Small Farm Resurgence ?

I thought the stories of these small farms on this website was interesting for many reasons. So I thought I'd post the link.

It makes you wonder, as it seems there is some success by these folks, it reminds you of a bygone era of the family farm, there is a tremendous effort to achieve quality, in addition to the organic aspect of what is produced. It sharply contrasts with the large operators, with the realization, given the population today, that although a small organic farm, even in multitudes, would not be able to feed everyone. I suppose I'm also getting at not debating or looking at the pro's and cons, especially here, but am I deceived, or is this a good thing ?

Its interesting to me because east of here the ground in VT and New England, may not be the best to farm on, but they sure seem to make it work on the farms profiled, producing something I personally enjoy, because I do not like chemicals. Well I try to minimize my exposure on the belief that there are health impacts. Some of the stories are, well I thought, intriguing.

So, without harsh debate or radical views one way or another, what do you think will come of this, I see a lot of locally grown beef, pork, crops, dairy on the horizon, and I support it, believing in what they do, will it take off, likely has no effect on large operators, and the price points are much different, but... seems like something good.

Incidentally, a long time friend 30 miles west of me, literally gets fresh milk delivered in glass bottles, to an insulated/galvanized box on the porch, I can barely remember home delivery as a kid, I tried it, pretty darned good too ! Never thought I'd see the day when home delivery in glass bottles came back.

One of the aspects of some of these small farms is that they shut down milking in the winter, providing a break for the farmer, thats pretty cool, little vacation from the routine.
Organic Valley

I think it is a niche market that will come and go with the economy. When people have extra cash they can be picky. When times are tough it does not make much difference where it comes from.

I think the organic is fine for those that want it. Just don't push it on to all of us. Maybe you want to go back 60-70 years in food/crop production and that is fine, I do not. Not enough acres to feed everyone.

We have the safest and cheapest food supply that man has every known. So we have become complaisant about that. It is easy to want this or that when you have a full stomach.

The same people that are all gung ho about organic are also some of the same ones that are causing disease to come back we had conquered. They refuse to vaccinate their kids. So we now are having cases of easily prevented diseases like whooping cough.

There will always be small farms of some sort. They usually have an outside income source to supplement the farm. The trend is toward larger farms. This trend is over 150 years old. So I do not see it stopping now and small farms becoming the norm again.

Today we are the sickest country in the developed world.

Why do you have to be "organic" to be a small farm? Seems to me that's doing it the hard way.

You know I tend to agree, like your response, and when you think about things, we live in gluttony, well as a manner of speaking. I just thought some of their stories had some merit. Rationally thinking, we all try to do our best or as best we can within our means, so like you say, niche or the demand could go either way, the fundamentals of what is portrayed, reminiscent of generations past. Also the products, there is some quality to appreciate, and the hard work that goes along with it to produce it.

That thing about the diseases coming back, its kind of ridiculous as to not vaccinating or all these anti bacterial soaps and sanitizers etc.

JD Very well said... About all I see of the movement is the tree huggers with their moth full of cheap American food. They think they can do better. Had one of the first LARGE (hippie) commune farms here in Tennessee back 25 years ago. They have all pretty much went their separate ways or got a job off the commune to afford to live.

A friend of mine is going to sell his 3 acre lot, with nice 2000 sq ft home and build a small 1300 sq ft home on 10 acres.
He wants a small farm so he can grow lots more veggies, have a milk cow, chickens with eggs.
(he cannot have the cow on his 3 acres he has now) He is one of those preppers. He has food stored in a large pantry in his basement, 2 gun cabinets full of well....everything.
He also wants to put in a steel container (like a railroad box car) He wants to bury this and make it a bomb shelter.
I don't think there is anything wrong with being ready for a natural disaster if one hits, you know, batterys for flashlights, some extra food, a first aid kit, etc.
But.......he is way over the top with what he is doing.

Milk delivery options in the Capital Region All Over Albany
alloveralbany.com/.../milk-delivery-optio...
Mar 22, 2011 - Meadow Brook Farms Dairy Clarksville (518) 768-2451; no website. Charles Van Wie ... This place is still around. I see them in Albany. They still have glass bottles and the silver foamed lined box on the doorsteps.

He's over in east berne, not sure if thats the same outfit or what.

How'd that storm treat you, I was at U-Albany at the time, we got hammered, trees down, (firewood U Albany storm sewer in the parking lot at the sefcu arena was a gusher.

All the pears on the ground, some apples too, and half of the corn flattened, I'll still salvage some for sure, just how it goes sometimes, I'm ok with it, guess I 'll pick whats left or will be, the red corn, then hit it with the rotary, plow it under, disc and plant ryegrass like Larry @ Stines corner does ! LOL ! Mother nature still has the upper hand LOL !

We dident get hit like that over here. Just some rain and thunder and lightning! That dairy I posted about is in Clarksville.

I think one of the first rules of marketing is , make your brand/product stand out from the rest. And that is all I see these folks doing, trying to sell the same basic product as the next guy , but telling everyone that it is better or different. Sell Sell Sell, there is a sucker born every minute

Local farm 15 miles south of Boston


http://www.wickedlocal.com/norwell/news/x493350047/New-Hornstra-Farm-taking-shape-in-Norwell
Hornstra Farms

Jay.
The Van Wie family and our family go back 3 generations. I can remember back to the mid 50's riding with my dad and mom down to Clarksville to deliver Case tractors and equipment to them. When the "dealings" were done, Charley Sr. would invite us in for dinner or supper, depending on the time of day. He and my Grandpa were great friends, and through the years, Bob, Chuck and I, developed a close respect for each other also. If you ever saw a peice of Case, New Idea, Landoll, or Hesston equipment there, I sold and delivered it there.
Loren

I don't agree with that. I have always bought supermarket pork. Last year my brothers friend raised a pig for us. That pork was so much better than store pork. I couldn't believe the difference. We have another hog coming pretty soon now. Hopefully this coming week! The same with my eggs vs store bought eggs! I've had other people tell me they taste better too,darker yolks ect. This are just some things I have noticed.

