winter2004

WINTER 2004

Feature ArticlesBrovetto Dairy Farm and Cheese House . . . .4

Quality of Life - What Does It Mean to You? .9

Grazing and the Environment . . . . . . . . . . .14

Small Is Flexible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Youth Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 & 13

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

Supplement to Country Folks

Great reading!!!!!!!!!!! Keep up the greatwork. The articles are exceptional. Fits aneed, for sure. At present I am not farm-ing, but I am looking for a small place inthe Canajoharie, NY area. I worked onfarms a good part of my life (dairy) andwould like to raise heifers. I love to readabout farming especially the small familytypes. Those boys that drove tractors toschool should all get medals. I did thesame in the 50’s with a John Deere Greenand a manure spreader full of nice freshproduct. It was unfortunate the vice princi-pal’s new Pontiac convertible was behindme when the power take off accidentallyslipped into gear. Keep up the good work.

Bob Wentworth, Wallingford, CT

Editor: Hah!! Good story!! It’s not reallytrue is it?

Hi Joanna, yes it is true. The John Deerewas a model “G” and I had to pay for clean-ing the white upholstery and got suspendedfor two weeks. Of course, It was hayingtime so I really considered it a vacation.There are so many more little stories I keepin my memory. Life on the farm in thosedays was hard work, but we alwaysseemed to find time to have some fun. Ofcourse what we called fun in those daysthe city kids do not. City people are not thesame as farm people. For instance, I haveprobably witnessed over a thousand animalbirths (I am guessing) and it still humblesme. I am in awe and feel great to see ayoung suckle its mother. Only farm peopleunderstand and get the satisfaction fromthe many things that happen on the farm.

Bob

As a dairy farmer and part-time logger I’mvery disappointed that the article on page16 of your Fall Small Farm Quarterly(Cutting Your Own Firewood) did not men-tion safety equipment, e.g. hard hat withhearing and eye protection, safety chaps,steel-toed boots. Logging is a very danger-ous occupation and safety equipment isimportant! I would also recommend attend-ing safety programs to learn the properfelling of trees.

David Silloway, Randolph Center, VT

Editor: We couldn’t agree with you more!Thank you for pointing it out.

Thanks for the (March 2003) Small FarmsTask Force meeting, also for the SmallFarms Quarterly in Country Folks. The NYPasture Association news — GreenerPastures - Small Farmers Journal andOrganic Crop Improvement Association’snewsletters arrived at the same time!Perhaps SFQ might put NY small farmorganizations like NYPA, NOFA-NY and NYOCIA in your Resource Spotlight sectionand have an article about “CertifiedOrganic vs Farmers Sustainable PracticesPledge of NOFA-NY.” Big farms can becertified organic and ignore many practiceseasier to use on small farms.

Hal Bauer, Springwater Farm

Editor: Good suggestions for resources tohighlight - see NYPA spotlight in this issue.We’d welcome an article on the pros andcons of, and alternatives to, organic certifi-cation. We’re always looking for farmer-authors, too.

Is Small Farm Quarterly connected with apublication calledFarmers Quarterlythat was publishedin the 1960s? If so,I have a boardgame called “FirstClass Farmer” thatwas produced byFarmers Quarterlyin 1965. It looks like a monopoly type gamewith a farming theme since it has farmdeed cards & harvest cards & farmingproducts cards. The game board is set upin a monopoly type fashion, but is has thefour growing seasons sectioned off. Looks

like it would befun to play!However I ammissing thegame instruc-tions!

Here are somepictures. I real-ize this is a longshot & this wasmade almostforty years agobut I was wondering if anyone could helpme in locating a set of instructions?

Rennie Murphy 5731 Willow View DriveCamarillo, CA [email protected]

Editor: Will SFQ readers will rise toRennie’s challenge? Tune in again nextissue for the answer....

I recently read Jim Hayes’ article “CaptureHigher Profits For Your Livestock WithDirect Marketing” (Summer 2003). Whatreally intrigued me was the question beingraised concerning, “Economic stability - orsustainability.” With my particular area ofinterest being Agroecology - and especiallythe aspects of bio-sustainability - I get thefeeling that there is a misconception outthere that economic sustainability is themain focus when looking at the holistic sus-tainability of a farming enterprise. Too oftenthe biophysical sustainability is neglected...Sustainability is very difficult to measure asit always exists in the future. It’s necessaryto look at both ecological and economicindicators to measure sustainability. Bydesign it requires a thorough understandingof agroecosystems to succeed.

The whole topic of farm sustainability isvital for the future of small farmers, and away needs to be found to assist them withdecision-making tools if they are to be suc-cessful in incorporating the laws and princi-ples of ecological design into their farmingplans.

Marco Turco, William H. MinerAgricultural Research Institute,Chazy, NY

January 26, 2004 SMALL FARM QUARTERLY Page 3

By Claire Hebbard

Welcome to the third issue of SFQ. Iencourage you to curl up with a cup ofcocoa and a blanket to read, and pull outthe middle page to share with the childrenin your life.

Recently I was asked, “Why produce a pub-lication that is for so few people?” I replied- without questioning - that our mission isto provide a publication dedicated to small-scale farmers in the Northeast, with valu-able information about small-scale farming,and featuring writing by, about, and forsmall-scale farmers. As editor of the Homeand Family section, my goal is to highlightthe ways that farmers balance their person-al, family and business responsibilities.Some of us refer to this as the farminglifestyle.

After I answered the question, I realizedthat I hadn’t stopped to question the

assumption that SFQ is “for so few people.”True, less than 2% of the population isinvolved in farming. However, I see individ-uals rather than percentages. In New York,over 90% of the 32,000 farms are consid-ered to be small farms, according toUSDA’s definition (gross sales under$250,000). In other words, in New Yorkalone there are more than 28,800 smallfarms - most of which help support morethan one individual. 28,800 people is a nota small number! Plus, with a circulation ofover 63,000 in the Northeast, SFQ reachesmany non-farming supporters of smallfarms - educating others on the importanceof small farms.

Although I know that many farmers don’thave any great desire to have their namebecome a household word (in fact, most ofyou prefer to avoid it at all costs!), I ask youto consider contributing your stories andsharing your expertise about small-scalefarming. Writing is a great opportunity toprovide leadership in agriculture and toshape the future of small-scale farming.

There are many things I appreciate aboutfarmers -independence of thought, strongwork ethic, honest reflection of themselves,eagerness to help others, loyalty to theirprofession, a sense of humor, and passionfor family life and relationships. I greatlyappreciate the families who have sharedtheir ideas here, and invite you to contactme, or any other section editor, with yourstories.

I also ask that everyone take the time torecognize the dedication and courage thatour writers have expressed by spendingprecious time writing. These busy farmershave made the extra effort to promote theirlife’s focus by sharing experiences, knowl-edge, tears and joys. They recognize thevalue of farmers sharing and offeringencouragement to each other.

Having a great deal of personal experiencenavigating my own farm family relation-ships, I now direct my energies to helpingother farmers create and maintain strongfamily relationships. Most farmers I know,

like myself, believe there are great benefitsto raising our children on the farm.Independence — self-sufficiency — is atrait that farmers need in order to be suc-cessful. However, I have seen independ-ence get confused with isolation, and isola-tion can become destructive to the farmingway of life. Sharing ideas and experiencesthrough SFQ allows us to balance our inde-pendence with our dependence upon ourfamilies, communities, and other farmers.As you may note, there are as many waysof balancing independence with depend-ence as there are farm families. In thisissue you may recognize some ideas famil-iar to you, as well as encounter some newideas. Everyone has something to offersomewhere in the field of SFQ - whatseeds can you offer for the small farmfield?

FROM THE EDITORS

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 - Spring 2004 copies need to be ordered by March 26.

To find out more, contact:Tracy Smith

Country Folks SubscriptionsP.O. Box 121

Palatine Bridge. NY 134281-888-596-5329

email: [email protected]

READERS WRITE

SMALL FARM QUARTERLY January 26, 2004

MARKETING

By Janet L. Aldrich

On-farm cheese houses used to be com-monplace across the Northeast. But nowthey’ve entered the realms of nostalgia,and that’s part of the draw at the BrovettoDairy Farm in Harpersfield, NY.

Ronald and Corinne Brovetto and their sonRussell milk cows and make cheese forsale to local and regional consumers. Thirtyyears of experience in dairy farming is themain ingredient that makes it all work - theability to work long hours, pay close atten-tion to detail, build what needs to be builtand fix what needs to be fixed.Cheesemaking was a dream from day onefor Ronald Brovetto, and it took an entirefamily, their faith in God and each other,their friends, and their neighbors, to make ita reality.

The Brovettos make a specialty cheesewhich they called “Harpersfield.” The origi-nal recipe is similar to Tilsiter, the thirdmost popular cheese in Germany. It’s acheese that Ron loved growing up, so heknew what cheese he wanted to make. “It isone of the most difficult cheeses to make,but, well... thirty years ago we didn’t knowhow to milk a cow when we moved up fromLong Island either,” says Corinne with asmile.

Ron and Corinne raised four children onthis 40-cow, 280-acre dairy farm. They bothworked off the farm as well, she as a nurse,he as an engineer. Now their son Russellmanages the farm and cheese plant, Rondoes the milking, and Corrine takes care ofthe calves.

GETTING STARTED IN CHEESE MAKINGIn October of 1999, with the family’s fullsupport, Ron and Corrine began by devel-oping a business plan. They receivedadvice and help from their local bank, thenonprofit Regional Farm and Food Project,The American Cheese Society,International Machinery (a Wisconsinequipment supplier), and specialists fromthe NYS Department of Agriculture andMarkets.

“We estimated about $60,000 to get start-ed, but it ran into more like $80,000,” saidCorinne. “Ron designed the facility and westarted pouring concrete in the spring of2000. The whole family was in on it and wehad a lot of help from our friends andneighbors. We worked all summer, and thefollowing spring the kids laid the waterlines.We got the equipment late summer and setit all up ourselves. We made the first batchof cheese the day after Thanksgiving, anda couple of batches in December. Then wehad that snowy winter and just had to keepthe farm going so we didn’t start again untilthe end of February. That’s when we got totaste our first batches. We knew we liked itbut didn’t know if any one else would. Sowe brought our cheese to church functionsand I brought it to the nursing home for thestaff to sample. They loved it.”

A GROWING MARKET After this initial “taste testing,” the Brovettoshad to wait for the first batches to age fully,and then brought some of their“Harpersfield Cheese” to local farmers’ mar-kets. Customers were delighted by therobust cheese, with its highly piquant rind,ivory white to yellow cheese, and slightlysour flavor.

“Our cheese is unique,” Ron explains. “Itcan’t be duplicated by the big cheese man-

ufacturers like Kraft. Weuse only the milk fromour own cows, bredespecially over the last30 years for our cheese.Our ripening room can’tbe duplicated - it’ aunique environment thatallows specific moldsand bacteria to grow,which are critical to theaging process.” Theonly ingredients aremilk, salt and enzymes,plus various naturalherbs and spices thatmake the different vari-eties of Harpersfieldcheese.

Soon a few local farmstores picked up theproduct, and it began totake off. By now theBrovettos sell to over 25local and regional out-lets including grocerystores, caterers, restau-

rants, farm stores, andfarmers’ markets, and it’sin demand throughout the

state. They have increased production to300-400 pounds a week. Their cheesealways sells well and they feel they couldeasily market more than twice that amount.

The Brovettos plan to expand their cheeseproduction to two days every 2 weeks,adding value to 20-30% of their own milk.Also, in a unique partnership arrangement,Joe Popovich of Popovich Provisions nowuses the Brovettos’ facilities to make hisfamous mozzarella cheese. They are devel-oping their capacity to make curd for himfrom their milk, and anticipate this to hap-pen in ‘04.

A GROWING INDUSTRYSince beginning their own cheese makingbusiness, the Brovettos have also becomeactive in helping to develop the fledglingfarmstead cheese industry in New York.

They are founding members of the NYFarmstead and Artisan Cheese Makers(see Resource Spotlight). They have hostededucational tours for diverse groups, andfreely offer advice to farmers interested instarting a similar enterprise. Why? “Themoney is there, in specialty cheese, and itcan save a farm,” says Corrine. “We get alot of calls, but helping other farmers is ourtop priority.”

Many other people visit the Brovetto DairyFarm and Cheese House just to see theoperation. “Sometimes when people comein here, they actually get tears in their eyesbecause it reminds them of childhoodmemories of cheesemaking in Europe.”

The Brovetto family is heartily enthusiasticabout the future. Their dream now is toexpand their reception area so that theycan accommodate small farmer-orientedworkshops on-site and create enough roomfor an on-farm Cheese Shop where theycan more effectively sell retail. They envi-sion working with other local agricultureentrepreneurs in the area to blend their“Pride of New York” campaign with a localemphasis honoring the history ofHarpersfield farm products. Ron andCorrine have placed all their efforts in this

farm project and plan to continue being apart of the farm operation for a long time tocome.

ONE MORE SMALL SUCCESSAs this tiny farmstead cheese house growsin stature and recognition for its culinaryquality and educational outreach, it is onemore signal that small farms and their farm-ers do have a big future in American agri-culture. Small farms like the Brovettos’ areshaping the future of our food system byfinding new pathways to sustainability —producing local farm products we can trustfor top quality and real, wholesome taste.

To find out more about cheese making youcan reach Ron and Corrine Brovetto attheir home in Harpersfield at 607-278-6622. Or write to them at Box 216,Harpersfield, NY, 13786, or email [email protected]. Just don’t call onWednesdays - they’re a little too busy!

Janet L. Aldrich is a CommunityEducator with Cornell CooperativeExtension of Delaware County. This arti-cle was adapted and updated from anarticle published in the November-December 2001 Part Time Farmer.

Brovetto Dairy Farm And “Cheese House”One Family’s Dream Come True

Ron hands the “harp” over to Corinne, as they draw it through and cut the curd into smallpieces.

Cheese wheels are left to age in “The Cave,” which maintains 100%humidity. Photos by Janet Aldrich

The Harpersfield Cheese House.

by Lane Clute

It has been a long, cold winter and finallyMarch has arrived. The sun is getting high-er in the sky, warming everything its raystouch. The thermometer reads 35 degreesbut it feels like 55 degrees. The air is softand the breeze is warm. It’s a whole differ-ent world from four weeks earlier and agood time to be outside. It’s sugaring time.

A question every sugarmaker hears repeat-edly is, “Why do you make maple syrup?”My reasons are numerous. My father did it,my grandfather did it and Grandpa’s fatherdid it before him. It is truly a family tradi-tion.

Maple syrup production is a second sourceof income for many Northeast farms. It isthe time of the year to get out of the shopand barns, but too early to be in the fields.The equipment is in place, the trees standready; the weather is right and traditionsays it’s time to draw sap and make maplesyrup.

A FAMILY AFFAIR You will frequently find as many as threegenerations of a family in the sugarhouseduring the 4-6 week season from mid-February to mid-April. Grandparents, hus-bands and wives, sons and daughters areall involved in some aspect of maple syrupproduction on family farms. Tapping thetrees; evaporating the sap; making maplecream and sugar cakes; packaging prod-ucts; marketing products and shipping areamong the many jobs done by the multi-generation farm family.

Maple production operations are as diverseas the individual sugarmakers. Sap collec-tion systems range from buckets hangingon trees and gathered using horses, to old-style tubing systems, to the most recentdevelopments in vacuum technology andsmall diameter spouts.

Syrup production varies as much as sapcollection. Some make syrup on flat pansover wood fires outside, finishing off just1/2 gallon of syrup per day in the homekitchen. Some have small sugarhousesand evaporators capable of making 1/2 gal-lon per hour. The largest sugarhouses andevaporators are capable of producing 60gallons per hour. Large sugarhouses usereverse osmosis and piggyback or steam-a-way systems as enhancements to theprocess.

Maple syrup production can be a profitableaspect of farm operation. Some estimatesshow that 1,000+ taps is the break-evenpoint. Others suggest that 600+ taps incombination with other farm enterprisescan be as profitable. With the new technol-ogy - high vacuum and small diameterspouts; a properly set up tubing system canproduce up to 1/2 gallon of syrup per tap.Previously, a quart of syrup per tap wasconsidered the normal crop. Depending on

individual marketing strategies, payback forthese new technologies can be quite short.

MARKETING STRATEGIESMarketing strategies include bulk, whole-sale and retail sales. Retail selling givesthe producer optimal control over pricingand profit. Retails sales can be from yoursugarhouse or roadside stand; a local farmmarket or “jumping in with both feet” andsetting up a site on the internet.

Another option is the wholesale market.Local retailers; fundraisers; high visibilityfruit and vegetable stands and health foodstores are some venues. Wholesale busi-ness is very competitive. Local producersgenerally cannot compete with the majorpackers on pricing. You need to find aunique outlet for your wholesale business.Wholesale business requires strict deliveryand payment terms - which can be a night-

mare. Having “your t’s crossed and your i’sdotted” is essential in wholesale contracts.

Lastly, the bulk or drum market is availableto local producers. This option allows youto “barrel” whatever you produce, market itto a bulk buyer and accept whatever pay-ment is offered. This option is the leastprofitable.

ADDING VALUE Worldwide consumption of maple productscontinues to rise 10% a year. This trend isdue to educating the consumer to the useof maple syrup and value-added mapleproducts. Value-added maple productsinclude maple cream, granulated maplesugar, formed sugar cakes, maple syruppacked in fancy glass containers; maplemustard; maple glazed nuts and maple top-pings. New maple confections arrive on themarket continuously. All value-added prod-ucts that are not pure (maple nuts, maplemustards, maple toppings, dressings andsauces, etc.) require a NYS Ag andMarkets license.

Value-added maple products are profitable.One gallon of maple syrup will makeapproximately 8 pounds of maple cream -at $10 a pound - you receive $80 for thatgallon of syrup and a little extra work. Onegallon can also fill around 75 of the 50 MLleaf bottles which retail for $3. The cost ofthe bottle ($.60) plus 1.7 ounces of syrup -you do the math. Not bad for that gallon ofsyrup!!!

Maple production is like any other farmenterprise - you get back what you put in it.In closing, I’ll quote a popular saying fromthe maple business:

“Old sugarmakers never die - they justevaporate.”

