Tue, 22 November 2022
The first episode in two years needs no introduction. Basically this is an episode of me sharing what I've found out I needed to do differently over the last two years. Or, to be more correct ... it is an episode of me sharing a couple of the many things I found out I needed to do differently over the last two years! It is going to be a long journey that will take time (and money, which means more time), but I think it is going to be an amazing journey. Follow along on the Podcast, Instagram, Facebook, and of course YouTube! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Don't forget you can find us in all of the places, most of all on YouTube (again)! The Beginning Farmer YouTube Channel |
Wed, 11 November 2020
I have come to the realization that it is time to reboot the farm! Not that everything that we have been doing for the past twelve years has been bad, but rather there are some changes that I realize need to be made and in making them I think we are going to end up with Crooked Gap Farm v2.0. It's sort of like a Grand Re-Opening, or Church Re-Plant, or Version 2.0 of the farm. The core of the farm is going to be the same. We are still going to be all about raising great pasture raised meats, but there will be changes on the farm. Changes with efficiencies. Changes with marketing. Changes with structures. Changes with mindset. And, all of this is going to be about taking our farm up a level in order to be better than we have been in the past. It is going to be a long journey that will take time (and money, which means more time), but I think it is going to be an amazing journey. Follow along on the Podcast, Instagram, Facebook, and of course YouTube! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Don't forget you can find us in all of the places, most of all on YouTube (again)! The Beginning Farmer YouTube Channel |
Wed, 26 August 2020
Crooked Gap Farm has come a long ways in the roughly 12 years of it's existence! Sometimes I forget how far we have come from an empty 40 acre parcel in the middle of Iowa, but when I stop and take a look at it all I am very thankful! That doesn't mean that I have everything where it needs to be or that I'm ready to sit back and watch the farm roll along. There are a lot of projects that are needed on the farm these days. Repair projects, building projects, upgrading projects, and plenty of cleaning projects! But, I have come up with three that have been at the forefront of my mind lately
I'd love to hear your thoughts! Don't forget you can find us in all of the places, most of all on YouTube (again)! The Beginning Farmer YouTube Channel |
Wed, 19 August 2020
Let's talk about chickens! We've raised meat chickens off and on for about 10 years now, and it has never really been our strong suit. But, the demand is there and I would really like to increase our meat chicken production ... like really increase it! There is one problem though, well actually three problems. First of all we have settled on the Freedom Ranger breed for our meat chickens (although I'm open for suggestions because it still isn't my favorite ever). Secondly, I am totally committed to the "day range" system of raising the birds, but I'm not committed to a structure. And finally, processing is somewhat of a bottle neck for us. There is only one official processor in the state and we are pretty much all in on needing official processing! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Don't forget you can find us in all of the places, most of all on YouTube (again)! The Beginning Farmer YouTube Channel |
Sun, 26 July 2020
Hello Beginning Farmer Friends! We are back and better than ever. Well I'm not sure about better than ever, but we are back and I am getting pretty excited about being back (even though it is one episode)! I am excited to be able to "chat" about farming again, and share the happenings of Crooked Gap Farm and our plans for the future. In this episode I end up talking about what our farm marketing world has looked at during the current pandemic of 2020. Sales have been good (I think for many protein farmers that has been true), but along with increased sales and demand there have been plenty of challenges. In the end I do think we are positioning ourselves in a good way for 2021 and beyond. Don't forget you can find us in all of the places, most of all on YouTube (again)! The Beginning Farmer YouTube Channel |
Mon, 20 April 2020
In a time of unknown, I sit down and do what is needed: I have fun. Today I talk with my oldest son, Caleb, about his interests on the farm and where he goes and is wanting to go with them. He shares what his biggest interest on the farm is and what he does with it. With plenty of fun and laughter, tractors, a Hard Lesson Learned, and even rockets, this is sure to be a fun episode that you can't miss! |
Mon, 13 April 2020
I am going to ignore the elephant in the room (this episode is being released during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic) and attempt to pick-up where I left off about one year ago! On the last episode of The Beginning Farmer Show, that sounds like something you would hear at the beginning of a soap opera, I had outlined the equipment and infrastructure that we had accumulated on the farm. What I was realizing was that maybe the equipment I had wasn't "right-sized" to where our farm was at the moment. The big question that was discussed though was, what are we going to do in terms of the hay operation. Well, much of the hay operation discussion changed in the weeks following the release of that last episode because I ended up selling some small square bale equipment, picking up more hay ground, and making more hay than I had even planned in 2019. Moving forward in 2020 we are expanding even more in the hay side of things and working to add it as a component of our over all farm business. There are plenty of other things that have happened on the farm in the past 12 months, but the biggest thing had to be our return to the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market. This was something that popped up on our radar somewhat out of nowhere and in the end it seems like it was a good thing! I hope you all are doing well out there as we deal with a world that seems to be changing by the moment. Maybe in the future I'll be able to take some time to talk about how our farm is adjusting through this pandemic. |
Mon, 4 February 2019
Now that you know the large collection of things that we have on the farm I want to share some of my thoughts on what needs to head down the road, what needs to be added, and where I am the most confused! It has become obvious to me that one of the tractors needs to go, and in a perfect world it needs to be replaced by a skid loader that would be able to perform quite a few important tasks on the farm. Also, an addition to the shed is something that is at the top of the list once we can get the money together and the details figured out. The biggest question facing the farm at this moment though is what are we going to do about the hay operation. Or maybe I should say the "hay dabbling" because it hardly seems big enough to be classified as an operation. I can see the benefits that it has, but I'm wondering if those benefits outweigh the negatives. What do you think? If you do make your way over to this post though I would love to hear what you think about the equipment and infrastructure our farm has accumulated over the past ten years. Do you have any advice on what probably doesn't need to be on our farm? Do you think the hay business is something that we should continue to pursue? Why in the world do I have so many tractors on such a small farm? Thank you so much for listening and I hope that you join in the conversation! |
Mon, 28 January 2019
I'm just going to be completely honest here. I have forgotten most of what it takes to post a podcast episode since it has been such a long time since I have regularly released episodes! With that in mind these "show notes" are really just going to be a link to the show if you'd like to listen on-line or share your thoughts on the Crooked Gap Farm Inventory that I detailed in this episode. If you do make your way over to this post though I would love to hear what you think about the equipment and infrastructure our farm has accumulated over the past ten years. Do you have any advice on what probably doesn't need to be on our farm? Do you think the hay business is something that we should continue to pursue? Why in the world do I have so many tractors on such a small farm? Thank you so much for listening and I hope that you join in the conversation! |
Fri, 12 October 2018
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Hey there! This is a BRAND NEW EPISODE of "The Beginning Farmer Show"!!! I'm not sure when the next one will be, but for now this one is here and I'm looking for direction when it comes to the show. If you have any good leads or ideas of farmers that you would like to hear on the show please let me know by clicking the link below and reaching out through the Facebook page. Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
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Wed, 6 September 2017
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!What can I say? It has been a day or two since the last episode of the podcast was released and there has been a thing or two that has happened. On the other hand there is very much on the farm that is the same as it was 12 months ago. But, since it is the first episode in what we will call, "quite some time", I thought it would be best if I spent some time sharing some updates from the farm! That means episode is all about the livestock on the farm ... how they've been handling the summer, what I've been doing with them, and whether or not we still have a farm period! Hopefully you enjoy the show! Do You Want to Know More about My Cool New Boots? These days I'm rocking LaCrosse Brand Alpha Range Boots (that's the link to the LaCrosse website) ... you can even pick them up on Amazon (affiliate link)! They are by far the most comfortable mud boots that I have ever owned. I love the gusseted back because I like to tuck my insulated bibs into the boots, and did I mention the are super comfortable! Check out the links if you are looking for some good boots this winter, and I'll share more as I see how they stand up to to the life of an Iowa pig farmer. Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
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Wed, 14 December 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!It is story time! Plans were made, forms were formed, rock was moved, compactors were used, rain came, snow came, everything became muddy, even more rock was moved, concrete was poured, and in the middle of the night the concrete was covered with plastic/tarps/straw. Actually it sounds pretty easy when it is summed up in one long run-on sentence! Honestly though, it was a big week on the farm to get everything ready for concrete and then eventually for the pour. And while there is still plenty of work to do in order to get everything finalized I thought it would would be fun to share the story of the big cement project. The most important thing though is to recognize the awesome help that I had! None of this would have happened without my wife, my uncle, my cousin, and my neighbors ... so, sit back and enjoy (I hope) the story.
