Choosing to Farm: New Generation Stories
By Jennifer Colby
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesFeb 26, 2022
Robert Friedman Raises Poultry Intentionally
I came into farming really, as I got into it, being like--I'm a grower. That's where I want to grow my expertise; how to be a better caretaker for these animals, how to be more efficient with my time, with the land that we're using. To lean on people who are in processing, lean on them because their resources, their expertise are in processing or on the kosher side, lean on those people who really know what is required for it, bring them in and have them apply their expertise. The growth for me has been really needing to not just understand those other pieces much more, but also get much more directly involved.
Robert Friedman is the founder and owner of Robariah Farms. Located in the Connecticut River Valley of Western Massachusetts, Robariah Farms specializes in local, pasture-raised, kosher-certified poultry and other meats.
Robariah Farms raises slow-growing poultry breeds that thrive on pasture. Sustainable pasture management practices, including daily rotation of mobile shelters, provide animals with continuous access to fresh pasture, sunlight, and clean air, supporting healthy, vibrant life.
For processing, Robariah Farms applies an ethical, humane framework through its kosher certification. Local, kosher supervising agencies oversee the slaughter, plucking, evisceration, salting/brining, and packaging of each animal, certifying a higher standard of quality for the meat.
Robariah Farms offers CSA meat shares directly to customers, as well as wholesale discounts to food co-ops, farm stores, caterers, and institutions across New England.
Robariah Farms email address
Robariah Farms Instagram
Robariah Farms Facebook
Top 7 Quotes of Gene Logsdon Youtube
New England Grazing Network web site
Christine Jones soil health tour link
Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site
More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby
Whole Human web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm! The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
Justin Bramhall and Vanessa Rose Are Part of the Solution
The occasional summer I would go to Arkansas for a few nights when my family would make the trip out there from Dallas, Texas, they would only stay for a short period it was my aunt and uncle's Chicken farm. They were conventional growers for Tyson. It was a fun time out there, but I do remember thinking this is an enormous amount of hard work. My aunt and uncle never get to leave this farm and there's one thing I know for sure. And that's--I don't want to be a farmer.—Vanessa
Chickens can't be productive without a grain implement. The other thing is a lot of our farmland needs a lot more nutrients in the soil. This is an input into the system, but the intention is that this input is helping make our soils more productive and more regenerative over time so that we can support more ruminant animals on a given land base. Hopefully that will help the farm be more productive and profitable and sustainable. —Justin
Our names are Justin and Vanessa and we're first generation farmers with a passion for healing our environment. Justin has a background in permaculture design and education, and Vanessa is a graphic designer and marketer. We use our past experiences daily to grow our farm, and to help refine our customers understanding of regenerative agriculture, organic growing practices and how they can positively contribute to healing our food systems. We pride ourselves in providing high quality, fresh and healthy food from the land in a way that benefits the environment.
We deeply value our community, which makes our work rewarding, but we know food producers are facing some serious challenges (because of ongoing climate change) and we want to help face those issues head on. How our food is farmed can either add to the destruction of our planet or it can do the opposite- creating abundance and resiliency across our communities.
Leaping Bear Farm email address
Leaping Bear Farm website
Leaping Bear Farm Instagram
Leaping Bear Farm Facebook
Vermont Land Trust web site
Real Organic Project
Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program website
New England Farm Link website
Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust website
2022 USDA Ag Census website
New England Grazing Network web site
Christine Jones soil health tour link
Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site
More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby
Whole Human web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
Bruce Hennessey and Beth Whiting Level Up Their Business
It feels good that we're providing this product for people's nutrition, for their families. They keep coming back to us and appreciating that. We are who we are; we're the face, we talk to them, we have them to our farm for tours. That's what people are looking for.—Beth
We both have a full time job figuring out how to move this business forward that that you can't get done if you're picking eggs and putting down bedding in the layer houses or fulfilling orders. Can't do it.—Bruce
Beth Whiting and Bruce Hennessey are the co-founders and co-owners of Maple Wind Farm, a diversified pasture-based farm and USDA processing plant located in Richmond, Vermont.
Maple Wind Farm email address
Maple Wind Farm website
Maple Wind Farm Instagram
Maple Wind Farm Facebook
Pasture Pet website
Vermont Land Trust web site
USDA Poultry Plant in a Box video
New England Grazing Network web site
Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site
More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby
Whole Human web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
Bruce Hennessey and Beth Whiting Climb Mountains and Diversify
I describe farming as really just one long extended expedition. It's very much like a mountaineering expedition where you wake up every day, you're working outside. You have problems, often new problems that crop up at least weekly. It's very much like being in a big mountain expedition where you're constantly working with the weather. You're working with the people on your team. You are focused on a goal. That takes all of your effort that you really have to commit to a hundred percent.—Bruce
It's very similar to being at a camp in a way, because we're managing people; a lot of young energy, a lot of people that need training and direction and they're coming to work on our farm,…and a lot of teaching. –Beth
Beth Whiting and Bruce Hennessey are the co-founders and co-owners of Maple Wind Farm, a diversified pasture-based farm and USDA processing plant located in Richmond, Vermont.
Maple Wind Farm email address
Maple Wind Farm website
Maple Wind Farm Instagram
Maple Wind Farm Facebook
Grit by Angela Duckworth
New England Grazing Network web site
Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site
More educational and transformational offerings from Jenn Colby
Whole Human web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
Haley Goulet Educates Her Community
Watching them [kids] come to the farm; at first, it can be quite challenging. There is definitely an arc of sort of comfortableness just with being outside doing chores, hard manual labor. That takes a minute for a lot of kids to adjust to. But as they adjust, it's so cool to watch them come out of their shells.--Haley
Hello my name is Haley Goulet, I am a livestock manager at a community farm and work to educate the public about livestock farming. I am passionate about teaching folks about the origin of their food and continuing to learn the best ways of ethically raising meat.
Haley Goulet email address
Haley Goulet Instagram
Haley Goulet LinkedIn
Natick Community Organic Farm website
Natick Community Organic Farm Facebook
UMass Amherst ASCI website
Trustees of Reservations website
Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) Model
New England Grazing Network web site
Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site
Your Transformation Story link—Click here to learn more!
Whole Human web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review or buy us a coffee at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
Toby & Melissa Malandrinos Pick Their Battles
I remember being seven or eight years old and drawing… having construction paper, big rolls of paper all over the living room floor, drawing pictures of where my cows and my sheep and my chickens would go on my future farm.—Melissa
You pick and choose your battles for sure…do we want to focus on cleaning up all of our step-in fence for the sheep and do all the outdoor stuff or are we going to focus on a house that we can bring friends into? So unfortunately, our game nights have taken a hit on not being able to invite people over, but our understanding of field management and what is required outside is more of a priority and we're appreciating that. Our decor is not the best, but whatever.--Toby
As Toby writes: Melissa and I own and operate Three Square Farm. We do rotational grazing of our beef and dairy cows and meat sheep. We moved to Vermont 5 years ago and started our farming journey 3 years ago. Toby also does hay crops on almost 100 acres and is diving into precision ag. Through many challenges, lessons learned (some the hard way), and classes with NOFA, we have gotten our enterprise on a good standing. With many more years to come and the passion for agriculture ever blossoming within our selves we like to look back on the struggles of being newly married, a new location, and many other challenges we faced. This only makes us stronger and the love of this career richer. At this point we couldn't see ourselves doing anything else.