Lane and Kathy Clute own and operateClute’s Maple Products in Naples, NY.

FOREST AND WOODLOT

Why I Make Maple Syrup


The NYS Cheese Guild was organized to foster a strongand vibrant farmstead artisan cheesemaking sector in thestate. At the founding membership meeting in January2003, the numerous cheesemakers present identified fourmajor objectives:

• To encourage excellence in NY state farmstead and arti-san cheeses

• To provide activities that will promote and sustaincheesemaking as a craft and livelihood within NY state

• To assist small scale cheesemakers with marketing anddistribution initiatives fostering greater access to thebroad range of buyers, from brokers to chefs to con-sumers

• To represent the interests of members to governmentagencies and the media.

The Guild addresses the need for a collective trade organi-zation for the growing number of small-scale cheesemak-ers in New York state. In addition, the organization willdevelop a voice and a collective market presence for farm-based and artisan cheese makers.The Guild is the recipient of a $26,000 start up grant fromthe NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets. Thesefunds will be used for educational and marketing efforts. Bynext spring, the Guild should have a greater public pres-ence, including its own website and brochure listing allmember cheesemakers.

For more information, contact:Peter Kindel, Listening Rock Farm (President):(845) 877-6335Jane North, Northland Sheep Dairy (Secretary):(607) 849-3328Tracy Frisch, Regional Farm & Food Project(Convener): (518) 271-0744Ron Brovetto, Membership (Treasurer): (607) 278-6622 For a Guild membership form, please [email protected]

NYS Cheese Guild

Whether you use a high-tech system or just a few buckets, making maple syrup is often afamily tradition. Photo courtesy of NY Farms! Photo by Susan J.M. Everdyke

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RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT


By Jim Ashton

Many Northeast farms are experiencingserious problems. They are suffering notonly from poor prices and weather-relatedissues, but also from stress, tension andpoor communications resulting in angerand disruption of the family and business.

The key word here is communications. TheNY FarmNet Program, based at CornellUniversity, has provided free and confiden-tial financial and family consulting for nearly20 years, working with farm families to helpthem confront and alter communication pat-terns that block healthy family relations.Sometimes communication problems arecausing the farm business to spin out ofcontrol because family members are notable to talk to one another.

Many farmers request help from NYFarmNet with financing, marketing, or busi-ness planning. But often the consultantfinds that the underlying problem is a lackof sound communication — sometimes a

lack of any communication — betweenfather and son, or between spouses, orwith neighbors, service providers or regu-lating agencies. A recent FarmNet caseprovides a good example (names andsome of the details are changed here.)

A CASE IN POINTStan, a dairy farmer in his mid-sixties,wants to retire and transfer the farm to hisson, who is currently working for anotherfarmer. Stan wants to spend winters inFlorida and summers on the family farm.He has not mentioned these goals to hisson Chuck because he knows that mostconversations between them break down,with one or both becoming offended, andone or the other stomping off with yetanother wound to think about. They alwaysseem to bring up old grievances, such asthe fact that Stan has never been able toaccept Chuck’s wife as a daughter in law.

Stan finally called the FarmNet 800 helplinefor assistance with his son not being ableto listen to him. A pair of FarmNet consult-

ants were assigned to work with the familyand started by interviewing family mem-bers as to the cause of poor communica-tions. At the next family meeting every-one’s grievances were listed. They made achart of each problem, and a solution forthe problem. A consultant coached themon communications: statements beginningwith the word “you” were to be dropped andsubstituted with statements beginning with“I.” This way attacking statements wereturned into “I wish” statements.

Quickly the courtesy level of conversationsrose. Family members worked at rewording“you should be doing such-and-such” to “Ifeel such-and-such is next on our agenda,what do you think?” The family, wantinggood relations, was quick to adopt these

positive conversational behaviors.Discussions are now being completedpeacefully, decisions are being made andpersonal and business goals are beingshared. Family members recognized howa few words, tone of voice, body languageall contribute to misunderstanding, hurtfeelings and anger.

FarmNet is available at no cost to farmfamilies in New York State (see ResourceSpotlight.) For farm families outside of NewYork, counseling is available from profes-sional family counselors or through clergy,offices of mental health, conflict mediationprograms, or your school counselor.

Jim Ashton is a Family Consultant withthe NY FarmNet Program in Eastern NY.

HOME AND FAMILY

FarmNet Profile: Family Communications Is Key

By Martha Goodsell

I don’t think of myself as an entertainer, notin the true sense of the word. As a mother Icertainly have some entertaining to do, butthe audience is captive and I don’t get paidfor it. But, I have gotten really good at jug-gling. I didn’t learn to juggle like most folksdo. I sort of adapted to it. I don’t juggleballs, or rings of fire. No I just juggle life —four kids, a husband, a house, a farm, afew large projects, a few part time jobs, andmany organizations!

“How do you do it?” is the question I getmost often. “Do what?” I tease back,knowing full well what folks are really ask-ing. “You know, juggle it all.” I don’t oftenthink about it, I just do it. But, I supposemy life, my juggling act, is like this:

In the air are four small balls, very bright incolor, very delicate and extremely valuable.These balls must be handled with tender,loving care. I need to be able to watch themat all times, and I juggle them close to myheart. These balls represent my four chil-dren. My children are my priority andalways come first. I don’t man-handle them,or treat them roughly. I never put themdown, rather I guide them and keep themcontinually on course.

In orbit are a half dozen rubber-like ballsthat I am constantly handling. They are notlarge, they are not small; neither are theyheavy nor light. They get tossed in the airand they come down on their own. Once ina while a ball may need to be mended orreplaced but juggling these balls is veryroutine. I know what to expect with eachand every one. The balls are consistent, sojuggling them is easy. The duties I have atmy jobs, on the farm and in the house arelike this. Do some research, make somephone calls, read the mail, feed the ani-mals, pack the orders, prepare the invoices,load the washers, sweep the floor. It’s allvery frequent and all very methodical.

I juggle about a dozen balls that are aslight as a feather. When they get throwninto the sky they fly high and it takes a longtime for them to come back. These ballsare fun and enjoyable to work with. Theyhave lots of up-lifting qualities. Volunteer

work is like this. Boards and organizationstend to meet once a month. There I take onjobs that I can handle. I learn from thesegroups. I enjoy the company of their mem-bers. I work with people I like and respect.Everyone shares the workload. The lightballs give me time to manage the balls thatare heavy and can’t go very far in the air.

Heavy balls need constant attention. Theseare the big projects; the ones that need lotsof work just to make it off the ground.These balls can easily sap you of yourenergy. It’s better to juggle the biggest ofballs with a team approach. I have a fewvery heavy balls, some of which I jugglealone, some I juggle with others. Leadingan organization for which there is little sup-port is like juggling a bowling ball! Fightingthe opposition at every turn for the survivalof an industry is like juggling a cannon ball.It’s not fun, it’s hard work and it definitelyhas made me a stronger person.

Just for the thrill of it all, there’s alwayssome ball that will explode or fall apart. Inever know which one it might be, so I’vealways got to be ready. It might be a flat tirein the middle of a snowstorm. It might be agate left open and animals in the yard. Itmight be a customer that needs an orderfilled yesterday. I never know exactly whatwill happen, I’ve just learned the hard waythat something always will, and I need toexpect the unexpected.

Life’s like juggling. I choose the balls I wantto juggle. I can put balls down and I canpick balls up. The most important thing toremember about juggling is that it is impor-tant to pick and choose the right mix ofballs. If they are all too heavy I’ll quit. Ifthey’re too light I’ll get bored. I can handleballs frequently or just enough to keepthem going round. I can throw balls high orI can choose to keep balls close. I’ve got topractice juggling to keep good at it. Thestronger I am the better I’ll be. And I’ll neverknow exactly how many balls I can handleuntil I try.

Martha Goodsell raises fallow deer atFallow Hollow Farm in Candor, NY.Among the many other responsibilitiesshe juggles, she serves as ExecutiveDirector of NY Farms!

Juggling

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RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT

NY FarmNet: A Resource for Small Farmers

By Anita Cassard

Peter started growing organic vegetables inthe early 1990’s on about 4 acres of land.Within a few years he purchased additionalacreage — with owner financing — makinga total of 20 acres in production. Usingexisting outbuildings, Peter remodeled toestablish greenhouses and to provideareas to sort, clean, pack and store pro-duce.

The following years he spent completingcapital improvements to increase produc-tion. He installed high tensile fencing to

keep out deer, drilled an additional well forirrigation and ran electricity to the outbuild-ings.

It was important to Peter and his family togrow vegetables organically. From thebeginning his growing methods werealigned with NOFA-NY standards, and thefarm is now in it’s sixth year of certification.The first few years he spent developing thesoil organic matter, using cover crops andcompost on most of the cropland. Then thefields were gradually rotated into vegetableproduction.

The farm now produces vegetables, herbs,flowers, fruit and berries, and sells them atfarmers markets, restaurants, on site andthrough wholesale organic cooperatives.Originally Peter relied partly on off-farmincome, but over the past few years he’sbeen reducing that, which was part of hisplan.

Recently Peter contacted the FarmNet 800helpline because he was considering anexpansion of the farm and the current busi-ness was experiencing cash flow problemsand high employee turn over.

As a FarmNet Financial Consultant, I wasassigned to work with Peter to help himanalyze his current business and to discussexpansion plans. One of the first things weworked on was developing a system tokeep monthly records of income andreceipts in order to track financial perform-ance of the farm. The farm was making itsdebt payments each year, but Peter wasborrowing money to cover operating costsand the level of operating debt was increas-ing each year. He had some harvest prob-lems and was unable to meet some cus-

tomer’s orders because employee turnoverprevented him from getting the crop pickedon time.

With the help of FarmNet, Peter developeda budget and cash flow plan for the currentfarm business and identified areas forimprovement in financial management andemployee relations. Peter continues to meetwith me to discuss and update his plan,and to work on developing his financialmanagement systems and employee rela-tions skills. I’ve also encouraged him totake advantage of Cooperative Extensionbusiness management and humanresources courses and publications.

Peter is still considering expanding hisoperation, and has a friend willing to investin his business. But before he takes on anymore debt he is going to focus on improv-ing farm business performance at his cur-rent size of operation.

Anita Cassard is a financial consultantin Central New York with the NY FarmNetProgram.

PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT

FarmNet Profile:Getting Help With Tough Management Decisions

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with Claire Hebbard

Successful small farm families are the foun-dation for successful small farm business-es. This column is dedicated to farm fami-lies working together, and provides a forumfor your questions about the intersection ofthe farm family and the business.

Q: We have three children, ages 9, 11 and14. The kids are expected to help outaround the farm, but our son (the oldest)doesn’t like the farm and is difficult to dealwith, being sulky and crabby. Is this just anormal part of having a teenager, and howcan I lighten the mood around here?

A: First born children are often naturalleaders, but may be easily discouraged ifthey can’t be as competent as adults.Supporting tradition and tending to be con-ventional, firstborns often feel threatened atthe loss of love. Your son may seem sulkyand crabby if he is trying to please othersbut feels resentful. Parents often have highexpectations of their firstborn children, andwant them to set an example for the others.This may be viewed as “unfair” by the old-est, who may complain, give orders, be

uncooperative or refuse to participate.Misbehavior is usually an attempt to gainattention from others.

It could be helpful to talk to your son abouthis feelings about the farm. Perhaps youcould let him know that everyone is expect-ed to contribute to the family’s well-beingbut offer some flexibility around whatchores he does. Are there chores heprefers over others? Encourage him to par-ticipate, let him know that his contributionsare valuable, and find ways to allow him todevelop some leadership skills. Offer con-structive support when he makes mistakes.

If his mood or attitude does not improve,you may find it helpful to consult with a pro-fessional concerning your parentingoptions. Although rebellion and crabbymoods may be common among teenagers,you don’t have to let a bad attitude rule theroost.

Send a question of your own toCrossroads, c/o Claire Hebbard, NYFarmNet, 415 Warren Hall, Ithaca, NY14853, or email [email protected].

HOME AND FAMILY

Crossroads

According to Cathy Sheils, Director of NYFarmNet, “Farming is a challenging andsometimes stressful occupation, requiringcareful management, thoughtful decisionmaking, and constant problem solving andplanning.” Given the stresses and chal-lenges of operating a small farm, it’sextremely important to seek out informa-tion, assistance and support from a varietyof resources to assist you with your busi-ness planning and problem solving. NYFarmNet is one important resource for farmfamilies in New York State.

The NY FarmNet program was establishedin 1986 to help farm families with the inher-ent problems and decisions related to man-aging a farm business and farm family life.Since the program began FarmNet has

responded to approximately 28,000 helplinecalls and has provided on-farm financialand family consulting to approximately8,500 New York farm families.

“We specialize in working with farmers onfinancial, family, farm transfer and legalissues,” says Cathy. “If there is a produc-tion or technical concern we make referralsto other sources of assistance.” Farmerscall the 800 helpline (1-800-547-FARM)with questions or problems related to farmmanagement, finances, enterprise changesand analysis, farm transfer, retirement, farmentering or exiting, family communications,conflict and legal issues. NY FarmNetworks with all sizes and types of farms.

Each call to the 800 helpline is responded

to in a personalized manner by staff whohave farm knowledge and backgrounds.Depending on the situation, responsesinclude providing information, phone con-sulting, making referrals, research and call-ing back or assigning a FarmNet consultantto work directly with you.

In 2002, we responded to over 2,045helpline calls and our consultants made998 on-farm consultations, working withfarmers to help them identify options andresolve problems. Consultants work one onone with farm families to address their par-ticular business and family needs. All serv-ices are free and confidential.

FarmNet is supported by the New YorkState Department of Agriculture and

Markets, Cornell University Department ofApplied Economics and Management,Cornell Cooperative Extension, New Yorkand County Farm Bureaus, NYSEG, KraftFoods and other industry organizations.

A phone call to 1-800-547-FARM will putyou in touch with a FarmNet consultant.Or visit our website at www.nyfarmnet.org.For farm families outside of New York State,some financial consulting help may beavailable from Cooperative Extension, FarmCredit, private consulting firms, account-ants, or attorneys. Family counseling isavailable from professional family coun-selors or through clergy, offices of mentalhealth, conflict mediation programs, orschool counselor.


by Frances Smith

What kind of livestock venture can be profitable for thesmall farmer living in today’s world? Most consultantswould not say sheep. And in the main, we would agreewith them. Yet there is a breed of sheep available todaythat can be profitable — Icelandics!

At one time, wool was a valuable harvest for the farmer,and the meat produced by sheep provided both food andincome for the family — enough income to allow a comfort-able living. Today that is generally not the case. Woolprices are at a record low, and lamb is no longer anAmerican staple. Supermarkets can buy imported lamb atvery low prices, and American producers have a hard timeselling their meat at a profit large enough for them to stayin business.

What can brighten this picture for the American smallfarmer wishing to keep sheep? Enter the Icelandic Sheep.Less than twenty years ago, Stephania DignumSveinbjarnardottir was able to import some of the sheepfrom her native Iceland into Canada. It was a long,involved process, a combination of patience, persistence,and a refusal to give up. But why is this significant to ustoday, and to our future?

The Icelandic Sheep can provide what has been missingfor the small sheep farmer. This is a triple purpose, hardy,prolific animal that can bring the word profitable back intothe farmer’s vocabulary.

The Icelandic sheep is a dairy animal, a fiber producer,and an excellent meat animal. It can bring in multiplesources of income. Handspinners are excited about theluxurious double-coated fleece and the soft roving. Therenowned Lopi style yarn sells by the ounce. The discrimi-nating and increasingly health conscious public is buyingthe delicately flavored, natural Icelandic meat and delicioushome produced natural cheeses produced by farmers ofIcelandic Sheep.

Specialty cheesemaking companies purchase raw milk,and knowledgeable individuals wanting to tap into thisgrowing market are buying breeding stock. Hand felteditems like mittens, boots, slippers, vests, and jackets areeasy to make and much in demand for excellent prices.The list goes on for the person willing to invest the timeand commitment to succeed.

EASY TO RAISEWhat sets this breed of sheep apart? A number of things.Hardiness certainly is the hallmark of a breed able to with-stand the bitter winters of Iceland and survive by grazingout in the hills for much of the year. Housing needs are

very minimal, for these ewes are masters at natural pas-ture lambing, giving birth to twins and triplets without assis-tance and raising them without help. Gestation time is usu-ally 145 days, slightly shorter than most sheep, so lambsare born slightly smaller, hence fewer lambing problems.Lambs that are born at 6-10 lbs. reach 90-120 lbs. byslaughter time.

Their naturally short tails eliminate the need for dockingand the health risks associated. Castrating is not neces-sary as these sheep are seasonal breeders, and by thetime lambs are ready for slaughter they have been weanedand separated from the ewes. Prolificacy is a naturally

occurring trait, with twins the norm and triplets not unusual.Some lines produce quads. Because of their milkynatures, ewes very seldom need assistance raising lambs.

MULTIPLE MARKETSThe meat from Icelandic sheep has an unusually delicateand mild flavor, and has been frequently imported fromIceland by some of the most exclusive restaurants in thiscountry. Now domestic meat is available without the importcosts, while still at a premium price for the farmer/directmarketer. Also, Icelandics do exceedingly well as grassfedanimals, making them perfect for direct marketing to indi-viduals who are health conscious and want exquisite flavor.

The fleece of the Icelandic is dual coated, with a longerouter coat called the tog, and a soft, downy inner coatcalled the thel. Spun together either by handspinners or bya proceesing mill, this can result in the lovely Lopi styleyarn so in demand for sweaters, or in two ply sock yarnthat is extremely durable.

Separated and spun separately, the thel can produce yarnsoft enough and fine enough for baby clothes and itemsthat can be worn next to the skin, while the tog can pro-duce a superior yarn for weavers and rug makers. Add tothis the incredible array of natural colors, and you have anunbeatable-and profitable-combination.

Icelandic sheep have successfully been used by sheepdairy farmers to produce really high quality milk for rich,flavorful cheeses. Some sheep dairy farmers have foundthis to be the kind of milk processors will pay a premiumfor, and others have produced their own unique, localcheeses which are in high demand by the discriminatingpublic through direct marketing channels.