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Thu, 1 December 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!With Christmas coming up before we know it (and possibly putting an end to my concrete dreams) I thought it would be good to share my Top Ten Gifts for the farmer or aspiring farmer on your list. I've tried to diversify the list a bit with some tools I use on the farm, some tools that are important to the farm, a couple of my favorite books, and even some podcasting tools! One thing that I noticed as I made up the list was that it has quite a few expensive items on it. At first I was a little taken back by that realization, but then it came to me ... as I have matured in my farming adventure I have found that quality really does win the day on the farm. Quality can save time, it can save on broken tools, and most of all it can save frustration! Of course not everything on the list is expensive ... I mean I do love a good pair of sub-$10 USA made pliers! As a bonus I'm also sharing a link to the new boots I've been putting through the paces and some leftover Beginning Farmer T-shirts!
:: The Bonus Items ::
Do You Want to Know More about My Cool New Boots?
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Wed, 23 November 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!This past week was "one of those weeks" on the farm! A hydraulic line exploded on the tractor, but thankfully my cousin was able to fix it. We dug in the water lines into the hoop building, but I am beginning to realize that the concrete is not going to happen this year (that is my fault). To top it all off though the tractor started acting up again, and this time it seems that the probably actually may be caused by a much larger problem! Mentally it was a daunting week to so the least. All of this is happening though right before what I consider to be my favorite holiday ... Thanksgiving. To me it seems fitting though because despite all that seems to be breaking down around me there is plenty to be thankful for on the farm. In fact, I made a list ...
Do You Want to Know More about My Cool New Boots?
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Thu, 17 November 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Do you know the greatest thing about The Beginning Farmer Podcast/Blog? It is YOU of course! Two episodes ago I flipped the tables, and instead of doing my typical "question and answer" show where I attempt to answer listener questions I asked the questions. The responses you sent in and shared on concrete, turkeys, walk-in freezers, pig pastures, and show content were AWESOME and full of great knowledge. If you typically just scan the blog post and check out the links I really encourage you to take a listen to the episode this time because it is full of knowledge and experience from farmers that are out there doing it. I've also gathered together some links that helped me dig a little deeper in to the advice that came in from you, the listeners!
And, The New Boots! (picture above)
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Wed, 9 November 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!We physically survived The Farm Crawl, but it was a bit mentally taxing. The day was beautiful, the farm was in great shape, we had a good selection of pork for sale, and the people were awesome! There was one down part though and it is what made me a bit mentally taxing ... the numbers were down (both from a sales and attendance standpoint). I am extremely thankful for everyone that was able to show up, but was a bit thrown by the differences we had seen from years past. That's what sort of threw me off a bit ... well that and hustling to get my spring projects (yes I really mean spring) done before winter sets in! Thankfully though I had a lot of great questions in the hopper so I'll do my best to answer them ...
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Fri, 16 September 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel! Our farm has been a farm for eight years now, which I suppose means I have been a farmer for eight years as well. But, I don't want anyone to think that I'm still not "The Beginning Farmer" ... sometimes it seems the more I learn about this farming art the more I feel like a beginner! With that in mind I've always tried my best to share the ups and downs because I know that I learn from my mistakes, so hopefully someone else can learn from them as well. Along the way (over almost 10 years of blogging/podcasting) you all have come along side and shared your experiences as well! That is why I knew that I could turn the tables a little bit and ask you the questions ... :: Five Questions From a Beginning Farmer ::
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
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Tue, 13 September 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!In many ways our farm began before the farm even began. I was reading books, talking to farmers, dreaming dreams, and making plans. All of that lead to me thinking I had it all together before I even stepped foot onto what would eventually become Crooked Gap Farm. If you've heard me talk about the beginnings of the farm before you will know that in my mind the centerpiece was going to be Dexter Cattle raised for beef. It should be noted though that when I was thinking that I had never even tasted Dexter beef! What I have not talked a lot about before though is that when I was in that planning stage I thought the other main enterprise on the farm would be our Tamworth hogs.
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Mon, 29 August 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Earlier this month I was able to take a long drive to northwestern Iowa and visit Seven W Farm during their Practical Farmers of Iowa Field Day. This was the second field day at the Wilson's farm that I have been able to attend (along with watching their Niche Pork Webinar from 2009) and I am very thankful they are willing to open their farm, and share their experiences! Seven W Farm consists of 660 acres, seven Wilsons (plus kids), organic grains, hogs, organic dairy, pastured poultry, grassfed beef, and grassfed lamb. To say that there is a lot going on would be an understatement for sure. Behind the diversity of enterprises though is a great wealth of knowledge that comes from multi-generational family farm. In fact Dan has been pasture farrowing hogs for 50 years now!
The pile of links mentioned in this episode ...
:: Practical Farmers of Iowa Recap of 2016 Field Day ::If you are interested in having a grassfed Dexter Cattle Herd of your own shoot me an e-mail because we have cows, heifers, and cow/calf pairs available right now!
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Wed, 24 August 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!More questions have rolled in from our Practical Farmers of Iowa Field Day, and the folks at PFI have even put up a blog post that recaps the day. The great thing about the blog post is that it contains a lot of audio from the event, so if you weren't able to make it to the field day you can at least listen (now that I mention that I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing). On today's episode I'll be fielding questions about recording video, using the vet, farm names/brands, beginning marketing, and even some of my thoughts on how we do our sheep. It is definitely a hodge-podge episode with plenty of rambling, but they are great questions so hopefully I'm up to the task with my answers! :: Practical Farmers of Iowa Recap of 2016 Field Day ::If you are interested in having a grassfed Dexter Cattle Herd of your own shoot me an e-mail because we have cows, heifers, and cow/calf pairs available right now!
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Thu, 11 August 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Over the past two weeks we have hosted well over 100 farmers and farm fans out to Crooked Gap Farm! That has meant a lot of time getting the farm ready, preparing food, and planning the tours and talks. In the end though we love the opportunity to share our farm with other farmers, and more importantly ... learn from other farmers! Even though I love to talk and I love these types of events they do make me a bit nervous right before they start and for a little while after. It's not talking in front of people that makes me nervous (I typically do that every Sunday), but rather it is that I'm worried about what people will think about our farm when they see it and hear what I have to say about it. I mean I'm just a beginning farmer! Hopefully over time that is something that I can grow out of, because there is a lot of benefit from having other farmers to the farm to share information and learn!
If you are interested in having a grassfed Dexter Cattle Herd of your own shoot me an e-mail because we have cows, heifers, and cow/calf pairs available right now!
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Fri, 29 July 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Changes are often difficult to make, even if you love change and moving forward. I find it difficult not so much because I don't notice that there are things to change, but rather because I become stuck in the rut or, even more often, I am overwhelmed by the steps of the needed change. As 2015 came to a close though and our family and farm embarked on 2016 it was painfully clear that there were changes that needed to be made on the farm if it was going to continue. If I wasn't willing to make those changes then it was time to move on to the next thing ... as in it would be time to end the farm. I've spent enough time talking about that in the past couple of episodes though, so today it is all about the practical steps that I've taken in 2016. Even if those steps haven't been completely successful or enough.
If you are interested in having a grassfed Dexter Cattle Herd of your own shoot me an e-mail because we have cows, heifers, and cow/calf pairs available right now!
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Wed, 6 July 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!My career as a "beginning farmer" has always been as bi-vocational something or other. Along with trying to learn how to farm I've been a youth pastor, worked at a farm store, helped out at another farm, and currently I'm loving my job as pastor of Christ's Church. But, wearing all of those hats as well as the hat of husband and father has made things less than ideal at times (or most times). For the most part I've tried to just push through things and act like nothing was amiss, but the reality was that I should have been doing a better job of everything ... especially being a husband and father! Near the end of 2015 I finally admitted to myself that things needed to change and that may mean that they needed to change drastically ... which led to the end of Crooked Gap Farm ... almost! This episode is my attempt to vocalize what was going on in my mind and heart and through some of the discussions with my wife.
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Tue, 28 June 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!What happens when The Beginning Farmer disappears for months on end? Well, actually lots things happen! Just recently I've been to Arizona to talk farming and finances, we've been making small square bales of hay, a new building project is in the planning stages, and of course we've even made some time to take the boat out (yes, we are a boating family now ... more about that in future episodes). Basically, what I'm trying is that it wasn't for lack of things happening that I haven't been podcasting, but rather there has just been a lot on the mind that has made it difficult to sit down and record something remotely coherent!
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Fri, 5 February 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!I asked for questions and you listeners came back with some great questions! The only bummer thing about all of those great questions is that I'm not sure that I had equally great answers. So, take a listen to the episode, check out the question topics below, and then I'd love it if you'd chime in with your thoughts. I'm guessing with the vast array of knowledge in this group there will be some great thoughts!
