Slow money for slow food - investing in local farmers

Agriculture, Farms, Organic No Responses »
Mar 212009

This story was recently carried by National Public Radio where it aired as Wary Of Wall Street? Invest In A Dairy Farm. The premise:

…some as yet undefined portion of capital should be steered toward smaller, local farms and businesses that are friendly to the environment.

The story begins with a description of a young dairy farmer, Dante Hesse, who rents land and a barn outside of New York City and sells organic milk at $5 a quart in the city. He could sell much more if he could afford to build his own processing plant, but needs investors to grow his business.

“We feel pretty strongly at this point that there are a lot of people out there who are interested in helping, and the way the economy is now, one argument might be that it’s a bad time to be doing something like this,” Hesse says. “But I think the inverse is true, that it’s actually a good time because people are scared of the stock market, and they know that food is a vital part of survival. And local food is going to become very important in the very near future.”

Woody Tasch is the venture capitalist who founded Slow Money to find investors for such businesses.

Posted by admin at 2:51 pm

Colin Archipley Interviewed on Public Radio

Agriculture, Farms, Veterans No Responses »
Mar 022009

Colin, with his wife Karen, runs Archi’s Acres in Valley, CA.

In this audio recording, you can hear Colin describe how he transitioned from combat in Iraq to managing a successful small-scale farming operation near San Diego.

Posted by admin at 2:16 pm

Farmer-vet starts new CSA

Farms, Support, Veterans No Responses »
Feb 122009

Matt Mccue, who has been one of FVAs best examples and most eloquent spokespersons, has started a new CSA (Community-supported Agriculture) business in Suisun Valley, California. According to their new blog, Shooting Star CSA (Matt and his partner Lilly Schneider) “will be growing a diversified mix of over 35 different vegetable crops, everything from radishes to peppers.”

Congratulations Matt and Lilly!

Posted by admin at 12:34 pm Tagged with:

Benefit Dinner for FVC - November 15

Donations, Farms, Support No Responses »
Nov 032008


Your browser may not support display of this image.

Swanton Berry
Farm invites you to a special benefit dinner

In support
of “Farms Not Arms”

&
“The Farmer Veteran Coalition Project”

Saturday November
15th

Meet the Gold
Star Mothers, Veterans and Farmers

6PM at the
Swanton Berry Farm-Stand in Davenport CA

Join us for
special appetizers followed by Organic Spaghetti Pasta with Dry Farm
Tomato Marinara, Warm Bread with Local Goat Cheese Baked with Chadwick
Garden Garlic and Herbs, Peak of Season Salad, Judge Family Vineyard
Wine, Flowers and Herbs

from the Homeless
Garden Project

A fine meal
finishing with our own Strawberry Shortcake

& Coffee
from the Community Action Network

Tickets $75.00

Call to reserve
a space or for advance tickets call:

Layla 831-246-4897 laylaa@homelessgardenproject.org

or Forrest
831-469-8804 forrest@swantonberryfarm.com

or online at
www.farmsnotarms.org

Location- Hwy
1, Two miles North of Davenport, CA

Posted by admin at 1:51 pm

The Bright Young Future of Farming

Education, Farms 2 Responses »
Oct 072008

The number of family farms may be shrinking, but there’s hope in the number of young people who are becoming new farmers. A story carried on WNYC out of New York City covers small farming operations in the American Northeast.

REPORTER: US Department of Agriculture census figures show the number of people under 35 who are operating small and medium-sized farms increased 14 percent between 1997 and 2002, the latest year data was available. In a less scientific fashion, Greg Swartz has noticed the youth wave, too, at his group’s 26th annual conference. Swartz is the executive director of NOFA, the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York.

SWARTZ: We broke a really great record in the past year with more than 1,000 attendees. and historically, the attendees were gray…gray haired. We saw an amazing number of younger folks that were interested in becoming farmers, that were beginning farmers already and that were interested in activist and advocacy roles that are needed to build a local food system.