Three Square Farm email address
Three Square Farm website
Three Square Farm Instagram
Three Square Farm Facebook
NOFA Vermont Beginning Farmer programs
Todoist app
New England Grazing Network web site
Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site
Your Transformation Story program registration is open!
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show or even buy me a cup of coffee at the Choosing to Farm web site!
Zan and Kimberly Walker-Goncalves Circle Back to their Roots
We had bought this house in Brattleboro. We'd bought the truck. We bought the sheep. We bought dogs. We did all of this long before COVID hit, but then we were like, okay, this is our pandemic project.—Kimberly
Kimberly and Zan Walker-Gonҫalves were both kids exposed to animals but not raised on farms. As parents, they circled back to growing food and raising the maximum number of livestock their town in Massachusetts would legally allow. Five years ago, they packed up everything and moved to a new home where they created WagonTail Farm, set up sheep camp, started breeding for intentional wool color, and have been managing invasive knotweed as sheepscapers all while balancing career and health challenges.
WaGonTail Farm email address
WaGonTail Farm Facebook
Whetwoods Wildscaping Facebook
New England Grazing Network web site
Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site
Your Transformation Story program registration is open!
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Nicolle Ferrier Breeds Fowl for the Future
I've wanted to quit about a hundred gazillion times, a lot- a lot. But I want to do what I love. So that is the key, right? To do what we love. And this is what I love to do. It comes with difficulties and it comes with rewards. I have to be able to handle both and know both.
Nicolle Ferrier and family moved from Southern California to central Vermont to experience a more relaxed lifestyle, but soon found themselves creating a farm and business with plenty of excitement. They raise six different types of unusual and heritage fowl, from game birds to emus (in order of size), caring for each animal personally. They ship eggs, chicks, and birds across the country, connecting with experienced fowl enthusiasts and new owners to support them with guidance and advice.
Nicolle’s email
Sugar Feather Farm website
Sugar Feather Farm X/Twitter
Sugar Feather Farm Instagram
Sugar Feather Farm Facebook
Sugar Feather Farm Youtube
Sugar Feather Farm Go Fund Me
New England Grazing Network web site
Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site
Whole Human web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
Jon Turner Helps to Heal
There is a legacy throughout my family of having at least one member who served in all major conflicts back to the Revolutionary War. The other side of that coin is they were all farmers, homesteaders and innovators of their time from Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky.
In 2009, my wife and I kept grew our first garden in a community growing space in northern Vermont. There was a moment of clarity and renewed sense of purpose after being recently discharged from the Marine Corps with multiple combat deployments, that encouraged further exploration into food production. Over a decade later, we now manage 10 acres of land and implemented practices deeply rooted in agroforestry, agroecology and whole systems thinking.
Wild Roots Community Farm is a diversified operation dedicated to community resilience through food systems education, wilderness survival, and self-rescue.
We are a part of the fabric which molds and shapes our landscape, and if we take moments to observe how natural systems function- their patterns, existing wildlife, how weather moves and reacts to topography and micro-climates, etc., we can make decisions that increase our ability to adapt to the internal and external forces of a food system.
On the farm we raise pigs, goats and chickens, grow annual vegetables and various tree crops in our pasture that is managed by rotating species. Through service-learning projects with community partners, we have built dedicated wildlife corridors to support native pollinators and songbird habitat. Wild Roots Community Farm is also the host site for a nature based early education program, Wrens Nest Forest Preschool.
Wild Roots Farm email
Wild Roots Community Farm website
Wild Roots Farm Instagram
Fieldcraft Farmer Instagram
Accipiter Fieldcraft email
Yestermorrow Design School
Future Farmers of America (FFA)
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Association
Intro to Breathwork video
New England Grazing Network web site
Vermont Grass Farmers Association web site
Whole Human web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
Jenn Colby Finds Her Purpose
Your humble host has been through some stuff the last few years. At a recent food system gathering event this fall, the call went out inviting folks to tell their stories of transition and transformation. How we went from the old to the new. What we overcame, and what we learned. How our world view changed. I’m still very much a farmer and will continue to be, but the last few years have shown me a new path helping others. That’s why I’m here.
Jenn’s email
Chris Sargent email
Whole Human website
About RIM page
Jenn delivering the talk on YouTube (with some jumps)
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
Ridge Shinn Thinks Big Picture
We could actually look into the animal, the live animal, see intramuscular fat and tenderness. We also had these tools, linear measurement tools that we could actually physically measure the animals and began to find almost in any group of cattle the right kind of cattle that would make a delicious piece of meat.
Ridge Shinn is the Executive Director of the Northeast Grass-fed Beef Initiative (NGBI). He also is the co-founder and CEO of Big Picture Beef, recently launched to produce Northeast grass-fed beef for Northeast customers. He has been a leader in the shift from feedlot production to raising cattle on a diet of 100% grass and forages – no grain. In addition to raising a large herd of grass-fed Rotokawa Devon beef cattle in Massachusetts, he was the Vice President of a Connecticut slaughterhouse and founded a successful meat company, Hardwick Beef. He has developed markets and distribution systems for 100% grass-fed beef throughout the northeastern United States and has consulted all over the US and for the Argentine government on the production and marketing of grass-fed beef. His work has been recognized in Time Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, New York Times, Wine Spectator and Smithsonian.
Ridge Shinn email
Northeast Grassfed Beef Initiative website
Ridge’s book: Grassfed Beef for a Post-Pandemic World
Old Sturbridge Village website
American Milking Devon Association website
Livestock Conservancy website
EatWild website
American Devon Cattle Association website
Hardwick Beef website
North American Devon Association website
Big Picture Beef website
Alliance Pastorale Wikipedia page (click translate)
Gathering of Good Graziers Event Information
Northeast Pasture Consortium web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
John Roberts Part 2: Finding a Purpose Serving Farmers
I'm excited that the pandemic--for all its negativity--also said, “Hey, wait a minute. We need to concentrate on food resiliency”. We need to encourage these small diverse farms because the big operations, the five huge companies that sell 99 % of the meat in this country, failed us. For what reason? The structure, this food system structure failed us.
John Roberts was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Vermont in February 2022.
Roberts immigrated to Vermont from Great Britain in 1974 after earning his Bachelor of Science degree in farm management.