Breeding stock now commands excellent prices, and theuse of artificial insemination with imported Icelandicsemen produces stock that sells for premium prices. Webelieve that as the value of the Icelandic sheep becomesmore widely known, the demand will be even higher,because more animals will be needed to satisfy thesegrowing markets.

All in all, if you’re a farmer interested in a profitable live-stock venture, the Icelandic Sheep could be your opportu-nity to enter a financially rewarding market.

Frances Smith and Wendy Fast own HeartsEase FarmIcelandic Sheep, south of Rochester, New York. Theyraise Icelandics and sell fleece, roving, felting batts,pelts, lamb meat, and breeding stock. Contact them

for more information at 585-335-3439, [email protected], or visit their website at www.ice-landicsheepworld.com.

FARMING OPPORTUNITIES

Potential for Profit: The Icelandic Sheep

Icelandics are easy to raise - hardy and prolific. This isMoonwink, polled ram.

The fleece of the Icelandic has a longer outer coat and a soft,downy inner coat. These are fleece samples of Icelandic blackgrey color pattern. Photos by Frances Smith

The Icelandic Sheep is a triple purpose animal, producing milk,meat and fiber. This is HeartsEase Hawkweed.

Icelandic lambs weigh just 6-8 pounds at birth. This is littleHeartsEase Lentil, just days old.

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by John Thurgood and Phil Metzger

The way we live our lives and conduct our affairs affectsour quality of life. We make hundreds of decisions eachand every day. Think about it — have you ever consideredhow many decisions you make from the time you get up inthe morning to when you go to bed at night?

DECISIONS, DECISIONSThe alarm clock rings, you hit the snooze button once (yourfirst decision of the day), it rings again and you get up. Youthink about how the weather is going to be today ... cold ...and decide to put on several layers. Should I grab a bitebefore going to the barn? OK, just a little coffee cake anda cup of joe. Now, you’re in the barn and a quick scanshows all is in order, no overflowing waterers, no loosestock.

You start chores by feeding your cows hay before grain tomaintain good rumen health. This was a decision madeseveral years ago, and you set a feeding protocol that youfollow each day. You begin milking. Last winter you decid-ed to maintain a milking interval of close to twelve hours,which is why you only hit the snooze button once to makesure you would start milking on time.

If you look at this closely, you willfind that from the time you wake upuntil you put the first milker on,you’ve already made many deci-sions. Most of these are “small”decisions, the kind you make contin-ually throughout the day.

Now let’s look at the bigger deci-sions. There were two large deci-sions mentioned above — the deci-sion to feed hay before grain, andthe decision to maintain a twelve-hour milking interval. What criteriadid you use in making these deci-sions? Was it solely economics, try-ing to maximize milk production percow? Or did you consider otheraspects of these issues before mak-ing the decision?

You’re probably asking yourself atthis point, where are John and Philgoing with this discussion? Thepoint is, each and every day wemake hundreds of decisions. Someare rather small - you probably don’teven think of them as being choices. Others are large, thetypes of judgments we ponder for days, weeks, or some-times years. While the small decisions don’t seem impor-tant, when put together they add up to having a significantimpact on your quality of life. The large decisions obviouslyhave a greater influence on your future, and you need totake time and consider all of the potential ramifications.

HOW DO YOU MAKE DECISIONS?So how do you commonly make decisions? Most of ustend to choose actions that direct us toward a single goalor objective. In dairy farming we often focus on milk pro-duction per cow. In other businesses, it’s commonly nextquarter’s profit and loss statement.

If the world were simple or linear, this would work nicely.However, the world is actually quite complex, and every-thing is interconnected. Or said another way — the worldis holistic in nature. Holistic is defined in Webster’sDictionary as “... dealing with wholes or integrated systemsrather than with their [individual] parts.”

Conventional, linear decision-making lacks a holistic per-spective and therefore usually leads to unintended conse-quences. A holistic decision means that you consider notonly the economic impact of a twelve-hour milking interval,but also the environmental and social aspects of the deci-sion. The environmental impact of the twelve-hour milkinginterval decision probably isn’t that significant, except thatmore milk per cow with about the same use of inputsmeans that you are maximizing the use of resources,which is a good thing.

The social aspects of maintaining a twelve-hour milkinginterval can be very significant. Carried to the extreme,family activities may be sacrificed to maintain the interval.For example, you know you need to start milking at 5:00pm and Sherry’s soccer game starts at 4:30 pm. Shouldyou forgo the game? When she is finally off to college andyou haven’t ever seen her play you might wish you madethe cows wait on occasion. Other families face similarchoices — a corporate executive decides to maintain a 60-hour workweek to ensure continued career growth and pro-motion. Meanwhile, he/she hasn’t seen his/her childrenplay soccer in years. What are the effects of that choice?

So here’s the essential point. Your desired quality of lifehas three main elements: economic; environmental; andsocial. To attain the quality of life you desire, your deci-sions need to take all three elements into account.

Making a Quality of Life statementIf you are going to attain the quality of life that you desire,begin with writing a Quality of Life statement. It’s beensaid, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road willget you there.” Articulating what you and your family desirein life, along with a clear statement of purpose for yourbusiness, will provide a focal point for all to work toward.Consistent decision making over time, focusing on thequality of life you desire, is the key. It is an essential partof managing holistically.

You may be asking “How can I develop this Quality of Lifestatement for my farm?” Everyone on your farm needs tobe involved. Include all family members, and the hiredhelp. If there is an older generation that is not involved inthe business day-to-day, but controls key resources such

as land or finances, they should be involved.

Start by giving each person time to say what is mostimportant to them. Don’t interrupt. Listen. Write each per-son’s ideas down. Then discuss what is important as agroup. Finally, work to put what all desire into a concise 2-5 paragraph statement. It might start like, “River BendDairy values ...”. Your Quality of Life statement is now thebeacon that all involved in the family and business aremoving toward.

When making decisions, all should ask, “Is this actiongoing to take us farther from, or closer to the quality of lifethat we desire.” For each decision ask yourself, “Whatimpact will this decision have on the profitability of ourfarm, how will it affect our family life and how will it affectthe natural resources that our farm depends on?” Wow!!!You can see the power in that approach.

FARMER TESTIMONIALSHere is what some farmers that we’ve worked with sayabout the experience of learning about HolisticManagement and the power of developing a Quality of Lifestatement:

“It helps everybody involved get their goals inline with each other.”

“We referenced our statement and made adecision that most closely related to what wewant for quality of life”

“I feel it is very beneficial in helping farmsidentify their needs, wants and goals andhelps them to understand how to... get towhere they want to be and what they want outof life.”

So what do you think? Is this doable for yourfamily? Maybe you’re thinking that you coulduse some help working through the processof developing your Quality of Life statement.Many people with facilitation skills can helpyou, including your extension agent with farmmanagement responsibilities, your pastor, or apersonal counselor. A Quality of Life state-ment may be just what you need to help yourbusiness thrive and your family to attain thequality of life you desire.

For more information on Holistic Managementcontact John Thurgood at 607-865-7090,[email protected] or Phil Metzger at 607-

334-3231, x4 or [email protected] or visitwww.holisticmanagement.org and click on HolisticManagement in the left hand column.

John Thurgood is a Senior Whole Farm Planner forCornell Cooperative Extension as part of the NYCWatershed Agricultural Program and Phil Metzger isthe USDA NRCS Coordinator for the Central NYResource Conservation and Development Council.


Quality of Life: What Does It Mean to You?

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What do YOU want out of life? Are fresh air, beautiful views and friendly, farming neighbors part of thequality of life you value? Photo by Bill Henning

Sample Quality of Life Statement

We desire a safe, comfortable, supportive andfinancially secure environment for our chil-dren and ourselves. We want to maintaingood health. We desire all family members tolead happy and fruitful lives. We desire tohave healthy cattle and land. We want ourfarm to be aesthetically pleasing to passersbyto promote our farm and the wholesomenessof our farm products. We want Hometown tobe a vibrant community.


By Peter J. Smallidge and Michael C.Greason

Currently the prices paid for timber in NewYork woodlots are good and harvestingactivity has increased during the lastdecade. However, what may surprise manyforest and woodlot owners is that someforestry techniques can limit options forfuture benefits and enjoyment — both inthe long run and short term. While well-planned timber harvesting can increaseyour benefits, “high-grading” and relatedpractices should be avoided.

WHAT IS “HIGH-GRADING?”Cutting the best trees (those of highestvalue) and leaving the low value, often dis-eased or malformed trees, is too common.This type of forestry is called high-grading,where the highest grade (or value) treesare removed. By cutting only the largestand most valuable trees you remove thosebest suited to that site. The trees that areless well adapted remain as the next forestand the seed source for future forests.

The financial gain of high-grading existsonly briefly, yet ownership objectives canbe sacrificed for decades. A similar analo-gy from livestock is the farmer or stablemanager who shoots the blue ribbon bull orwinning race horse and uses the losers forbreeding stock. The quality of the herd, justas the quality of the forest and woodlot,declines rapidly!

In addition to high-grading, similar practicesexist with different names. High-grading isoften disguised under the name of “diame-ter-limit cutting”. This is a practice thatremoves all trees above a certain minimumdiameter. In some rare situations diameter-limit cutting is appropriate. For example, ifold pasture trees are shading the growth ofgood quality and desirable young hardwoodsaplings. Often however, diameter-limit cut-ting removes trees of commercial value(say above 12 or 14 inches in diameter)before these trees can attain a more valu-able size and add seed and seedlings tothe forest.

Selective cutting is another techniquewhere high-grading can occur. Technically,selective cutting can include beneficialactivities such as improvement cuts. But ascommonly practiced, selective cutting usu-ally means selecting the highest qualitytrees and cutting them.

Selective cutting, generally not recom-mended, differs from the selection system,which is a legitimate technique. The selec-

tion system involves someone professional-ly trained in silviculture — the science, artand practice of caring for forests withrespect to human objectives — to selecttrees from all age and size classes, bothhigh and low quality to produce an uneven-aged forest.

Diameter-limit cutting and selective cuttingare often rationalized by arguing to removethe bigger trees so the smaller trees cangrow. However, the smaller trees may beundesirable species, poor form, or poorheath. By any name, high-gradingdegrades the value of the forest regardlessof the “logic” used by foresters or loggerstrying to make a quick buck.

Why does high-grading happen? A common cause for high-grading is greedto maximize immediate profits. Beginningin the early 1970’s, demand for high-valuetimber increased and sawmills could paymore for certain species. Thus, markets forhigh-value trees grew stronger while mar-kets for low value trees did not. Further, itcosts about the same amount of money tocut and haul a $10 tree as it does to cutand haul a $300 tree of the same size.

Another factor is that taxes on forest landnot under the NYS 480-a Forest Tax Lawcan create financial hardships that encour-age landowners to maximize immediateprofits. The result is that more immediateprofit is gained by cutting only the highestvalue trees, but left behind is a legacy oflow quality trees and under-productiveforests. This knowledge helps explain high-grading, but doesn’t excuse it.

Is it really that bad? What are the consequences of high-grad-ing? One result is that the trees that are leftbehind won’t grow as quickly as betterquality trees and the time until the next har-vest is lengthened. In addition, the nextharvest will remove the low quality treespreviously left so the value at the next har-vest will be reduced.

If you magnify the practice of high-gradingacross a region, assuming the demand forwood products remains steady, then moreacres must be harvested to meet the samedemand. While timber harvesting is notbad, accelerated harvesting is not in thebest interest of our natural resources andconflicts with a growing demand by thepublic for accountability of natural resourcemanagement. As the value of the land toproduce timber crops decreases, the incen-tive to subdivide and develop increases.

Although high-grading leaves a forest oftrees behind, there are hidden ecologicalcosts. Because the healthiest trees withthe fewest defects are removed, the overallhealth of the forest is reduced. The remain-ing trees may be more susceptible to theeffects of insects, pathogens, strong windsor ice-storms and less able to recover afterthese disturbances occur. They will likelygrow more slowly than the trees that wereremoved would have.

Often high-grading emphasizes cutting of afew species and leaves behind otherspecies. This reduction in tree speciesdiversity can have negative consequencesfor wildlife that depended on the harvestedspecies for food or shelter. Species suchas red oak, sugar maple, and black cherryare economically valuable and produceseeds that are valued by wildlife. In anyparticular year, only one or a few speciesmay produce an abundant crop of seeds. Ifthose species were removed by high-grad-ing, wildlife that used those seeds will needto find alternative food sources and thatseed source may be permanently gonefrom the woodlot.

What can you do to avoid high-grading? One step is to work with competent andprofessional loggers and foresters. Whenyou select a new refrigerator or car youlikely consider several features, includingprice, reputation, service after the sale, andother long-term benefits. You’ll certainly gosee what the refrigerator looks like. Youshould use at least these same criteriawhen you select your forester and logger.

Ask for references, find out if the foresterparticipates in continuing education pro-grams and whether the logger has complet-ed the “Trained Logger Certification” pro-gram, make a visit to forests or woodlotswhere they have worked, and know that thebest price may not provide the best treat-ment for your land. The logger who outbids his competitors for a timber sale by afew percent may be more efficient or maynot devote enough effort to ensure yourproperty is left in good condition. Similarlythe forester or logger who promises youmaximum short-term profit likely doesn’thave in mind the best interests for you andyour land. The consequences of selectingan incompetent forester or logger will existlonger than a bad choice on a refrigerator.

Another step to avoid high-grading is tohave a written management plan. Yourmanagement plan will state your objectivesand help keep you on track. The harvesting

schedule in your management plan willhelp you decide when harvesting is appro-priate. Just because a forester or loggeroffers to cut your timber doesn’t mean it’sthe best time for your interests. The valueof trees increases greatly as trees get big-ger, and it’s probably a safe assumptionthat good markets will continue to exist forhigh quality trees (although markets fluctu-ate). You may be advised that the trees are“over-mature” or “need to be cut”. Knowthat these labels are subjective and theyare only accurate in the context of yourownership objectives.

Third, look for creative solutions to removethe low value trees at the same time thehigh value trees are harvested. A harvestthat removes high-value and low-valuetrees provides financial benefits from thehigh- and low-value trees and improves thequality of the residual forest. One way is tohave the forester mark and the logger skidthe low value trees to the log landing.Then you can cut them yourself for fire-wood, or sell them to a firewood processor.This will require extra effort on the part ofthe logger and forester, which means youmight not make as much money, but thebenefits, including even greater profits, willexist a few years down the road.

GET HELP WITH YOUR LONG-TERMPLANFinally, get assistance from people focusedon your interests to help you develop long-term objectives and management plans.

Tree tops from cutting of a high value stem. High grading can eliminate some species andshift the forest to other, less desirable and less productive species. Photo by Peter Smallidge

High-grading sacrifices the long term produc-tivity of your woodlot.

Photo by Jim Ochterski

A stump left behind after the high quality stem was removed. Note the diameter of the cutstem is much greater than the diameter of the remaining stems. Photo by Peter Smallidge

FOREST AND WOODLOT

Forestry Practices to Avoid: Just Say No To High-Grading

continued on next page


By Ellen Abend

All farms, regardless of size or commodity produced, havea place where tools are kept and equipment is repaired ormaintained. Over many years of visiting farms as a safetyspecialist, I have encountered shops of various configura-tions: a back room of the farm house; a small room adja-cent to the milk house; a shed that used to be “somethingelse”; and of course, actual shop buildings. The shop ortool shed is an integral part of every farm, but it’s also thesite of many preventable injuries. The winter months pro-vide an ideal time to assess and correct potential shophazards.

During busy crop seasons the farm shop can easilybecome disorganized. The clutter that accumulates oftenresults in comments such as “watch your step” to visitors;maybe fixing the problem is a better approach. Seriousfarm-related injuries generally do not occur in the shop;however, injuries that do occur in shops may result in aday or two of lost work time. As a small farm owner, youneed to ask yourself if you can really afford an injury likethat.

SHOP-RELATED INJURIESThe most common injuries in shops affect the eyes, handsand back. Eye injuries are the result of not wearing safetyglasses when using tools like grinders, drill presses, wirebrushes, portable power tools, or anything that causessmall particles to fly into the air. More severe eye injuriescan occur if no eye protection is worn when using an oxy-acetylene torch or welder. Even simple acts such as

climbing under equipment and looking up can result in dirtor debris getting into a person’s eye.

Reducing the potential for eye injuries involves wearingproper eye protection when working in the shop. The typeof eye protection needed depends on the equipment beingused. Always wear safety glasses that meet the ANSIZ87.1-1989 standard to protect your eyes from flyingobjects. Operating the oxy-acetylene torch requires green-tinted gas welding goggles or face shields to protect theeyes. A full face welding helmet with approved UV radiationfilter plates is necessary when using ARC, MIG or TIGwelding equipment.

Hand injuries can result from using the wrong tool for thetask, using a broken or damaged tool, not using the toolproperly, hurrying, or not focusing on the task. The toolmay slip causing a bruise, laceration or puncture wound tothe hand or fingers. Sometimes a hand injury seems sominor that it is ignored, but considering the potential forinfection, this is risky. Wearing work gloves can help toreduce hand injuries, but be careful not to wear themaround moving parts of equipment. Also, you need to wearthe appropriate gloves for the task; for example: gauntlet-style leather welding gloves will protect hands and armswhen using a welder, but they should not be worn whenhandling chemicals. If you are handling chemicals in theshop, it is very important that you wear the type of glovesthat are recommended on the material safety data sheet(MSDS) that should accompany every container pur-chased. Finally, leave all of your rings in the house - theydo not belong in the workplace.

Back injuries that occur in the farm shop are most oftenrelated to slips, trips, falls or improper lifting. Many backinjuries require long-term treatment that can be expensive,and some result in disabilities lasting a lifetime. Preventionof back injuries is an important measure that relates togood housekeeping practices in the shop. Cleaning upspilled liquids at the time of the spill should be a top priori-ty. Keeping the floor free of clutter and putting tools awayafter each job reduce the potential for trips and falls. Muchhas been written about proper lifting but we don’t alwaysfollow the recommendations, which include lifting with yourlegs, keeping your knees bent, carrying the load close to yourbody and not twisting at the waist or lifting over your head.