The story focuses on Kaycee Wimbish, a former school teacher, and her business partner Owen O’Connor who together run Awesome Farm, 90 miles north of the city. They learned the ropes working for several seasons at an already working farm, then secured their own land next door and went independent.

O’CONNOR: We’ve got a lot of inspired models of people that are making a living off farming…we’re not talking about fortunes, but are making a living off farming, are feeling good about it, are not running themselves into the ground in the process

WIMBISH: I kinda feel we’re in a groove now and are on top of things, and there are fewer surprises. but in the beginning it was just like…’whaaat?’ Sorta like my first year of teaching!

Posted by admin at 7:18 pm Tagged with: , , ,

George Naylor - squeezing the family farm

Agriculture, Farms 1 Response »
Sep 162008

George was the keynote speaker at the benefit. A humble man who has worked his own family’s farm for decades – growing mostly soybeans and corn at a relatively small scale compared to the industrial farming operations surrounding him in Iowa – George has studied the history and politics of that have driven most families out of farming. He’s highly supportive of the idea of a rebirth of small farms and an influx of worthy farmers coming directly out of military service.

In this 3-minute video clip of his speech, George quotes Kenneth Bolding, an agro-economist who, in the 1960s, represented the thinkng about replacing family farms with corporate farming operations. Bolding compared this displacement of family farmers with squeezing toothpaste out of a tube – the thicker the toothpaste, the more pressure would be required. At the end of the quote was the proposition:

“If you can’t get people out of agriculture easily, you’re going to have to do farmers severe injustice in order to solve the problem of allocation.”

Posted by admin at 2:19 pm Tagged with:

Small Farms as Working Business - One Model

Agriculture, Employment, Farms No Responses »
Aug 272008

Can starting a small farm as a non-expert farmer provide enough financial support to justify your effort? That seems like a good question for a vet looking for a lifelong post-military vocation.

Recently, a New York Times reporter who is a member of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetable delivery service was assigned to do a deeper study of this growning economic/farming model. His article provides some facts and figures about one New York area farm that is succeeding.

Honey Brook, located in northern New Jersey, is one of the largest and most successful CSAs in the nation. Since 1990, the number of CSAs has jumped from 50 to more than 2,000. Many of them in the New York area have waiting lists for members. The owners of Honey Brook are Jim Kinsel, 50 and his wife, Sherry Dudas, 44. Kinsel used to work for an insurance company and his wife worked for the state agriculture department.They were not raised nor formally trained as farmers.

The farm started small, in 1991, with Mr. Kinsel farming 3.5 acres for 50 local families. After 9/11, membership boomed. Ms. Dudas worked to broaden the farm’s appeal.

Honey Brook sells shares to customers, in exchange for which they get a box of vegetables every week through the growing season, from June through November. The price of a share depends on whether the boxes are delivered to the home or picked up at the farm. Members can also pick their own, during harvest season.

In 2008, the farm sold out, with 2,313 shares, 525 of them delivered. Members paid $600 for delivery of a box share, $604 for a family-size farm pickup, and $358 for an individual share, also picked up at the farm. Ms. Dudas described the price as “a good value,” and said that in 2006 (the most recent calculation) members paying $528 for a family share received the equivalent of produce that would have cost $1,861 at a nearby Whole Foods Market.

Honey Brook first became profitable in 2001 and now provides Kinsey and Dudas with a good living. It was hard work. It took time to develop. It’s located in an affluent region. But it has proven successful.

“Wholesaling for a farm this size is no longer viable, even for an organic farm, but a C.S.A. can work,” Mr. Kinsel said. “We have a customer base who’s affluent and well educated, and New Jersey has shown a commitment to farmland preservation.”

Posted by admin at 6:16 pm Tagged with:

Support for New Farmers

Education, Farms, Support 1 Response »
Jul 282008

The initiative is called Growing New Farmers. Its Web site is owned and maintained by the New England Small Farm Institute. It was launched with a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the purpose “to provide future generations of Northeast farmers with the support and expertise they need to succeed.”

Growing New Farmers serves across the entire northeast region of the U.S., including New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia, providing a network of support and informational resources for all aspects of farming, from the technical skills to the all-important business management practices.

