Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I really, really believe that so much of our futures are in the smaller farms. There's a lot to be said for not getting too big for your britches and not going into debt on farm equipment that in the end may not lead to an increased quality of the product. The CSAs will only help in those regards. It's nice to see that more people are getting back to their local farmers for their food!
AMEN!!!!
Smell that turf....munch on those sprouts!
Yes,the Heart of Maine is having a FREE workshop on April 2nd at the Bangor Motor Inn in regards to growing grain in Maine. It is done here,but it is very expensive to do, and grains tend to need high nitrogen levels to grow well. That is hard to get via standard organic farming methods, and as we all know, chicken farms giving out high nitrogen chicken manure are long gone as well.
Nothing in the information I received said this was an organic workshop. Organic nitrogen isn't difficult and there isn't a shortage.
Quote:
It does not mean it cannot be done...it can...but there are some hurtles to get around.
That's accurate of life in general.
Someone in Maine is growing rice. I saw the info Sunday but I don't remember the details. I'll find it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mollysmiles
Broken Tap, I understand what you're saying. What I'm saying, however, is that many of the small farmers in my area who yearly turn a good profit do not own a tractor, or any large piece of equipment. It is all in good management of their crops that allows them to be free of that equipment. They are to be admired for that, not chided. As they grow, they will add equipment, but only if their profit margin supports that payment.
They might not grow in ways that heavy equipment is needed. If you can net $40,000 a year an acre without it, maybe you really don't need it.
BT, there's far more to small farming than a few vegetables in a short growing season. That's another broad statement that isn't accurate. I think you'd find the benefits, challenges and rewards interesting if you spent more time with an open mind rather than on why it isn't going to work.
Quote:
We all cannot raise the same crops or we would kill the niche markets you know
Beyond your bias against niche marketing, we can't all raise the same crops. Soil quality, water and everything else that goes into growing crops differs greatly. Interest varies greatly.
Quote:
It's not looking good. I actually predict its going to be the other way this year, that is that supply will out do demand.
...If you can net $40,000 a year an acre without it, maybe you really don't need it....
I agree.
I also believe that people don't entirely understand that it's possible to do without it, and that becomes a shortfall for them. They don't want to invest the dollars, either by hiring it out or by purchasing, but because they can't see a way of NOT needing it, they're preventing their own growth! Small farming involves a lot of creativity and management, like any small business, and REQUIRES thinking outside the box. Some *want* to be able to do that, but with others saying "you can't", newbies can feel easily defeated. And who gains from defeated newbies?? Other than the "large" farmer, NO ONE. Our products become further removed from us, and we lose out.
... Hey FBK: you ever considered growing rice? I know some small farm in VT got a SARE Grant to grow rice and it worked. Their biggest issue was the farms in New England had to be situated right. I never could...way too far away from water but maybe for you it's feasible? Something to consider and research which I can help you withif interested. We all cannot raise the same crops or we would kill the niche markets you know
No I had not.
We have been discussing transplanting cat-tails though. Our marsh has swamp grasses growing fairly thick, and our roadside ditch has cat-tails.
Trying to think of what to grow in the marsh, we have discussed removing the swamp grasses from a small plot and putting cat-tail in it. Just to see if they would flourish. I don't want to see too much of our marsh soil washing away, without something there to hold it in place.
If it worked, then we could checker-board plots across our marsh, as we convert it all over to cat-tail. While limiting the erosion.
To finally one day allow harvesting the tubers. For either food or ethanol production.
We have been discussing transplanting cat-tails though. Our marsh has swamp grasses growing fairly thick, and our roadside ditch has cat-tails.
Trying to think of what to grow in the marsh, we have discussed removing the swamp grasses from a small plot and putting cat-tail in it. Just to see if they would flourish. I don't want to see too much of our marsh soil washing away, without something there to hold it in place.
If it worked, then we could checker-board plots across our marsh, as we convert it all over to cat-tail. While limiting the erosion.
To finally one day allow harvesting the tubers. For either food or ethanol production.
I had not considered rice. Thank you.
No problem. It will be interesting to see if it can be done, and on what sort of scale. Unfortunately the new Salmon Watershed Protection Laws come out next month and I am not sure how that will affect farmers in certain watersheds. I'm getting mixed reviews on it. Some say its going to really hurt farmer's and their intended projects, while another source felt it was going to help farmers. I am sure it depends on the project and what is going to occur. I can't even speculate on if ethanol production or rice would be considered pro-salmon or against....when it comes to fish the bureaucracy gets really screwy.
I like the idea of cattail for ethanol production though. I just sent out a lot of emails to my legislators pleading with them not to up the mandated ethanol levels in gasoline. I am all for ethanol, but not by subsidizing the corn producers in the mid-west when they can only get 400 gallons per acre when cat tails deliver 1000 gallons per acre and do not compete for ground devoted to food. We need to turn to crops that do not compete with food, especially now since the surplus food inventory system has been dismantled.
I did get my Dekalb Seed Catalog yesterday though and noted they have some new GM corn seed devoted to ethanol production which should boost the gallons per acre. My only thought on that was, imagine if they made some GM cattail seedstock...perhaps 1200-1500 gallons to the acre would be possible? Kind of an exiciting thought really.
