Sugar Creek Farm

As I said yesterday, I’ve attended the Practical Farmers of Iowa Conference the past 2 days. I’m back to the farm now, tired but with a head swimming full of thoughts.

Where to start? The morning began with 3 keynote speakers. Richard de Wilde of Harmony Valley Farm, Doug Gunnink a grass-finishing beef expert, and Brent Hansen of Hansen’s Dairy. Each talked briefly about their business and some of the key lessons they’ve learned and strategies for success. Very inspirational!

Then it was time for another workshop. I attended the Iowa Food Cooperative Update. PFI has been working to launch a food cooperative based on models in Nebraska and Oklahoma. I’m hoping that this will be a marketing avenue for our products. They’re still finalizing the details.

After the delicious all-Iowa lunch I attended a roundtable discussion on dealing with the current high input costs in pork production. I didn’t really come away with any concrete ideas to bring home and try, but the discussion that emerged during the session made it worth being there. There were 3 niche pork companies at the table – Eden Natural, Niman Ranch, and Organic Valley. Interesting to have them all in one place.

Then there was time for “cluster meetings”, which were basically special interest groups such as beef & dairy, consumer members, fruits & vegetables, etc. I didn’t attend one of these, but took that time for some networking.

The last session I attended was “Current Patterns in Marketing Local Products”. This was another roundtable where attendees could ask questions of other attendees or offer advice and suggestions. Learning from other farmers is the best!

These were the sessions I attended, but during each round there were anywhere from 4 to 8 different workshops being conducted. Definitely something for everyone. In my case I sometimes had a hard time choosing which workshop to attend! There were some fantastic experts for graziers there. Made me wish we had more than 10 acres to graze!

So if you’d like to see the full offering of this year’s workshops, here’s a link to the conference brochure. Check it out and plan to attend next year!

2 years ago:
Mmmm, bratwurst

In the Farm Bill, a Creature from the Black Lagoon?
“…you may be surprised to learn that your tax dollars have helped pave the way for the growth of these livestock megafarms by paying farmers to deal with the mountains of excrement that their farms generate. All of this is carried out under the rubric of “conservation.” Congress is about to renew the program — and possibly even expand it — as part of a new farm bill wending its way through the Capitol.”

I know of some really great projects that have been funded with EQIP funds – rotational grazing systems, for example. So I hope that the program isn’t totally done away with, but somehow gets back to the original intent of the program.

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A brief from the Madison (WI) Capital Times:
“Fiskars again this year is offering grants to promote sustainable agriculture, horticultural education and community involvement, as well as neighborhood beautification through its Project Orange Thumb. Applications are due Feb. 15. Go to www.fiskars.com or call 800-500-4849.”/em>

Author cites ‘national eating disorder’
“Poor food choices killing us, he says”

An interview with Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.

He has a new book out entitled In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.

Today I’m reporting live off-the farm, at the 2008 Practical Farmers of Iowa conference. This year’s theme is “Come to the Table”, with tomorrow’s keynote speakers being farmers who are meeting the demand for grassfed, organic and local foods.

This afternoon I attended a session called “Practically Farmers of Iowa : A Session Exclusively for Beginning Farmers”. This session featured farms Blue Gate Farm of Columbia, IA (and its farmers Jill Beebout & Sean Skeehan), and Grass Run Farm of Dorchester, IA (and its farmers Ryan & Kristine Jepsen). Also on hand were Dave Baker from Beginning Farmer Center; Kelvin Liebold, ISU Extension Farm Management Specialist; and Penny Brown Huber of Grow Your Small Market Farm.