He managed Shelburne Farms in Vermont until 1977 and then started his own dairy farm in Cornwall, Vermont, which was managed by his family until 2012. Roberts worked for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture as a water quality specialist for over six years and as the Executive Director of the Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition, which he joined in 2020.
He continues to serve as a select board member for the town of Cornwall and was a delegate to the New England Dairy Promotion Board. Roberts also served terms on the Vermont Water Resources Board, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, Board of the Vermont Land Trust, Vermont Brown Swiss Association, and as Chair of the Vermont USDA FSA State Committee. Roberts also served in several state and national committee positions for the National Beef Promotion Board and the Grazing Land Conservation Initiative.
Roberts’ wife is a nurse and they have been married for 47 years. They have four children, all married, residing in various states across the country, with four grandchildren and another on the way. He enjoys bird watching, hiking, wood working, and photography.
Vermont USDA-FSA web site
Champlain Valley (VT) Farmer Coalition
Vermont Required Ag Practices for Small Farms
Sustainable Dish web site
UC Davis Frank Mitloehner brief overview of dairy emissions video
Bill Murphy Greener Grass on Your Side of the Fence book
Gathering of Good Graziers Event Information
Northeast Pasture Consortium web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
John Roberts Part 1: Falling in Love with Farming
We'd rebuilt the milking parlor, which hadn't been operating. We've done all of this sort of stuff. When we came to close the sale we had two years of numbers to show that we actually knew-vaguely knew--what we were doing. We were off and running. We were here from 1977. We’re still here. We sold the farm, and we kept 10 acres, but we farmed until 2012.
John Roberts was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Vermont in February 2022.
Roberts immigrated to Vermont from Great Britain in 1974 after earning his Bachelor of Science degree in farm management.
He managed Shelburne Farms in Vermont until 1977 and then started his own dairy farm in Cornwall, Vermont, which was managed by his family until 2012. Roberts worked for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture as a water quality specialist for over six years and as the Executive Director of the Coalition, which he joined in 2020.
He continues to serve as a select board member for the town of Cornwall and was a delegate to the New England Dairy Promotion Board. Roberts also served terms on the Vermont Water Resources Board, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, Board of the Vermont Land Trust, Vermont Brown Swiss Association, and as Chair of the Vermont USDA FSA State Committee.
Roberts also served in several state and national committee positions for the National Beef Promotion Board and the Grazing Land Conservation Initiative.
Roberts’ wife is a nurse and they have been married for 47 years. They have four children, all married, residing in various states across the country, with four grandchildren and another on the way. He enjoys bird watching, hiking, wood working, and photography.
Vermont USDA-FSA web site
Mycoplasma bovis in cattle
Champlain Valley (VT) Farmer Coalition
Vermont Required Ag Practices for Small Farms
Gathering of Good Graziers Event Information
Northeast Pasture Consortium web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
Tricia Park Uses Holistic Management to Drive Her Decisions
“My husband had been fascinated by Scottish Highlanders. We would drive by this place and you'd have to stop, get out of the car and like look through the woods to see them. And I was like, they're just big, shaggy horned beasts. I don't know about horns, you know, and it was like, oh my gosh. They wanted to sell the herd. They were getting older, had health problems. They wanted it to go somewhere local. A young family. I'm like, well, we're young, we're a family, maybe we could buy some calves. I didn't want anything to do with moms. I will buy some calves. So I come home and made the mistake of telling my husband about this. He's like, let's buy the whole herd.”
Tricia Park is a former volunteer EMT & Medic. She is a USAF veteran (ground equipment mechanic), serving three years in turkey & then four years in the NY Air National Guard. She’s been a grocery store night manager, legal assistant, house cleaner, insurance data processor, and editorial assistant. Now she’s a farmer, soap & salve maker and recent baker for their farmstand. Tricia is Holistic Management practitioner and mentored for four-plus years for Beginning Women Farmers with Holistic Management.
Creekside Meadows is 150 acre diversified farm in Madison County NY, in the hills southeast of Syracuse, raising 100% Grassfed Beef, Pasture/Woodland Raised Pork, seasonal vegetables, popcorn, soaps, baked goods, and firewood. The farm started as a homestead raising their own food and slowly expanded to sell meats to whomever wanted it. Tricia and her husband of 30 years, Matt, moved from the original 26-acre homestead and purchased a new farm twelve years ago.
Socials
Creekside Meadows Farm website
Creekside Meadows Farm email
Creekside Meadows Farm Instagram
Creekside Meadows Farm Facebook
Holistic Management online courses
Gathering of Good Graziers Event Information
Northeast Pasture Consortium web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
Erin Meding Grows a Farm
“I did not grow up in a farming family. I grew up in a small town in the Midwest…there's no one in my family that has ever farmed. I'm pretty sure most of my siblings think I'm crazy.”
Erin and Charles Meding purchased their 27 acre slice of heaven in 2008 and raised their now grown children in the Sunapee Region of NH. They transformed a run down little ranch (900 square feet) into their current farmhouse, built a 3 story barn and established too many gardens to count. They currently have horses, Nigerian dwarf does, chickens, cats and dogs. They grow and preserve a large amount of their food and a good portion of herbs for their apothecary and business, Divided Sky Farm Botanicals (under Divided Sky Farm, LLC). They currently sell their herbal products at Farmer's Markets and Erin teaches herbalism classes on the farm.
Socials
Divided Sky Farm website
Divided Sky email
Divided Sky Botanicals Instagram
Northeast Medicinal Plants book
Wild Wisdom of Weeds book
The ONE Thing book
Northeast Pasture Consortium web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Leave us a review at Choosing to Farm!
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
Cameron Pedigo Farms for the Right Reasons
“I'd watch the deer, how they would interact with the cows and turkeys and, you know, other animals. I've always been a keen observer of nature. That started young. That's kind of like the foundation. I didn't realize that's what laid the foundation, except for like, 20 years later.”
Currently Cameron is the farm manager of Anchorage Farm - Registered Romneys. For the past 6 years, he’s been farming the Hudson Valley, NY, following 4 years of service in the Navy and then pursuing his bachelor's degree in NYC. His journey into farming began at a dairy farm in Poughkeepsie, NY, where he found his path through the Heroic Food program. Centering on regenerative agriculture, local food systems, and ecology, his focus has been on fostering sustainable practices and nurturing his environment.