On its Web site, new farmers can search on the following topics: Business Planning, Credit/Financial, Farmland/Land Tenure, Land Use/Conservation, Marketing, Production, Professional Development and Tax/Legal/Regulatory.

Who will farm?

There are many people who have started or hope to farm in the Northeast. These new farmers have a passion for farming. Despite the formidable challenges, with sufficient help and support they will succeed, bringing new vitality to our region’s farming industry, contributing to local economies, and keeping our agricultural resource base productive.

In the Northeast, as nationally, there are twice as many farmers over the age of sixty-five as under 35. Over 400 million acres of farmland will change hands in the next twenty years. Traditional methods of learning to farm and acquiring the necessary resources are no longer sufficient to insure a new generation of farm operators.

Looks like a great idea that should be implemented in all regions of the country.

Posted by admin at 2:38 pm Tagged with: ,

Economic realities of small local farming

Farms No Responses »
Jul 142008

When considering the basics of marketing selling produce from a small farm, you have to consider what it means when you say local. The advantages of selling what you grow to people who live nearby are pretty clear: it costs you less in fuel and time to transport them and – if you sell at farmers’ markets – to spend that time interacting with your neighbors. But not every small farming operation has sufficient outlets for its wares within a short drive. And even those that do may find that they can make more money selling in wealthier communities a longer distance from their farms.

This situation is described very well in this article posted on the Gristmill blog. The account was written by someone who works on a small vegetable farm in Montezuma County, Colorado – an area with a fairly modest average household income, where the sale price of fresh-from-the-field vegetables must be limited by the customer’s willingness to pay. But by driving 90 minutes to the trendy and wealthy town of Telluride, the farm’s owner can ask and receive premium prices for the same vegetables.

I find the same situation in our local farmers’ market in Marin County where produce is transported from as far away as Fresno – a good 5-hour drive from here – to reach the affluent buyers in this very affluent San Francisco suburb. But as fuel prices rise, the economic equation changes as profit margins are trimmed. I’m not one of the wealthy in my own town, but I have been known to pay $4.00 for a luscious heirloom tomato.

Add to these factors the location of affordable land – usually distant from the most affluent residential areas and markets – and you get an idea of how complex the business equation can get.

These are not, I’m sure, new challenges for farmers, who have always had to consider many factors in making decisions about planting, harvesting and selling their crops. There’s only so much they can control, which is part of the adventurous nature of their vocation.

Posted by admin at 5:13 pm Tagged with: , ,

The rise of small farming in the city

Agriculture, Farms No Responses »
Jul 072008

No, you don’t need to score land in the country to make a living growing and selling fresh produce. There are some promising examples right now that demonstrate how wise use of small plots of land in the city

Urban garden in San Francisco, CA

can meet the needs of urban dwellers and food-related businesses.

An article in the Philadelphia-based philly.com (provided by the Daily News) describes three examples in the “city of brotherly love” – Greensgrow Farm, Mill Creek Farm and Weaver’s Way Farm. Each has established markets through which it sells its produce and expansion of the urban gardening model is being encouraged by the Philadelphia Water Department and the nonprofit group Institute for Innovations in Local Farming.

The two entities, having completed a successful four-year demonstration project at a site in the Northeast, believe there is sufficient market support to attract “entrepreneurial” farmers to the city, according to Roxanne Christensen, the institute’s president.

The Somerton Tanks Farm used the so-called SPIN-Farming method, which its proponents claim makes it possible to squeeze $50,000 in annual income from a half-acre, vs. $3,000 an acre from conventional techniques.

“In the whole discussion of the re-localization of food, one thing that’s not been mentioned is, you’ll need a lot of local farmers to provide it,” Christensen said.

The final report from the project calls for the development of four commercial farms in the city by 2010, and another six such parcels by 2013. For now, the farms exist only on paper, pending the formation of a coalition of local, state and federal agencies whose support would be necessary before the first soil could be tilled.

Posted by admin at 2:42 pm Tagged with:
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