Question Topics:
Links mentioned in the episode:
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
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Tue, 26 January 2016
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!When it comes to raising pigs on pasture and in the woodlot one of the most frequently asked questions is about how you handle the pigs in that setting. If you've ever been around a more conventional hog operation you know that there are lots of pens, gates, panels, chutes, and concrete that all aid in the movement of pigs. On the pasture though it can sometime seem like getting the correct six hogs on the trailer is more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack! At least that has been my experience in the past.
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Thu, 24 December 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!The Christmas season would not be complete with out some reflection on the season and a reading of one of the best Christmas stories I've ever had the chance to hear. My memories of Christmas (and winter in general) on the farm are something that I look back on with great joy and my encouragement is for all of us to make those types of memories this year regardless of whether or not our holidays are spent on a farm. Enjoy the season, look for the blessings, make memories, and leave a legacy! Which I believe sums up, "Our Best Christmas" by Clarence S. Hill.
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
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Tue, 22 December 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Last episode was all about the failures from 2015, but this time we are going to keep it positive and we are going to talk about the successes that we had on Crooked Gap Farm in 2015. I'm not going to lie, coming up with five successful things from the year was much more difficult than coming up with the failures. When I was compiling a list of failures the difficult part was picking the top five. As I was putting together the list of successes on the farm the difficult part was getting past number two! That is often how it is though, it is easy to think of the ways you have dropped the ball and more difficult to think of the things that are going well. In the life of a farmer though it is very important to grab hold of those successful things because there is so much that goes on that is out of your control
Help me make a list! What were your success this year? I think it would be good to see a great big list and be encouraged by all that was accomplished in 2015! Comment below and let's build the list ...
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Mon, 21 December 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Sometimes admitting that you have failed is difficult because you don't want to think about the fact that you haven't accomplished a goal or something that you are passionate about. Other times admitting a failure comes all too easy because you are just looking for a way to put yourself down. In my seven years on the farm I have had more failures that I could count or even would care to remember, and in that time I have both found myself unwilling to admit failure or just the opposite ... looking for a way to accuse myself of failure.
When I look back on 2015 I recognize many failures on my farm. Some came from lack of planning, some came because I didn't follow through, and some even came because I was just plain negligent. But, my reason for looking back on my failures is not because I have a desire to, "feel sorry for myself" or even have you feel sorry form. I want to look back at some of the "highlights" of my failures so that I can look forward to the coming year on the farm. By looking back on my failures I can see potential changes that need to be made, but more importantly I can see areas in my farming life where I need to watch myself extra carefully so I don't fall in to the same traps.
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Wed, 25 November 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Thanksgiving :: Farm, Field, and Fireside :: Nov. 27, 1897With corn so low how can I be thankful? So says an Illinoisan. With transportation so high what ground is there for me to do anything but grumble? So thinks the farmer of North Dakota. I have no wheat to sell at the high price, says the Iowan. Hog products are low, join in a chorus, the farmers of Iowa, Missouri, and other parts of the Northwest, while those in other States declare all that they have to sell brings small returns.
Our answer is, be thankful for the prosperity of your neighbors, even if in another State; be thankful for health; you have no yellow fever. Be thankful for the frost which has at length arrived to kill the fever germs. Be thankful for a brave heart and faith in God. Take new courage and look forward and upward.
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Thu, 29 October 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!When we began looking for a place to start our farm we quickly realized that we could either have roughly 40 acres of land or a house and about 20 acres of land for the money we were able to scratch together. If you've been listening to the show for awhile or reading the blog from the beginning you'll know that we went the 40 acres route which meant we were going to be building a house ... as inexpensively as possible! One way that we saved money in the construction (and during the cold months) was by forgoing ductwork and central heating. Now that I think about it though we do have central heating, it's just in the form of a centrally located wood burning stove. Heating with firewood has been a learning curve for us over the years, but the further along this journey the more we learn and the more efficient we become.
Over much trial and error I have become much better at cutting, splitting, stacking, and of course burning firewood. I now have tools that I enjoy using and trust and I feel like I'm not only being more efficient, but also more safe! Check out the links below for great resources related to cutting/splitting/burning firewood and if your looking for some good equipment (safety or otherwise) follow the links below and you can help support The Beginning Farmer Show.
Wood Burning for the Farm:
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Tue, 20 October 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Sometimes I say things that I forget about, sometimes I say things that should be forgotten, and then sometimes there are the things that I say that need a bit of clarification. The latter of those is the case this time in regards to me saying that the pigs are the most profitable enterprise on our farm (or at least I think I said something along those lines). On the surface it would seem that the cattle or sheep would be more profitable, and that may be the case on per animal basis, but when it comes to the whole enterprise the pigs take the cake for use. The simple answer for that is "scale". Because of the limited size of our pasture the number of ruminants we can have is much lower than it would take to be "full-time" farm, or even a profitable part-time farm. There are even economies of scale that we have by raising a larger number of pigs, even though it is still at a very small scale.
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
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Wed, 7 October 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!October 4th, 2015 was the 9th Annual Farm Crawl, and the 5th that our farm has been a part of. This is an amazing event that was begun by some farmer friends of ours in the area and we have been blessed to be a part of it's growing future! Each year after the Farm Crawl we try to decompress a little bit and then look back at the event to see what needs to change or what we can do better. One thing I know for sure though is that on-farm events are a great thing no matter how big or small they are. With that in mind I thought it would be beneficial to share my take-aways from the day and what we think is important for an event. Farm Crawl 2015 Take-Aways:
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Fri, 25 September 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Have you ever had a moment when someone asks you the exact question that you have been spending a lot of time thinking about? Well that is what this episode is all about because a while back Dan asked me a question via Facebook that I had been considering for quite some time. The question: If you could add one enterprise to the farm what would it be, and if you needed to take one thing away what would it be? That is probably a question that you need to ask yourself yearly, but now that we are almost seven years into the farm it is a question that I need to probably be taking some serious action on ... if that is what is needed.
I would love to hear your thoughts! After listening to me ramble about getting out of the cattle business and increasing the pig business what do you think? Is that too big of a move, just right, any other ideas? Let me know in the comments below!
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Wed, 26 August 2015
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Thu, 30 July 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!There have been a lot of "happenings" lately on the farm that I have been wanting to share on the podcast, but I just haven't made the time. On this weeks episode I'm making the time to talk about the heritage meat chickens, my first foray into grain farming, buckets of rain, and grinding feed. The most exciting thing though is that instead of just telling you about my "Hard Lesson Learned" this week, I actually am able to show it to you because I had the forethought to hit record as I worked my way through another lesson here on the farm! You really do need to watch the video to see and hear the whole story, but let me just sum it up for you :: Put everything way when you are done using it!
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Mon, 27 July 2015
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Wed, 22 July 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!If you're a beginning farmer like I am a beginning farmer then you have lots of questions! Sometimes what you need isn't always the "right" answer as much as it is an answer that helps get your mind wrapped around that issue, and then you can find a solution that fits best. Hopefully that is what I'll be able to provide today, thoughts that help you find the right direction, as I do my best to answer questions about electric fencing, sheep, profitable enterprises, and so much more!
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Wed, 8 July 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!There is a great line from one of my all time favorite movies ("Dances With Wolves") that goes something like this, "Somebody back east is saying, 'Now why don't he write?'" If you're a longtime reader of the blog or listener of the podcast maybe you have been wondering the same thing! And, to be completely honest with you it has just been a difficult year for me so far which has made it even more difficult for me to work up the courage and desire to sit down and talk about it. All of that is to say that if you are looking for an upbeat episode with lots of success and win stories then you may want to skip this episode. I do promise that it is genuine, carefully thought out, and even relevant to beginning farmers.
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Wed, 24 June 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Two sets of hard working hands are better than one, and two quick thinking brains will always trump one! Those are just a couple of reasons that we are enjoying having our summer "extern" Ryan on the farm for a few more weeks. He brings lots of great help, great questions, and a wonderful desire to work and learn. On top of all that he also is doing great things teaching high school students about sustainable agriculture and now he will have some crazy stories to go with those lessons. Ryan is able to give you an "outsiders" view on The Beginning Farmer's farm! |
Wed, 10 June 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!One of the newest ventures on our farm (although we've been at it for three years) is the pasture raised rabbit operation that was begun by our son when he was 8-years old. Over our three years of raising rabbits out on pasture we have had many ups and downs, but this year is beginning to feel like it can be a turning-point in the business. On today's episode though I have a very special guest on again to talk about raising rabbits. My oldest son and I sit down to talk about the good, the bad, and of course the hard lessons learned! If you have any rabbit raising questions or thoughts on the subject we'd love to have a discussion. Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! |
Wed, 3 June 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel!Of the many challenges that beginning farmers face (access to land, lack of farming skills, need for capital) one that I often find myself thinking about is just "how many acres" I need to make my farm a "full-time" farm (if that is the goal that you have). That reminds me of something my uncle said to me when he first saw my new shed, "It's not big enough." To me it seemed huge (bigger than our house) and besides, I built it as big as the money would allow! But, as he explained that the reason he said that was because buildings are never "big enough" it made sense. Now that I've had that shed for a few years I have thought plenty of times, "I wish I had room for this thing or that thing."