MAKING YOUR SHOP SAFERPart of managing the farm shop involves making it a saferplace to work. A clean, well-lit and organized shop notonly provides a safer workplace, but it also encouragespeople to keep things neat. The following suggestions willhelp you to evaluate your shop for potential hazards:• Is the floor free of clutter?• Are tools neatly stored after each job? • • Do you havetool storage areas?• Do you clean up the work area after one job is complet-

ed?• Do you check the electrical wiring on power tools and

extension cords for fraying, and replace them when dam-aged?

• Is the lighting in your shop adequate?• Do you have oils and fluids stored away from heat

sources? No fuels should be stored in the shop unlessthey are in spring-loaded containers that prevent explo-sion or fire.

• Are the protective guards and shields in place on benchequipment such as grinders and table saws?

• Is personal protective equipment (safety glasses, gloves,etc.) available and regularly used?

• Is ventilation adequate for welding, painting or usingother aerosols?

• If you have a heat source in the shop, is it well-main-tained? Are there combustible items near it?

• Do you keep charged fire extinguishers mounted nearthe exits? Have you checked them recently? Do youknow how to use them?

• Is there a first aid kit for minor injuries? • Does it get checked and restocked on a regular basis?

Whether your farm shop is large or small, good house-keeping is the key first step in providing a safe place towork. Winter is an excellent time of year to clean up theclutter and re-organize your shop so that it will not only bea safer, but also a more efficient place to work.

Ellen Abend is an Injury Prevention Specialist with theAgricultural Health and Safety Program at CornellUniversity. For more information about farm safety youcan call Ellen at 607-255-1597.

HOME AND FAMILY

Safety Strategies: Managing the Farm Shop

Your local Cooperative Extension officeshould be able to refer you to sources offree, unbiased information and advice thatwill help you avoid some of the pitfalls ofpracticing short-sighted forestry.

Here in New York State, we have MasterForest Owner Volunteers who are trainedthrough Cornell Cooperative Extension toprovide non-technical assistance to forestowners. The Catskill Forest Associationand New York Forest Owners Associationare landowner groups dedicated to helpingother landowners enjoy their forest land.Contact your county office of CornellCooperative Extension or the nearest DECoffice for more information.

The NYS Department of EnvironmentalConservation public service foresters areavailable for free consultation and can pro-vide technical expertise and guidance onforest management. The DEC and theSociety of American Foresters also main-tain lists of foresters with certain creden-tials. These lists include people who havemade certain investments in their profes-sional development, but in no way do thelists assure competency.

WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOUR WOODLOTWAS PREVIOUSLY HIGH-GRADED? In simple terms, you need to have a visionfor what you want your forest to look likeand then a planned set of actions to moveyou towards that goal. High-grading oftenhappens incrementally, where the first entryremoves the very best trees and months or

a few years later the rest of the valuabletrees are cut. Once you get started on cor-recting past exploitations, your actions —which should link directly to your ownershipobjectives — depend on what you have towork with in your forest.

A lightly high-graded forest may need onlysome thinning around the best trees andsteps to ensure the forest can be effectivelyregenerated when the time comes. Aheavily high-graded forest may no longerhave the tree species you desire which willrequire you to create openings that youthen plant to your desired species. Thesize of the openings and the species toplant will depend on the specifics of thesite. A competent forester and your willing-ness to invest time and probably moneyare necessary to move a high-graded for-est back to a sustainable forest.

For more articles on forest management, avirtual tour of sustainable forestry practices,and links to agencies and organizations toassist you, visit the Cornell UniversityForestry Extension web page athttp://www.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/forestrypageHave fun and enjoy your forest.

Peter J. Smallidge is NY State ExtensionForester with Cornell’s Department ofNatural Resources. Michael C. Greasonis a Private Consulting Forester inCatskill, NY, and retired Chief of DEC’sBureau of Private Land Services. Thisarticle is reprinted with permission fromthe series “Looking Into Your Woodlot,”published cooperatively by CornellCooperative Extension and the New YorkForest Owners Association.

NEW! from Dr. NaylorHoof 'n Heel

Here’s HOOF ROT Help!Dr. Naylor Hoof 'n Heel is a topical antiseptic

aid in the treatment, prevention and managementof HOOF ROT, FOOT ROT and FOULS

• Colorless • Easy to use• Labeled for use on cows • No withholding

Spray it on affected hoofs once or twice a day ormake a foot bathing solution for preventive walkthrough.

Always read and follow all label directions.

Hoof 'n Heel is available from your favorite animalhealth supplier or H.W. Naylor Company, Inc.,Morris, NY 13808-0190 (607) 263-5145.

Are you looking for resources to help strengthen the com-munity in which you live and farm? If so, check out theCommunity, Food and Agriculture Program website atwww.CFAP.org. Among many other things, it includes anextensive Agricultural Economic and CommunityDevelopment Information Clearinghouse. You can also jointhe CFAP-L email listserve and become part of the ongoingdiscussion about food and ag-based development in theNortheast.

Learn about new strategies for strengthening farms, com-munities, and economies. Discuss topics ranging fromemerging markets to value-added processing, economicdevelopment, diversification, assisting beginning farmers,agritourism and more. Keep updated about upcoming con-ferences and workshops; agriculture development jobs andfunding opportunities. Share your thoughts about contem-porary issues affecting food, agriculture, and communities.

To join the CFAP-L listserve, draft an e-mail message withthe following:In the “To” field, type: [email protected] “Subject” field blankIn the body of the message, type: subscribe CFAP-L fol-lowed by your first and last name, e.g. subscribe CFAP-LJohn Doe.If you use automatic signature block, turn it off.Send message.

To visit CFAP on the web, go to www.CFAP.org; to visit theAg Development Clearinghouse directly, go towww.nyagdev.net.

RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT

Community, Food AndAgriculture Web SiteAnd Email Listserve

Forestry Practicescont. from previous page


Dinosewers 4-H Club Does Bird Rehabilitation!

Jeremy Herz, Dinosewers 4-H Club, Yates County, NY, age 11

The Dinosewers 4-H Club found a bird we thought was a downy woodpecker in our yard.Although Dad returned it to the nest cavity, the next day there it was again, and another one too.

We called our local vet clinic to find the name of a rehabilitator in the area. No luck. We triedCornell, Keuka College and the Cummings Nature Center, but no one was available to help usthat day. The bird that had been in the yard died, as we suspected it might. The secondfledgling survived overnight but died at noon; wefound a third Friday morning.

The third baby was in better condition than the first two. We looked up what they eat andcollected grubs, worms, bird cherries and ant eggs to feed it. The big test was the first 24hours. My friend Nicole Owens (4-H’er), her sisters and her friend Courtney got maggots fromthe trash. A feast for a bird! We thought it was gross.

Finally, on Saturday morning we got the name of a rehabilitator from the nature center. Hisname is Leland Brun. My mom called Mr. Brun and we told him some things about our baby.He confirmed with us that it is a breed of woodpecker called a Flicker. Because it was not anendangered species, Mr. Brun said it would be ok for us to foster the chick. He told us if itgot too hard to find food for it, we could wet down dry dog food and feed it from a dropper.He told us we were doing really well.

Mr. Brun was worried about the other babies in the nest. So were we. We hadn’t seen a par-ent bird at all, but they are shy. He advised us to supplement their food for a few days. Thatmeant seeing how many there were. We knew there were three at least. That’s how manystuck theirs heads out for food. We don’t have a ladder tall enough so we used a rappellingrig with a sling for safety. Brantly Ellis, a 4-H’er, could reach the birds to feed them, but notsee down into the nest cavity. I’m not tall enough either.

There were three in the nest, and a parent. That was a relief. We thought it would be ok toput the baby back in, but out he came. We learned that this is not because he had our scenton him, but because these birds can only raise 2-3 chicks to adulthood successfully. Theyhave a survival strategy that incorporates predation. This means that nature allows forsome to be food for other animals. The weaker babies get tossed out.

We have been sharing our bird story with others. Several guests have helped us to raise“Spearo”. As he grew, Spearo outstripped our ability to find insects unless we hunted 24/7.Now we know why the broods are ruled by natural selection.

Mr. Brun helped us devise a schedule based on his experience with Flickers. They have to learnto hunt for themselves very quickly. We were lucky to have nestlings to observe. We really likehaving animals as club projects. We are now members of the nestbox network through CornellOrnithology Lab. We are pursuing information on how to keep pets and wild birds in a safeproximity. This means keeping the feral cat population to a minimum.

Brantly and I wanted to know how to re-introduce the bird to the wild. We learned that wehad to wet him down every day to get him used to weather changes, provide some sort of “fly-ing lessons” and make sure he was released by mid-late August, had to wean him off depend-ence on provided food and make sure he was still in juvenile plumage while learning to hunt andestablish his own territory. Whew!

As of September 9, 2003, Spearo was wild and independent. This was a very exciting project.We see him sometimes but he doesn’t come close anymore.

Special thanks to: Eastview Vet Clinic, Penn Yan, NY, Cummings Nature Center, Naples, NY,Leland Brun, Honeoye Falls, NY, Cornell Ornithology Lab, Ithaca, NY — Marilyn Mustov,Menaboni’s Birds — Auguste and Sara Menaboni.

For more information about birds and birding, visit the following sites: Cornell Ornithology Lab, http://birds.cornell.edu/, Wild Birds Unlimited, http://www.wbu.com/

Having PigletsOrrin James Wyman, Madison County, NY, age 9

Two months ago my Dad’s sowBertha had piglets. This wasthe first litter ever born at oursmall farm in South Hamilton,NY. Dad has raised severalpigs for meat but this was anew experience. When we wentup to our barn at about 8pm,Bertha was going into labor.She had been restless formany days so we knew thetime was close. A friend ofours told us it takes 3months, 3 weeks and 3 daysfor baby pigs to grow in theirmother.

We were all very excited. My Mom called our neighbors and cousins so theycould come and watch too. It was a neat experience, there wasn’t muchblood and our sow did real well. By about 10pm six had been born. The sev-enth piglet born was stillborn. I was very sad. I buried it next to our barnwith a big headstone that read: Here lies Bertha’s piglet. More came afterthat. My Dad cleaned out each piglet’s mouth and rubbed them to help getthem breathing.

When we guessed she had finished, we went to the house as it was gettinglate (already 11 pm) and everyone went home. When my Dad went to thebarn to check her just an hour later she had had another. It had died. Bymorning, she had had four more, but they died as well. All in all, she gavebirth to 16 piglets - only 10 survived.

For the next several hours and days ahead we keptchecking on Bertha and her piglets because we wereafraid she would step on or roll on them. She didn’troll on any but stepped on ones foot. The piglet’sleg swelled, so my Dad and me stopped the swellingby draining it. They are all doing well now. Berthahas been a good mother. My Dad gave me one ofthe piglets; I named him, Stepped-On. I bet you canguess which one that is!

And so, we are “learning by doing,” raising pigs -some to sell, some for our own use.

For information about 4-H swine projects, visit:http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/4H/swine.html

Created by Marnie Lersch, Hilltop Riders 4-H Club,Yates County, NY, age 16

Follow the maze from start to finish and use the letters you come across to fill in theblanks below and find out what YOUth think of 4-H!

Answer: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___!

Answer on page 18

4-H MAZE

Orrin Wyman helping newborn piglet beginto nurse. Photos by Shelley Wyman

Jeremy HerzfeedingSpearo,

Nicole andAshley

Owens watch. Photos by

RobertGalusha

Orrin Wyman holdingnewborn piglet.

Small Farm Quarterly

Youth Pages


Raised on Goat Milk &Country Sunshine

Julianna Huttar, 4-H Glory Goat Club & Independent member, Yates County, NY, age 14

I live on a small farm of 50 acres near Rushville, NY, with my family of 8 children. We have named our placeMisty Vale Farm, as our valley is usually misty in the early morning. We raise ducks, meat chickens, turkeys,guinea fowl, and goats for our own use. The goats are my favorite animals and since we’ve had them for as longas I can remember, they are a part of my daily life.

We’re slowly building up our barn and are breeding for better dairy does and my dad has plans to have a goatdairy. Most of our goats are Saanens, but we do have some Nubian, LaMancha, and Toggenburg mixed withSaanen. LaManchas have those funny little ears. All of the goats, except our newest Alpine buck, are mixedbreeds.

I like to sketch animals and have drawn all 6 of the dairy breeds and have used them in my 4-H PublicPresentations and entered them in the county and state fair. I am also in a 4-H Glory Goat Club to learn aboutgoats.

One of my favorite parts of taking care of goats is the “vet” work...I’ve learned how to give shots, to clean and bandage wounds, how to clip hooves, dehorn, and disbud. I alsolearned how to put a cast on broken bones. But the part I like best is helping during kidding season.

Right now we’re figuring out to which of our bucks we will breed certain does, and when. I’ve found that keeping dependable records helps a great deal. We try to stagger our doesso that we have milk year round. We do this because goats are seasonal breeders.

Goats are in the deer family, making them excellent jumpers. We have about 5 foot electric fences around our pastures, but this doesn’t always do its job. Some of our goatsjust crawl right through it! Goats are also browsers, so they’ll eat our fruit trees before they’ll touch the grass.Did you know that if you make their pens out of soft wood, they will eat right through them? Well, they do, andthey are also very picky when it comes to the grain. Each of our goats has different food preferences too.

We started to drink goat’s milk because most of my family has sensitivity to cow’s milk. Goat milk is more eas-ily digested, is rich in antibodies, and has a lower bacterial count. It is also naturally homogenized because ofits smaller fat globules, and it has more food energy, thiamin, and niacin than cow’s milk.

This past year we’ve had plenty of milk from our 5 does that I milk by hand. At the does’ prime in milk produc-tion, we get 4 - 5 gallons of milk a day. With all of this milk, I have made ricotta, mozzarella and chevre cheese;also butter, yogurt, and fudge. These are all fun to make. We also give it to a dog breeder to use it for hisNewfoundland puppies.

Farm life is never dull at our place. There is always something going on in the house, barn, or shop. Living on afarm helps to teach responsibility, perseverance, and many other traits that can be used in other areas of life.

For more information about 4-H goat projects, visit: http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/4H/dairygoat.html

Betsy Jensen with pastured poultry.

Taylor and Hershey - Julianna Huttar’s goats.

The Huttar family. Photos by Judy Huttar

The Youth Page is written by and for young people. Many thanks to the 4-H Teen Ambassadors in Yates County, NY, for most of the material in this issue. We believe there’s a bright future for young farmers in the Northeast. Whether you live on a farm or only wish you did, we’d love to hear from you!

Write to: SFQ Youth Page, c/o Celeste Carmichael, 4-H Youth Development Program Specialist, CCE State 4-H Youth Development Office340 Roberts Hall • Cornell University • Ithaca, NY 14853

607-255-4799 • [email protected]

Betsy Jensen learning to process poultry.Photos by Jennifer Jenson

4-H’er Produces Poultry In Motion

Betsy Jensen, Independent 4-H Member, Yates County, NY, age 16

This past year, I started a pastured poultry project. I learned about pastured poultry in my high school agri-culture class where we made cages for chickens and attempted to incubate eggs. At the same time, therewas a local farmer who wanted to help a 4-H’er in Yates County get started with a pastured poultry project.I took him up on his offer and started my project.

I started by ordering chickens. I ordered a batch of 25 Rock Cornish cross day-old chicks. This was theinteresting part because the chicks were mailed to me in a box. I thought that was neat. Then I raised thechicks in a pen in my barn until they were three weeks old, and then into the pasture. I was able to use the cagesthat we had made in school for my chickens. Twice daily, I moved my chickens to a new spot of fresh grass.

At eight weeks old, my chickens were ready for butchering. With the assistance of my mentor farmer, Ibutchered my chickens with a system he has developed. This was a totally new experience for me. Before thebutchering date, I had marketed my poultry by contacting family and friends. When my customers came toreceive their poultry, I had the product weighed and packaged for their selection.

I raised two groups of chickens so far with this project. My customers have been very pleased with the poul-try that I have raised. They have commented on the tastiness and the overall quality of the pastured poultry.

Currently I am in my 9th year in 4-H in Yates County. My projects have been varied, with clothing and tex-tiles, dairy, beef, sheep, natural resources, food and nutrition and home environment. As a member of thePenn Yan Future Farmers of America I have received my Greenhand Degree and have participated in the TreeID, where I placed 8th, and Wildlife ID contests at State Fair.

This project was a new experience for me. I am currently analyzing how I am going to increase my skills in thisproject next year.

For more information about 4-H Poultry raising projects, check out: http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/4H/birds.html

A Grazing Conference for producers, con-sumers and ag professionals, February 27& 28, 2004

The Northeast Grasstravaganza 2004 isscheduled for February 27 & 28, 2004 atthe Binghamton Regency in Binghamton,NY. The Conference is aimed at producers,consumers and ag professionals and isbeing held in conjunction with theNortheast Pasture Research & ExtensionConsortium.

Nationally recognized experts on topicssuch as the health benefits of grass fedmeats, eggs and milk products will be fea-tured along with current information onsolar watering systems, fencing and othernew grazing technologies. Additionally,workshops on value-adding sheep anddairy products, grazing nutrition and eco-

nomics will be supplemented with the lateston grazing animal behavioral research.

Featured speakers include Dr. Tilak Dhimanand Dr. Fred Provenza, both of Utah StateUniversity, along with speakers from USDANatural Resources Conservation Service ofNY, Cornell University, Penn State, WestVirginia University, North Carolina State,University of New Hampshire and experi-enced producers from throughout theNortheast. The Central NY ResourceConservation & Development Council iscoordinating Grasstravaganza with assis-tance from the USDA Natural ResourcesConservation Service.

For more information, contact theBroome County Soil & WaterConservation District at 607-724-9268.

RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT

The Northeast Grasstravaganza!

By John M. Thurgood

Grazing has many environmental benefits.However, not all grazing practices are goodones. Some can lead to substantial degra-dation of natural resources. Let’s start ourdiscussion with why grazing does makesenvironmental sense.

Environmental benefits of grazingGrazing livestock on high quality pasturereduces the amount of purchased grainbeing imported to the farm. The decreasedimport of nutrients reduces the phosphorusand potassium build-up on the land overtime. Land that has excessive levels ofphosphorus and potassium is prone toleaching and run-off into streams.

Grazing can allow you to distribute manurewhere a manure spreader can’t reach.Most dairy farms in New York have morenutrients in manure than they need for cropproduction, so distributing manure on pas-tures utilizes these excess nutrients andreduces nutrient accumulation on cropland.

