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market-farming - Re: market-farming Making a Living (kinda long but juicy details)

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  • From: "Dori Green" <dorigreen00 AT hotmail.com>
  • To: market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: market-farming Making a Living (kinda long but juicy details)
  • Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 09:50:20 -0500


Somebody mentioned "making a profit" -- which isn't necessarily the same as making a living.

Profit is not a measure of success at Ash Grove Community Farm, so in that way it's a not-for-profit. However, I haven't yet found a bunch of people who are willing to communally shoulder the burdens of mortgage and taxes and work, so I haven't shelled out my own cash to file the paperwork to become an official state-licensed not-for-profit. I'm also not convinced that I want to be answerable to the State of New York (or any other state) about what I do here.

I offer equity and business partnership shares in the farm land and its harvests, and I accept labor as well as cash investment for those shares. Some people understand this concept, and some don't. Partnership agreements are individual and private, and each one is reviewed and kinks worked out with the help of neighborhood mediators (free) with final signatures approved by lawyers (cheaper than it would be if they were directly involved in the whole process).

I'm looking now at filing papers for organization as a "free association" (co-op) for general membership and different farm operations. One of the benefits of a year's membership will be access to web pages detailing the process for doing this. It's much cheaper than not-for-profit registration and the restrictions imposed are pretty much what the membership chooses to impose on itself.

Our CSA is a subscription garden in which members can choose to pay 100% cash or up to 50% cash and 50% labor barter.

We can't sell or give away goat milk or cheese here in New York without building a Grade A dairy, but goat co-op members are co-owners of the herd so they are entitled to a share of whatever we get from the herd without any government interference. Some people join just because they want to learn how to milk a goat and they like borrowing a couple of wethers for weekend trail hikes (all of the boys are trained as packers and to work in harness). About half of our goats are meat-auction rescues. People seem to like the warm fuzzy of participating in that effort, too -- they get a real hoot out of bottle feeding the little guys formerly slated for a barbecue and now destined to become packers and harness workers. I had been working on breeding of a good general-purpose homestead goat by crossing Spanish and dairy animals, but within just a couple of years it became obvious to me that rescue was more important than breeding, at least for me. My registered buck is now a happy working wether himself, guaranteed a permanent home here.

Some people have expressed interest in getting a cow. I'm partial to yaks, myself, and we're looking into both. When they hear that the purchase price for a bred Jersey (or a yak) is about $1000 so five people would have to pay $200 each up front, interest subsides again.

When members want meat chickens as well as a few occasional eggs from our small free-range flock through the garden co-op, they sign up for the chicken co-op. The price each year depends on what they want to do -- if they decide to raise 200 pastured meat birds, we figure out the costs and everybody chips in to cover them -- including payment for the resident members who will be doing the daily chores. The birds are purchased as day-old chicks (though we might start an educational egg-hatching project with the local schools this year). They are processed at a local USDA-legal custom butcher and delivered frozen to the members.

We're now recruiting hand spinners to share a few angora goats and Jacob sheep who were rescued by the Humane Society, and we're expecting to add a few potbellied pigs from the same source to help turn the growing compost pile.

This year we're working on starting Premarin foal rescue with a not-for-profit group already established with that mandate. We'll foster two or three weanlings and members of the horse rescue co-op will take part in their training. The members will up-front the maintenance costs for these animals, and they'll have first choice for their purchase from the rescue organization for the price of their auction purchase (about $300) and trucking (about $200). These horses are mostly Percheron-Thoroughbred and Percheron-Quarter Horse crosses. The more horses we can foster, the more the NFP group can rescue since most of the time they have to pay for board and training until the animals are adopted.

We also provide a permanent working home for BWD/LGDs (Big White Dogs/Livestock Guardian Dogs) and herding dogs, adopted through rescue organizations. We hope to earn part of their maintenance by holding workshops on selecting and training homestead farm dogs. We'll also be promoting working dog rescue with them.

Do please notice that I work off-farm to provide the basic support of mortgage and taxes, which I would pay anyway for a house. The resident tenant/caretakers help with that support and provide most of the daily animal care. Whether we grow food this year just for our own use or for CSA/Subscription members depends 100% on how many people sign up and pay early enough to cover the cost of seeds and put something into the kitty for pre-harvest operating expenses and salaries for garden workers.

The goats are my personal pets, which I'm willing to share IF people make a commitment to share their upkeep costs for at least a year. I've assigned a $100 buy-in and $100 per year for shares in the goat co-op. The buy-in will go toward purchase of more pack saddles and harnesses and a cart.

The adoption fees for the angoras and the sheep are $65 each, and we also need to do a little bit of construction for them. Membership in the spinning co-op will also be $100 buy-in and $100 annual.

Price for the chicken co-op will depend entirely on estimated costs, probably a simple $100 per share and we'll try to keep the finished price at $2.00 a pound or less.

We don't know yet if there's any adoption fee for the potbellied pigs. We might just include their maintenance under "operating expenses" as living rototillers. We do hope to work them into our pastured poultry program for opening new garden areas.

Horses are high-maintenance critters, so membership in the foal rescue co-op will probably range around $100 buy-in and $25 per month without riding, buy-in and $100 per month with riding. Little kids sitting on a horse while it grazes (with a spotter and lead rope holder) doesn't count as riding, but it's a great way to start the saddle-breaking process. Riding lessons around here are $40 per hour, there aren't any more hack stables at all, and board for a private horse is $200 per month and up. If there's enough interest we'll probably also rescue an older ridable horse (lots of them end up at auctions). People who are generally interested in the rescue aspect can make donations to the NFP we're working with.

The dogs are operating expenses and members of the resident family. We don't plan to do any breeding so we won't have a whole bunch of newborn coyote bait, but we do have coyotes and bears and other predators in the area so an LGD is needed here. I have degenerative arthritis in my ankles and knees, so a herding dog is needed for those times when I say it's time to come in but the goats and sheep don't agree.

Of course, if it can be kept neat and tidy the whole thing makes a very nice operation for an educational and recreational farm. We haven't finalized our numbers yet but we're looking at raising our Basic Membership price from $25 to $60 this year to help finance our animal rescue and free educational programs. Members get a comprehensive handbook, a small discount on purchases, invitation to join any of our co-ops (open only to members), and a sizeable discount on workshops or classes.

Small business success has always involved discovery of the right market niche to suit the community and the business operator. Nothing has changed. This particular little niche works for me. It doesn't necessarily require a lot of money or large numbers of animals to set up, and it certainly is a good way to build a supportive local community (although this takes a while).

I've said it before and I will believe it forever: I'd rather do this with ten people who Get It than for 500 who are just interested in cheap food.

If the farm ends up covering its own operation, I would count it as a fabulous success. If it makes enough to feed me and proide me with housing, that's a living. I don't expect or require a profit -- I have other skills for which people are willing to pay me well, and I enjoy using them. So everybody wins!

My long-term dream is to incorporate a group of partners to buy this land and other acres in the area, and keep doing so until the region is dotted with sustainable education recreational community farms all co-owned by people committed to shared ideals. It's a slow process and we're feeling our way and sometimes I feel like I'm waving in the breeze all by myself. But I still believe the effort is worth it.

American agriculture is obviously going to hell in a handbasket. Somebody someday has got to model alternatives to chemical factory farming. It might as well be me, today.

Dori Green
Ash Grove Community Farm & Center for Sustainable Living
Corning, NY

http://www.ic.org/agrove/index.htm

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