Farm Stories

If you haven’t had the opportunity to listen to Five Farms: Stories from Americal Farm Families, it is well worth the time.

‘Produced by Wesley Horner Productions and the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, and distributed by Public Radio International™’, the audio stories originally aired on public radio stations, but can be found in their entirety, along with great photopraphs from the project at http://cds.aas.duke.edu/fivefarms/

An excerpt from the site: “When we slice a tomato, open a box of frozen spinach, peel an orange at breakfast, order a BLT from the lunch counter around the corner, or select a turkey for a holiday dinner, our lives become linked to farming families who may live in the next town or thousands of miles away. By exploring this website, you can learn about the lives of five families who work to provide the food we all depend on.”

Each of the five stories is inspiring in their own way, especially when you consider how few people farm today and the hard work it takes to get food from farm to table. The series is also extremely well produced, and if you have a love of farming you will find things to enjoy about these stories.

Farming is hard work, but sometimes just getting the opportunity to farm is something people have to fight for. The series highlights that well with the story of Eddie Wise in North Carolina. Eddie is a former Green Beret, who dreamed his whole life of owning his own farm. It took him awhile, but he eventually got there.

The series takes you through the challenges he faced in obtaining a loan to start his dream farm, and how he eventually suceeded through determination. Along the way, he also found the love of his life who shared his dream of farming. Their first date was picking blueberries together.

Not everyone with the dream to farm has the unrelenting drive of a Special Forces soldier. However, Eddie Wise obviously knows how to overcome or simply go around any obstacle that stands in the way of his objective, no matter how many times it takes. Those who attempted to create obstacles for Eddie certainly underestimated him. His story of personal triumph is an inspiration to anyone who has ever dreamed of owning their own farm.

Divided into sections of Planting, Nurturing, Stewardship, Harvest, and Succession, Five Farms examines common aspects shared by all farms, regardless of the type of operation. Recognition of that commonality and a love of farming in general is what prompted the launch of the site you are now on.

No matter which type of farm story happens to be your favorite, we hope you will take the time to share them here on Farm Stories. You can do that in a variety of ways. You can sign up for your own free blog here on Farm Stories and write about your farm, or you can even interview farmers in your area and tell their stories. You can create regional sites like yourarea.farmstories.org and enlist multiple authors to write about the farms near you (a great project for FFA chapters for their counties, or for farmers market managers to promote their market and their farmers’ stories).

You can become part of the conversation by submitting your comments. You can email your stories, or even send requests to be interviewed to mike at farmstories dot org. You can send text, audio, or video clips and we will try to incorporate them into Farm Stories. If you are embarking on an eat local challenge, enjoy agritourism, or are just trying to connect with more farmers in your area, you can use a blog on Farm Stories to chronicle your efforts and adventures. We look forward to you joining the conversation and sharing your stories.

Continue the conversation. Start a discussion group on FarmConnect.net, Social Networking for farms and communities and remember to Thank a Farmer!

U.S. State Department Video on Food Security. These are the folks with their finger on the pulse of conditions worldwide to assess threats to political stability. A quote from the video highlights an interesting assessment of part of what is required;

“By working together with small scale farmers around the world, we can succeed.”

Among other things, the video goes on to talk about the increase in yields in wheat and rice in the last several decades. Depending on your personal take on farming, you may interpret the video differently. Proponents of small scale farms will find comfort in the acknowledgement made in the video that such farms are an important part of the solution to food security in an uncertain future. Proponents of industrial agriculture will no doubt want technology to get due credit for the increase in yields that have come about recently, and the video mentions. The truth is, many types of farms are going to be important for food security as we move into the future.

Whether you believe that organic agriculture is the future, you happen to believe that biotechnology will feed the world, or you feel that diversity of farming operations holds the key to our future food security, you must acknowledge population growth will have a major impact on the future of farming. Farming operations of all types will only continue to face challenging issues related to remaining both economicaly and environmentally sustainable.