The farmers talked about their own operations, and the specialists talked about what services they offer. And then a good hour or more was left for the workshop participants to pick the presenters’ brains, one-on-one. I thought it was a good format. I was able to talk with Kristine Jepsen about meat processors in northeast Iowa; with Sean Skeehan about laying hens and farmers market signage; Dave Baker about communication issues between one farming generation and the next; and Kelvin Liebold about how to go about getting an ag loan. I already took Penny’s class, so I ignored her 😉

“Plan, plan, plan. No matter how much you plan it won’t be enough. But do as much as you can.” ~ Ryan Jepsen

One thing that really exemplifies the PFI conference was that the session went from 12:30 to 4:30, but there was a full hour break in the middle to allow for networking. I probably say it on this blog every year at this time, but while the workshops themselves are fantastic the real value of the PFI conference is the networking and the connections you’ll make. I come by myself but I am never without company, even when I don’t know a single person in the room. You can sit down next to anybody and be engaged in great conversation within seconds.

The evening meal was an Iowa buffet dinner featuring food raised by PFI farmers. After the meal the Leopold Center presented Laura Krouse with the Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture.

The evening was capped with the showing of King Corn by co-star Curt Ellis and director Aaron Woolf with a Q&A session after. It was a great film, go see it if you have a chance. If you don’t get a chance to see it in a theater, it will air on the PBS show “Independent Lens” on April 15th of this year.

That’s all for tonight, back tomorrow with a roundup of conference Day 2!

2 years ago:
Victory is ours

1 year ago:
Dog pile!

Countdown to the 2008 farm bill : Part II
“A livestock title for fair and competitive markets”

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Parents’ project keeps villages sustainable and son’s memory alive
“The SAM project, which promotes small-scale agricultural projects to benefit school-aged children in southern Zambia, was founded by Colin and Sandra Eves last summer after their youngest boy, 16-year-old Sam, was stabbed to death on March 27 during a fight.”

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NCTA (Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture) seminar focuses on bringing young people back to agriculture
“The program will serve as a model for the rest of the country. The most beneficial aspect for students is that the Farm Service Agency financing, coupled with the coursework and field experience at NCTA, allows them to become equity owners who have experience developing a business plan,” Wolf said. “Too often, young people become good cow-calf operators but only as hired employees.”

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Remember that gorgeous rooster from this post? And how I said he had a twin?

How many of him do you see in this photo?

There are 5 – quintuplets! No wonder he seems to be everywhere! These are all roosters that were hatched here on the farm – 4 this past summer and 1 the summer before that. This is their mother:

This dainty little Lakenvelder hen likes to find a nice hiding spot in the summer and hatch out a clutch. Out of about 60 hens, she’s the only one who’s ever done this. This past summer she hatched 6 roosters and 2 pullets. The roosters all look like alike. The pullets look completely different – dainty, like their mother, but otherwise looking every bit like a Buff Orpington. 4 of the roosters and 1 pullet made it through to winter.

1 year ago:
Another installment

Bill aims to put more farm-fresh foods on school lunch menus
“Legislation to be proposed in Olympia next week could catapult Washington to the forefront of national efforts to get more farm-fresh, locally grown food into lunches at schools and at other institutions.”

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A change is coming; are you prepared?
“[Fred Kirschenmann’s] message was simple: There’s little doubt that massive change will rock agriculture in less than a generation and even less doubt that we’re doing nothing to prepare for it.”

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Countdown to the 2008 farm bill : Part 1
“This is the first of five farm bill fact sheets from the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.”

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Fujifilm sponsors Rainforest Alliance photo contest
Come on, all you shutterbugs, submit your conservation and sustainable agriculture photos! There are 5 categories to choose from, and big prizes.

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Monday when I was out for my noon walk, I came upon this scene in the cattle lot:

Do you see what I see? Heifers with their rear ends turned towards Mr. Bull, and Mr. Bull looking oh-so-interested.

Do you mind, I’m working here.

I also noticed that Mr. Bull was rubbing his head against the electric fence without any ill effect, so obviously there was something amiss. I mentioned it to Matt, but by the time he got home from work it was too late.