Grazing farmers tend to have grass basedforage systems, which reduce the amountof erosion they experience compared tofarms growing crops in rotation. Since theydon’t grow much if any corn, they tend notto use pesticides for crop production.

Having livestock harvest feed themselvesreduces the need for mechanically harvest-ed forage. This reduces the use on non-renewable fossil fuels, and decreases thewear and tear on equipment and humanresources devoted to crop production.Farmers tell me that it takes less time tobuild and move fence than it takes to har-vest, store and feed forages.

Grazing farmers also tend to use less elec-tricity. When animals are out on pasture,they are not in mechanically ventilated andartificially lighted barns that may use a con-siderable amount of electricity.

Grazing dairy farmers report that they havelower culling rates compared to when theycontinuously housed their cattle in the barn.The lower culling rate means that fewerresources need to be devoted to raisingdairy replacements. If we assume that$1,500 is the value of a good dairy replace-ment, then economics would say that justabout $1,500 worth of resources have beendevoted to raise the animal. Grazing con-serves these resources.

Finally, when animals graze they manureon the countryside and only limited odorsare generated. This is in contrast to theodors made when a spreader load ofmanure is applied to the land. Manureodors are attracting more attention as aform of air pollution. In addition to reducingodors, people that live in and visit ruralareas say that they love to see cattle on theland. Cows on the land help to enhanceneighbor relations and in a broader context,may lead to greater tourism and the eco-nomic benefits from the tourism industry.This tourism then leads to a more economi-cally vibrant rural community.

GRAZING PITFALLSOK, so that’s the positive side of grazing.How can this very positive animal hus-bandry practice go wrong? As you mightexpect, problems usually involve manure.

Manure from poorly engineered lanewayscan flow off into stream corridors. This isespecially true since laneways are com-monly placed on the edge of pastures, andthese borders often have a stream, ordrainage ditch associated with them.

This same type of run-off can occur whenwaterers are place on the edge of pastures,or in laneways. Manure from grazing ani-mals can be concentrated in small areas ifthere are limited watering sites, or if live-stock are not rotated in relatively small pad-docks where they are then forced to eat all

of the plants, and in-turn, manure over thewhole area of the paddock.

Over-grazing of pastures can lead to areasof bare ground that run-off with significantrainfall, or snowmelt. With this run-off goesmanure nutrients and sediment, possiblypolluting nearby streams.

Finally, livestock that are allowed unlimitedaccess to streams, lakes and ponds, makesignificantly “deposits” of manure directlyinto the water. So, grazing can, in fact, leadto very severe environmental degradation.The good news is that these potential envi-ronmental concerns can be at leastreduced and at best eliminated.

LANEWAYSConstructing laneways away from theedges of pastures will reduce run-off tostreams and ditches. On slopes, make useof broad-based-dips to divert water fromthe laneway at regular intervals. Thesedips will also reduce your longer-termmaintenance on the laneway, since you willbe protecting the lane surface from erosion.

Building the laneways on an angle up theslope will improve drainage and reduce theerosive power of water moving down thelaneway. Moving livestock through alternatetraffic routes can, in some cases, eliminatethe need for an improved laneway. Thismay be less feasible with dairy cattle thatmove to and from the barn twice each day.

A farmer gave me a really interesting ideaon how to keep manure out of yourlaneways and in your pastures. Whenbringing his cattle off pasture, he allowsthem time to stand up and loaf for aboutfive minutes before leaving the paddock.When cattle stand after having been rest-ing, they almost always... well you know.Here’s his point, he would rather have themanure nutrients in his pasture, feedingplants, than in the laneway. Is it worth theextra five minutes? He thought it was.

WATERERSPlace waterers away from streams anddrainage areas to allow for buffering of run-off from these areas. We all know thatwhen a cow drinks, the cow will generallymanure. Avoid placing waterers in draws inthe pasture. Finally, have many wateringpoints. The more sites for water, the betterwill be your distribution of manure.

OVER-GRAZINGSo, what causes overgrazing and bareground on pastures? Is it having too manyanimals? Not really. It’s not giving theplants in the pasture enough time to re-grow between grazings. This lack of restleads to a shallower root system and lessvigorous plant growth. Over-grazing tendsto push plant species over years of grazingto those of shallower root systems, such asbluegrass and white clover. Bluegrass isless drought-tolerant than deep rootedspecies such as orchardgrass.

So, overgrazing leads to plant species thatare more susceptible to environmental fac-tors such as drought, and keeps theseplants in poor condition with short root sys-tems. Over a period of years, this leads tobare ground and unproductive pastures.The solution is to allow your pasturesenough rest so that they will grow vigorous-ly. If there isn’t enough forage in the pad-dock to meet nutrient needs of your cattle,and “you have to move them,” it is better toprovide supplemental forage than to movethem to a pasture that is not ready.

Access to streams and crossingsCattle that have unlimited access tostreams can create significant environmen-tal havoc. The direct deposition of manureinto the stream can be considerable. PennState graduate student Erin James hasresearched cow manuring in streams. Sherelates that there are may factors that affectthe direct amount of manure deposition

STEWARDSHIP AND NATURE

Grazing is Good for the Environment, Right?

Cows on pasture at the Paul and Gwen Deysenroth Farm, Bloomville, NY Photo by John M. Thurgood

Page 14 SMALL FARM QUARTERLY January 26, 2004


including the size of pasture, width of thestream, location of shade, supplementalfeed, alternative water supplies, etc.

This being said, her research on a farm inthe NYC Watershed shows that a when acow is on pasture with unlimited access tothe stream an average of 3-5 percent of thecows flops are direct deposited into thestream. So, working the numbers of a 50cow Holstein dairy herd, on pasture 18 hoursa day with unlimited access to the stream,about 6 to 10 tons of manure can bedeposited over a six month grazing season.Wow, that’s two to four spreader loads!!!Where cattle have access to streams it iscommon for stream banks to becomeunstable and slough off. The streambankis no match for the power of the hooves ofa 1,500 pound cow. Stream banks areeven more prone to eroding since they arecovered in many cases by overgrazedgrasses that have shallow root systems.

The most effective solution to direct deposi-tion and unstable streambanks is, youguessed it, fencing. Financial assistancefor cattle exclusion and establishment ofriparian forest buffers is available from theFarm Service Agency through theConservation Reserve Incentive Program(CREP, pronounced cr_p). Cost sharingmoney is available for fencing, alternativewater supplies, cattle crossings and treeplanting. (For more information on CREPsee “Buffer Basics” on page 21 of the FallIssue of SFQ.)

Total exclusion with alternative wateringsites is far and away the best option to pro-tect stream health and water quality. If totalexclusion isn’t feasible, providing limitedaccess points is a big help. By only allowing2-3 cattle to water at a time, the cows willtend to push each other on, so cows tend todrink and go, and not linger in the stream.

Cattle pressure on streams can be reducedsomewhat without fencing. Providing alter-native water in the pasture away from the

stream corridor tends to draw cattle awayfrom the stream. If your stream corridor iswooded, having shade areas away from thestream will give animals an attractive alter-native to the stream. Still, these approach-es are not nearly as effective as fencing.

Cattle crossings can be significant sourcesof pollution. If the crossing has stablebanks, the only action needed may be tolimit the width of the crossing, so that thecattle push each other across the stream.Unstable banks should be protected insome manner. Alternatives include shapingand applying some form of aggregate, useof cattle slats, or building a bridge. Yourdecision on which alternative is the best foryou really depends on the specifics of thesite, the number of cattle using the cross-ing, the frequency of use and what youhave to spend.

FEEDING AREASPermanent supplemental feeding areas inpastures should be avoided because theytend to become denuded and nutrientstend to build up at these sites. The slickest

solution I’ve seen is using a three-pointhitch mounted bale unwrapper in the field.The bale is unwrapped in a different loca-tion each feeding. Moving large round balefeeders or feed wagons can generate simi-lar results. If you have to use the same siteon the longer-term, a concrete pad withbuckwall at the feeding area will allow youto collect and spread the nutrients. Plan fora 300 foot natural filter area below the per-manent feeding site.

So is grazing good for the environment?With thorough planning and management,you bet!!! Avoiding the pitfalls will ensurethat you are maximizing the environmentalbenefit of grazing.

John Thurgood is a Senior Whole FarmPlanner for Cornell CooperativeExtension as part of the NYC WatershedAgricultural Program. Special thanks toDan Flaherty, Small Farms ProgramManager, NYC Watershed AgriculturalProgram and Frank Winkler, NRCSResource Conservationist, for their inputand review of this article.

The New York Pasture Association’s mis-sion is “to encourage a diversified grass-based agricultural system that furthers thedevelopment of healthy families and com-munities through the creation of economi-cally viable and environmentally soundfamily farms.” NYPA members are farmersand any others interested in sustainableagriculture, and sustainable lifestyle.

Nationally, groups such as Eat Wild and theAmerican Grassfed Association, and publi-cations such as Grass Farmer and Grazeprovide information to support the burgeon-

ing interest in this “new” approach to farm-ing. This approach is based on raising andkeeping animals in a way that relies heavilyon sunshine and photosynthesis, while min-imizing the use of non-renewableresources. That is to say, we grow grassand use livestock to convert it into food andproducts for humans. Research is beingconducted at the national and internationallevels concerning the many health benefitsof grassfed meats.

Locally, NYPA is active in supporting grassfarming for mostly NY farmers. Its bimonth-

ly publication Greener Pastures includesfarmer-written articles related to pasturefarming, as well as a resource calendar forlocal pasture walks, workshops, and pre-sentations of interest to grass farmers.

In addition to supporting the newsletter,NYPA member dues also support work-shops on pertinent topics. Whenever possi-ble, workshops are presented in a numberof areas around the state, enabling morefarmers to attend with less travel time. Lastyear NYPA organized and sponsored work-shops on farmstead cheesemaking andprocessing pastured poultry. NYPA provid-ed funds and board member assistance to

bring grassfed guru Joel Salatin to NY forseveral days of workshops. NYPA alsohelped sponsor the statewide workshops ofGraze columnists Janet McNally and JimVan Der Pol, and other such activities.

Want to get involved? Join NYPA! There’sroom for many activities within the NYPAmission, and the NYPA board welcomesyour input in order to best serve the mem-bership. For more information contactWendy Fast (President) at 585-335-3439,[email protected], or KeithMorgan-Davie (Vice President) at 315 839-7105.

RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT

NYPA - the NY Pasture Association


By Steve Richards

In most businesses, a marketing plan is themost critical piece of the start-up pie. Newfarm operators are sometimes loath tomake marketing plans a part of their start-up efforts. If you are starting a new farmoperation, take the time to prepare a mar-keting plan-it may be the differencebetween success and failure.

What is a marketing plan? It sounds a lotworse than it is! It really boils down to:what are you going to sell and how are yougoing to sell it?

What type of farm do you want to start?This will influence what should be empha-sized in your marketing plan. A direct mar-keter has different marketing challengesthan a wholesale marketer. While all mar-keting plans need to address the “4 P’s” ofProduct, Pricing, Promotion and Placement(distribution), it is my observation that thedirect marketer has more problems with thefirst two P’s: product and pricing. Thewholesale marketer has more problemswith the last two P’s; promotion and place-ment (distribution).DIRECT MARKETERS: PRODUCT ANDPRICING CONCERNSDirect marketing operations have problemsdeciding what products will sell the best.Given that many farm-raised productshave to be planned at least 3-4 months inadvance, this poses a logistical challenge.You must grow something that your cus-tomers want! Give them a reason to buyyour product. Don’t just grow somethingand then try to figure out how to sell it.

Pricing is also a challenge. The most com-mon mistake of first time direct marketers ispricing their products too low. Often, newmarketers just look at what it cost them togrow the particular product and leave outthe overhead expenses. With small busi-nesses, the overhead expenses are often ahigher proportion of the total cost of pro-duction! Warren Abbott of Abbott Farms inSyracuse uses the snow plow example: ayoung fellow purchases a snow plow,charges $10 a driveway and thinks he ismaking a lot of money-until the truckbreaks down. He then realizes he hasn’tconsidered truck repairs, insurance or truckpayments into his $10 price! He goes outof business eventually; but there are always3 more new snow plowing businessesevery year.

WHOLESALE MARKETERS: PROMO-TION AND PLACEMENT CONCERNSWholesalers are often commodity produc-ers, with a product similar to many otherfarmers’ product. And they’re price takers,having to accept the price the middlemangives them. Given that wholesalers havelittle control over product and price, thismakes promotion and distribution that muchmore important. Successful promotionstrategies for wholesalers concentrate onpromoting quality differences and addingservices to their product. Distributionstrategies such as adding a retail outlet andidentifying new market/buyers have alsoproved to be important keys to success.

Steve Richards is Director of the NYFarmLink Program in Cornell’sDepartment of Applied Economics &Management.

NEW FARMERS

Getting Started in Farming — Make a Marketing Plan!Getting Started in Farming:

5 Keys to Success

Getting started in farming is not easy. Successful farm start-ups tend to share

these common traits:

1. Experience. Successful farm seekers have 3-10years of farm experience. It takes a good farm man-ager to keep the farm running and supporting a fam-ily.Nothing substitutes for real-world experience on thefarm. If you don’t have a lot of experience, start byvolunteering or working on a farm. Make sure togain management experience, not just labor.

2. Education. Farming requires business savvy andtechnical skills!Business management education will go a long wayto improve your chances of success. Do you alreadyhave all the technical knowledge necessary? If youare starting from scratch, chances are you need somefarm production education.

3. Equity. It always helps to have the ability toinvest in a farm opportunity!Livestock, equipment, and cash (of course) improveyour chances of getting a loan in order to get started.If you or your spouse has an outside job, it can cer-tainly help with the cash flow. You may not want toquit your outside job immediately-give the farm a tryfirst.

4. A Business Plan. Your business plan summarizesthe business opportunity & how you are going toseize it. Primarily used for raising capital and as ameans for guiding business growth.

5. A Marketing Plan: How are you going to sellwhat you produce? The most important key to success for farmersengaging in direct marketing, and the most oftenoverlooked piece of the puzzle when getting started.

— Steve Richards

Publication can help you create a marketing planA marketing plan is essential for today’s small farm. It provides you with a marketingroad map - it establishes objectives, recommended actions, and a timeline. A mar-keting plan takes into account the marketing environment facing your new businessincluding consumer trends, demographics, location, regulations, local economics,etc. Developing a Strategic Marketing Plan for Horticultural Firms, by Gerald Whiteand Wen Fei Uva of Cornell’s Department of Applied Economics and Management,is a resource that can help you develop your plan. In spite of the title, most of theinformation is relevant to livestock and other non-horticultural businesses too.

You can find the publication online athttp://hortmgt.aem.cornell.edu/pdf/resources/eb2000-0.pdf.

Or order from Publications, AEM Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. Cost is $10.00 - make check to Cornell University.

Grazingcontinued from previous page


In just 3 years, this young couple haslaunched a successful small dairy in bigdairy countryby Barb Ziemba

“You’re only going to milk 32 cows? Howwill you survive on that?”

That’s the reaction many people have tothe decision my husband, Kevin and Imade to renovate my parent’s tie-stall barnin Aurora, NY, and put on a herd of regis-tered Holsteins and Brown Swiss! But justshy of 2 years being fully operational,through the worst milk prices in years, oneof the coldest winters on record and beingsurrounded by the “big guys”, we are stillforging ahead!

It was back in 1992 that my parents,Norbert and Pat Schmitt, sold the cows andrented the facilities and land to anotherfamily for 3 years before they sold out. Itwas then that the cropland was rented outto a neighboring large farm and the barnwent vacant. At that point I was just enter-ing community college and still undecidedof my career goals.

BIG DAIRY EXPERIENCE, SMALL FARMROOTSBy the time I had graduated from Cornell in1999 I was back in the swing of workingwith cows. I had done some dairy researchin the Animal Science department, and hadan internship through the Dairy Fellowsprogram with Aurora Ridge Dairy, a verylarge local dairy where I was able to workfor a short time after graduation.

A little later, while working as a herdsmanon another large, 1000-cow dairy in thearea, I realized that I simply wasn’t cut outto work with so many cows! I had to getback to what I grew up with and loved. Inthe meantime, I took a position with QualityMilk Promotion Services as a research/fieldtechnician.

In 1999, my soon-to-be husband and Idecided to start raising a few calves fromhis home farm, Ziems Farm, in Weedsport,NY. We started out with three registeredHolsteins in my family’s empty barn, and inthe fall added the first hint of “color” to thebunch. We purchased a cute little BrownSwiss calf from the Golden Milk Sale inDryden, NY. She was only three weeks oldand the two of us having no previous expe-rience with the infamous “stubborn” Swiss— let us say that it was a learning experi-ence! I just remember saying to Kevin aswe left the sale with the little bundle in theback seat of our truck, “She’s three weeksold, certainly she is bucket trained by now!”Needless to say, as time went on, we start-ed to understand that we needed to depro-gram ourselves and rethink our calf-rearingstrategies!

The following year we added a couple moreHolstein heifers of Kevin’s and it was thenthat the two Barb’s, Kevin’s mother andmyself, went on a mission to the NationalBrown Swiss sale in Harrisburg, PA. “Well,honey,” I told Kevin over the phone from thesale, “we need to find a milker and a truck-er — I bought a real nice 2 year old Swisscow and I bought another heifer calf!”

The cow’s name is “Rosie” and she is thematriarch of the Swiss cows in our barn tothis day! It was interesting to call DHIA andsay that we had a new herd for them to test,consisting of one cow! It made for a smallbulk tank, but she fed the calves that we hadthere on milk. This opened the door for us.

DOUBLING THE MILKING HERD2001 was an eventful, turning point year.We purchased another Swiss cow at theNational Sale, increasing our “milking” herdto a whopping 2 cows! I had decided toleave my job at QMPS and pursue otheravenues, not knowing what those were. Itwas only a month after I quit that wereceived a call from an acquaintance we’dmade showing cows. He left a messagethat he had a “couple” of cows for sale andthought we might be interested. Well,turned out, he had a herd of about 30 headof registered Brown Swiss for sale.