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Wed, 27 May 2015
Subscribe to "The Beginning Farmer" YouTube Channel! Do you know what? You don't have to feel guilty about your prices for the products your raise and produce on your farm! It is perfectly acceptable for you to make a decent living on the farm selling your products to farm friends that appreciate the way you raise things and the values your farm has. And, did you know that some of the listeners to this show have figured out a good way to get greens to their chicks in the brooder? Those are just a few of the questions that I attempt to tackle this week. There will also be questions about labels for meat products, minerals for livestock, and how we use our rabbit pens! Thanks to all the listeners who took the time to ask questions, and if I missed your question please let me know and I'll do my best to answer!
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Sat, 23 May 2015
If you've listened to my "Hard Lessons Learned" over the past two years of "The Beginning Farmer Show" it would be very much aware of the fact that I am a beginning farmer. As you watch the video below it will also be painfully obvious that I am very much more a beginning YouTube creator! I had problems with video equipment, issues with audio equipment, and then there was the significant reality that I had know idea what I was doing ... nevertheless Lois Reichert of Reichert's Dairy Air is both a professional cheese maker and interviewee. |
Wed, 13 May 2015
I am a small-scale diversified livestock farmer who doesn't use GPS guided tractors, robotic feed controllers, or large amounts of bio-tech seeds. But, I do very much depend on technology for my farming and marketing. The rotational grazing would not be possible without the use of my polywire electric fence and hi-tech energizers with remote controlled on/off features. In some ways my plans are made every week based on the information gleaned from the weather apps on my farm. The Square App has helped make sales that wouldn't have happened if I was a cash only vendor. And, of course I am very thankful for the Podcast App on my iPhone and all the listeners that use it and other apps!
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Wed, 6 May 2015
"Despite What You've Heard, Small Farmers are Doing Just Fine". That is the title of a recent article by Brent Preston who runs an organic farm with his wife in Canada. What is so striking about this brief but compelling article is that it is completely opposite of the other articles about small-scale farming that have been making the rounds on social media over the past year. Those articles had titles such as, "Don't Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Farmers" or, "Has the US hit peak farmers' market?" (this one is actually a pretty decent read and very informative) and the most recent big splash, "What nobody told me about small farming: I can't make a living". Can an online article have a more depressing title than those! Thankfully Mr. Preston has taken some time to respond and he is offering a different picture of the small-scale farming landscape, one that I feel is a little more representative of the reality. |
Wed, 29 April 2015
Pigs! I love to talk about pigs, and that is exactly what this episode is all about thanks to the generous Kickstarter backer's Paul and Delanie of Oak Grove Valley Farm. More specifically though it is a discussion of my thoughts about raising pigs for what I guess can best be described is a "niche pork" buyer (think Niman Ranch, Berkwood Farms, Organic Valley, etc.). This is actually something that I have thought about quite a bit though because it is a route that I have considered pursuing in the past and still think about from time to time. When I set it in my mind that I wanted to have a hoop building on our farm one of the biggest problems I had was what to do with the building when I had the pigs in the woods. I just didn't like the idea of spending quite a bit of money on a building that wouldn't be used for over half of the year! That led me to look at the possibility of raising one batch per year of hogs in the hoop building starting in May and then finishing those pigs before I was ready to bring up my pigs for the winter. My hope was that the building would then work for our farm all year long. In the end though I have not yet decided to go that route for a variety of reasons (herd health issues, infrastructure issues, profitability, etc.).
As if that wasn't enough pig talk the discussion also morphed into some more general pig raising talk about pasture structures, hog feeders, waterers, numbers of pigs per acre, and whatever else worked it's way into my mind. What do you think? Do you see any benefits for going selling to a "niche pork market" such as this? I would love to hear your thoughts, and I know Paul and Delanie would as well!
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Wed, 15 April 2015
As much as possible we try to do our planning in the winter season, but there are just some plans and goals that can't be made until spring comes and you can get a handle on the state of farm. Spring usually uncovers some repairs that need to be made, projects that need to be tackled, and of course all sorts of other problems that come once the new enterprises are started. At least that has been the case on our farm. There are projects that I wanted to get done last fall that have been bumped to this spring ... like the shade wagon for the cattle and sheep. There are projects that need to be done because they didn't get finished before the ground froze ... like the new pig paddock in the woods. And, there are brand new projects that weren't even on the list last year ... like the possibility of building another chicken wagon so I can brood chicks in it. That is the life of a farm though ... ever changing goals and to-do lists! |
Wed, 8 April 2015
Do you remember those cartoons where a character starts rolling down a snowy mountain and eventually a snowball is formed with the cartoon character in the middle? And then, as they are rolling down, the snowball gets bigger and bigger collecting everything in its path. Finally, there is the fateful end ... usually in the form of some sort of cabin that the snowball crashes into! That is the best description I have been able to come up with for the farm lately, and at this point I would almost welcome the crash into the wall at the end because at least it would stop the snowball! Of course now that I read that I realize I may be exaggerating the difficulties slightly, but the point is that things have been a little rough lately on the farm and even after six years of farming that causes me to wonder if I'm making the right choice.
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Wed, 1 April 2015
Just when I think everything is chugging along like a "sort of" well oiled machine something comes along and seemingly derails everything. This time the "something" was our Guinea Fowl. In the past you have heard me say all sorts of good things about them: they have a good profit margin, they are great foragers, they do a good job of tick control, and they are generally a hardy bird. From time to time though you have probably heard me talk about how they wander too far, that they won't roost where I want them to, and they can sometimes be a general annoyance. All of the negatives have come to a head in the fact the Guinea Fowl won't stay on my farm and roost where I want them to roost, so they will no longer be a part of our farm. It has been a tough week getting to that point, but now we have most of them caught up and in a wagon with feed and water until they go to the processor (we also already have them marketed). |
Wed, 25 March 2015
Spring on the farm is often a rushed time because everything is coming to life all at once! On our farm that means projects that have been thought about all winter need to begin, new livestock are being born, work needs to begin in the garden, and so much more. To make matters worse it always seems like everything is a priority and there will never be enough time to accomplish all that we want to get done. That's where a good set of tools come in though. Of course that could mean "mental tools" like using your knowledge of the ground you are working to make decisions on planting or grazing. Or, it could mean "physical tools" such as my John Deere 4020 that is a fixture in most every project that happens on our farm. In the spring though there are often certain tools that shine, and while I may use them from time to time all throughout the year there won't be many days in March or April where you wouldn't finding me using one of them. Some tools make the work more efficient, some bring better quality to the work, and some even make the work more enjoyable! Five Tools For the Farm in the Spring
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Mon, 23 March 2015
When I dropped our first batch of hogs off at the locker for processing I was completely lost. I didn't know where to drop them off, I wasn't 100% sure I could even get them off the trailer by myself (and I could tell they were too busy to help), and I was even clueless when it came to my cut selections (even to the point where I didn't understand where all the cuts came from on the hog). To put it simply I had no idea what I was doing, which has actually been a pretty normal part of this farming adventure! Processing at a local locker is just one of the many differences between the pork we sell and what our consumers may be used to purchasing at their local grocery store. There are differences in our animal care, differences in our feeding, differences in the space they have, differences in the breeds, differences in the cuts you can purchase, and of course differences in how they purchase our meat! All of that shows just how important consumer education is, and why small-scale farmers need to continually work to educate and encourage a growing customer base. 6 Points of Emphasis for Customer Education & Encouragement
Links Mentioned in the EpisodeCheck out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! |
Tue, 10 March 2015
When we began our Crooked Gap Farm Meat CSA in January, 2014 it was with the hope that it would replace our farmers market sales. In fact we were so hopeful that it would replace those sales that it was part of the reason we decided not to attend the market at all in 2014. While making that decision I realized it probably would have been best to do the market part-time at the beginning of the season to help our customers make the transition, but we were just so burnt out from the market that we jumped in head first to the Meat CSA! The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model is not a perfect fit for every farm, but it has worked well for us and it is growing. There is one thing I'm certain of ... like most other things in farming and marketing there is a learning curve (especially when you are offering a variety of products) when it comes to putting together shares and managing the inventory.