Someday, as world population continues to increase and cheap fuel for transportation decreases, it may be that rooftop farms such as this one and other forms of urban agriculture will be be increasingly important for feeding urban population centers. As we move towards a more sustainable agriculture that can meet the demands of the world’s growing population, sharing stories about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to both economic and environmental sustainability will also be increasingly important. If you have a story to share, no matter what type of farming practice it relates to, you can do it here on Farm Stories.

Continue the conversation. Start a discussion group on FarmConnect.net, Social Networking for farms and communities and remember to Thank a Farmer!

I recently came across a blog for a farm that will be opening in 2010 that I wanted to feature on Farm Stories. The name of the farm is Langwater Farm, in Easton, MA. The name of their business entity, however, was what was most intriguing. Stone Soup, LLC was the name that caught my eye. Their story speaks to several issues facing those who want to begin farming: namely, the high cost of acquiring land for those with farming dreams, and the legal and liability aspects of farm related businesses that most people don’t really consider.

It seems these determined farmers will be opening their farm on land leased from another family, and have gotten together to cooperate to make their dreams come true. Joel Salatin is fond of saying, “If you want to begin farming, you don’t need to own land to do it, you just need to get started.” As you read their blog, the Langwater Farm story seems to be full of examples making that statement true. Sometimes farmers work for years for others increasing their skills before they are able to have their own farm. Being willing to get started, seeking information and knowledge from as many sources as possible, and being practical about the business aspects involved are all good lessons any would be farmers should take from the Langwater Farm story.

One post on Langwater Farm blog speaks about the need to form an LLC, and the search for a name for that LLC. An Excerpt;

“We are working on forming an LLC, a Limited Liability Company. This will protect us personally from any legal liability that might come out of the business. Although the farm property itself will be called Langwater Farm, we need to pick a different name for our business entity (I know, it’s a little confusing). Currently naming the LLC is our biggest hurdle… any suggestions?? ”

Stone Soup, LLC was a great name to settle on, if you can call it settling. Many of us remember one version or another of the Stone Soup Story from gradeschool. The Langwater Farm blog explains their choice of business entity name by saying, “Our business name is “Stone Soup, LLC.” This is partly because the farm is so darned rocky, and partly because of the fantastic fable, Stone Soup, in which a delicious meal is made due to everyone bringing a little of what they have to the table.”

It is unfortunate that we live in a litigous society, but it is a fact of life today. Imagine you work towards your dream of owning a farm your whole life, and you are finally able to purchase your own land. Imagine now you are driving in town and you run into some unexpected ice, slide through a stop sign and cause a car accident. If someone is injured, it is very possible you could be sued for anything you own, including your farm.

An LLC as a business entity for your farm could possibly provide some extra peace of mind and protection from such liability if you don’t have enough assets to cover writing a huge settlement check without having your dreams shattered. Ask an attorney you trust for guidance if you have any such concerns.

Sone Soup, LLC as a name is a paradox. We do live in an age where Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farming is increasing all over the country as people want to know where their food comes from as they support their local farmers. The very way that CSA’s operate show an increased willingness of people to support each other, even financially, so that they can achieve mutual goals. This coincides with our increased awareness that we need to protect ourselves from those out there that would be all too happy to sue us if they thought they could take something from us.

It is a paradox that is mirrored in farming in general. Farming is about growing things and working with nature and providing people with sustenance. Farming is also a business. As in any business, we need to protect ourselves, sometimes even from those who enjoy the fruits of our labor.

The moral of the Stone Soup story “that by working together, with everyone contributing what they can, a greater good is achieved” is a metaphor for not only the way the farmers behind Langwater Farm came together to achieve their dreams, but a metaphor for the entire CSA phenomenon.

If you want to farm, there are plenty of customers out there who want to support you in your goal. Just don’t forget to do your business planning along the way.

Continue the conversation. Start a discussion group on FarmConnect.net, Social Networking for farms and communities and Thank a Farmer!