This is the aftermath. Mr. Bull crumpled that cattle panel. So before we spent 90 minutes chasing pigs, we’d already chased calves back to their own side of the fence. Fortunately they obey a little better than those pigs did.

Matt plugged the hole temporarily with cornstalk bales. They’ll have to eat their way through to get any action now.

I can’t help it if the babes love me.

Piggy naptime

This was the scene in the hog shed when I took my daily lunchbreak walk about the farm. This isn’t the litter we moved yesterday, this litter is about a month older. But we moved the younger litter in with this older one, and there’s been some integration pains today as a pecking order is established. Nothing major, just a little pushing and nipping and squealing.

This litter has claimed their seniority and hogs the better sleeping quarters. Soon everyone will be getting along and acting as one herd.

2 years ago:
Us versus possum, day 6

USDA Steals CNG (Certified Naturally Grown) Label
From Walter at Sugar Mountain Farm. If you read only one link here, read this one! And then go comment. This one had the old Janet Jackson song “What have you done for me lately?” running through my head. Love the USDA. Not.

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3-generations farmer wins sustainability award
“An Illinois farmer who values harmony with nature and community has won a national award, The Patrick Madden Award for Sustainable Agriculture in the north central region. Henry Brockman operates an intensive, multi-generational, highly-diverse and sustainable vegetable production in the Mackinaw River Valley of Woodford County, IL.”

Click through to read the interview with Henry Brockman.

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Wind farm can be the start of effort to be sustainable
A letter to the editor in the Baraboo (WI) News Republic about building sustainable community.

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Is organic better? It depends.
A review of the latest scientific studies into the nutritional value of organic versus conventional produce. Nothing really new here, but I included it because I love the last paragraph.

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I love to cook. But I don’t usually love to cook for very long at one time. So this is one recipe that, to me, has a big payoff in terms of time spent in the kitchen. A little chopping and a little stirring in the morning, and you have a house that smells good all day and a big bowl of hearty comfort food come suppertime. Let’s get started!

These are your main ingredients, your heavy hitters. 2 pounds of beef stew meat, 4 potatoes, a couple stalks of celery, an onion (or two if you’re so inclined), and 3 carrots. (I used some carrots we’d froze from the garden this fall, so there might be more than 3 there. Probably about 4 cups.) You can change up the amount of vegetables in this as you see fit. I usually just eyeball the potato-to-carrot-to-celery ratio.

First, the stew meat. Ours comes from the locker cut up into largish chunks. You can use the big chunks as is, or cut ’em up smaller if you like. I cut each chunk into smaller chunks. I figure it’s easier for the kids to eat, and it spreads the beefy goodness throughout the dish more.

Throw the stew meat into your crockpot, and then sprinkle 1/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper over the meat. Give everything a good stir to coat the meat with the flour, salt & pepper. Cut the potatoes, carrots, celery and onion into chunks and throw them right in. You can leave the peel on the potatoes if you like. That’s what I would do, if our potatoes had nicer skins. But the last couple of years we’ve had some sort of scab on the skins, so I peel them.

(Anybody know what might cause that scab? I’m thinking too much nitrogen in the soil, but not sure what I could put in the trench when I plant them to counteract that.)

Finally, throw in the remaining ingredients: 2 cups beef broth, 2 t. Worcestershire sauce, and 2 t. paprika. Give everything another good stir, throw in a couple of bay leaves, and you’re done! Cover and cook on low 8 hours, medium 6 hours, or high 4 hours.

Vegetable Beef Stew
2 lbs. stew meat
1/4 c. flour
1-1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
4 potatoes, cubed
3 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, diced
2 c. beef broth
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. paprika
2 bay leaves

Put stew meat in crockpot. Sprinkle with flour, salt and pepper. Stir to coat meat. Add vegetables, and them remaining ingredients except bay leaves. Stir all, add bay leaves and cover. Cook on low 8 hours, medium 6 hours, or high 4 hours.