I also believe that people don't entirely understand that it's possible to do without it, and that becomes a shortfall for them. They don't want to invest the dollars, either by hiring it out or by purchasing, but because they can't see a way of NOT needing it, they're preventing their own growth! Small farming involves a lot of creativity and management, like any small business, and REQUIRES thinking outside the box. Some *want* to be able to do that, but with others saying "you can't", newbies can feel easily defeated. And who gains from defeated newbies?? Other than the "large" farmer, NO ONE. Our products become further removed from us, and we lose out.
We hear this all the time, but I actually see it as being responsible and cautious. 15 years ago you had to hang your head in shame when you said (under your breath and barely audible) that you were a farmer. Now it has suddenly become a vogue occupation again and the industry is being given a plethora of farming fads. Perhaps some will pan out and some will not, but it is a very responsible farmer who is cautious before entering into something that takes a a fair amount of fiscal resources to get into and just cannot be abandoned at a moments notice.
If someone suggests a farming commodity that is easy to get into, takes up very little land, and is not overly expensive, and can be abandoned and another farming fad taken up....then its very easy to see that the niche market will be overrun in very short time as the competition will be fierce. That is not subdued thinking my friends, that is Maine farming. In my town, the average home here has 80 acres...the land base is here.
My family has actually changed commodities several times but the change came from markets that petered out. It began with Apples, grains, sheep, potatoes, chickens and dairy farming. Those were the main crops with lots of smaller markets thrown in, but this has evolved over a 250 years too so some commodities lasted a hundred years or more like sheep and potatoes.
What I am trying to convey here is not blasphemous negativity towards any market, but someone has to raise their hand too at some of these farming ideas and say "wait a minute, we tried this before, how do you intend to get around this, or that, or this issue." The best people to do that are the most experienced ones. I think I qualify for that. I have raised grains, and I have worked in small farms without equipment and I know the benefits and pitfalls of both. Just remember the following list was of commodities and markets that were touted up as being sure winners too. Now look at where these short-lived pyramid schemes stand...
The interesting farming fad that we once tried...silk worm farming (yes for silk) back in 1800 here in Maine. According to my Grandfather's² diary, it was a farming scam that hit most of mid-coast Maine.
I doubt very much that markets will be over-run, farming with the goal of profit is too much work for many, and if done the way you suggest from the outset, far too expensive. The commitment of time and energy is too great to make some even consider it a viable way to make a living. I hear what you're saying Broken Tap, but I don't agree. I find it to be responsible NOT to invest unnecessary $$ into something until you see if you have a market, and for the small farmers, that likely means expensive farm equipment. They all ready have the acreage, and will expand into farming more of it as their products and customers grows. Either way, you're welcome to keep your opinion and I'll keep mine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dramamama6685
What I can't grow on my own, I would definitely relish the idea of purchasing it from a small farmer. I find that kind of quality unbeatable.
Does anyone in Maine raise ostrich? I'd like to try the meat but have no idea where I'd find it.
I'm not sure. I know a few years ago it was all the rage in other locations, Texas being one of them. Since the pyramid scheme collapsed, many have just released the birds into the wild and last year there was a hunting season for them as the birds have managed to increase uncontrolled.
If you would like, I can take this to a more Maine Based discussion and talk about goats? The same thing happened though no hunting season thus far? All kidding aside, when the Somalians came to Maine a few years ago many thought the goat market would bloom and thus many, many people got into goats. It overwhelmed supply so much that the price of goat meat tanked and still has not recovered. That does not mean there are not productive goat farmers out there, but I know of several disappointed goat farmers who no longer have their goats.
I am starting to see this with Alpacas too. Last year at the Wool Pool in Windsor some Alpacas were going for 40,000 bucks, and now I see more and more alpacas in Uncle Henry's and in some cattle trailers. This is a good indication that the bubble has burst. I had heard that alpaca socks were extremely warm and as someone who wears wool socks year around (long story) I thought they would be good to have. When I saw the price at $25 bucks a pair, I decided to do my part in regards to supply and demand and not purchase them. With the down turn in the economy, and the discretionary income becoming more scarce, you have to wonder how many of these niche farms will no longer be around? There was an alpaca farmer in Machias who last fall had 100 alpaca slaughtered because he could not afford to feed them over the winter, and their overall value was so low that slaughter made sense. Alpaca neck anyone?
There is nothing wrong with people getting into any small scale farming adventures. I'm currently at that level with my sheep and have a farm in the family that milks a mere 30 cows. It has been said that without succesors there is no such thing as success really. But building off my small farm experiences (and tribulations) I do try and let it be known that while farming is a noble profession, there are a lot of scams out there too. Perhaps 40,000 dollar an acre micro farms in Maine are a reality, but there will be VERY few of them and I doubt its a level they can sustain for any length of time.
My advice is pretty simple: by all means try to get on the leading edge of direct marketing and niche markets, but as you create your farm plan, use the realistic projections and futures based on the typical wholesale commodity prices. If a small scale farmer can do that, then in the good, high yeilding, niche, direct marketing years, they can stuff some money away from when the market sags or obliterates. You can take that sage advice, replete with my examples of past experiences and situations, or you can expect unrealistic numbers that only one or two farms are getting, and basically bet your farm on inflated commodity prices based on an American palatete that is fickle and continuously changing. I have seen way too many farms in the 34 years I have been actively farming in Maine to do that though.
I'm sorry, I gotta stop typing here, I figure if I can make 40K per acre I got a lot of wood to start cutting so I can make 65 million dollars next year on this farm.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
As they grow, they will add equipment, but only if their profit margin supports that payment.
