Sustainable Livestock Farm Tour: A Recap

 

By Liz Condo

 

After visiting the four farms on Friday’s Livestock Tour I came away with a lot of information about the health of a pasture and grazing patterns, as well as a great deal of respect for each of these hardworking farmers.

 

 

Our first stop was Fickle Creek Farm in Efland. Co-owner Ben began the tour with an explanation of his farming philosophy, which includes the belief that a sustainable farm should also be sustainable for the farmer, spiritually and otherwise. They also believe in preserving the natural ecosystem surrounding their agricultural production. Since starting to farm the land they have planted 14 acres of pines. Ben explained that at the height of egg laying, they collect, by hand, 1,000 eggs a day. He said this while showing the group his egg washer, built in 1956 and purchased used for $900. Ben explained how they had built the quality of the soil over the years, using their animals to clear and fertilize the land. All of their animals, sheep, pigs and chickens, are raised without confinement.

 

 

Our next stop was Coon Rock Farm in Hillsborough, tucked in among rolling hills along the Eno River. Owner Richard Holcomb raises pigs, chicken, cows and sheep on his 55 acres. Half livestock and half vegetable production, the farm is a partnership between the two. When a crop is finished harvesting, the pigs are released into the garden to eat what’s left. The hogs enrich the soil and reduce the need for tilling. The pigs are followed by in the garden by the chickens to pick out the weed seeds and bugs.

 

 

 

We next traveled to the Captain John S. Pope Farm in Cedar Grove. We were first treated to a delicious lunch of lamb, collards, and sweet potatoes. Then owners Robert and Tommy Pope gave the group a brief tour of the former tobacco farm. The Popes raise sheep, and have more than 200 ewes on the farm. They practice rotational grazing, and keep llamas in their flocks for protection against predators. Tommy explained that they’ve learned a lot over the years, including that lambs do better when born outdoors than in a pen, and so they’d torn out the pens they built for the purpose after their first year.

 

 

 

When I think of how to express the spirit of Friday’s Livestock Tour, the scene that comes to mind is from our last farm of the day, Carls-Beth Farm in Orange County. Owner Roland Walters explained his method of mob grazing, putting more than 90 cows on a different half acre each day, and that he never needed to reseed his fields. He then led the group through a pasture, bright green and thick with grass. As I stepped to the side to take a few photos of the group, I heard exclamations of praise and wonder at the beauty of the grass and the lushness of the pasture. I have never before heard such a genuine respect of grass. I have never before understood its importance.

 

The Stories Behind the Food: Documentary Work from the Southern Foodways Alliance

By Liz Condo

 

The Southern Foodways Alliance is creating a historical record of the food cultures of the South through oral histories and documentary films. Sara Camp Arnold is the editor of the Alliance’s quarterly newsletter, Gravy, and lives in Chapel Hill.

 

 

Sara first showed the group a film by Joe York, a documentary filmmaker who has produced about 30 short films on Southern food culture. The film, entitled Cut/Chop/Cook, focuses on Rodney Scott, owner of Scott’s Bar-B-Q in Hemingway, South Carolina. Scott slow cooks whole hogs for his barbeque between 8 and 12 hours, using only wood that he collects himself. One early scene shows Scott wielding a chainsaw to break apart a tree felled by a storm, which was donated to him by a community member. It’s a family operation, started by his father, continued by Scott using traditional methods, which he takes great pride in. Once the hogs are cooked, it’s Scott’s mother who separate the meat from the bone, preparing to be sold to their loyal customers. It’s clear that this story goes much deeper than good barbeque.

 

The next project was one Sara had worked on herself, a documentation of the Carrboro Farmer’s Market. Both farmers and consumers were interviewed, including loyal market customer Carla Shuford. In the interview, which was accompanied by still photos, Shuford shares her story of overcoming a childhood illness and the way her community of farmers came together to supply her with fresh, organic produce at a time when organic farming was scarce. She has since built strong relationships with the farmers at the Carrboro market, and calls them her “medical team.”