Along with Kevin's questions I also posted the topic to The Beginning Farmer Show Facebook page and had more great questions come in! I've done my best to offer my thoughts, but I would love to hear what you think about the Meat CSA model. Do you have any tips that I haven't thought of? What is working in your marketing efforts? Join the discussion in the comments below. Links Mentioned in the EpisodeCheck out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! |
Wed, 4 March 2015
Raising poultry on a small-scale beginning farm is a pretty common thing, especially when the birds are egg laying hens! There is just something aesthetically pleasing about seeing a flock of hens foraging through the pasture and farm yard softly clucking or chasing bugs. Plus, they produce eggs with dark orange yolks that have a flavor that most people are used to when it comes to the simple egg. But, is there really a dark side to the small-scale farm egg-laying flock? Maybe "dark side" is a little much, but the truth is for most small-scale beginning farmers the profit margin is pretty slim when it comes to the eggs. Once you factor in the cost of the chicks, the cost of the feed just to get them to laying age, their housing, the water, the labor, the costs of marketing the eggs, and all the other incidentals each carton of one dozen eggs has a lot of money in them! When I think about all of that I often wonder, "Why in the world did I just order 150 laying chicks?"
That is a valid question because if we've learned anything from over 100 episodes it is that the beginning farming journey isn't always easy! I do think there are some good reasons for having laying hens and egg production as a part of your farming enterprise and I would love to hear why you think it is an important piece of the farming puzzle ... comment below!
Links Mentioned in the Episode
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
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Tue, 24 February 2015
"The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter CampaignWhy in the world would you shave your beard in the middle of winter when snow is coming? What are a few of your farming tricks of the trade? How do you decide when you need to make price increases? Those are just a sampling of the questions that I'm going to attempt to address on this weeks episode. Notice that I was very clear there and I did not say I would "answer" them, but rather I'll just do my best to share my thoughts. Below you'll find a list of the questions that came in over on the Facebook page and the links that relate to those questions. One of my most favorite things about farming is the exchange of knowledge, so if you have any thoughts on these subjects please comment below! Farming Questions From Listeners:
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Wed, 18 February 2015
"The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter CampaignIt seems like lately there have been a rash of articles about farming and about how you just can't be a successful beginning farmer. Okay ... "a rash of articles" may be a little bit of an overstatement on my part, but there have been a couple over the last year or so. The first one that really grabbed my attention was, "Don't Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Farmers" by Bren Smith and published in the New York Times. I really appreciated Joel Salatin's response in a "Letter to the Editor" (although I will admit not everyone agreed with Mr. Salatin). Most recently the article that is making the rounds is titled, "What nobody told me about small farming: I can't make a living" by Jaclyn Moyer. I have lots of thoughts on both of these articles, but in someways I don't feel qualified to respond because I'm not making my full-time living on the farm. Three Encouraging Books for Your Farming Journey:
Other Links Mentioned In This Episode:
Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Mon, 9 February 2015
"The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter CampaignOur "farm" began with six egg-laying backyard chickens before moving out to the 40 acres that is now Crooked Gap Farm. Somewhere and somehow along this farming journey though the poultry operation was pushed to the back ... and eventually to the way back! Once we began adding pigs, cattle, and eventually sheep to the farm I became less focused on the plans and managing of our poultry flocks. It's not that I didn't keep upgrading infrastructure or that we quit having birds, but rather it was just a part of our farm that I didn't put much thought into. That is going to change this year though because I have a plan for both our meat chickens and our egg-laying flock! The Ultimate Crooked Gap Farm Chicken Plan for 2015Our Egg-Laying Chicken Plans (Ordered ASAP):
Our Meat Chicken Plans (Chicks arrive at the end of February)
All total that means there will be a bit over 300 chicks coming to the farm in the span of a few weeks which does cause some issues when it comes to brooder space, especially when keeping them warm will be more difficult with winter still hanging on. My plan is to brood the meat chicks in my two 4x8 brooders that have lids and 2 inch styrofoam insulation that I put on top to keep the heat in. That means that I will be building a quick hover to put in the laying chicken wagon I built last year. Something along the lines of this maybe. One More Kickstarter Support Option!From now until February 12th at noon you can get nearly 50% off of John's eBook, "Stress Free Chicken Tractor Plans" just by using the code "kickstart" when you check out. That is a great deal, but equally as cool is that John will also be backing "The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter Campaign with the proceeds from the sales. Not only can you choose to support the campaign and receive some cool rewards, but for the next two weeks you can also get a cool eBook and support the campaign at the same time! |
Wed, 4 February 2015
"The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter CampaignWe just need to get this out of the way ... I am super excited about the awesome and amazing kick-off to "The Beginning Farmer Show" Kickstarter Campaign! We have blown past the original goal and are well on our way to stretch goal number one. All of that means two things ... Thing number one: You all rock! Thing number two: My excitement is pretty much overflowing and that means what begins as discussion of our Meat CSA pretty much turns into a "Beginning Farmer" ramble session! One More Kickstarter Support Option!From now until February 12th at noon you can get nearly 50% off of John's eBook, "Stress Free Chicken Tractor Plans" just by using the code "kickstart" when you check out. That is a great deal, but equally as cool is that John will also be backing "The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter Campaign with the proceeds from the sales. Not only can you choose to support the campaign and receive some cool rewards, but for the next two weeks you can also get a cool eBook and support the campaign at the same time! |
Tue, 27 January 2015
"The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter CampaignWe've done it! We've made it to Episode 100 of "The Beginning Farmer Show"! And yes, I do mean we because there is no way I wouldn't have made it this far without the encouragement of everyone who has listened, taught me, asked questions, and contributed to "The Beginning Farmer Show" community. Making it to episode 100 is a cause for celebration though, and I wanted to make this episode extra special. Of course there is the fact that the Kickstarter Campaign launches today, but on top of that I have an extra special (and longer) episode. Over the past 99 episodes it became evident that one of the more popular aspects of the show were the hard lessons learned that I share.
Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Wed, 21 January 2015
It is pretty awesome to think that we've (you the listeners along with me) made it all the way from episode 1 of The Beginning Farmer Show up to episode 99 this week! In fact if you are really interested in digging deep you can find an episode 0, but I'm not going to give you the link because it's pretty bad. But, what I'm most excited about is heading into the next chapter of The Beginning Farmer Show heading into 2015. I'm excited to begin writing more blog posts, bringing more intelligence to the show in the form of listeners with farming/business knowledge to share, and of course the biggest news ... The Beginning Farmer Video Project Kickstarter Campaign! |
Wed, 14 January 2015
For the past six years my plans for farm growth could best be described as, "Whatever hits Ethan's mind we do"! There is a major problem with that though as I have talked about in past episodes about my business plan (like this one and this one), and even though I've said it before ... this year needs to be the year of progress on our farm. I've had a lot of fun learning, growing, and experimenting on the farm and now it is time to get to business. I'm not sure if that means our farm will grow a lot this year or if it means we will scale things back at the end of 2015, but I do know that we need to get moving. With that in mind I wanted to share some of my goals and vision for this coming year. Some of the things I want to share are 100% going to happen (the pig woodlot fences being expanded) and other things are pie in the sky sort of ideas (expanding to a new niche or product). Then there are the types of things that I really want to do, but I'm not yet sure how they are going to flesh out. On the top of that list is on farm classes and I'm willing to take ideas, suggestions, and thoughts on that one!
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Wed, 7 January 2015
If there is one thing that I've learned along the trail of my beginning farmer journey it is that I really don't know much when it comes to farmer. That was reinforced as I began recording today's episode and attempting to answer some listener questions! The good news though is that I'm not in this journey alone, so it is okay for me to say, "I don't know" from time to time and the turn to others that have more experience or at least more varied experiences than I do. In part that is why I shared the questions on today's episode ... because I didn't know the answer, but I'm sure someone listening will have some thoughts and I can't wait to here them!
What do you think? Any tips, tricks, or suggestions ... let us know in the comments below! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Tue, 30 December 2014
Did you know that well over 50% of Iowa farmland is owned by people over the age of 65? That means that in the coming years there will be a lot of farm land changing hands in one form or another. In some instances it may just transition to a son or daughter that continues the farm, in other cases it may be inherited by the next generation and the rented out to the highest bidder, and if you are a beginning farmer (or hope to be one soon) there may even be a possibility for you to build a relationship with a farmer. One thing is for sure though, and that is that many of these farmers over the age of 65 do not have a farm succession plan spelled out yet. That is one of the many things that I learned from my chat with Teresa Opheim, the Executive Director of Practical Farmers of Iowa, and why I am so excited to share this interview with you on this episode. Teresa and I talk about the mission and goals of PFI, the importance they place on farmer led research, and she even has some great encouragement for beginning farmers!