I agree

As a small time, independent farmer, I gotta agree. I find myself encouraging people to buy ham, pork and bacon in the hopes that the market price will go up. But at the same time, if I think I can sell the person the whole hog, I mention how factory raised pork lacks flavor. I've not done a taste test on my hogs yet, but I'm sure they taste better. And that's what I tell prospective customers.

Jay, only $1 per pound and I can deliver for $1 per loaded mile-first 20 miles free. How many do you want? I betchya mine taste better.

Some dairies here instead of getting bigger are forming partnerships with other dairies. With 3-4 together, they can arrange 2-4 week vacation for each family at the beginning of the year. They can share the cost of sileage equipment and manure spreading equipment and the big horse tractor so all they need individually is chore tractors.

Its letting them compete with the big boys better without having to buy the million dollar barns.

There are quite a few small farms around here that do CSA and other niche stuff. You just have to have a market. I live near Ithaca and those PHD"s eat this stuff up. Cheese making is becoming a big thing. Guy in a nearby town has Water Buffalo and makes Mozzarella, supplies regional restaurants and has a farm stand. The Amish are a big factor in the Greek Yogurt craze going on around here also. Lot of small producers of Grade B milk, and someone created a market.

We have a few organic farmers in the vicinity. I grew up on a organic farm. Never had a weed sprayer or bag of commercial fertilizer on the place. But, we did a lot of tillage, many cultivations of corn and beans. Lots of walking the beans. Plenty of cow, horse, chicken and hog manure. We didn't call it organic farming, just farming. The organics around here, one could get lost in their bean fields for sun flowers(wild ones) and water hemp. Their cultivating or lack of it just doesn't look like our crops did . Neighbors not happy with some of them either.

I did not go to the link due to dial up but if you think about what is going on now days the guy who can live with out much other then what he grows and all is more likely to be better off if it hits the fan like many think it will.

A lot of the land here is worn out. This area was settled around 1800.I have watched organic farmers struggle to get a crop out of worn out pasture land.A neighbor plants a small amount of sweet corn every year.The stalks never get over 3 feet tall.He must wonder why my corn always runs 6 foot tall.I used to plant a few rows of field corn when I had cattle.It grew 10 feet tall,I have photos of it.I used 10 spreader loads per acre plus side dressing with triple 10.You can see the effect of poor land on large field corn plantings.The outside rows that didnt get fertilizer are always stunted.The early farmers were organic because chemicals were not available.A fellow I know has had a small garden for years that produced little.He used organic methods.I got him to buy a bag of 10 10 10 this year and told him how to use it.What a difference.The big problem is this You cant sell enough produce locally.You have to go to farmers markets.

It doesn't have to be "organic" to have a small farm resurgence. I've seen the CSA thing tried up here. It doesn't work simply because the area is not affluent enough, in fact it's darn poor. And, the Amish pretty well have the garden stand thing cornered. But things like orchards, vineyards, bramble fruit and other "You-pick" type places do well if the cost is reasonable. It's very easy to sell 1/2 a pig, fresh eggs, beef shares, etc.- again, as long as it's reasonable. We have to travel 45 miles to hit an area where "organic" even starts to sell, but "natural", "free range" or "chemical free" sells fairly well locally.

There is actually a 15 cow dairy about 3 miles from me, Guernseys at that. And I know that if I had enough animals I could sell as much goat milk as I could produce locally. It can be done. But it doesn't have to "organic". What people will pay for is quality, local products at competitive prices. I've seen the "organic" stunted, diseased, lousy looking produce packed in hemp bags offered by the starry eyed stoner in the "Occupy Wall St" tee shirt at the farmers market at premium prices. His stuff goes home with him. The good looking, moderately priced produce gets bought. People, most of them, aren't stupid. You have to produce something decent to sell. But it could be done. And locally I'm seeing people trying. Maple sugaring is coming back up here in a pretty big way as are orchards.

I have hope. We aren't going to see 3500 15 cow dairies in my county ever again. But we might see a fair number of 15-20 cow dairies doing as the Amish do and have a co-operatively supported collection center with bulk tanks. We may see sheep make something of a comeback and people seem to want goats. There's something stirring, I can't put my finger on it exactly and define it though. I think part of it is people seeing that $16 trill. debt and devalued dollar and realizing we aren't going to just grow out of that. Call it "prepping" and say it's crazy if you want, but it's a common point of discussion everywhere I go.

Hope it grows enough that some of our younger farmers can get started with out having to go deep in debt. Local movement is a plus. Adds a lot of smaller buyers to the pool. Getting to know your farmer brings a lot back with regular customers that look for you. Most don't really care if your certified organic or not. Only the big store boxes are pushing you into certified organic or they won't buy your product. I think part of the problems for some farmers are the small amount of buyers now that think they can tell you what they are going to pay you! Even when you know it cost you more to raise it! Getting big is not always better.