 

Sara gave some background as to how they choose and research projects and how they conduct interviews. The interviews are transcribed, and stored in whole at the University of Mississippi library. Excerpts of the transcripts, portions of the audio interview and short films are all made available to the public on the SFA’s website.

 

Sara also announced that the Alliance’s 2012 area of research interest will be Eastern Carolina. In addition to Carolina barbeque, the Alliance plans to explore the stories of tobacco farmers who have transitioned their land to other crops. They are also planning a tour of these farms and restaurants for the Spring of 2012. More information about the tour and tickets will be available on their website in early 2012.

Pre-Conference Workshop: Hands-On Permaculture Design Intensive

 

by guest blogger Mitra Sticklen

 

Friday afternoon I attended Will Hooker’s Hands-On Permaculture Design Intensive. As a professor at North Carolina State University http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/magazine/fall08/college.html, he offers permaculture design courses including online courses and especially hands-on design practice and instruction. Check out his urban permaculture website about his Raleigh homestead: http://web.me.com/will_hooker/610Kirby/Welcome.html. If you’re familiar with the book Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway, you already know Will’s homestead – it’s featured on the book’s cover! He began the workshop with a brief powerpoint presentation about permaculture foundations, design process, and case studies before launching into an open and free-flowing design session.

 

After reviewing the permaculture principles he uses as a designer and educator, Will focused on the four concepts we’d be using throughout the workshop:

1. relative location

2. each element performs many functions

3. each function supported by many elements

4. energy efficient planning by permaculture zones http://permaculture.wikia.com/wiki/Zones_%28Permaculture%29

 

We compared the standard scientific process (observe, hypothesis, test, analyze results, conclusion) to the process that Will uses (see Kober & Bagnall’s The Universal Traveler, below for resources)

 

1.     accept responsibility

2.     analyze -> wild energies (sun, shade, slopes, water, wind, noise, light, great and undesirable views, wildlife, fire, kids

3.     define problem / design program

4.     activities/food/water/shelter…

5.     ideate/brainstorm (bubble diagrams, schematic designs)

6.     choose (preliminary planning)

7.     implementing

8.     evaluating

 

During a brief ‘show and tell’, Will shared a few case studies from his work and practice and travels. Examples included:

 

• Whitted bowers (began profiting after just five years) www.whittedbowersfarm.com
• Edenton Community Garden
• Burlington urban garden
• TS Designs (Will calls TS Designs “the most sustainable company in the state”)http://tsdesigns.com/
• Journey to Zero, about designing an off-the-grid homestead http://biohenry.com/
• Firefly farm http://www.facebook.com/pages/Firefly-Farm/125827178892

 

Then we began working on our own projects. Will asked us to take out our maps and schematics of the land we’re designing. He guided us in brainstorming our “program elements,” i.e. the list of things you want the space to DO for you or your community. What are your GOALS? Examples of program elements could include saving seeds, growing vegetables, teaching groups, making music, hosting bonfires, washing produce and packing for market, cooking food, sharing meals, etc. Will stressed that this is YOUR space, and you can dream big! It’s OK if you don’t have the resources to do all these projects right now, “but get started with bite-size projects today!”

 

Will then asked us to categorize the above features of our program elements by each physical systems present:

 

1.     food

2.     water

3.     shelter/built environment

4.     energy

5.     material resources (including waste/re-used)

 

I worked on the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s farm www.FoodShuttle.org but after a while of working on my project I joined Brenda Brodie (co-founder of SEEDS in Durham, www.seedsnc.org ) in following Will around from table to table. We watched him field questions, suggest innovative design elements, and tell many stories of success and challenges as a designer and teacher.