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Tue, 23 December 2014
I love all seasons on the farm, but there is just something special about winter on the farm that really makes me thankful. In my mind it begins at Thanksgiving as we enjoy the bounty of the growing year, continues through the Christmas season, and then all the way to January and February as the kids (and parents) enjoy the fun that winter on the farm offers. Christmas on the farm is also the perfect time for telling stories and I love a good story ... especially when it is a farm story! Some stories make you thankful for what you have, other stories help remind you of what is truly important, and there are even stories that are just fun memories of times gone by. On today's episode I want to share three such stories. One comes from "Successful Farming" Magazine, another comes from the story of an Iowa farmer, and the last comes from my own childhood farm memory.
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Tue, 16 December 2014
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Tue, 9 December 2014
This past week has been a bit overwhelming on the farm and in our world of farm business planning. When things get that way it is always nice to do something a little more lighthearted and fun, which is exactly why I have put together my Second Annual Beginning Farmer Christmas List! Farmers can be hard to shop for because usually if there is something they need it is needed at that moment and can't wait for the nearest birthday or holiday, but it is still nice to have something for them to open up if you have a farmer or future farmer on your shopping list. On today's episode (and listed below) you'll find ten things that I think make great gifts because I use them on my farm, or they are so awesome that I actually have them on my wish list. There are things for reading, things for working, things for making that work easier, and of course even a bonus item that will help you clean up at the end of the day ...
What is on your farming Christmas list or what would you suggest for other farmers? Check out what was on my Christmas list last year!
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Wed, 3 December 2014
If you ask anyone that has know me for even the shortest amount of time they would probably tell you that I am a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of guy. I like to come up with an idea and then just start doing it without putting a lot of thought into how it will get done, or rather more accurately what it will take to get it done. For example there have been more than three or four times when I have brought livestock home to the farm because I really wanted them or because they were a "really good" deal with no plan on where to house them or what will keep them from deciding to hang-out in the neighbors cornfield. The same can be said for my "business planning" up until this point.
Have you ever made a business plan? If so, what surprising things did you find? What should I be looking for as I do all of this evaluation and planning?
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Wed, 26 November 2014
For a whole host of reasons I absolutely love the Thanksgiving holiday! I love it because of the history, the season that it comes in, the focus on family around a table, and of course because of the fact that it often points people to remember an idea that we don't think of often enough ... Thankfulness! As I look back on this year of farming (and the past six years since we began) I realize that I have very much to be thankful for on the farm. And it is not just the good moments, because there are often reasons to be thankful even in the midst of difficulty. Below you will find a short list of the things that I am thankful for as a beginning farmer. Of course this is not the complete list, but rather those things that are most closely related to our farming journey ...
What are you thankful for this year? No matter where you are on your farming journey I would love to hear what you are thankful for and what sticks out in your mind! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Wed, 19 November 2014
Winter preparation will vary from climate to climate, but here in South Central Iowa it means getting ready for temperatures that can head south of zero, snow that can suck you into the ditch, and wind that seemingly will find it's way through all your warmest layers! Because of that in an ideal world I would head into winter with all of my preparations done and then just carry on the minimal chores needed for the farm and relax next to the wood stove. The reality though is that no matter how well I plan to prepare for winter I always miss something, or in the case of this year winter decides to sneak up on me earlier than I think it should arrive. Nevertheless I keep preparing for the short days, cold nights, white snow, and blustery winds. Below you'll find some of the things that I try to do as we prepare for winter on the farm ...
What are you doing to prepare for winter? Is your neck-of-the-woods colder than mine? Warmer than mine? I'd love to hear how you prepare for the changing of seasons. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Wed, 12 November 2014
The very first "farm animals" that we had while we still lived in town were chickens that we raised in our backyard. But, while still living in town the second "farm animal" that we began purchasing were our Dexter Cattle. Obviously we weren't able to keep them in town (the police even made us get rid of our chickens), but my dad only lived a little more than an hour away and had plenty of pasture, so that is where we began our herd. Before I knew it we had way too many Dexters because I had been finding way too many "good deals". At that time (around seven years ago) I was completely enamored with the Dexter breed, with grassfed cattle, and with having cattle as the center piece of our farm. Times have changed quite a bit and while we still do have our Dexters I am beginning to question their place on our farm. Not cattle as a whole, but the Dexter breed specifically.
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Wed, 5 November 2014
"Margin is the space between our load and our limits. It is the amount allowed beyond that which is needed. It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. Margin is the gap between rest and exhaustion, the space between breathing freely and suffocating. Margin is the opposite of overload. If we are overloaded we have no margin. Most people are not quite sure when they pass from margin to overload. Threshold points are not easily measurable and are also different for different people in different circumstances." At least that is how Richard Swenson, M.D. describes margin in his book Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives (a book that I have not read, but does seem interesting). Of course I could talk a lot about the importance of building margin into your life, but I may not be the best one to speak on that subject because I do have two off-farm jobs currently and margin is my biggest struggle! What I want to talk about specifically today is the importance of building margin into the life of your farm so that it is sustainable physically, financially, ecologically, and on and on and on. |
Wed, 29 October 2014
This past week I posted a "fall farm" picture to the Crooked Gap Farm Facebook page and there was a great question about the style of our pasture pens for the rabbits. Of course this had me thinking about the best way to describe them (video of course ... maybe you have heard about a coming Kickstarter project), but beyond that it got me thinking about the role of the meat rabbits and guinea fowl on the farm. Right now they both are important pieces because the rabbits are they way our son gets involved in the business and the guinea fowl provide sales of course, but there is also the fact that they do a great job eating ticks and bugs! As I thought about it though, if I was starting my small scale farm with the focus of building a sustainable business that does more than just support a hobby I don't think either of those animals would be ones that I would start with. Of course if you are wanting to get a start in town the rabbits would be perfect, and if a family homestead was your goal then you might enjoy the guinea fowl (if they don't annoy you too much).
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Wed, 22 October 2014
If you've ever spent much time around children you have probably heard the phrase, "that's not fair!" In my eight years of researching my beginning farm and being a real life beginning farmer I have also heard that phrase from beginning farmers (myself included). In fact I've even heard it from politicians talking about agriculture when I visited them in Washington D.C. a few years back. What I'm trying to say is that it is very easy to fall into the trap of looking at my own farming situation and decide that it is unfair because others may have more land, more money, better markets, and a whole host of other things. I believe the reality is though that there is something about every beginning farmer (and experienced farmer) that is unfair ... the business world calls that an "unfair advantage". On our farm we have the unfair advantage of buying a farm smack dab in the middle of an already successful Farm Crawl. Not every farm has something so great for marketing and not every farm can create an event like the one we are part of because you can't just pull 7 farms within 20 miles of each other doing a variety of forms of direct marketing. Another unfair advantage for our farm is my prolific love of talking about the farm. I'm not saying that I'm the world's best speaker or writer, but I do love to tell the story of our farm and I'm not afraid to share it with just about anyone who will listen. My question for you is what is your "unfair farming advantage"? What are those things that set you apart from other farmers ... things that they just can't run to the closest farm store and buy? I would love to hear what your unfair advantage is ... what are you going to take advantage of on your farm! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |
Wed, 15 October 2014
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |
Wed, 8 October 2014
The Farm Crawl 2014 has come and gone and this years event was record setting! Overall we are estimating the event drew over 2,000 visitors and that our farm had over 1,800 people touring the farm in a short six hour span! Those are numbers that are hard to believe and humbling all at the same time ... plus, they are very exciting. Now that I'm a few days removed from the event and looking back there are a few experiences that I wanted to share with you. First of all it was amazing to meet so many podcast listeners face-to-face ... and some that had even traveled quite a distance to visit the farm. Unfortunately because it was so busy I didn't get a chance to spend as much time chatting as I would have liked, but know that I wanted to. Another great thing from the day was great encouragement we received from so many visitors complimenting our farm and the products that they have tried ... I can't tell you how great it is to hear someone say that our pork chops were the best they ever had! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Wed, 1 October 2014
Last week I woke up much earlier than the sun and headed all the way to northwest Iowa to visit Seven W Farm and try to consume as much farming knowledge as possible in such a short time. It's not that the Wilson family didn't have much to teach, but rather that there was so much that I wanted to take in! In fact I'm not sure if I was even intelligent enough to soak in all the great farming experiences and knowledge that live on that farm. I first became aware of this farm back in 2009 when I watched the Niche Pork Webinar Series (you can find Dan Wilson's presentation in the link). The chance to visit the farm was a can't miss opportunity. |
Wed, 24 September 2014
Even farmers take a break. Ethan The Beginning Farmer Show was your first introduction to me, "The Beginning Farmer", then you may not know that what is now a podcast initially began as a blog about my farming journey (or hopeful beginning farming journey). My very first post was way back on September 23rd, 2006 (that's eight years ago!). Since that time there have been over 900 posts on this blog plus even more from my day's writing for Epicurious. What began with questions like: How much capital will it take to get started? How much cash-flow will be needed, and where will it come from as we start? How much can I expect to make with certain crops or livestock? And, how and to whom will I do all of my marketing? ... has morphed into discussions about breed selections, hog loading procedures, and so much more! |
Wed, 17 September 2014
Lately I've been going through what I'm calling my "Farming Reality Check". It's not so much a mid-life crisis or even a "mid-farm crisis" as much as it is the fact that I am quickly (after slowly) coming to the realization that there needs to be more shifts and movement on the farm. A few weeks ago it became painfully clear that the balance in our life had gone from extremely shaky to absolutely falling off the ball out of balance. This shake-up (which I admit had been coming for sometime) has finally got me to the point where I need to honestly evaluate what is going on at the farm and what maybe needs to have big changes. There is good news though! The good news is that I'm taking the bull by the horns and attacking the balance issue as best as I can ... with the help of my family and all the great listeners of The Beginning Farmer Show I'm building a business plan and taking a close look at everything we do on the farm and why we do it.