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
Links
Anchorage Romneys website
Cameron email
Cameron Instagram
Heroic Food website
New York Farmland Finder website
Fred Provenza’s book Nourishment
David Epstein’s book Range
Northeast Pasture Consortium web site
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Chris & Samantha Kemnah Find Less Labor in Dairy
“Neither one of us came from a farm family or any kind of money in our background. We've just kind of done it on our good credit. We've leased the farms that we've been on. We are hoping to be able to buy the farm we're on now.”—Samantha Kemnah
“The seasonal intensity of growing vegetables got old. My seventh year, I was like, I should quit last year. Because it was just, between the weather--the hot weather--I run hot as it is just temperature wise.--and my attitude is hot. I'm short tempered. You throw on top of that 90 degree weather -- and no rain--and I'm a bear.”—Chris Kemnah
Chris and Samantha Kemnah began their farming journey at the same time as their parenting journey in 2007, with a vegetable CSA and a few chickens. They added a few more animals (and kids) over the years, and by 2012 raised grassfed beef, pastured pigs, heritage turkeys, chickens for meat and eggs, and had two family dairy cows. They sold everything via CSA model. Due to some marketing burnout, they switched to dairying in 2016, and now sell certified organic, grass-fed milk to Organic Valley.
Clover Bliss Farm email
Dr. Dehtloff’s book Alternative Treaments for Ruminant Animals
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about telling origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
Brad & Emalee Buttrey Find Real-Life Challenges
“We did have the sense to look and say, you know, God created ruminant animals to take advantage of grass and low input. You know, if we've got a grass base, and we take care of that, that's as low input as you're gonna get versus hauling in feed.”—Emalee Buttrey
“There's a lot of challenges that you just don't come across in the classroom or the textbook.” –Brad Buttrey
Raised in McEwen, TN on a small cattle operation, Brad developed a keen interest in reproduction, learning to AI while in high school. He earned both his B.S. (UTM '05) and M.S. (KSU '07) in animal science and has managed cattle in Kansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee. A lifelong learner, Brad implemented regenerative practices, including multi-species grazing, and is continuously improving the operation and our land management.
As a rural kid from Plant, TN Emalee always loved the outdoors. During her undergrad days at UTM ('03), she became interested in ruminant nutrition and pursued her M.S. (TAMU '06) and Ph.D. (WTAMU '11). An educator for nearly 20 years, she has worked with livestock, producers, and students from across the U.S. Emalee enjoys connecting with customers by sharing the BERG story and products with each one.
BERG Livestock email
BERG Livestock website
BERG Livestock Instagram
BERG Livestock Facebook
SARE Custom Grazing Guidelines
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about sharing the origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
Nicole & Jeremiah Vernon Talk Time, Family and Vulnerability
“I have a specific memory of the first time we ever did sheep, I was so mad at my parents, we were going to kill the sheep. And then fast forward like an hour into it. And I came running into the house holding a sheep tongue and being like, Mom, check this sheep tongue out.”—Jeremiah Vernon
Vernon Family Farm (VFF) is a 1st generation, pastured livestock farm on the Seacoast of New Hampshire. Established in 2014, VFF works hard to provide wholesome, delicious food to their community through their farm store and their agritourism events. Located on 33 conserved acres in Newfields, NH, along the Piscassic River and route 87, the farm raises nonGMO pastured chicken, lamb, pork, grass-fed beef, vegetables and cut flowers. Show Note Links:
Vernon Family Farm email
Vernon Family Farm website
Vernon Family Farm Instagram
Vernon Famiy Farm Facebook
Brene Brown's book Daring Greatly
Choosing to Farm Patreon link
Thanks to this episode’s sponsor! New England Grazing Network *****
The Choosing to Farm podcast is all about sharing the origin stories, learning from the journeys, and creating connection among first-and returning-generation livestock farmers and ranchers across the US and the world. After nearly 30 years working professionally in agriculture as well as being a returning-generation farmer myself, I’m here to share stories, tips and resources to help livestock farmers and ranchers heal our relationship with success. Want to help? Like, share or review this episode! Want to help even more? Join our Patreon to support the show!
Troy Bishopp Part 2: Taking Risks and Being Realistic
Troy Bishopp web site
Troy Bishopp Instagram
Troy Bishopp LinkedIn
#lingergrazing
On Pasture 2023 Grazing Chart link
Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Join our Patreon!
Troy Bishopp Part 1: From Guinea Pig to Linger Grazing
"My buddy Rock Langone, he runs my ice cream store up the road here. Him and I were the young farmers of the county, we were the chosen ones. We had high herd averages, you know, just got out of college. We were making milk, we were doing what we're taught, you know. I went to college, I made a lot of milk. I had good cows. I had good husbandry skills, but it wasn't enough, because the price…the price wasn't enough. So then you start saying, “Well, how am I going to survive as a dairy farmer?” So we adopted grazing, as a way to lower feed cost." Troy Bishopp is the original “The Grass Whisperer”, is a “Linger Grazier” and Pop Pop to his granddaughters. He manages a hundred acres of diverse possibilities at Bishopp Family Farm in Deansboro, NY where lush pastures, healthy animals, abundant biology, quiet streams and beautiful landscapes weave a tapestry of integrity that nourish a community.
Bishopp also takes his work ethic to the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District and directs practical grazing concepts to area farmers. He also tells award-winning, colorful stories and captures poignant moments for Lee Newspapers, OnPasture.com, and other regional media outlets. His work can be found at www.thegrasswhisperer.com
Troy Bishopp web site
Troy Bishopp Instagram
Troy Bishopp LinkedIn
Country Folks web site
Kit Pharo Herd Quitter web site
Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Karen Hoffman is Peaceful by Nature
"There was a guy in my office for years, who used to refer to people like me as hobby farmers. And it drove me crazy. One day I finally said, “You know what? These hobby farmers, if they are getting up every day, and taking care of animals, it's not a hobby. A hobby is something you do when you feel like doing it.”
Karen Hoffman started working for Cornell Cooperative Extension for a few years after grad school, and then began working for USDA-NRCS as an Animal Scientist to help dairy farmers convert to grazing more successfully. She is now the State Grazing Specialist for NY, although she still reminds folks that she's an animal scientist inside.
Her farming journey began in 2011 when she and her partner Jack decided to raise sheep and beef cattle and market their meat locally. They bought a small farm and started with 5 Dorset ewes that he already owned. Much of the land needed to be reclaimed, which they did with a lot of manual labor and animal impact.
Links:
Peaceful by Nature Farm email
Peaceful by Nature Farm Facebook
FAMACHA scoring
Grasstravanganzainfo:
https://grasstravaganza.morrisville.edu/
Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Bobbie Jean Booth Becomes an Accidental Farmer
“I got involved with sheep and farming purely by accident. Aside from a semester Work Study program at UVM dairy, I had no background in farming and no interest in sheep. Then, one cold February while I was farmsitting, 6 out of 8 of the ewes on the farm decided to give birth. I knew nothing about shepherding except for the basics of care while the farmer was gone, and had to dive right into a lambing season completely green. All sorts of lambing issues and farming challenges came up and I had to just figure it all out. I had help from lots of non-farmer friends and a few matter-of-fact books on lambing and sheep health. I also spent a lot of time on the phone getting advice from the farm owner who was a few thousand miles away. By the time the 10 days were over, I had fallen in love with sheep and now have a small flock of my own.”