 

Here are a few grains of wisdom from the Piedmont’s premier permaculture designer/teacher:

 

• Ponds need 75% shade to function
• Slopes with 6% grade or higher will erode if gardened! Best to focus gardens elsewhere
• In the Piedmont, in general, the wind comes from SW for 10 months/year, then from NE in hurricane season
• For a 1000 square foot roof, every 1” of rain collects 600 gallons of water. Don’t use a 55 gallon collection tank! Will always uses a minimum of 300 gallons.
• Will suggests installing orchards on a north-facing slope so it isn’t susceptible to early blooming and unpredictable late frosts

 

Here are a number of books Will recommended during the workshop:

 

• Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway
• Edible Forest Gardens 1 & 2 by Dave Jacke
• Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development by John Lyle
• The Universal Traveler: A Soft-Systems Guide to Creativity, Problem-Solving, and the Process of Reaching Goal, by Koberg & Bagnall
• A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction, by Alexander, Ishikawa and Silverstein

 

This hands-on intensive was a great introduction to the principles and practices of design, and a great way to watch an experienced designer/teacher facilitate our design process. If you’re interested in getting deeper into permaculture or pursuing a Permaculture Design Certification, check out http://www.permacultureactivist.net/DesignCourse/PcSyllabus.htm . I look forward to learning more from Will Hooker here in Raleigh, and highly recommend reaching out to him about permaculture courses and consultation!

Pre-Conference Workshop: Assisting Beginning and Aspiring Sustainable Small Farmers: Workshop for Service Providers

 

by guest blogger Mitra Sticklen

 

My 2011 SAC conference was off to a great start with all the wonderful pre-conference activities on November 11, 2011. My day began with a workshop on “Assisting Beginning and Aspiring Sustainable Small Farmers: Workshop for Service Providers”. The workshop was created in collaboration with NIFA-USDA http://www.csrees.usda.gov/ , the National Center for Appropriate Technology www.NCAT.org , the Center for Environmental Farming Systems www.CEFS.NCSU.org, and our conference hosts Carolina Farm Stewardship Association www.CarolinaFarmStewards.org.

 

As we all introduced ourselves and shared our main challenges, I quickly realized the audience was mostly representatives from NC and SC Cooperative Extension as well as other organizations that provide beginning farmer training. As a beginning farmer and educator myself, I was representing the non-profit Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s farm projects www.FoodShuttle.org including the Young Farmer Training Program and new Regional Outreach Training Center www.growingpower.org/training_centers.htm . I was happy to see Chapel Hill’s Trudy Matheny representing the innovative NC Women of the Land Agricultural Network www.ncwolan.org and much-needed Farm School for Women, a residential 8-month program for beginning women farmers.

 

As we all know, demand for local produce has grown exponentially, yet the resources and opportunities for learning how to farm have evolved at a slower pace. As a group, we need to develop a comprehensive “How-to-Farm” kit! Because farming is becoming more glamorous and hip, many new farmers are unrealistic about the challenges, especially the business side of farming. This workshop was a great way for us service providers to brainstorm and share the following:

 

1.     Who are new farmers and why are they interested in farming?

2.     What do beginning farmers need and what are their technical/financial/marketing challenges?

3.     What resources are available for beginning farmers?

 

The first half of the workshop was a panel discussion with three local farm educators and service providers.

 

The first panelist was Kelly Owensby, a beginning farmer and manager of the Refugee Agricultural Partnership Project of Carrboro, from Orange Partnership for Young Children. Check out their blog with beautiful photos, stories of the Karen Burmese farmers, and revelations on their journey together http://ocpyc.wordpress.com/ .  She discussed the 3-year grant that includes weekly workshops, translated resources, cooking classes, and training videos for over 90 participants. Each new farmer is given 1/10 acre, and in 2012 they will be required to complete 8 weekly courses for marketing and business planning. The specific challenges Owensby sited for refugee farmers include their non-science background, language barrier, lack of internet skills and access, and especially marketing challenges. However, these Karen Burmese farmers value farming as part of their culture, have great attendance at all workshops, and their refugee farming population is large and growing quickly. Kelly also mentioned L’il Farm http://lilfarmnc.com/, which she co-manages, and the $30,000 RAFI grant awarded for their innovative 6-farm tool cooperativehttp://vimeo.com/21811545?iframe=true&width=80%&height=80% .

