Ruminations 24-07: Friends
When people think about farms, especially in corn and soy country, they think about big tractors and huge acreages of monocrops, factory farms, feedlots, and the industrial setting of modern farming. This is the model of agriculture the US has decided to go towards, for better or worse. This has decreased the need for a high number of, to steal a Jeffersonian cliche, “yeoman farmers” and replaced it with faceless food corporations and commodity crops and producers. It has killed small communities because you don't need that many people to do it, and keeps prices down by over-producing commodities that can be over-processed into crap food that you need a chemistry degree to read the labels.
When I think of farms, I think of people. The guys their hands in the dirt doing what they can to help their families survive in this world that at best forgot about them, at worst is outright hostile.
I heard the news of Bud’s (previous landowner) health and my first reaction was a human one. He was worried about my reaction to loosing the lease, my farm and my business. I was worried about a friend that I have made over the last 4 years and the impact his health had on their family dynamic and needs.
Once reality set in that I wasn't going to be back up at Bud’s, I went into a frantic search for a new lease. I reached out to several people but no replies or responses. I reached out to another friend, Rock Co Soil and Water Director, Doug Bos, to see if he knew of any one that would give my cockamamie plan a chance. Through his thoughtful networking I got hooked up with my current lease.
Fast forward to March. I found a new lease, had a few customers hang with me through the transition period (THANK YOU) but still needed a place to start the hogs while I got the new place up and running. In steps good friend Craig Fischer from Sleepy Bison Acres in Sleepy Eye, MN. He was the one who introduced me on pastured hogs and convinced me to go for it when I first started (much to Desiraes chagrin 😂).
He's built his farm from the ground up and part of that was a hoop house to keep his layers warm during the winter and start/finish his hogs during cooler parts of the year using deep bedding. Craig let me utilize his feed and space to get me through this transition and get the hogs ready for the season.
I want to expand, but I don't want a pastured meat empire. I want to feed my community and make friends with the folks in that community. I want to inspire people to do what I do to feed their friends. Without friends, I would not be where I am at. I am profoundly grateful to all those that have helped me get this far, and can't wait to pay it forward in the future.