Bobbie Jean Booth email
Grasstravanganzainfo:
https://grasstravaganza.morrisville.edu/
Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Kate Osgood is All or Nothing
Kate Osgood of Birch Rise Farm in Sanburton, NH, along with her husband Ken and sons Hunter and Henry, loves to go all in on whatever they do. When they decided to move back to the east to raise their family, they didn’t know they’d be starting a farm, renovating a house, and adding a second child all within a few months.
From pigs to meat birds to sheep to farmstays, Kate at Birch Rise Farm has plenty to share.
Birch Rise Farm website
Birch Rise Farm Facebook
Birch RiseFarm Instagram
Birch Rise Farm email
Grasstravanganzainfo:
https://grasstravaganza.morrisville.edu/
Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Nick Weinstock Goes from Foodie to Farmer
Nick and his family have a productive history as small business owners, investors, and planners. After getting his construction management degree from Michigan State University in 2009, Nick returned to join the family construction company fulltime as a general contractor and supervisor. Starting in 2013 Nick interned on a sustainable livestock farm in New Jersey gaining invaluable knowledge. Nick is not only handy in the sense of being able to fix things, but in being young-ish while already having many years of experience in running a business, building and maintaining customer relationships, and long-term financial planning. Nick is pleased to be a full-time farmer at BOTL Farm, referred to as the ‘Primary Farmer.’
BOTL Farm email
BOTL Farm website
BOTL Farm Twitter
BOTL Farm Instagram
BOTL Farm Facebook
BOTL Farm Youtube
Grasstravanganzainfo:
https://grasstravaganza.morrisville.edu/
Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Becky Harhaj Balances Calm and Chaos
From Becky: My husband and I moved our kids to a farm in rural southern Minnesota in 2016 to grow better food. We were already purchasing most of our meat from local farmers, but wanted to do it ourselves while giving our kids a better life. I was working fulltime as a hairstylist and teaching at a cosmetology school in the Twin Cities while my husband was working at his own company doing engineering services. We knew we wanted to get away from the chaos of city life, but we had no farm experience. We purchased books on farm practices and watched an endless number of YouTube videos while reading blogs and visiting other farms. The day after we moved in, we had cows, chickens, and a goat delivered. Since then, we’ve added another child, more goats, guineas, ducks, quail, horses, bees, and we also grow gourmet mushrooms. My husband helps with projects when he can, but he travels often because his work takes him around the country. The responsibility of the farm falls on my shoulders. We have no family close by and only a few friends. My kids are my support system. Unexpected moments happen almost daily on the farm and I know that everything I encounter is “figureoutable”. We add new things to our farm yearly as well as learn new skills. Just when I think I’m starting to get good at farm life, I am humbled by opportunities to learn.
Rebel Rooster Farm email
Rebel Rooster Farm website
Rebel Rooster Farm Instagram
Rebel Rooster Farm Facebook
Grasstravanganza info:
https://grasstravaganza.morrisville.edu/
Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Hank & Heather LeTarte Listen to Their Customers
“We cleared eight acres and piled the trees by hand. Not the trees but the brush. We had 96 brush piles in one field. And we had no friends left, because we would say to them, ‘Come on over for the weekend. And we'll give you beer and pizza and you can help us pile the brush.’ Nobody would even answer the phone.”
Hank and Heather LeTarte of White Gates Farm in New Hampshire started clearining their land in 1982 out of largely pine woods and a prospective view. They built a home, a family, and a family around their farm. When their kids grew up, Hank & Heather's life as farmers didn't stop, it just changed as their customers, labor availability, and goals evolved.
Show Notes:
White Gates Farm email
White Gates Farm website
White Gates Farm Instagram
White Gates Farm Facebook
Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Join the Choosing to Farm Patreon community
New England Grazing Network
https://www.negrazingnetwork.com/contact/
Carly Farmer Sticks With It
“I can't express enough how just beautiful it is to watch the growth. The growth of a farm year after year where you're putting your inputs in, which may just mean your animals, they’re just fertilizing and grazing for you. I say ‘just’ lightly because that's huge for the field. Those are inputs, and then the next year to see that come back bigger and better--it's just so cool.” Carly grew up in the suburbs of Massachusetts with a passion for animals. She received a degree in animal science and continued on to earn her PhD in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, with a focus on ruminant parasite management. Continuing this focus, she then went on to receive post doctoral training with the USDA Agriculture Research Services. To be closer to family, she moved up to Vermont where she now runs her own farm raising chickens, sheep, and rabbits on pasture.
More Info:
Wild Ginger Farm email
Wild Ginger Farm website
Wild Ginger Farm Instagram
Wild Ginger Farm Facebook
This episode supported by the New England Grazing Network
https://www.negrazingnetwork.com/contact/
Visit our Patreon and join the community!
Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Matt Kovarik Thinks Outside the Box
“I think that you have to listen to what everybody has to say, and then just pick and choose different parts of their advice. That's complicated for some people; they just want a How-To Guide for starting their farm. It’s not that simple--at least it hasn't been for us.”
Shannon and Matt raise waterfowl and grassfed sheep on leased land in Maine. After working on farms for other people in North Carolina after college, they gained experience before heading to Maine to start their own venture. What they've created and steadily grown over the past five years is based on flexibility, high value and working with their own instruction book rather than someone else's.
More Info:
Black Earth Forest Farm email
Black Earth Forest Farm website
Black Earth Forest Farm Instagram
Mindset by Carol Dweck--great book! I've read it twice.
BeginningFarmers.org finding land to farm page
New England Grazing Network
https://www.negrazingnetwork.com/contact/ Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Visit our Choosing to Farm Patreon and join the community!
Katie Steere Finds Her Dream Life
"I get a lot of people saying, you're living my dream life. I'm so jealous. I know it's a compliment. But I'm not living your dream life. I'm living my dream life. And I know what it comes with. I know all the s-h-i-t it comes with. And it's still my dream. But for most people it's not. It's not their dream."
Former vegan and marketing communications professional Katie Steere was 2,000 miles and ten years away from her family's longtime-shuttered farm in Rhode Island. A TED talk convinced her to give two weeks' notice, hike the Pacific Crest Trail, intern at Polyface Farm, and move home to rebuild her family’s farm. After four years spent investing everything to bring it back, Katie was told the farm was sold to her brother. Devastated, she was on the verge of quitting it all when she happened upon a land linking opportunity that changed her life.
Like this episode? Drop us a review!
Show Notes:
Wild Earth Farm website
Wild Earth Farm Facebook
Wild Earth Farm Instagram
BeginningFarmers.org finding land to farm page
New England Grazing Network
https://www.negrazingnetwork.com/contact/
Visit our CTF Patreon and join the community!
Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Brent Beidler Chooses Not to Farm
“I am very delightfully holding on to the things that I hold dear about myself that are a part of my life as a farmer, and not integrating that into my life going forward, where I'm not commercially farming. I really appreciate being remembered, and that people still value the thoughts that I've had over these years.”
Falling in love with farming as a young boy on his grandparents' farm in Pennsylvania, Brent Beidler dreamed of starting his own dairy farm in Vermont. He worked on many farms growing up, went to school for agriculture, volunteered internationally on farms in Africa and Indonesia, and finally bought a farm in Randolph Center, Vermont with his wife Regina to live out his dream.
After 24 years living this dream, Brent and Regina transitioned off the farm by their own choice and in their own timing. With so many farmers entering and leaving agriculture, the Beidlers' story is a great lesson about love, gratitude, caretaking, and knowing when it's time to move on.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend!
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Support for this episode was provided by the New England Grazing Network. Join their mailing list to learn more about what's happening across the Northeast at https://www.negrazingnetwork.com/contact/ Drop a review, join our Patreon community, leave a voicemail, or simply say hi at the Choosing to Farm web site!
Driving Chat: Agritourism
Here’s a quick mini-episode I wanted to share about agritourism. I recorded it while driving home from the International Workshop on Agritourism last fall. Fair warning that it’s only lightly edited. I just came across this recording and thought it might be a useful thing to provide some background about what’s happening. I talk about agritourism and farmstays a bit in various places especially my social media, and this debrief kind of gets at why I think it’s a big deal. I’m so excited about it as an opportunity for farmers and ranchers looking for new options. I’m really motivated to help more people bridge the gap between wondering if this is a good fit for them and helping them figure out next steps, which is how the Five Star Farmstays course came about.
Five-Star Farmstays is a four-week online course that starts February 13. This course is aimed at farmers and ranchers considering overnight stays as an additional way to bring in farm income. It’s built around modules to take at your own pace, and live meetings with plenty of opportunity to ask questions. We talk about time, money, people, and bringing all of these things together. We’ve got folks registered from around the country, so there’s as much to learn from each other as there is from the course materials themselves! Registration details are below.
Hope you enjoy this car chat!
Five Star Farmstays info link
International Workshop on Agritourism
World Agritourism Congress in Balzano Italy
Katelyn Duban Connects Rural Women
“From what I’ve learned, it's always best to learn from other people. Learn from people who have been doing this before. If you can find a mentor in the field that you are interested in, I think that's the best thing you can do for yourself. I think it's super important for folks who have the knowledge, to share that knowledge."
Katelyn Duban was born and raised in Southern Alberta, Canada and married into agriculture in 2016. At the time, it was not her intention to be an active member of the farm but she quickly found a passion for the farm life. Katelyn continues to develop her skills as a grain farmer on and off of the field.
As an avid podcast listener, Katelyn found herself searching for a podcast that shared the important roles women in agriculture provide for the industry. When she could not find a podcast that met her criteria she began working on her own podcast. In the spring of 2019 she launched The Rural Woman Podcast.
Since then, Katelyn has shared the stories of incredible women involved in all parts of agriculture from farming, ranching, homesteading, agribusiness and beyond.
Wild Rose Farmer website
Wild Rose Farmer Instagram
Wild Rose FarmerEmail
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Five-Star Farmstays Course—New Cohort starts February 13! Use code FFSF100 for $100 off the registration cost before 2/1
Young Agrarians(Western Canadian Territories)
Additional links:
Support the work at https://www.patreon.com/Choosetofarm
Share the show with friends or leave a review through www.choosingtofarm.com
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Jessica Newman Starts With Why
“I really love the sheep. They're not stupid. Nor do I think they desire to die, as I've heard on more than one occasion. I do think they require awareness. They also are so instinct driven--which makes sense, based on what they are--being totally prey-driven. They will do things entirely based on that instinct. If it's fight or flight, I'm flighting first and fighting never.”
Jessica Newman of Southview Station moved back to Pennsylvania to combine her nursing career and love of genetics with a growing Texel sheep operation. She’s had to navigate starting from an open field with no infrastructure, to figuring out roles and relationships with her parents, to balancing off-farm vacation breaks with her non-farming partner.
Southview Station Instagram
Southview Station Email
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Northeast Grazing & Livestock Conference January 20-21, 2023
Whole Human Half-Day Workshop January 28, 2023
Five-Star Farmstays Course—New Cohort starts in February!
Additional links:
Support the work at https://www.patreon.com/Choosetofarm
Share the show with friends or leave a review through www.choosingtofarm.com
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Season 2 Trailer
Coming soon! The second season of Choosing to Farm is bringing you even more great stories of the journey into--and sometimes out of--farming.
We'll talk about new models, new ways of being successful, and where new farmers are coming from.
I might even ask about a few of their Worst Days. ;-P
So excited to get talking--see you soon, friends!
Listen to back episodes through Anchor, Spotify, Apple podcasts, or right at www.choosingtofarm.com.
Keeping It Simple with Jascha Pick
“I didn't have mechanical background, I didn't grow up fixing tractors. I had never driven a tractor. I wasn't good with equipment. Grazing was very approachable. It just really appealed to me. You're outside, you're working with the environment. It just grabbed me really fast.”
Jascha Pick is a sheep farmer based in Northern Vermont, who didn’t set out to be a farmer but caught the farming bug. He fell in love with farming, and especially with grazing. He’s used a lot of creativity to get started, including a trip to New Zealand, grazing plenty of back yards, and living in a tiny house on leased land.
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms
Other Useful links:
Greg Judy’s books:
Comeback Farms
Fertility Pasture (Newman Turner)
Follow the show: www.choosingtofarm.com
Pick your support level at https://www.patreon.com/Choosetofarm
Got comments, questions or ideas? Email me at choosingtofarm@gmail.com
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Ep. 18: Learning and Leading in Business with Dallas Mount
“Go and work for a bad boss. Go and spend some time breaking somebody else's machines, losing tens of thousands of dollars on their payroll, before you're doing it on your own payroll. That timing is probably somewhere between, two years at a minimum, and maybe ten years at a maximum. If you do it for much longer than ten years, you're probably going to be so dependent on that salary, it's gonna be really hard to step away from that and make some bold moves.”
Dallas Mount is the CEO of Ranch Management Consultants, which is the home of the Ranching for Profit (RFP) School and the Executive Link program. As a town kid who fell in love with ranching to an Extension agent and eventual RFP Instructor, Dallas has spent most of his adult life around ranches in various stages of challenge and opportunity. He’s learned a lot. Our conversation ranged across topics like learning on other peoples’ places, being a good boss, becoming a competent business manager, owning land, and taking time to re-create yourself.