 

The second panelist was Karen McSwain. Her path brought her from managing the garden at Warren Wilson College http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~garden/garden.php to her current position as Organic Initiatives Coordinator for CFSA. She discussed the lack of land, capital, and infrastructure needed to support beginning farmers, and especially the need for a farm school focused on budgeting, marketing and business skills! She works primarily with two groups: new and beginning farmers (generally around ages 20-30) and retirees or career changers, including those who shift from conventional to organic producers.

 

Richard Boylan was our third panelist, the only extension agent in the panel. Richardhttp://watauga.ces.ncsu.edu/index.php?page=staff was named the 2010 CFSA NC Agriculture Extension Agent of the Year, and has worked tirelessly to serve the needs of farmers in his community and beyond. He highlighted the value of extension agents and this incredible system our government has provided for us in every county in every state. He urged all the extension agents in the room to connect and share with one another! The true value of cooperative extension, explained Boylan, “is that we can connect PERSONALLY,” and that we must develop those close relationships between farmers and agents. He mentioned that small farm tours that are just-for-farmers are vital and necessary, and a great format for new farmers to learn deeply.

 

For the rest of the workshop, we worked in small groups to discuss the various resources that a beginning farmer can use in their ‘toolkit’, and to identify the ‘gaps’ in the path to becoming a farmer. The groups were: Land Options, Business Plan, and Credit. Although the lists of challenges and resources is too long for this blog, this is an important question that we can only answer as a collaborative network: What beginning farmer resources are available, and what is missing?

 

Before the workshop concluded, I shared information about a 10-minute survey (open until November 27) www.surveymonkey.com/s/CRAFT-UP created in collaboration with IFFS, CEFS, Earthwise Company http://www.earthwiselife.com/ , and Central Carolina Community Collegehttp://www.cccc.edu/curriculum/majors/sustainableagriculture/ . The survey will help identify current opportunities & gaps in farmer training, and targets all farms/organizations/institutions in Wake, Durham, Orange, Chatham or Alamance Counties that offer farming internships, apprenticeships, mentoring, field days, technical assistance, workshops, degrees, certificates, conferences, social gatherings, strategic business planning courses, farm incubators, etc. The survey results will be used as we create a regional resource, Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training – United Piedmont (CRAFT-UP), similar to other CRAFT groups across the nation http://www.craftfarmers.org/ . CRAFT-UP is funded in part by a grant from the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program http://www.nifa.usda.gov/funding/rfas/bfrdp.html. If you offer farmer training at any level please contact Mitra@FoodShuttle.org for more information.

 

I learned so much and made great connections during this workshop, thanks so much to everyone who hosted and attended!

Good Government, Bad Government

 

By Jack Beuttell

 

One of the more interesting themes from the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s Sustainable Agriculture Conference in Durham was the role of the government in sustainable farming and food production.  On Saturday afternoon, for example, there was some impassioned discourse on the federal inspection of meat production facilities in the “From Pasture to Plate: Post-Production Issues for Meat” session.

 

Panelist Uli Bennewitz, owner of the Weeping Radish Farm, Restaurant and Brewery in Grandy, NC, for example, expressed strong opinions that the federal inspection process is broken and misguided, having very little to do with food safety.  As an artisan butcher, he thinks the common use of the phrase “processing” to describe his work is crass.  So when the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service approaches the inspection process with a similar absence of sensitivity to nuance and purpose, Uli and his master German butcher are left acutely frustrated.  And lots of heads from the crowd nodded in agreement.

 

In the “Energy Issues on the Farm” session on Sunday, however, there was a much more favorable opinion of the government in the air.  Two JD candidates from the Vermont Law School, representing its Institute for Energy and the Environment, delineated the many incentives offered to farmers by the government via the U.S. Farm Bill.  They described the REAP program under the Energy Title and theEQIP program under the Conservation Title, among others, delivering a barrage of acronyms that everyone was eager to learn.  And the crowd was alive with questions, because who doesn’t like getting free money?

 

Farm Budgets

 

By Traci Nachtrab

 

“At least I get to stay at home and be my own boss.” “I learned so much from this experience.” “My kids are getting an education in hard work.”   We’ve all said stuff like this when we haven’t made a profit from a farming project. Want to never say stuff like this again? Yeah boy, sign me up!