Kevin and I batted the thought around. Iwas currently unemployed, but had an offerfor another job awaiting my decision. Wehad always wanted to pursue the dream ofhaving our own farm, so do we jump innow, or wait? Well, after much discussionamongst ourselves, we presented the con-cept to my parents, since it would be attheir farm that we would be pursuing thisdream. They were supportive. But theywere skeptical that it would really come tobe and that we could make it go. Theywere concerned about the way that thedairy industry has changed in the lastdecade, seeming to be more favorable tothe larger operations.

But if that was what we wanted, then thatwas okay. I have 3 other siblings, none ofwhom had any serious interest in using thefacilities themselves. My brother had acouple beef cows there, but he didn’t haveany bigger plans than that. So, it was set-tled then — we would “rent” the facilities,paying my parents for the utilities and main-tenance needed. We planned on purchas-ing all our feed and hay, so my folks wereable to continue renting the land, with nodisruption. We did end up taking a smallportion of acreage to have pasture for thecows.

GETTING SERIOUSOkay, now we had the barn and the cowsthat we wanted, what about financing? Weevaluated what we needed to do to get thebarn back in working condition, what equip-ment we would need and what our assetswere to start with. We consulted with FarmNet for help on making sure that we had allour ducks in a row, and then started callingdifferent lenders.

One loan officer told me that I was notgoing to be able to pull it off with only 32cows milking, not to mention that most ofthem were Brown Swiss, and who cares ifthey are registered or not. This was a turnoff! Okay, let’s call someone else. I finallyfound a bank that was willing to work withus and help us put together all the loosepieces of the puzzle so that we could getthe money we needed and be on our wayto having our dream.

One thing to point out here is, we didn’teven need a huge amount of money, weweren’t purchasing any real estate and wewere financing the cows through the seller.Our biggest expenses were a down pay-ment on the cows, renovating the stalls, anew barn cleaner and getting the pipelineup and running again after sitting for solong. My dad still had a couple tractors thatwe could use, so all we needed to buy wasa manure spreader and skid steer.

We were able to start construction immedi-ately, using our Patz dealer for the guttercleaner and all the construction work insidethe barn. That worked out unbelievablywell, especially since the weather was

extremely cooperative, with little to no snowand cool, but not extreme cold tempera-tures. If we had to do it any other fall, itcould have been a nightmare!

In October we had taken in 8 cows from thegroup that we were purchasing. Thesewere some of the cows that needed imme-diate attention for minor problems with feet,and a couple of the best show cows. Thiswas the best idea for us, it gave us achance to give more personal attention tothose cows that needed it and it gave us achance to work ourselves into things gradually.

UP AND RUNNING So, we got up to 15 cows with our Swissand Holsteins that we had already, milking!Two bucket milkers and we got the jobdone, but whoever said it was easy to cleanout a gutter for 15 cows with one wheelbar-row and a pitch fork was nuts! We shiftedthe cows from one side of the barn to the

other when they weren’t outside duringconstruction and what a difference it was togo from the narrow tie-stalls that werebreaking apart to nice big stalls with mat-tresses! Construction, of course, tooklonger than expected, but it was still allcompleted on January 2, 2002 and thatnight, the rest of the cows came and ourgutter cleaner was running! Phew!

We had started shipping milk for our 15cows in November 2001, taking us againback to the old days of the dumping sta-tion, carrying the buckets down to the tankand pouring it in through the strainer. Itwas the end of December that we had themilking system fixed and ready to roll. Talkabout starting at the very beginning andmoving up through the ages in the matterof a few months! The only thing we hadn’tdone was to milk them by hand - like mydad used to do when he was a kid.

NEW FARMERS

Starting Small, Staying Small

Kevin and Barb with Hills Valley Jetway Cola, who took 1st Place Fall Calf and Honorable MentionJr. Champion at the 2001 Eastern Brown Swiss Show in Syracuse.

Photo by Norbert Schmitt

El A Ray Blend Babi Powder, Grand Champion NYS Fair 2003, 1st & Best Udder All-AmericanDairy Show 2003 Photo by Cybil Fisher

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By 2002 we had all the cows, we were shipping milk, Kevinstill had his job managing a private genetics cooperativethrough Cornell, and I was in my glory! Looking back, itwas a sticky start. It was tough getting to know which cowwas which, since they were all mostly brown and, beingregistered, had no big yellow tags. But that was easierthan setting a routine of how chores would be most effi-cient. We were picking up our feed — a premixed TMRfrom Fessenden’s, a 500-cow herd a few miles away — inmy dad’s gravity flow wagon every day.

It is amazing how our routine has changed since then. Ourmilking times are probably the only thing that has remainedthe same. I really think that it has taken us just over a yearto get into a flow where there is at least a general patternto how things are done. I think that we remained openminded enough to realize that as time progresses and wediscover new and easier ways to do things, we make thosechanges accordingly.

Since we started last year, Kevin has changed jobs and Iam still on the farm full time. Kevin is there for morningand evening milking when he can, and when he’s away forwork, his young cousin Chris comes and helps out alongwith a couple of students from Cornell who work part-time.

REAPING THE REWARDSThrough all this we have been lucky enough to go to a lotof shows with our cows, locally and nationally, and we arevery proud of our achievements in the show ring. Our lat-est winnings were at the New York State Fair this pastsummer. We had the Junior, Reserve Junior and Grand

Champion of the Brown Swiss Show, and we had firstplace junior yearling and junior 3-year old in the HolsteinShow. Overall, our show winnings have been numerousbut we take nothing for granted. It is all proof to us of howhard we can work all year long to have the best group ofcows that we can have.

It has not been until this year that we feel comfortableenough with our internally growing herd to be able to mar-ket some of what we have bred and or raised to sales andpersonal consignments. This was a good year for heifercalves and our barns are bursting with high pedigreed off-spring that we’re very excited to watch develop. These areanimals that we have bred ourselves, so they will be theproof of whether or not we’ve done a good job.

We are starting to flush more of the better cows in theherd, but sometimes it’s difficult for us, because with oursmall herd we don’t have enough recipients for thoseembryos. For that reason we tend to freeze more of themand put them in as we either have heifers or cows that wefeel could carry them. We are open to selling our embryosat this point as well. We also were able to collect semenon a “Pride” son out of “Rosie”, some of which we havesold for crossbreeding programs with Holsteins and semenis still available for anyone interested.

Since both our Holsteins and Brown Swiss are fully regis-tered and we are seeking to market our genetics, we clas-sify both breeds and have achieved a Holstein BAA (BreedAdjusted Average) of 112.2 and a Brown Swiss averagescore of 89.3. Milk production is also an important meas-urement of success to us. For a short time we were thetop herd in our county, before Fessenden’s took back thetitle! They, of course, take our success as a success oftheir own, since we feed their TMR. Right now our rollingherd average is 24,394 lbs with 1008 lbs (4.1%) butterfat,821 lbs (3.4%) protein. That is with the Holsteins andBrown Swiss combined.

AND STILL DREAMINGWe have achieved a great deal in the last couple yearsand we still have dreams for the future. Whether we’redreaming of opening ourselves up for other markets or justbuying that electric feed cart, it’s good to keep dreaming!It’s the only way to survive in an evolving industry.“Progressive” is not just a term for large corporate farms!

Barb Ziemba owns and operates Ziem-Barb-WayBrown Swiss and Holsteins in Aurora, NY, with herhusband Kevin. For more information she can bereached at (315) 364-5581 or [email protected]. Orvisit www.ziemsfarm.com/ziembarbway.htm.

Ziems TDA Sonja, 1st Junior 3 & Best Udder, NYS Fair 2003Photo by Maggie Murphy

By Martha Goodsell

Editor’s note: Perhaps hunting seasonhelped you to fill your freezer with veni-son, and you’re looking for some deli-cious way to fix the meat for a satisfyingwinter meal. SFQ asked MarthaGoodsell, of Fallow Hollow Deer Farm inCandor, to provide some exciting recipesfor venison lovers.

Venison really holds spices used incooking. I love it for Mexican style cook-ing. (The kids love venison fajitas andtacos.) Here’s a Chili recipe I’ve workedon over the years. Most folks say it’s thebest they’ve ever had. You be the judge!

HUNTER STYLE CHILI3 lb. ground venison1 T. vegetable oil3 lg. onions3 lg. green peppers1 1/2 c. shredded carrot3 cloves garlic, crushed3 T. chili powder3 tsp. beef bouillon3 tsp. ground cumin3 tsp. dried oregano1/2 tsp. red cayenne pepper1 tsp. Hot Sauce2 28 oz. cans tomato sauce1 28 oz can kidney beans

Brown venison in heavy skillet. Removebrowned venison to crock-pot. In sameheavy skillet add oil, peppers, onion, car-rots and garlic. Cook until tender andvegetables begin to brown. Add vegeta-bles to venison in crock-pot. Add allremaining ingredients to crock-pot. Stir.Cover and simmer 4 hours over lowheat.

SPINACH-FETA VENISON SPIRALSWhat do you do with all those cuts notconsidered prime? They don’t have toend up in ground, stew or sausages.Here’s a filled roast from the neck. To cut

this you’ll need to start at the middle ofthe lower side of the neck and cut themeat off the bone going up and around.You’ll end up with a flat piece 14”x8”(depending upon the size of your deer).I’ve filled this cut with various stuffings,but this one features spinach and fetacheese, which I can get locally at aneighboring farm.

Here is the secret to cooking great veni-son— low, slow and moist. Low tempera-tures allow the meat to cook without get-ting tough. Keep it under 350˚. Of coursethe lower the temperature the slower itcooks. Venison is always best less-cooked. When you remove venison fromthe heat, it will continue to cook. Finally,keep it moist. Add liquid and keep a lidon it. Stocks, wines and juices are great.Think seasonally. Cider, grape juice orcranberry juice and of course NY wines,are excellent choices to accompany veg-etables from the fall harvest. Enjoy!

1 1/2 lbs. venison neck roast1 tsp. salt1/2 tsp. pepper1/4 tsp. garlic powder1/2 tsp. basil1/2 tsp. chopped parsley1/2 c. water1/2 c. white wine1 c. steamed spinach1/3 c. crumbled feta cheese

Flatten neck to uniform thickness.Season with salt and pepper. In smallbowl combine spinach, cheese, garlic,parsley, and basil. Spread spinach mix-ture onto half the roast, lengthwise.Beginning at the filling end, rollroast.(There should be no filling in theoutermost roll.) Secure with butcherstwine. In Dutch oven, brown rolled veni-son on all sides. Remove roast. Addwater and wine to deglaze pan. Addroast. Cover and bake 11/2 hours at325o. Remove from pan and let restbefore slicing.

HOME AND FAMILY

Venison RecipesBy Ed Staehr

As more and more creditors require busi-ness plans from loan applicants, an increas-ing number of farms are developing busi-ness plans. But a business plan is not justfor your lender - it’s greatest value is in help-ing you monitor performance and measureprogress towards your own business goals.

A business plan usually starts with an exec-utive summary, which outlines the businessand business plan in two or three para-graphs. A mission statement follows thesummary and describes the business’ over-all purpose. Next comes a description ofproducts or services offered, illustrating anyunique features or proprietary features suchas patents or trademarks. Future products orservices are also included in the description.

Then comes the “meat” of the plan - usuallyorganized in five major sections: businessstatements; operations plan; marketing plan;financial documents; and supporting docu-ments.

Target markets, customers, and an analysisof the competition are key components toinclude under business statements. Manyagricultural businesses often underestimatethe importance of defining who their cus-tomers will be and which businesses theywill be in competition with. In this sectionyou should also define the type of businessstructure you will have, and who will be youradvisors for accounting, legal, financial,insurance, and other issues. Lastly, anindustry profile, describing government reg-ulations, business cycles, and competition,completes the business statements sectionof a business plan.

Your operations plan illustrates a productionplan and the production process. A produc-tion plan includes facilities, equipment, man-agement, and labor. Production processsteps encompass manufacturing, suppliers,distribution plans for products or services,services outline (for a service business suchas custom harvesting), production capacity,and whether outsourcing or subcontracting

will be utilized. Businesses often underesti-mate the potential for growth, and definingthe production process helps you quantifycapacity and identify potential bottlenecks.

A key area where many businesses do notdevote sufficient effort is in developing amarketing strategy and action plan. Thispart of your business plan includes marketdefinition, business objectives, target cus-tomers, advertising/PR, salestechniques/tactics, and competitive self-analysis of the business. Having a productto sell and lacking information on customersand business trends can be disastrous to abusiness. A well-defined marketing strategyconsiders such factors as market size andtrends impacting future growth.

Financial documents provide potentiallenders or investors with key performancemeasures necessary to determine the feasi-bility of your business. The financial docu-ments section begins with a summary state-ment of all financial performance factors.Following sections include a profit and lossstatement, balance sheet, cash flow, operat-ing budget, and capital budget. Lendersand potential investors can evaluate presentbusiness financial performance and evalu-ate how additional funds will be used to cre-ate business growth.

Supporting documents round out a well-written business plan by illustrating all prop-er steps have been taken to commencebusiness. Certificates, licenses, applica-tions, permits, and owner biographies arespecific documents contained in the sup-porting documents section.

For more information about business plan-ning, visit www.smallfarms.cornell.edu.Click on Business Management, and thenclick on Creating A Business Plan. Or con-tact your local Cooperative Extension officeor Small Business Development Center forassistance.

Ed Staehr is Team Coordinator withCornell Cooperative Extension ofOnondaga County.


Using a Business Plan

Starting Smallcontinued from pevious page

by A. Fay Benson

The feeling that we have the ability tochange or adapt to situations that turn upduring our lifetime, is one component to ahappy life. Realizing that every decision wemake may not be the correct one, it is agood idea to leave our options open. Thesetwo philosophies have been guideposts forme while bumping along the road of life.The flexibility of a small farm allowed me tokeep these philosophies in my work.

BIGGER IS BETTER... RIGHT?When Linda and I started Benterra Farmsome 20 years ago, my vision of what itwould grow into was different from theBenterra of today. My vision looked a lotlike my father’s farm, which was 200 cowsand growing. This was in the late 1970s. Itwas understood then that to compete in thedairy business a farmer had to capture theeconomic advantage of scale.

But after a few years on the farm I realizedI enjoyed running a farm that had less than50 cows. The enjoyment came from myneed to be a jack-of-all-trades: herdsman,mechanic, agronomist, banker, etc... andfrom the solitude of being solely responsi-ble for the work. The challenge then was tomake a small farm, which was heavilymortgaged, pay for itself, and to enjoy acertain level of quality of life while doing it.

FLEXIBLE FARMINGI tried renting another farm to grow crops tosell, as an additional enterprise to my dairy,figuring it would be a good way to make thefarm profitable. The Dairy Farm BusinessSummary (DFBS) offered by Cornell, was agood tool to track the performance of thenew enterprise. I could see that my timeand management used on the croppingportion was not only generating very littleincome, it was stealing from the dairy sideby lowering production during this period. Iquickly ended this experiment.

Intensive rotational grazing was anothermanagement strategy that might lend itselfto a farm of my size. So I spent a consider-able amount of time building fences andlearning how to operate a grazing system.The capital investment was small comparedto the positive change to my profitability.

When making changes like these in largeroperations the capital and time required toexperiment can make it prohibitive, essen-tially limiting the options. Being the solemanager on a small farm allowed me toobserve the changes and tweak them toget the desired results, and evaluate thechanges to my bottom line.

ANTICIPATING THE TRENDSWith the introduction of BST it was evidentto me that there was going to be moredown side pressure put on the milk price. Ifthis was true, I needed to evaluate myfinancial equation. My financial equationhad profit (or loss) equal to price receivedfor product minus the cost of production.Up to this point I felt the only part of theequation that I had control over was cost ofproduction. Using the comparisons in theDFBS, I realized that I had cut cost to apoint where there wasn’t much farther togo. If I wanted to stay in business andmake the level of income required to keepthe quality of life I desired, I had to look atthe price received part of the equation.

From my conversations with the person incharge of purchasing milk for a milk handlerin NYC, I learned that even though upstateconsumers had not resisted the introduc-tion of BST, NYC consumers were con-cerned. From this I had a hunch that therewould be an increase in demand for organ-ic milk, and on this hunch I started my tran-sition to organic certification.

Because of the need to incorporate manynew strategies in herd management andcrop production, I felt that organic farmingwould not be conducive to large-scale dairyfarming, which would make it a good optionfor my farm. The two-year transition wasfinancially painful because crop and milkproduction were lower while I was stillreceiving the conventional price.

Linda’s off farm job helped through thisperiod. The outside income made more ofan impact on our small farm finances; thiswould not have been the case if we hadbeen a larger farm. Our lenders were alsocurious about the possibility of this organicmarket, since in 1996 there wasn’t muchinformation on organic dairying. I believethat since we were small they felt their riskwas small also, which allowed them to bemore flexible with our capital needs.

Organic farming was the business changethat really made an impact on our farmprofitability. Not so much because it’s thebest way to farm, but because it was thebest way for me to farm. It’s widely accept-ed that what would make one farmer suc-cessful would put another out of business.The trick for me was to keep trying differentstrategies, evaluate them by the use ofgood record keeping, and discontinue themquickly if they didn’t work. Having a smallfarm allowed me the flexibility to find thefarming strategies that worked for me.

NOT LOCKED INI am now enjoying another benefit to asmall farm, which is to be able to transitionto another occupation in steps rather thendissolving one business before startinganother. Linda and I decided that 20 yearsof being responsible for chores 7 days aweek was long enough. I felt I wanted to trya different occupation before I retired. Wecontacted FarmLink, a program created byand affiliated with NY FarmNet to helpfarmers look at different ways to transitionout of or into farming.

Using FarmLink’s workbooks and otherresources, we looked at the tax liabilitiesand considered what options we had andwhich ones would put us in the position wewanted to be in. We decided to leave thefarm in steps, first selling the milking cows.Keeping the heifers, land and machinerywould allow me to get back into dairying if Ididn’t find what I was looking for.

The position of Grazing Program Associatewith Cornell Cooperative Extension inCortland County became available this pastspring. It was a position that I felt I wouldenjoy doing, and that I would be good at. Istarted my new job in April. Selling my milk-ing herd didn’t take long because of thedemand for organic cows. My plan is tocontinue to raise my heifers, raise cropsorganically, keeping the option open to goback into farming if the funding for this jobdisappears. It sure is nice to have options.