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Additional links:
Support the work at https://www.patreon.com/Choosetofarm
Share the show with friends through www.choosingtofarm.com
Leave a review HERE!
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Ep. 1.17 Is Choosing to Farm Enough? with Jenn Colby
“I think sometimes the choice to farm also means that folks choose not to have a life. They may not recognize it as that. Sometimes the choice to farm or ranch doesn't necessarily automatically set them up for that. Responsibility weighs really heavily on the shoulders of farmers and ranchers. I think everyone deserves to have a life but I really think that farmers and ranchers deserve to have a life. I just don't know if that always happens. And I don't know if the choice to farm is actually enough.”
We can look at how we farm and ranch, we can look at all the technical stuff. We can change a lot of things about our business. But if we don't look at ourselves and actually start to change from the inside, then well, we're going to be in the same place. And I don't know if you want to be in the same place.
Four years ago, I didn’t want to be in the same place. It took a different perspective and some work, but I’m on a new path and the load on my shoulders is a lot lighter.
A little bit of a different episode today. Enjoy, friends.
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Books:
The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer
Other Useful links:
Support the work at https://www.patreon.com/Choosetofarm
Got comments, questions or ideas? Email me at choosingtofarm@gmail.com
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Ep. 1.16 Margaret Chamas Part 2 and Listener Comments
“For people who get into extension and especially stick with it, there's this compulsive need to make those connections. Now I consider myself a bit of a subject matter expert on goats, but as an extension agent, I wasn't the subject matter expert on pretty much anything. Especially since it was a crops county, and I'm a livestock person, but I was the connection finder. I was the one who would say, hey, you need to talk to X, Y, or Z, or I know so and so's doing this in whatever county, or here's this researcher who I know is looking for people to help with that.”
We finish up our second part of the chat with Margaret and read some listener comments. Lots of gold to hear and respond to in this episode!
Storm Dancer Farm website
Storm Dancer Farm Facebook
Stormdancer Farm email
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
American Solar Grazing Association
Other Useful links:
Follow the show, ask questions, write a review, support us at www.choosingtofarm.com
We have a new Insider Tier and the Success Hub is open! http://www.patreon.com/choosetofarm
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Ep 1.15 Margaret Chamas Part 1
“For a long time, it's been just like struggling to get my farm to the bare minimum of what I would consider acceptable in my head. There was no pride, no accomplishment, because before that I was failing. So I was simply not failing now that I've done this thing. I'm trying really hard to be able to take accomplishment in the improvement, and the continuous improvement.”
Margaret Chamas fell in love with goats through 4H. That was a life changer. She went to college for animal science, started working for farmer organizations after graduation, and began building her farm life piece by piece. Now she’s a full-time farmer running a Goats on the Go affiliate, shows goats, and does a heck of a lot of public education and customer service.
Storm Dancer Farmwebsite
Storm Dancer Farm Facebook
Storm Dancer Farm Email
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Other Useful links:
Follow the show, ask questions, write a review, support us at www.choosingtofarm.com
We have a new Insider Tier and the Success Hub is open! http://www.patreon.com/choosetofarm
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Ep. 1.14 Abbie Corse
“Since coming back, it's been sort of this really challenging and interesting evolution to understand how a working mother who is not farming with her partner can take over an operation that has traditionally been run by four to six people. “
Abbie Corse grew up hating cows. She went to school for journalism and got involved with arts administration. Then she realized what a lack of seasonal work and attachment to a land base was doing to her mental health. She and her husband chose to move home and Abbie began to reconstruct her relationship with the farm, the experience of working with her parents, and the role of women farmers in the future of Vermont agriculture.
The Corse Farm website
The Corse Farm Instagram
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Dairy Grazing Apprentice Program
Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment
School for International Training
Other Useful links:
Three Tips for Better Communication FREE Workshop April 5 at 1 pm Eastern!
Follow the show, ask questions, write a review, support us at www.choosingtofarm.com
We have a new Insider Tier at http://www.patreon.com/choosetofarm
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Ep 1.13 Ashlyn Bristle & Abraham McClurg
“The jobs that I worked were a pickle factory and a spinnery and an apple orchard, All of those were learning how to operate in a system watching how other people create systems and deal with the logistics of production. I think now that's made me a pretty strong systems thinker. I'm good at being strategic and good at looking at the entire large moving sort of juggernaut of the farm and identifying where it's not working.”—Ashlyn Bristle
Ashlyn Bristle and Abraham McClurg come from a variety of backgrounds in art, education, cooking, and non-profit management. They met at a dance and “have been dancing ever since”. Their dance has included homesteading, renting land, buying a steep hillside farm, and growing a business through the stresses of COVID. Along the way, they’ve focused on setting up good systems, balancing farm time and couple time, and figuring out what enterprises they’ll keep doing and which they’ll drop.
Rebop Farm media:
Rebop Farm email
Rebop Farm Instagram
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
NOFA Vermont (Jen Miller)
FAMACHA—parasite management technique
Books:
Range: Why Generalists Thrive in a Specialized World by David Epstein
Other Useful links:
Join our mailing list at www.choosingtofarm.com to get insider stuff!
Support the podcast through http://www.patreon.com/choosetofarm
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Please note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ep. 1.12 Jenn Colby on Leadership, Introverts, and Being a Real Farmer
“It feels scary to work with a dangerous animal, but it's within our wheelhouse. To do something that is unknown--to reach out, to ask for help, to admit we don't know--to go into that sort of dark place outside of our circle of control and our circle of knowledge into some nebulous “out there”, so that we can make that circle bigger--THAT’s scary. I gotta tell you, once you open that door, once you open that circle, it's COOL. It's really cool. You sort of see the world in a different way. And feel lighter.”—Jenn Colby
A fun two-solo-minis in this episode, with host Jenn Colby. First, a Chore Chat…headphones on, chores in the background set of observations and ruminations around the topic of leadership and what makes a leader, or even how leadership skills can be developed. Is this something you think about much in farming or ranching? I sure do! There are plenty of leaders around us all the time in agriculture, who just don’t see themselves that way.
The second mini is the story of my first sheep and the moment of clarity I had—after years of raising animals—that NOW I was finally a REAL farmer.
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Books:
The Vision Driven Leader by Michael Hyatt
The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer
Other Useful links:
Follow the show: Choosing to Farm web site
Got comments, questions or ideas? Email me at choosingtofarm@gmail.com
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Support the work at https://www.patreon.com/Choosetofarm
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Ep. 1.11 Jesse McDougall Part 2
“I think that climate change, and the collapse of so many of our ecological systems is the pressure that's going to push human evolution into a new phase. And I think that has to be the story. “
Part 2 of my conversation with Vermont farmer Jesse McDougall ranged a little more widely than just the choice to farm, but that choice shouldn’t be something made within a vacuum. Processing, marketing, aggregation, and broader environmental impacts are all part of the picture in a farm ecosystem. We also talk about Jesse’s use of a new, regeneratively focused funding source that matches up farmers in need with farm supporters seeking to invest their money in growing a healthier world.