One more thing ... I mentioned in this weeks episode that I'm getting about 1,500 volts on the ground wires in my fence. Is this normal or do you have any thoughts on what I'm missing that would be causing this? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. |
Wed, 10 September 2014
One of the great things about the community that is springing up around The Beginning Farmer Show is that I often receive encouraging e-mails and messages, questions, comments, and links to helpful resources. One of the bad things about me is that when my computer died I neglected to add an important e-mail address to my phone's mail application and because of that I've missed a bunch of great e-mails! There are some great topics though and I want to cover as many as possible. Here is a sampling of the topics that I will be attempting to share some thoughts on ...
All of those questions together though have lead me to some conclusions about The Beginning Farmer Show, my farming journey, and some things that I would love to see moving forward. I'll give a bit of a preview today, but really what I want to say is that I've been extremely blessed to have the help that I've had and I want to share that help as much as possible! Like I said ... there will be more details coming. |
Wed, 3 September 2014
I love working with the pigs, I love driving the tractors, I love attempting to fix the tractors, I love building fence, I love a lot about farming (even the dirty work), but I'm not a big fan of running the numbers and big time planning. What I'm trying to say is that I'm six years into my on-farm journey and I have never completed a business plan ... although I have started a few times. My thoughts on farm business planning have changed recently, as in they've done a complete 180º turn, and I'm in the process of working on my plan. The big question is why have I had such a change of heart ... The main reason for the my heart of change can be summed up in one phrase, "Something needs to change." I have some idea of things that could change on the farm that would help the business and the family, but I've come to the conclusion that a real life Farm Business Plan could really come in handy. I think it will be especially helpful when it comes to things like communication, taking emotion out of the decisions, goal setting, and plans for the future of the farm. There is one problem though ... I feel completely incapable of making a business plan! Luckily I have resources ... here they are:
Do you have any tips, tricks, or experiences when it comes to creating your Farm Business Plan? I'd love to continue the discussion in the comments below! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |
Wed, 27 August 2014
Farming is great! Let's say you've done your research, got set-up on your farm, and now you're even raising some crops or livestock ... you are officially a real life farmer. Of course if you want to continue to be a farmer you should probably figure out how to make a dollar or two along the way. That's where marketing and selling comes into the game, and it is important to realize that those are two things that you will spend a lot of time doing if you want to be a full-time (or part-time) direct-to-consumer farmer. On our farm we started out slow with our marketing ventures and quickly worked our way up to a very large farmer's market. But, looking back and considering the direction that we are going now with our marketing I'm not sure if I would go the route of the farmer's market.
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Wed, 20 August 2014
If you are going to be a farmer you have to do some sort of farming! It doesn't matter if it is livestock, vegetables, grains, tree crops, fruits, or whatever else you can think of you still need to be doing something other than living on a place in the country. If you are a fresh beginning farmer like I was just under six years ago the question then becomes, "What sort of farming am I going to do?". This will probably be something that you think about throughout all of your farming research, learning, and even your land search. But, I believe (if your like me) that you may not settle on what works for you until you actually get your "hands dirty" on the farm. Of course there are many things to think about when you are choosing your farm ventures, but on this episode I wanted to talk about five that were particularly important to me.
Here are some links related to the New York Times Opinion piece by Bren Smith titled, "Don't Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Farmers" ...
What advice would you give the beginning farmer looking to find the ventures that fit them and their farms? What do you think about the New York Times opinion piece? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! |
Wed, 13 August 2014
If you call yourself a beginning farmer, but you aren't farming because you have no place to farm does that mean you are still a farmer? That question is really a bit to deep for me, but I did want to spend some more time talking about land because I know how big of an issue this is for beginning farmers. If you remember from episode 75 I spent most of the episode talking about my latest beginning farmer idea ... renting an abandoned homestead area to begin your farm. Of course that idea may not be possible or appealing to everyone, so I wanted to share a few more ruminations on land that I have been running through my head lately when it comes to beginning farmers. |
Wed, 6 August 2014
Let's say you want to begin a farm (that may be one of the reasons you listen to this podcast). You've done some reading, you've connected with other farmers and organizations, and you've even spent a year working part-time on a real functioning farm. Now you finally feel like it is time to jump in and do some farming on your own, but as a beginning farmer either you see the wisdom behind starting small and with minimal investment or you just don't have much to invest other than your desire because you are a beginner! Either way you are going to need some place to farm, and if you are like me that means you are starting with nothing ... no family land, no land of your own, and not a lot of knowledge to get you there. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Wed, 30 July 2014
"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!" If you're used to waking up on Wednesday morning and finding a new episode in your podcast app you already know that this episode is a little late. But, on the flip side I was able to record an early morning episode sitting on the porch looking out across the farm. You can see the view from my "podcasting studio" on the right. One other thing you notice on this episode is a few more distractions that come from recording on the front porch ... distractions as in kitty cats and heifers on the loose. Hopefully though it gives you a small glimpse into the interrupted life of any farmer. Beginning a Farm: Research
For most prospective beginning farmers the first stage is research. Anytime you are starting a new business, occupation, or venture most of us try to learn as much as possible so that we aren't jumping in completely unaware. That's the way it was for me at least. I read dozens of books, hundreds of magazine articles, countless blogs, and plenty of research papers. In fact I did so much reading that I'm not sure how much I was actually able to consume and retain! If I was going to do my "Farming Research Phase" all over again I would do it differently than I did over eight years ago. Here are my three steps ...
•Reading
•Connecting
•Doing
:: Other Resources Mentioned in the Episode ::
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App.
It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
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Wed, 23 July 2014
If you're like me you read the latest books, find the best websites, and listen to the greatest podcast about your topic and then think you can go from 0 to 60 in no time flat. Sure, maybe you understand there will be a learning curve or some bumps along the road, but all in all you think it is totally doable and totally doable in your own prescribed amount of time. In some ways that is how I was when I started my farming journey. I read about the people that were doing it. I talked to beginning farmers that were making it work. I thought I had looked at every possible angle! But, what I didn't do (and what I still don't do from time to time) is do a quick reality check and compare apples to apples. If I had done that I don't think I would have actually changed anything other than my thoughts on how long it would take to get from "Point A" to "B" and so on. On today's episode I want to talk about just those sort of reality checks. Today you can find all sorts of great books, videos, and blogs talking about a great way to make a living on the farm. In fact you'll find links to some of my favorites below. But, at the same time it is important that you understand that just because "Farmer A" is making $50,000 per year on 1/2 an acre doesn't mean that you can go out and do it tomorrow. You probably can do it, and for some of you it may happen tomorrow, but more realistically it will take some time and learning to get to that point. That's why my show has plenty of "Hard Lessons Learned" and most weeks I have multiple lessons to choose from!
:: Great Resources for Those That Know They Can Farm ::
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show.
Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
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Wed, 16 July 2014
It's Marion County Fair week for us at Crooked Gap Farm. That means that we are extremely busy and that our children are the centerpiece of the farm this week (actually they always are, but you get what I'm trying to say). With that in mind I thought it fit perfectly to take some time on today's episode to a question from Lisa on Facebook. The questions was about getting kids involved on the farm and specifically mentioned age appropriate chores, and while we didn't dig into that completely I do believe we have a great episode because I decided just to go straight to the horses mouth. On today's show my son and I sit down in the show ring stands to talk about the fair, his projects on the farm, and what gets him most excited. Of course I have plenty of "proud father" moments throughout my interview with Caleb, but above all I'm excited because of how excited he is when it comes to the farm.