Fay Benson is operates a small farm inGroton, NY, and is Grazing Program

Associate with Cornell CooperativeExtension in South Central NY.

Page 18 SMALL FARM QUARTERLY January 26, 2004

By Fay Benson

The call from Extension came Mondayafternoon to schedule an interview for theposition of Grazing Program Associate forthe South Central NY Area Ag Team. Theinterview was set for Wednesday, I wascalled Friday with the job offer, and thenext Monday I was sitting at my desk.

I remember thinking about the old saying“Be careful what you ask for, because youmay get it”. After getting our farm on solidground financially, we had new optionsopened up to us, we could stay and con-tinue to farm or stop milking and take ajob off the farm. I decided I wanted achange, which is what I was rememberingas I sat at my new desk that Mondaymorning.

These past 6 months have flown by. Thefirst 2 months I still had my cows to milk,which was a blur. Even after they went totheir new home in Vermont, I still had 36heifers to raise and 150 acres of crops toget in. My life is finally getting some orderto it now, and I have some time to reflecton the changes in perspective I’ve beenthrough.

My workday is totally different. I workedalone on the farm; if I had help they wouldshow up in the afternoon, I spent most ofthe day in solitude rarely talking to any-one but the animals. With Extension Ineed to communicate; ideas, plans, beable to understand another’s point ofview, I no longer have the final say indecisions. It has not been difficult. I think Ienjoy sharing the responsibility, workingas a team is much more effective, morepoints of view give a clearer picture.

When I was farming there was never timefor keeping up on industry news andresearch — there always seemed some-thing more pressing in the barn. Now Ifeel it’s more important since I may need

to pass on the information to others, it’snot just for my benefit. There is a greatwealth of information and resources atExtension, which brings me to anotherchange of perspective.

After spending the summer in the grazingposition, I realize how much there is tolearn about grazing. I wish I had been alittle more open-minded and had attendedmore of the pasture walks when I wasmilking. There are always a lot of ideasand new research being done.

After viewing Extension for years from theoutside, I now have the opportunity tolook at Extension from within. Besidesseeing what a great resource it is, I real-ize that Extension only helps those thatask for assistance. Many of its abilitiesare under-utilized since farmers aren’tasking. One cartoon from a farm maga-zine I’ve always remembered showed anextension agent standing in the field talk-ing to a farmer about a meeting comingup, the farmer says “I already know howto farm better than I am.” I now view thetime I spend learning as investing in,rather than stealing from, the farm.

The Dairy Farm Business Summary is agood example of a specific program that Ihave changed my perspective on. Ialways thought I filled out the summaryfor myself so I could evaluate my busi-ness. I now see how that data is alsoused to evaluate practices so dairy farm-ers can benefit from the experience ofother farmers. The data is also used toinform lenders and government agencies,so that they can promote financiallysound agricultural practices that will givefarmers the best returns.

I certainly don’t know what the futureholds, but from the past I’ve learned thatnothing stays the same. So I had betterexpect more changes.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

From Both Sides of the Fence


Small is Flexible — How My Small Farm Lets Me Keep My Options Open

Answer: I LOVE 4-H!

4-H MAZE SOLUTION


By Terry Lavigne

I know that most farmers look on spreading manure as anecessary evil. For obvious reasons, manure can’t beallowed to remain in the barn, and you can’t pile it outdoorsindefinitely. Sooner or later it needs to be removed fromthe vicinity of the animals.

The most obvious way is to spread it on the crop fields.This is not simply to exercise the spreader or to spend afew hours before the afternoon milking. Manure is a con-centrated source of plant nutrients and needs to be man-aged as such. Each spreaderful contains plenty ofNitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (hereafter N, P andK) as well as many micronutrients necessary for plant andanimal health.

In addition, each load of manure helps build organic matterlevels in the soil. It is organic matter that allows soils tohold water without becoming waterlogged. Organic matteralso creates soil structure-soils deficient in organic matterpulverize into dust, become hydrophobic (repel water) andform heavy crusts which inhibit seed germination andwater infiltration. Fields in row crops with no cover crop forthree years or more begin developing these problems,starting with crusting.

Most farm fields—whether in hay, corn, soybeans, cerealsor vegetable crops-can benefit from an annual applicationof manure. That does NOT mean to go and smother fieldsin six inches of manure! That is a major excess and couldcause water quality problems with N leaching and manurerun-off, and neighbor problems because of the smellymess you’ve created.

KNOW HOW MUCH MANURE TO SPREADThe best way to use manure as a soil amendment is tohave both the manure and the soil tested for nutrient levels.Unless you do the tests, you are only guessing about fertil-izer needs, and guesses are wrong most of the time. A

soil test can give you recom-mendations for many differentcrops for a three-year period.A manure test will accuratelyindicate the N, P and K levelsin the manure. From there itis just a few simple calcula-tions to figure out how muchmanure is needed on eachfield to provide the nutrientsfor the coming crop.

Once you determine howmuch manure to apply to thefields, you need to make surethat much gets applied; notmore, not less. My work inthe Capital District has foundlittle correlation between howmuch the manure spreadermanufacturer says it will holdand the real, practical amountthat it actually does hold.Most spreaders we havechecked end up holding any-where from 10-25% less than manufacturer’s specifica-tions. So if you think your spreader holds five tons but it isactually only carrying four, you could be shorting yourcrops by 20%.

CALIBRATE YOUR SPREADERThere is a really easy way to calibrate your spreader. If youor a neighbor has truck scales, weigh the spreader empty,then full, subtract empty from full and-voila!-you have yourspreader capacity. Unfortunately, we do not all haveaccess to truck scales, so here is another way to do it:

Measure the length, width and height of your spreader boxto come up with cubic feet. Multiply this result by 60 lbsper cubic foot to give total weight of the load. Our hypo-

thetical spreader is 6’ wide by 13’ long by 20” to the top ofthe box. Multiplying this gives us about 130 cubic feet.Multiplying this by 60 lbs per cubic foot gives us 7800 lbs.Dividing this number by 2000 gives tons per load, or 3.9 tons.

The calculation above is for level spreaders only. To calcu-late a piled spreader, you use the same equation PLUS theresult of (length x width x height) divided by 2, where ‘h’equals the height of the pile above the top of the box. So,say we pile about a foot over the top of the box. Thatwould add 6’ x 13’ x 1’ = 78, divided by 2 = 39, times 60 lbs= 2340 lbs or 1.2 additional tonnage. The full load wouldbe 3.9 + 1.2 = 5.1 tons.

Once you know how much is in the spreader, you need todetermine how much is being applied per acre. There aretwo relatively easy ways to do this:

1) Spread a tarp-preferably one that is 56” or 72” square,but a tarp of any size will work-on an area to be spreadand drive the spreader over it while applying manure atyour normal manure-spreading speed. For a 56” squaretarp, the tons-per-acre just happens to equal the pounds ofmanure on the tarp. Any other size, figure the tons peracre by using this equation:

Tons/acre= lbs of manure on tarp X 21.8Size of tarp in sq. ft. (length X width)

2) The other method is to actually measure the spreaderpattern to determine amount of coverage. First you needto measure your spreader capacity. Then you need aVERY big ruler. Instead of measuring the length of the pat-tern physically, try measuring the circumference of one ofthe spreader tires: make a VERY visible mark on the tire,then count how many times the wheel makes a completerevolution while spreading. Number of revolutions timestire circumference gives the total length of the spreadingpattern. Also measure the width of the spreading pattern.Only measure the heavy spread, not the lighter areas atthe edge of the pattern. Multiply length by width to getsquare feet of coverage.

For example let’s say your spreader, carrying 5.1 tons,throws a band of manure 10 feet wide and travels 1,670feet before it’s empty. Multiplying the 1,670’ length times 10’width equals 16,700 square feet. An acre contains 43,560square feet, so we divide 16,700 by 43,560 to get .38, thepercentage of an acre covered in one load. Now you takeyour 5.1 tons per load, and divide by .38 acres per load, toget 13.4 tons per acre at that ground speed.

If you need more manure per acre, say 25 tons, you willneed to slow down during application, or apply a secondcoat at a little higher speed.

So you see, calibrating your manure spreader really does-n’t require a mathematics degree; just a few simple toolsand the desire to use the nutrients in your livestock manurewisely.

Terry Lavigne is Agriculture Program Educator withCornell Cooperative Extension of Albany County.


Calibrating Your Manure Spreader - It’s not Rocket Science

Calibrating your spreader can help you manage crop nutrients and protect local waterresources like this reservoir in Renssalaer County, NY. Photo by Tom Kilcer

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by Bill Henning

Nothing sells beef like chicken!

andNothing sells chicken

like vegetables!

A farmer with finished beef put a huge signout on a busy road advertising grass fedbeef. People saw it, morning and night, asthey drove back and forth to the big city.The beef was slow to sell.

Meanwhile, two counties away, there wasanother farmer who started selling produce.While not on a main road he still built up aclientele. After a couple years he addedpastured poultry. The customers that camefor his vegetables bought all the chickenand eggs he produced. He bought somestocker cattle and finished them on grass.In his first year producing beef he ended upwith beef orders he couldn’t even fill.

RETAIL FARM MARKETING 101Simplified condensed version of the courseabstract:• Consumers must perceive the benefits of

the product before they will buy it.• It’s usually easier to sell something to a

person who is already a customer.

• People generally prefer to start out with asmall purchase before trying a largerone.

• The size of the sale has to match thesize of the freezer as well as the size ofthe pocket book.

• Word of mouth advertising has yet to beimproved upon.

• Giving a little something extra (after thesale) has profound promotional impact.

• Experiences are every bit as importantas the product.

• Customers will bypass a great location toexperience a great relationship.

Perhaps now it’s easier to understand whyvegetables sell chicken and chicken sellsbeef. But to do all the right things in all theright places at just the right time is no sim-ple task. Having access to assistance canshorten up the learning curve and possiblyoffer some other benefits as well.

Many olden day farming practices are stillbeneficial. Fifty years ago, neighbor help-ing neighbor was an everyday farmingevent. People frequently needed eachother’s labor. One negative aspect of mod-ern technology is that it has reduced theneed for that community experience. Butthere are some good reasons to revisit thisconcept of farmers helping farmers intoday’s small-scale farming arena.Increasingly, this phenomenon is beingrevisited in the form of “producer groups.”

WHY PRODUCER GROUPS? There are some very good farmerswho don’t necessarily relish deal-ing with the public. There aresome very skillful people-personswho are not comfortable operatingmachinery or castrating a calf. Yetothers were born with a greenthumb. It is the rare person whoholds above average abilities inmany different areas. When weshare expertise we all stand togain.

Should your group agree to directlyassist one another consider theimmediate economics. Help from aneighbor involves no income tax,

no workman’s compensation insur-ance, no social security withdrawal,and no book keeping. Yes, we are

expected to help our neighborin return and there is a certainamount of vulnerability as towhat is fair. Good neighborscan work that out. Your imme-diate net savings can be asmuch as 30% when you legal-ly avoid the bureaucraticrequirements.

Group purchasing can bringthe volume savings experi-enced by the industrial pro-ducers to the smaller familyfarm. For example, a beefproducer group in the FingerLakes pooled their fence postpurchases into trailer load lotsand beat every price availablehad they bought individually.

Input and ideas from a producergroup broadens the horizon ofviewpoints available to you on any givensubject. You now have a portfolio ofthoughts and perception on which to drawbefore coming to conclusions. The finaldecision is still yours.

And in spite of technology, let’s not over-look the benefits of sharing labor. Recentlyportable poultry processing units havesprung up around the country. Very often agroup of people will get together to helpone another on these units. A commonword heard after the initial experience isfun! That’s right, a task once held to beloathsome is being considered fun. Peoplenot only enjoy the sense of accomplish-ment, they also enjoy the camaraderie.

Shared learning, farmer to farmer educa-tion, is yet another benefit. As a group youcan invite speakers, consider commonquestions, share thoughts and experiences,conduct your own field trips, and explorenew opportunities. You are only limited byyour imagination — not just your own, butthat of the whole group.

MARKETINGPerhaps an area that offers the potential ofthe greatest possible benefit is that of mar-keting. A producer group can match abili-ties and interests with tasks. It can drawdifferent commodities from different farms

to a common point where the consumercan become a customer in an enjoyable cir-cumstance. The potential benefits are end-less, to both the producer and the con-sumer. Not only can you gain from a syn-ergistic phenomenon, you can pass theessence of a nostalgic experience along tosomeone who just might live in a worlddevoid of that emotion.

Would you like to belong to a producergroup? To be successful and endure, aproducer group must result from the desireof a group of people. That is to say it mustbe initiated by the people, not an entity likeCooperative Extension. However,Cooperative Extension can provide assis-tance. The group is responsible for itsactivities, direction, and its results.Cooperative Extension can make theprocess easier.

If you operate a family scale farm and areinterested in forming a producer group, talkto a few of your farming colleagues. Ifyou’d like some assistance, contact yourlocal Cooperative Extension office.

Bill Henning operates a grass-basedbeef farm in Livingston County. He isalso the Small Farms Specialist withPRO-DAIRY/CCE-NWNY Dairy,Livestock, and Field Crops Team.

MARKETING

Members of the Seneca County Beef Producers Group meetregularly on each other’s farms.

Photos by Martha Wright

By Amy Kenyon

When I left home for a two-week study tourof Cuba’s sustainable agriculture system, Ifelt ambivalent about the trip. Leavinghome so long to travel with 70 peoplewould be difficult, and I was certain wewould only see one side of Cuba. It didprove to be a logistical challenge to coordi-nate four busloads of people in a culturewhere no decision is made quickly. It wasalso clear that we did not see chemical,conventional agriculture, though we knowthat continues on the island. However, Iwas won over by the spirit of the Cubanpeople we met, their creativity and resist-ance in the face of hardships, and the obvi-ous strides they have made toward foodself-sufficiency using small farms andorganic methods. What follows is a bit ofwhat we learned.

AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIETUNION, CUBANS FACED A FOOD CRISIS.In less than two years, the two million tonsof animal feed, one million tons of pesti-

cides and chemicals, and machinery andspare parts the Cubans imported annuallydisappeared. Their agriculture had beenhighly mechanized and specialized, similarto large-scale agriculture in the UnitedStates. The loss of their trading partner,along with the embargo from the U.S.meant that many Cubans did not haveenough to eat. The average Cuban hadless than 1,800 calories daily.

This crisis gave them the opportunity toimplement widespread change in their agri-cultural systems. Faced with no access topesticide, chemical, and feed imports, thecountry underwent a major shift towardsproducing their own food. The Cuban gov-ernment encourages farms that are self-sustaining, provide fair wages to the farmer,improve rural quality of life and create jobs.Cuba has found that their small farms arethe most productive, and uses extensionand farmer-to-farmer education methods topromote diversified and organic productionusing low-input technology.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND NATIONALSECURITYAlthough the Cubans were forced to makea rapid transformation due to world events,the seeds of change had been present intheir society for years. The Cuban govern-ment had already adopted a policy of pesti-cide reduction in the 1980’s. The countryhas been able to quickly implement herbaltreatments into their medical systembecause the military began developingherbal remedies decades ago in case of ablockade that kept them from importingpharmaceuticals. Because of their empha-sis on education for all citizens, researchand new technologies were more easilydisseminated through the countryside.Fidel Castro had long been aware of theneed for a shift to more sustainable sys-tems. A professor at an agricultural univer-sity told of us his own graduation in 1963,when Castro personally presented eachgraduate with a copy of the newly pub-lished Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.Cubans see their drive toward self-suffi-ciency as part of their national defense,

and have incorporated it into all levels ofpolicy.

CUBAN FOOD SYSTEM POLICYA government official described their econ-omy as “a huge mixed salad”, with a flexi-ble mix of planned and free-market mecha-nisms for growing and distributing food.The government has certain ideals thatguide their decision-making:

• Affordable food for everyone. The basicration is subsidized so every citizen hasaccess to the staples. Children are provid-ed with milk every day until they are 7years old.

• Fair wages to farmers - farmers are nowmaking about three times the average pro-fessional salary in Cuba.

• Cooperative efforts and small entrepre-neurial efforts rewarded over the corporatemodel. Cubans are seen first as citizens,not consumers. Land ownership is limitedto approximately 150 acres per family, andgroups of farmers can form cooperatives.

COMMUNITY/WORLD

Small Farms and Sustainable Agriculture in Cuba

Producer Groups - What Could They Do For You?

Producer Group members may cooperate in on-farmprojects, marketing, and purchasing. Here members ofthe Seneca County Beef Producers Group work togeth-er to put in fence posts at one person’s farm.


I recently interviewed Mr. L.Sedgewick Dorfney, who offers an enter-prising way to deal with the ever-growingdilemma of deer in the garden. Small gar-deners everywhere can learn somethingfrom Mr. Dorfney’s unique approach to theproblem. (This interview was taped live fora canned audience. Time restraints pre-vented actual proof-reading.)

Garden Guy: “Thank you for sharing yourideas with us, Mr. Dorfney. You say you’vefound a particularly effective deer deterrentfor the small-time gardener?”

L. Sedgewick Dorfney: “Yes, indeedy, Ihave. Ayuh.”

G.G.: “Could you tell us how your systemworks, and how you stumbled upon it quiteby accident?”

L.S.D. “Ayuh, I could do that. You see, Istumbled on it quite by accident.”

G.G.: “How so?”

L.S.D.: “Well, I was out in the garden oneday, picking cucumbers, I think, or pullingweeds, I don’t remember. Pulling weeds itwas, because my wife, Elke, had beencomplaining.”

G.G.: “About the deer?”

L.S.D.: “Nope. ‘Bout the weeds. She hadbeen pickling that morning, and ran out of

pickles. ‘Sedgewick’, she hollered, ‘if you’dpull them weeds, you’d prolly find morepickles for me, and I could finish this batch.’She makes a mean garlic dill pickle, Elkedoes. Puts too much garlic in it, if you canbelieve that. Some people say there’s nosuch thing as too much garlic. Real die-hard garlic fans, they are. They haven’t tast-ed Elke’s pickles.”

G.G.: “But the deer, Mr. Dorfney. Whatabout the deer?”

