/Win-ter 2004

HOME & FAMILY

Is Pink Turkey Meat Safe?

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