This episode is the second part of two.
Studio Hill Farm media:
Studio Hill Instagram
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Steward Regenerative Agriculture Funding
Other Useful links:
Follow the show, ask questions, write a review, support us at www.choosingtofarm.com
http://www.patreon.com/choosetofarm
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Ep. 1.10 Jesse McDougall Part 1
“It was the next generation for the farm…and so it came to [my wife] Cally or nobody. And we thought, well, hell, we might be better than nobody. So we raised our hand and said, “Let us give it a shot.”
Jesse McDougall had never farmed. His wife Cally had grown up adjacent to her four-generation-family’s farm, but neither had any idea what might happen when they decided to shift from coding web sites to managing land. Through their painful introduction, they learned firsthand what happens when chemical-dependent land loses its crutch and found themselves stumbling toward the path of regenerative agriculture, scaling their businesses, and the pieces and parts needed to rebuild a whole food system.
This episode is the first part of two.
Studio Hill Farm media:
Studio Hill Instagram
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Books:
Cows Save the Planet by Judith Schwartz
Other Useful links:
Follow the show, ask questions, write a review, support us at www.choosingtofarm.com
http://www.patreon.com/choosetofarm
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Please note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ep. 1.9 Christian Wiedemann
“I think part of the reason that I have pursued a career in real estate development in addition to being involved with my family’s [ranch] business is because there’s so much overlap…if you don’t understand the land piece, then you’re missing a big piece of the picture.
Christian Wiedemann is the 5th generation on his family’s ranch, located near San Francisco. He grew up hosting school field trips for cattle branding events, and watching the increased interface between the suburbs and their livestock-land management. He went away to school, working in renewable energy and real estate. After a failed effort at a family management transfer, Christian is pivoting in a new direction—working to solve the challenge (and often disconnect) of land values and livestock businesses.
Christian’s question for our listeners to consider: “What if it was possible to purchase ranchland in a way that provides an attractive return for investors, improves the health and productivity of the land, and enhances local communities?". What would that look like?
Please send him your thoughts—he’d truly like to know!
Christian’s media:
christian@newlegacycompany.com
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Executive Link Program by Ranch Management Consultants
Other Useful links:
Follow the show, ask questions, write a review, support us at www.choosingtofarm.com
http://www.patreon.com/choosetofarm
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Ep. 1.8 Kristen Judkins
“So I went around on the farm tour and I went to check out all their barns and I spent like eight weeks almost every day going to visit somebody, talking about their sheep. Going from barn to barn I realized, ‘Oh, everybody does this really differently.’
Kristen Judkins didn’t expect to become a farmer, in fact, she’s not even sure she’s comfortable with the term, but she moved to Vermont and fell in love with fiber arts. Then the Great Goat Giveaway happened…well, she’ll tell that story.
As a solo farmer starting from scratch, she’s had a lot to figure out. Starting with goats and now raising sheep, Kristen has learned plenty from her neighbors, listened to shepherds all around the region, and experienced the full range of emotions that farming can bring. She balances farming with her other career and—one of my favorite topics—thinks that vacation is something all farmers need for their mental health.
Gilead Fiber Farm web site
Gilead Fiber Farm Facebook
Gilead Fiber Farm Instagram
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Books:
The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
Other Useful links:
Follow the show, ask questions, write a review, support us at www.choosingtofarm.com
http://www.patreon.com/choosetofarm
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Please note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ep. 1.7 Tip Hudson
“Rangeland science is this crazy complex combination of living and non-living things and people. It’s not simple at all.”
While the Art of Range host Tip Hudson is an experienced rangeland ecologist on the technical side, I was deeply interested in his take on the value and importance of “long form conversation”. We chatted about brain science, new and old(er) ranchers, who should be listening to and learning from (both of) our podcasts, and the fact that our grazing ecosystems require both knowledge and wise application.
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Art of Range podcast
Books:
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle
Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less From Each Other by Sherry Turkle
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicolas Carr
Other Useful links:
Follow the show, ask questions, write a review, support us at www.choosingtofarm.com
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Please note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ep. 1.6 Austin & Maggie Troyer
“I think for me, my pre-farming life had little experience in farming, but I think the way my parents raised me, it’s just being honest. It’s working hard and trying to build something bigger than you.”—Austin Troyer
Austin and Maggie Troyer of Crossroads Land + Livestock in Ohio figured out pretty early in life what they didn’t want to do, which led them to farming right out of high school. Austin started by working on a beef ranch for several years and then out on his own with custom cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry. He and Maggie have tested and tried plenty of enterprises and have lessons to share for us all about time, family, marriage, profitability, and quality of life.
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Crossroads Land + Livestock (crossroadslandandlivestock.com)
Crossroads Land + Livestock (@crossroadslandandlivestock) • Instagram photos and videos
Crossroads Land + Livestock | Facebook
Other Useful links:
Ranch Management Consultants (Ranching for Profit School and Executive Link Program)
Choosing to Farm private FB group
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
The Blue Buddha Shop - Beaded Fringe Earrings, Custom Designs
Follow the show, ask questions, write a review, support us at www.choosingtofarm.com
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt) • Instagram photos and videos
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar) • Instagram photos and videos
Ep 1.5 Jinny Hardy Cleland
“Problem solvers make the best farmers. If you’re not a problem solver, it makes your farming life so much harder.”
I’ve known Jinny Cleland of Four Springs Farm in Royalton, Vermont for more than 20 years, which is about half of the time she’s been farming. We’ve had great long talks about farming, business, faith (she is a Christian Scientist), and much more while processing turkeys together. When you are elbow-deep in bird carcass and wet feathers, you really get to know a person.
I have great appreciation for the way she embraced farming from a very different background, the lessons she has learned, and how her enterprises have evolved to better fit her desires, skills and profit targets over the years. It feels like we all talk a lot about getting farmers and ranchers onto the land, but we don’t go back often enough and ask them how that went.
As Jinny says, “We only know what we know; it doesn’t matter how smart we are. If we haven’t had exposure to it, we don’t know.”
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Four Springs Farm web site
Jinny’s contact info: 802.763.7296, fourspringsfarm@gmail.com
Other Useful links mentioned:
Onpasture.com grazing news & information you can use now
Producer’s Voice
Southern Soil podcast
Follow the show: www.choosingtofarm.com
Got comments, questions or ideas? Email me at choosingtofarm@gmail.com
Follow my IG at Jenn Colby (@hwfarmvt)
Support the work at https://www.patreon.com/Choosetofarm
Loving the pod music? Follow Chris Sargent's IG at Chris Sargent (@chrissargentguitar)