L.S.D.: “Oh, ayuh. The deer. Nasty crop of‘em this year. Mowed my beans down threetimes before I got them under control.”

G.G.: “How’d you do it?”

L.S.D.: “Well, you plant ‘em heavy, instages. I like to put in yellow beans first,then two weeks later some green beans . . .“

G.G.: “No, I mean how’d you get the deerunder control?”

L.S.D.: “Oh, that was a fluke, let me tellyou. I was out there pulling weeds, andabout three weeks earlier, I had fenced in alittle area around the beans, what with thedeer getting ‘em and all, and I put plasticbags on top of the fence, all along it, everytwo, three feet or so, and the wind gets thebags a rustlin’ around, and the idea is thedeer, which come along at night, you know,will see the bags, and hear ‘em rustling, ifthere’s any wind, and they won’t go into thefenced in part of the garden, I guess.”

G.G.: “These are, what, plastic grocerystore bags?”

L.S.D.: “Ayuh. That’s exactly what they are.”

G.G.: “Do they work?”

L.S.D.: “Oh, Ayuh. They work nifty. Holdmore stuff than the paper bags, too, wethink.”

G.G.: “Against the deer? Do they workagainst the deer, Mr. Dorfney?”

L.S.D.: “Well, this is what I’m tryin’ to tellyou. I’m out there, bent down near thefence, pullin’ weeds, and I hear this weirdbuzzing-fwacking sound. ‘Bzzz-fwack! Bzz-fwack!’ I look around and can’t see any-thing, and pretty soon it does it again. ‘Bzz-fwack!’ It’s hard to describe. But I go look inone of the bags, and there’s this biggrasshopper, who somehow got caught inthere, and was raising hell trying to get out.So I got a brainstorm to try it with the deer.”

G.G.: “Catch the deer in grocery bags?”

L.S.D.: “No. You’re a city boy, aren’t you?See, this ‘bzz-fwacking’ made such a rack-et, I figured if I caught a bunch of grasshop-pers and put them in all those plastic bagson the fence, it would keep the deer out ofthe garden at night.”

G.G.: “Genius. Did it work?”

L.S.D.: “Well, yes and no.”

G.G.: “Yes and no?”

L.S.D.: “Ayuh. See, the grasshoppers don’tlast long in the bags. Sometimes they getlucky and jump out, even though the open-ing is pretty small. Mostly, though, they just

get tired of all that ‘bzz-fwacking’ and sim-ply die. Maybe they get heart attacks, Idon’t know. They just up and die on ya’.”

G.G.: “So the system is a complete fail-ure?”

L.S.D.: “No, the system works fine. See, ifyou want to see the project through, yougotta keep replacing the grasshoppersevery hour and a half or so.”

G.G.: “And then it works?”

L.S.D.: “Well, sure. ‘Cause you’re out in thegarden replacing grasshoppers all night,and the deer won’t come anywhere near itwhen there’s a human in the garden.”

Will Tillett (aka Jim Bush) writes a regu-lar column, “The Garden Guy,” for TheCourier Journal in Palmyra, NY.Reprinted with permission.

FARM FOLLIES

Deer In The Garden? Try ThisAsk the

Garden GuyBy Will Tillett


THESE BROADER IDEALS HAVE INTERESTING RAMIFICATION IN CUBAN SOCIETY:Different models for communication —Dense social networks in Cuba are a majoradvantage for communicating priorities,transmitting knowledge, building consen-sus, and effecting change. Citizens are notbombarded with advertising. The absenceof billboards along the highways was imme-diately evident. However, there were com-munity signs, promoting recycling, educa-tion, children’s health, or world peace.

Farmers’ economic security not tied to landvalues — In Cuba, land may be privatelyowned, as long as it is kept in agriculture,and passed on through the family. It maynot be sold or developed. However, unlikethe US, land is not a farm family’s onlyfuture security. The government has pro-moted a policy that allows farmers somefree-market access within a socialist sys-tem to earn an above average living, ratherthan struggling to survive and later sellingthe land to the highest bidder.

Sustainable agriculture - the Cuban model— Cuba’s model for sustainable agricultureincludes the following elements:

Urban Agriculture — 80% of Cuba’s popu-lation lives in cities. The government hasinstituted a policy of turning all urban openspace into agriculture, and is movingtowards decentralization of food distribu-tion. Urban agriculture is defined in Cubaas any crop production in an area from thecity center to a radius of 10 kilometersaround the city. The goal is for food to beproduced and consumed as locally as pos-sible. In 2002, over three million tons of

food was produced in cities (25 kg/sqmeter/year), and 300,000 jobs were createdby urban farming. This is one of the moststunning successes of Cuban agricultureduring their ‘special period’ after the collapseof their trading partner the Soviet Union.

Integrated Pest Management — this isseen as a first step towards ecological pestmanagement. Cuba has achieved an 8-foldreduction in the amount of pesticide usedper ton of product produced.

Intercropping and crop rotation — thegoal is to increase the functional and pro-ductive biodiversity within agricultural sys-tems. Cuba is also experimenting with inte-grating crop and livestock systems, and isfinding that overall productivity per energyinput increases dramatically. Soil conserva-tion and recuperation, organic fertilizersand bio fertilizers, animal traction and alter-native energy are also promoted.

Reverting rural emigration — As jobs arecreated and farmers’ standards of livingimprove in the countryside, the flow ofyoung people to the cities is slowly shifting.

Increasing cooperative use of land —While 76% of the agricultural land is in pri-vate or cooperative ownership, an individualcan only own 67 hectares (approx 150acres). Larger farms may be owned jointlyby a cooperative. The government encour-ages cooperative production by providingcooperatives with a tractor and a truck toget product to market, which can be sharedamong member farms.

Fair wages for farmers and affordable food— The Cuban government is still strug-gling with how to do this. Farmers are cur-rently making almost 3 times the average

salary in Cuba! They are required to con-tract with the state for a certain amount ofproduct, then they can sell any surplus onthe free market. This has led farmers todevelop intricate systems of intercropping,and they are experiencing very high produc-tivity with organic systems.

Access to education — Cuba’s educationsystem is free, and the extension systemheavily promotes farmer-to farmer learning.The state actively promotes organic andlow-input agriculture, and funds research inthese areas. One interesting point at atechnical school for farmers was that agri-cultural students are taught the fundamen-tals of public speaking and communication,so that they will be able to teach others.

Low-input technologies — During our visitsto farms, we saw many innovative uses oflow-input technologies to improve productiv-ity. These included: leguminous trees plant-ed both as living fence posts and as fodderfor animals; composting and vermin-com-posting; animal traction; a process usingbacteria to convert nitrogen in sugar cane tocreate a 7-8% protein feed for cattle; small-scale methane digesting for energy to run a38 cow dairy; intercropping both for pestcontrol and productivity increases; anddiversity of crops within farms and fields

THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE INCUBACuba has institutionalized sustainable agri-culture in their higher education curriculum.They believe agro-ecological agriculturehas been so well integrated into the agricul-tural scientific and technical community that it would be difficult to return to old ways ifthe embargo were lifted. However, theysee the importation of agricultural products

from the United States as a means to opena crack in the embargo towards improvedtrade relations.

Cuban researchers continue to documentimproved productivity in their organic farm-ing, especially where crops and livestockare integrated on the same farm. They arelearning their limitations, for example realiz-ing that it is less expensive to import poul-try than to import the grain to raise thechickens themselves. The Cubans areeager to buy and sell with the UnitedStates, but their hope is to do so in waysthat strengthen the Cuban economy withoutjeopardizing the strides they have madetoward environmental and agricultural sus-tainability.

MY “TAKE HOME” LESSONI’m still trying to find ways to incorporatewhat I learned on this trip into our farm andmy work with other farms. After muchreflection, I think what I found most mean-ingful about our trip was the evidence thatCuba has begun to look at their food sys-tem more holistically, giving factors such asnutrition and health, food security and theenvironment equal weight to economic fac-tors when making policy and communitydecisions. Making these choices has ledthem to find that their farms can be moreproductive using organic techniques, thattheir own farms can feed the Cuban peopleand contribute in a meaningful way to theeconomy, and that it is possible to constructa food system with very little assistanceand inputs from multinational agribusiness.This was my ‘take-home’ message fromCuba.

Amy Kenyon is with the WatershedAgricultural Council in the Catskills ofNew York State.

Cubacontinued from previous page


By Judson Reid

Is there a market for out-of-season pro-duce? Let’s look at tomatoes. TodayAmerican consumers want fresh, qualityfruit year round and farmers in othernations are capitalizing on this. US importsof greenhouse tomatoes increased 379%from Holland and 692% from Canada dur-ing the late 90’s. These nations have theadvantage of lower utility rates, with heatthe most expensive input for US growers.An alternative to a fully heated greenhouseis a hoop house or high tunnel.

What is a high tunnel? Picture a green-house with no vents or heaters. The tunnelcould be anywhere from 8-15 feet high.Here in the Finger Lakes most aredesigned and built by farmers themselves.Typically a single layer of polyethylene cov-ers rebar, pvc or aluminum arches.Dimensions are about 30X100’, although Isaw one this summer that was 300’ long.

I remain a big fan of full-scale heatedgreenhouses for tomato production, but theunheated hoop has some advantages overthe hothouse:• Varieties for hoop houses have less

expensive seed.• High tunnels use no electricity.• Soil management can be simplified.• Generally there are fewer insects and

diseases in unheated hoops.

With lower inputs, the return to investmentis greater, sooner. If we look at sustainabil-ity, hoops use less non-renewable

resources than heated greenhouses. Onefarmer in Lancaster, PA told me his tunnelis the “most profitable venture on the farm.”

Tomatoes are the most common tunnelcrop, but beans, cucumbers, lettuce, andsquash are also grown. Lets look at theproduction side of tomatoes.

TRUTH IN ADVERTISINGActually, high tunnel growers do heat a fewtimes a season. After plants go in theground in March or April LP heaters areused on an emergency basis for extremelycold nights. Reflective cloth can also bedrawn over the crop at the end of the day.Growers soak the soil with water when thesun is out, then the moisture buffers nighttemperatures. One Penn Yan grower plansto fill teat-dip jugs with water, let themwarm in the sun, then radiate at night. Allgreat low-input ideas.

Even though there are no vents, and oftenno fans, ventilation is essential. Sidesshould be rolled up during warmer months.A 3-5’ side-wall makes this practical, andthe ends can be opened up too. Ventilationis required for nutrient uptake, disease pre-vention and stem strength.

Ventilation will also help pollinate the crop.In a traditional greenhouse pollination mustbe done by hand or bumblebee. In a hightunnel the wind lifts pollen. But venting istough during the first few weeks when it’sstill cold out. If its still too cold to ventwhen the first set of flowers open, plantscan be shaken by hand.

WHICH VARIETIES?Every high tunnel I’ve been in uses deter-minant, or ‘garden’ tomatoes. These plantshave a bush habit. In NY and PA the vari-eties Mountain Spring, Mountain Fresh,and Big Boy are popular. Choosing theright variety will depend on market. Forexample the Mountain series ships verywell, but growers with roadside stands pre-fer a softer tomato with better flavor suchas Supersonic.

Hothouse growers use indeterminate vari-eties that are pruned to a single leader,which grows straight to the sky. Theseplants are prolific. But to yield 20 poundsthey take a lot of fertilizer and care. APenn Yan grower and I are putting togethera research project to evaluate the potentialof these varieties in high tunnels.

KEEPING IT REALTunnels usually end up on reverted pas-tures or vegetable gardens that will requireamendment. Since no rain enters the tun-nel, tomatoes should be drip irrigated. Tomaximize yield soluble fertilizer is injected.

There are some great nutrient-recyclingoptions for tunnels too. One grower inPenn Yan keeps a flock of broilers in hishoop starting in late fall. These birds arebutchered in January, after they’ve gorged

on bugs and cull tomatoes. Their manurecontributes phosphorus and potash toSpring’s tomatoes. Their roasted meatfeeds a family of twelve.

So maybe tomatoes are the least importantthing to come out of the hoop. Withsnowflakes melting on the plastic, parentsand children work side by side in shirt-sleeves. The 100-foot long shell is a forumfor cultural instruction. No internet, noMTV. These kids’ days are filled with thesmell of warm soil and their parents’ gen-tle, green stained hands.

Judson Reid is a Resource Educatorwith Cornell Cooperative Extension ofYates County, NY.

FARMING OPPORTUNITIES

The Unheated House— “Most Profitable Venture on the Farm”

A 300 foot long high tunnel in Lancaster PA

Corn stubble and Cayuga in Winter.High tunnel tomatoes in Penn Yan, NY. This production style fits well with low-input, diversifiedfarms.

Cucumbers and tomatoes in a home-made high tunnel in Dundee, NY. The grower estimates aconstruction cost of .25 per sq. ft

Photos by Judson Reid


By Lee Telega

The morning milking is done. The pipelineand units are cleaning and you have justfinished hosing down the milkhouse floor.You pull out your list of things-to-do, know-ing the vet will be coming up the drive inthe next half hour for herd check.

Halfway down your list there is somethingyou wrote several nights ago-”Walk grassfilters.” It’s an odd job you probably wouldnot have thought of except for an article ina recent farm newspaper.

On many farms, grass filter areas are usedto remove sediment, organic matter, nutri-ents and other pollutants from contaminat-ed water. They are used as the final treat-ment for barnyard and bunker silo runoffand milkhouse wash water. Whendesigned and maintained properly, theyresult in excellent protection of nearbystreams, lakes and wells from these poten-tial pollution sources.

DESIGNING A GRASS FILTERThe USDA Natural Resource ConservationService (NRCS) maintains standards andhas expertise in use of grass filter areas.The filter areas should be placed wherevigorous dense vegetation exists or can beestablished. To insure slow, even sheetflow through the vegetation, filter stripsshould have a level cross-section and be

graded no less than 2% and no more than12% slope. This slow, even flow allows forfiltering, deposition and infiltration into thesoil to allow biological processes to workon the contaminants.

The lower edge of a designed grass filterarea should be at least 25 feet from astream or lake, and at least 100 feet from awell or spring. Aggressive-growing grassessuch as tall fescue, orchardgrass, perennialryegrass, redtop, and/or reed cannarygrassdo a great job in these filter areas.

Grass filter areas should be at least 100feet long and no more than 40 feet wide. Ifneeded, several filter areas can be used totreat a waste source. As a rule of thumb,grass filter areas that treat barnyard runoffshould be between 1.5 and 2 times the sizeof the barnyard, depending on slope. Fortreating bunker silo runoff, the most con-centrated juices must be collected — onlydiluted runoff from rains is allowed to enterthe filter area. The filter area should be atleast 1/3 the size of the bunker silo floor.

For treating milkhouse wash water, 10square feet of filter is needed for each gal-lon discharged per day. Since milkhousewash water is produced every day, it is nec-essary to have at least two different filterareas. While one area is accepting thewash water, the other is rested to allow thesoil to dry and aerate.

Solids from the waste stream must be cap-tured before discharging into the grass filterarea. Screens are used to catch largefloating feed particles in barnyard andbunker silo runoff. Because it also containsmanure, barnyard runoff should then entera settling basin or tank to capture the finerparticles. Settling tanks that also capturethe floating milk fat are used in milkhousewaste systems. If not captured, solids willquickly collect in the grass, smothering it,causing kill zones in the filter. Regularcleaning and maintenance of the screens,settling tanks and basins of the solids col-lection system is an integral part of operat-ing a grass filter area.

Effluent from the solids collection system isdirected to a device that allows the liquidsto evenly distribute and infiltrate into the fil-ter area. A constructed ‘level-lip’ spreader isoften placed at the head of the filter area.Level lip spreaders position a treated 2 x12” plank on the downside of a trench filledwith packed backfill and clean gravel (seediagram.) Levelness of the plank requiresmaintenance, particularly in the springbecause of soil heaving during winter.Gravel-filled, shallow trenches cut acrossthe filter area will also act as a spreader byslowing the flow and interrupting channels.If solids build up in the spreader trenchover the years, the solids will need to beremoved.

MAINTAINING YOUR GRASS FILTER A few other maintenance duties are neededto keep grass filter areas healthy and wellfunctioning. Annually, mow and harvest thevegetation. Fill in small channels that formto keep water flowing evenly across thewhole filter area. Areas of dead vegetationin the filter indicate contaminant overload-ing, and steps should be taken to reduceflow to that area. Monthly inspections arebest to spot problems early.

Suitable sites for grass filter areas can befound on most farms. If you think a grassfilter area would improve the quality of thestream, pond or lake on your farm, contactyour county Soil & Water ConservationDistrict or USDA NRCS offices.

A well-designed grass filter will continue tofunction properly if you check it regularlyand correct problems early. So now thatyou’ve read this article, maybe you shouldpull out that to-do list and jot yourself anote. And next fine day, take a stroll aftermorning milking.

Lee Telega is Farm-EnvironmentalSpecialist with the Cornell PRO-DAIRYProgram.

STEWARDSHIP AND NATURE

Take a Walk After Morning MilkingMaintain Grass Filter Areas for Pollution Control

Screen box filter for barnyard runoff at the Ralph and Irene Buel Farm, Delhi, NY.Photos by Gale Neal, Delaware County S&WCD

Recently constructed grass filter area (two cells) for barnyard runoff and milkhouse waste atthe Ralph and Irene Buel Farm, Delhi, NY. Runoff and wastewater is doused by a pumping sys-tem, alternating between each cell every two weeks.

Good marketing is becoming a must forsuccessful small agricultural enterprises.Marketing can take place through a varietyof direct retail and wholesale channels.Typically, direct retail marketing will offer afarmer a better price as well as direct con-nections to customers, but not every farmerwants to work with retail customers.Creative wholesale marketing, such as col-laborating with other farmers or farm-to-school, provides a way for small farmers tocompete within wholesale channels.

A variety of fact sheets, newsletters andsmall farm examples on alternative market-ing strategies is available online in theMarketing section of the Cornell SmallFarms Web Site. Here you will find toolsand information to help you decide the bestmarketing strategy for your small farm busi-ness.

Our website also offers loads of informationon other small farm topics. Check it out atwww.smallfarms.cornell.edu!

MARKETING

Learn About New Marketing Strategies atwww.smallfarms.cornell.edu

winter2004

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