DDFJ_11-12-2009

Why don't I write everyday, like I was for a while? Hmm, that is an interesting question indeed. I guess it is because I lack discipline, or maybe because I feel I have other things that I am doing that seem to be between me and the writing. I used to write a lot, but now it seems it is really sporadic. I really need to write more often.

So anyway, what's going on with the farm. Well not much to report on the farm really, at least as it stands now. We have been offered a farm lock stock and barrel so to speak. Well the cows, and feed, plus a lease on the barn, at least until spring, when we will buy a near by farm and continue from there. Now I only have to get the money to buy everything, and I need to move quickly, so I can get this running on before winter really hits hard. What I need is for someone to come in as my partner with some money and good credit, so that we can get this show going. I have the contract to sell the milk, and the offer to buy the farm, now I need a good partner who is willing to come on with some cash and run with the plan. Okay so I am a little short on the plan now, as the previous plan does not apply, and I haven't really wrote a new one yet.

This is an opportunity for the FSA to actually help me out, but it is doubtful that they will, even though they indicate that they have the farm start type of program just for such a situation. I can only hope that they will see the opportunity and understand that the loss of another farm will not be good for the economy, and if we don't buy it, it will be lost.

As far as the future is concerned, well that is still up to the wind. No really, once we have purchased this farm, we will operate it from its current location until spring, and then we will have to refinance to buy the farm down the road. When we buy that farm, we will need to cut cost every where, so we will look to building wind power on the farm to cut our input cost. We have other plans though for the farm. We will increase the diversity by many fold to decrease our exposure to economic factors. We will buy 10 Tamrac sows and a boar to produce pork and piglets (which will be increasing in demand in the near future). We will buy an additional 9 Sanien goats, and 10 Oberhalsi goats (does) and a few Nubian goats to round out our dairy herd and for pasture health. We will buy 40 sheep to provide fleeces and lambs for market. We will also fill out our chickens with about 60 more standard egg breeds, although for the most part we will be looking at heritage breeds. We will also purchase about 10 Muscovy ducks, added to our current ducks and chickens for pest control and pasture health.

We will also be buying Milking Devon cattle, Kerry Cattle, and a few other dairy cattle, to begin to build the dairy herd towards 100 head of cattle by January of 2011. To assist in the animal control we will be looking to acquire two more boarder collies (females only) and at least two horses, Belgian would be preferred as I would like them for farm work, although we will also use a tractor for some of the work, we will do as much as we can with the horses.

I still have some pretty ambitious plans, but we can do this if we can just get started. The hardest part seems to be finding a partner that will ride with us to make this happen. I am not asking for much, but I am not doing much to find that partner either, so I guess that may be why we haven't found them yet. I have to be more social, something I am not very good at. I need to write more, in the hope that maybe I can write enough to support the farm until the farm can support its own growth.

Well that's all for now, have a pleasant day.

Farm Concept Development Program rev1

I am still working on the farm. As of right now I am still researching land and markets around the Rochester, NY area. I currently am living in Penfield, NY a suburb of Rochester, NY. I am looking for some property to build a farm on. Other details I am still trying work out is what will the farm be. Certainly more than the average farm. It will be based on sustainability, that is certain. I am looking at the potential of local marketability as I strongly believe that is the direction of survival for agricultural and society in general for the future.

Specifically, if the farm can not find sufficient market locally to support its own survival, it is therefore not sustainable, and therefore not viable.

I am focussed on dairy as the basis of the market of the farm, as this is the primary function of the farm, but not the exclusive product of the farm. Also in this is that I do not consider dairy to be only the basic dairy cows common to dairy production. I am looking into other breeds of cattle (especially endangered and rare breeds), goats, sheep, lama, and perhaps other breeds of animals. The concept is diversity to some degree insures against potential loss due to variations in the market and the climate as well. However the basis also considers that the basic income of the farm is due to daily revenue generated through direct marketing of products produced on the farm to the local community.

My basis is that the well managed and organized sustainable farm can provide not only a few basic products, but most of the products needed by the community, and that if such a farm were to make connections to other local agricultural operations the entire needs of the community can be met by the agricultural operations, including the basis for employment.

My concept includes processing of finished goods on the farm (or in near vicinity) to provide many processed goods usually purchased in stores sourced most often from foreign sources. That is not to say that all needs can be satisfied by the farm (or farms), but that most could be. Also the farm manager can source many other materials that would be used in processing through trade links, thereby suppling a greater diversity to the offerings they provide.

One key service that the farm should provide is personal service. My concept includes a delivery service, that takes the burden off consumers and customers of the farm products. Each customer in the community will be able to receive products produced by the farm (some will be provided daily) delivered to their homes. I am currently working out the details of how this program would work, and how it can be facilitated in a profitable manor. Included in this research is a method that this can be facilitated in a sustainable manor. Some considerations that I am considering is a bio-diesel powered delivery service, and other forms of alternative energy transportation.

Important to this research is location. I am looking for a location that is convenient to water, specifically a lake, which would provide a larger seasonal population providing a spike in demand during the peak season of the farm.

More notes on Agriculture Project 2008

Well now I am looking at animals.

In previous post I might have talked about animals, but today I am going to just look at how many animals we are going to need in the first three years to make the Farm profitable, while maintaining sustainability. Usually I talk a lot about the why and all that, but for now this is just a list, more will come later.

Animal	Min	Max
Draft Horse	2	4
Med. Draft Horse	4	6
Dairy Cattle	20	110
Beef Cattle	10	80
Alpaca	10	40
Swine	10	40
Sheep	10	80
Goat	10	60
Emu	8	20
Chicken	30	100+
Duck	10	40
Other Foul	10	20

I missed a few and I didn't include cats, rabbits, dogs, or other various animals because they are not specifically part of the breeding stocks, even if they may be breeding. One important animal to note is the Border Collies. We will start with four, three bitches and a sire, but we will add as the herds get larger. We may start with slightly smaller herds and not all the animals presented, but this should be the minimums we are striving for after three years. The objective is to provide sufficient stock for our own needs, surplus for the community, and enough offspring to trade with other communities to keep the stock fresh. We should also look to conservation of the breeds, and helping others get into farming by providing breeding stocks of heirloom animals at reasonable cost. We should also consider work exchange for equity in stocks, but this is going into to much at this point, these concepts will be covered later. For now, this list will be used to determine the base cost of stocking our Farm, and what stocks we need to build over the first three years to realize a profitable return on investment.

More to Come...

James