And: What the heck is the Farm Bureau again????
I have tried to get this answer from my Country Insurance guy (not CountryWide) since they are backed by the Farm Bureau. His answer involved a historical set up: “back in the day,” “farmers helping farmers...”
By joining, I do know I get a 30% discount on eyeglasses.
I think that commodity farmers, many of them having been in the biz for all of their adult lives (40-60 years), are committed to the system largely due to the size of their investment. The investment in machinery and land as a commodity farmer is gargantuan. Legacy is really the only way to get in the game today. For the committed commodity farmer, asking him to change his style of farming might be like asking Todd to stop skateboarding. Or something like that. There ARE organizations out there trying to persuade farmers to grow organic commodities, one being a certifying agency in Wisconsin called MOSA. They help the farmer see marketing opportunities outside of the status quo. Way outside. Like Europe.
AS FOR NEWS ON THE FARM
Chickens are doing fine, by the way, as long as the dog is accompanied by a watchful human. They are giving us about 9 eggs a day.
Frost last week took out our bed of chard. If we don’t see some sun, we may not have more lettuce for market. Come out sun!
COOPERATING WITH DEER CREEK FARM
We were contacted earlier this season by a woman named Lorene. She said she had met our neighbor, the one with the horses and more importantly the horse manure, at jury duty. She said she and her brother-in-law had their own organic farm and we should stop by the Manteno market someday to say hello.
When Todd and I got the chance we did stop by. Deer Creek looked beautiful at market, everything carefully and prettily presented. We liked them immediately.
Todd decided to visit the farm and meet Jeff, the Head Grower, the “Todd” of the farm. He learned that Deer Creek was also in its third year, like us, and organic, like us, struggling with the same issue shared by all small business owners: how to make it work. Turns out, Deer Creek has distribution issues this year, NOT production issues. Jeff set up his operation with a full infrastructure from the get-go, including many paid laborers, an irrigation system with organic fertilizer and weeding implements for the tractor. But, as Lorene lamented, many of the plants were waiting in the ground with nowhere to go.
In the final days of market, as Peasants’ Plot faces its own issues (production-related instead of distribution-related), please welcome Jeff’s carrots, beets, and kohlrabi to market. Be assured of the same quality as always: harvested within 48 hours, held in coolers, no synthetic chemicals anywhere.