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. |
Wed, 9 July 2014
How do you know it's time to rotate the cows? Can an agriculture business degree be helpful to the independent farmer? Are Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs good with kids and family? Those great questions (and more details) came in from listeners (all The Beginning Farmer Show listeners are awesome blossom) over the past week. Below you'll find some links related to each of the topics that I touch on in today's episode. Plus, if you listen to the show you'll get to hear me ramble (because I'm a bit stressed) about the county fair. More on that next week ...
:: Livestock Guardian Dogs ::
:: Rotational Grazing ::
:: Agriculture Economics ::
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App.
It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ...
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Wed, 2 July 2014
Sometimes things get a little wild and crazy on the farm even when you think you have everything planned out. That has been the case on the farm for the past week or so (or actually the last six years if I'm completely honest with myself). We've had lots of rain and even some wind storms to go along with it. The storms caused some large branches and smaller trees to fall on the electric fence in the woods shorting everything out. The pigs that just joined the party in the woods last week found a small hole in the fencing that was exploited while the fence was shorted out. We have had some great publicity on the farm thanks to an article in the Des Moines Register. And, all sorts of other stuff has been popping up from 4-H projects to hard lessons learned. |
Wed, 25 June 2014
Hosting any event on your farm is always stressful ... hosting a farm cookout can be even more stressful ... and hosting a full on seven course feast on your farm with five chefs, a crew of kitchen help, professional servers, and more might even cause enough stress to drive you a little batty! That is exactly what happened on our farm this past weekend, and although it was stressful at times (and caused me to be a little nervous) it was probably one of the most satisfying and humbling moments I've had as a farmer. The crew that came out to the farm was beyond professional and passionate about what they were doing. All of that made for a wonderful event that often left me speechless. If you're looking for a way to say thank you to your farm friends, connect with new customers, or build a relationship with the chefs and food movements in your area I cannot recommend a dinner such as this one highly enough. Just be prepared for a little stress ... As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |
Wed, 18 June 2014
The importance of believing in what you are doing on your farm, why you are doing it, and the value of what you are producing is central to your farming journey. At least that is the case with my farm! I've always been a person that want's other people to like me, and when it comes to the farm sometimes I can doubt my farming plan or my products when people are turned off by the price, the way we raise our livestock, or any other sort of craziness. Over time though I have come to realize how valuable the customers (farm friends) we have are, and also to realize that we won't have everyone as a customer ... just the best ones ;) Today's show is a little bit on the disorganized side I'm sure as I was working with back-up recording equipment for the first time. Although ... if the sound quality wasn't too awful let me know because there are a lot of other things I could do with this set-up in the future. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |
Wed, 11 June 2014
There is a delicate balance when it comes to the relationship between water and farmers. If you're in the midst of a drought with no rain in site you are praying for rain, but if all it does is rain when you are trying to put up dry hay you are cursing the rain! There is one thing for sure though, you can't control when it will or will not rain so you'd better be prepared for both options. All of this is to say that this week I'm going to spend some time responding to a listener e-mail about water ... or the lack there of. I don't know if there is a silver bullet type of answer for the question, but I do know that I've learned a few things from the past two years of dry spells and there is one major thing I will do different if we are dry again for an extended time. If you've been around the show for a while you know that I'm passionate about farming in general, but starting a farm and beginning farmers more specifically! A little while ago I received a great e-mail from a blog reader who shared what his plan for dipping his toes into the world of farming is. I thought he had some great plans so I wanted to share them ... plus, that e-mail in conduction with the e-mail about water got me to thinking. Thinking about starting farms, trying to be like other farms, the importance to collecting ideas and adapting them to your farm, and even having a farm that is an educational hub! If you have any ideas about farm classes you would enjoy I'd love to hear about them in the comments below. Here are some helpful links from today's show ... As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |
Wed, 4 June 2014
Life at Crooked Gap Farm has been pretty rough over the past week. Not that life still wasn't fun and enjoyable, but rather that it has been full of "Hard Lessons Learned"! Since the hard lessons are often the portion of the show that receives the most comments and feedback I thought it would be fun (or therapeutic) to spend some time sharing the happenings from the last week and the hard lessons learned from the ups and downs. This week I have lessons from my desire to do everything all at once, updates on the hoop building (or lack thereof), news about fancy dinners, and the traveling life of a farmer. Most importantly though I take some time to talk about the lessons learned and some very important takeaways! Here are some helpful links from today's show ...
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |
Wed, 28 May 2014
Here is a shot of the semi-finished wagon. Notice my chicken door with-in the person door. That is one of the improvements I'm most excited about.[/caption] In just over five years of farming I have now built four variations of a chicken wagon and each one improved on the failures of the ones that came before. Of course it didn't take much to improve on my first wagon which was built out of a great find from a machinery auction. On today's episode I wanted to take some time to talk about the design for this chicken wagon and why I decided to build it the way that I did. Below you will find a series of pictures showing my chicken wagon build at various stages along the way.
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
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Wed, 21 May 2014
First of all let me apologize ... somehow I got a little long winded in this episode. The subject of financing the farm is one that I'm passionate about and care about deeply because I not only want to see my farm succeed, but other beginning farms as well. So, when I talk about grants, loans, and other funding options I have a tendency to go on and on and on! What I do hope that you can take away from this episode though is a quick overview of some helpful resources when it comes to "finding money" and my passion for boot-strapping and saving like crazy to get the farm off the ground! As a little aside ... it seems to me that the farmers I interact with from day to day are the kings and queens of boot-strapping and getting by with less, so I would almost call it a required farming skill! Here are some helpful links from today's show ...
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |
Wed, 14 May 2014
Check out that picture on the left ... that's me ... and that's the huge tractor that I drove this past week pulling a big huge wide field cultivator. The good news is that I didn't even hit anything, and I helped get the field ready for organic corn (but I'm more excited about not hitting anything)! On today's episode I'll talk about how I helped prep the soil for the Non-GMO corn I'll be using later this fall and then I'll dig into a "potpourri" of farming subjects. This week I'll be discussing (not so much answering) questions from three different listeners that left comments on our Crooked Gap Farm Facebook page. The topics include: Pink-eye in Cattle, "Pasty Butt", Livestock Guardian Dogs, and Dexter Cattle. Here are some helpful links from today's show ...
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |
Wed, 7 May 2014
Fair warning ... this episode was recorded with minimal notes, no post production editing, and late at night (or early in the morning depending on how you look at it). I do believe though, that it will give you a good taste of what spring is like on Crooked Gap Farm these days. As you listen to the show you will hear about how I haven't finished the hoop building yet, how the pastures are quite where I want them to be, how the woodlots still need some seeding and fencing, how the chicken wagons aren't done, how the garden still needs work, and of course (as you can see from the picture above) how the sheep don't seem to care about my electric fence! What I'm hoping you'll get out of this raw episode is a true picture of life on my beginning farm in the spring. This is a busy time of year on all farms and ours is no different, so we are just trying to keep our heads above water and accomplish as much as possible. And, if we can accomplish a little more than possible that would be nice too! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |
Wed, 30 April 2014
I am very excited to have "Part Two" of my interview with Wesley Hunter of Providence Farm on the show today. On todays show Wes and I talk about some of the most important steps in raising a heritage breed chicken ... the eating and the marketing! There are challenges of course when it comes to raising meat chickens on pasture, but when it comes to your customers the most important challenge is the marketing and education. Wes has some great information about the results from his blind taste test and how some of the struggles associated with marketing a heritage breed (because they are different than most chickens found in the local grocery store ... in a good way). If you have any questions for Wes leave them in the comments below and he'll answer as best as possible. Through the help of a SARE Grant Wes was able to do some great on-farm research comparing a variety of heritage meat chickens for things like feed efficiencies, dressed weight percentage, total feed consumption, and even an unscientific taste test. It would not be a stretch to say this is one of the best sets of episodes to date! If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below and Wes or I will take time to answer them. Helpful Links from Today's Episode:
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |
Wed, 23 April 2014
Life on the farm is always full of difficult decisions. Sometimes they have to do with livestock, sometimes they are about projects, and sometimes there are even difficult marketing decisions to be made. For the past few months we have been working through the process of making a difficult marketing decision, and we have finally come to the conclusion ...
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
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Wed, 16 April 2014
I have to admit that this episode (and the following episode) is one that I was very excited about doing for purely selfish reasons. I am super excited to have Wesley Hunter of Providence Farm on the show to talk about heritage breed meat chickens. This is a topic that is on my mind a lot because I just haven't been able to find a replacement for the birds that I was able to raise a few years ago. Through the help of a SARE Grant Wes was able to do some great on-farm research comparing a variety of heritage meat chickens for things like feed efficiencies, dressed weight percentage, total feed consumption, and even an unscientific taste test. It would not be a stretch to say this is one of the best episodes to date! If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below and Wes or I will take time to answer them. Helpful Links from Today's Episode:
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... |