 

Then pay attention! A little bit of time budgeting can make or break your business.

 

Would you do something without knowing you were going to make a profit from it? Farmers do it all the time. They just jump into something without knowing all the costs – hidden or not – of a project and then months later figure out they’ve lost their shirt.

 

Do a budget for each little project you do on your farm – this helps you know if you will make money from the venture and it will help you set your prices for your products. Here’s an example:

 

You want to raise 50 Meat Chickens

(This budget assumes you have housing, waterers, and feeders.)

 

Expenditure	Price	Total
(50) day-old meat chicks	$2.65/each	$132.50
25 lbs/feed per chicken	25 lbs = $7 x 50 chickens	$350.00
$15/hr for labor	1 hr/day x 49 days	$735.00
Processing	$3.50/bird x 45 birds	$157.50
		$1375.00

 

 

Your cost per bird = $30.50

Average weight of birds = 4.5 lbs.

 

You would have to sell these birds at $6.79/lb to just break even. Can you sell a non-organic chicken at $6.79 per lb? Probably not. So at this point, you have to decide if raising meat chickens will be profitable for you or if there is something you can cut from your budget to save money. Maybe processing your birds yourself?

 

You may be tempted to remove the LABOR part of the budget, so your cost per bird will come down and it will look like you’re making a profit. Don’t do this. Your time is worth something. Pay yourself.

 

Taking a few minutes to figure out the real costs of your projects and then to find out if you’re making a profit is a few minutes well spent. It could save you a lot of time and heartache in the future.

 

For more budgeting help, check out “The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook: A Complete Guide to Managing Finances, Crop, and Staff” by Richard Wiswall of Cate Farm.

 

Free Range Broilers

 

By Traci Nachtrab

 

This workshop by Anne Fanatico of ASU and David White of Oaklyn Plantation was packed with people clamoring for information on raising meat chickens. There are many decisions to make when you decide to raise meat chickens. Here are the major ones:

1. Which breed will you raise? The fast-growing Cornish Cross chickens you can finish in 6-7 weeks or one of the medium-growing heritage chickens, like the Freedom Ranger? There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Do a budget to figure out which will be most profitable and in-line with your farming philosophy.
2. How will you house them? A mobile chicken tractor you move daily, a mobile coop/house with temporary chicken netting you move every week, or a permanent chicken house with a fenced in area for them to roam. With each of these options comes many dozens of available designs. Decide what fits into your budget and your labor pool.
3. What will you feed them? Organic or non-organic? Pellets or milled grain? Will you put the feed in the house or out on the range? Where will you store your feed so it won’t get wet?
4. How will you water them? Suspended buckets with nipples (available from Farmtek), piped nipple watering system, bell waterers, and water hoses are just a few options available.
5. How will you protect them from predators? Guard dog or really good fencing?
6. Where will you purchase them?  Will you purchase eggs you can hatch yourself or will you purchase day-old chicks that are shipped to you? Murray McMurray, Mount Healthy, and JM Hatchery are good, reliable sources for healthy meat chicks.
7. Will you raise them year-round? If so, you need to think about how you will keep them cool in the dead of summer or warm in the dead of winter. Most small farms choose to raise birds in spring and fall so they won’t have to deal with the weather extremes. It never hurts to be prepared for inclement weather, however.
8. How will you process them? Some people like to process their own chickens because they have control of the quality and it’s much less expensive than commercial processing. Check into purchasing your own scalder and plucker. Do a budget. Then figure out what’s best for you.

 

Chickens are easy and fun to raise, not to mention profitable. Try just 20-40 chickens your first time to see if you like it and to learn the ropes of raising meat chickens. It’s super easy once you get the hang of it.

Below is a homemade range chicken feeder made by David White of Oaklyn Plantation. He made it by cutting a barrel in ½, purchasing 2 inch gutter spouts, cutting holes in the barrel for the spouts, and then installing the gutter spouts into the holes on the barrel. It will hold over 200 lbs of feed.