Farmland Report: Working Toward 21st Century Solutions

My blog style has never been copy/paste, but today marks the second consecutive time I am taking something truly worthwhile and just transferring it without additional commentary. I think the issues as they are presented by the Farmland Report speak for themselves; I just hope to broaden the audience.

Working Toward 21^st Century Solutions at National Agricultural Landscape Forum

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How much land and water do we need to meet present and future demands for food, energy and environmental services? Recognizing tight budgets and multiple resource demands, 21st century solutions will require greater cooperation between farmers and ranchers, federal, state and local governments and private partners to focus on conservation outcomes.

Toward this end, USDA has partnered with us and Farm Foundation NFP to host a National Agricultural Landscape Forum in Washington D.C. on April 7-8, 2011. The forum is guided by a Blue Ribbon Panel of leaders in agriculture and conservation and is part of the public input process required by the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act (RCA) to improve the effectiveness of federal conservation and rural development programs. Come make your voice heard! Register now for the opportunity to take part in this critically important dialogue. 

  

Charting New Waters Coalition: A Pledge to Protect Our Water 

As the single largest user of land and water resources in America, farmers and ranchers can be a major part of the solution to the environmental challenge of water quality. That is why we have joined the Charting New Waters coalition, committing to help preserve our freshwater resources. You, too, can pledge to protect America’s waterways by taking our Clean Water Challenge: Match a Farmer’s Commitment.  

Strong Economic Future Needs Conservation Programs

What’s on the horizon for the agriculture economy in 2011? Our president Jon Scholl offers his reflection from the USDA’s annual Ag Outlook Forum. The message was clear: the loss of farmland and increased demand for sustainably produced food and fuel puts even more pressure on our working lands. Yet right now, federal funds for conservation are in jeopardy. Help us protect programs that farmers need to provide a healthy future—ask the Senate to stop cuts to hard-won conservation programs!

For more information, please check this link.

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Dr. Joan Burke at GALA 2010: Controlling Internal Pesticides

Drs. Collins and Burke

Joan Burke, Ph.D. is a Research Animal Scientist, USDA, ARS, Dale Buympers Small Farms Research Center, Arkansas. Dr. Burke's research focuses on developing sustainable livestock grazing systems for control of gastrointestinal nematodes for organic and conventional production and improved post-weaning growth. I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Dr. Burke after dinner and she shared her presentation resources.
Joan Burke, Ph.D. Small Ruminant Integrated Parasite Control FAMACHA & Smart Drenching
 Joan Burke's Non Chemical Control of Internal Parasites

"It's All Good"

Influenced by 21st century parlance, when I look for answers to my "picture perfect" approach to The Farm, I guess it's finally time to admit I am OCD Weeds. I hate them, but lucky for me and The Farm, I love to pull them because they butcher beauty. While I know that weeds are plants without a purpose, a weed is a weed, is a weed, is a weed and is dead on my farm. Speaking of butchering beauty, our person who cuts the grass had his zero turn mower platform off balance, so his guide wheel cut deep grooves into the grass I have so carefully cultivated over the years (couldn't he see what he was doing...). What gripes me is that he cut the areas I told him are mine to hand cut, so keep off. Didn't work.

Please let's not confuse him with the best crew ever, Michael and the men (a rock group in your future?). They made up for the butchering by making everything else picture perfect. Michael reminded me that the land would heal (better for the 4th family picnic; can you bully Mother Nature) and ultimately, it's all good (his mantra and I am beginning to buy in).

When the occasional car drives by, I notice that almost always it slows down and occupants look. It is then that I realize how beautiful the farm is, but like any form of beauty, natural or man-made, it requires constant attention. Aching muscles, long days, and acts of God that take shape in the form of severe weather events keep the men and me busy. For the occasional drive-by who must think what a pretty place, I often wonder if they can even begin to count the cost in human effort to keep it pristine.

A downed tree, never hard to find when you live in an open area, aka wind tunnel with no city shapes to cut the impact, can wreak havoc, not to mention cutting off the upper holding ponds and channels from attention until limb removal. Mickey and I thought we had one limb, but keener eyes (and Eric's non-allergy to poison ivy) proved one tree felled the limb of another, so two entangled removals. Luckily, my husband is freighted with tons of common sense, enough for us both, so he never sold the backhoe I so wanted him to ditch for more room in the big barn. Instead, he contracted for a second barn, keeping the backhoe just in case. In case happened this weekend, when Michael and Mickey decided the best, most effortless way to remove the wreckage was, you guessed it, the backhoe. It was also the best way to relocate a LOT of stones and move around and aerate the hay piles from last winter, now creating great mulch for my eventual garden. Llamas do make the best fertilizer.

With all the goings on with several frequently loud initiatives occurring simultaneously, you might wonder what the barn animals do. If the llamas do not feel threatened, they hold ground. But when the noise and equipment even begin to encroach, we relocate them to either upper pasture or the chute, for their own well-being and safety. Sometimes they move on their own or Miss Cierra's initiative, and sometimes I move them. Food is a great motivator. But the best in the barn for holding fast and true has to be Allie Cat, who imposes her own boundaries, the concrete pads, never moving beyond them. She is stolid, and only vehicular traffic in her barn will motivate her to upper ground upstairs in her hay loft.

Sometimes you miss the best photo ops, and one of them would have made a great film clip. Since I was on the hose, you will just have to imagine the scene. Michael and Eric are holding the plastic sheets, connected by a wooden frame at the top, that comprise the flexible "door" for the girls' stalls. Every summer, we take them down and the guys wash them. Someone has to hose them off--the plastic sheets, not the guys--but I managed to do both. It really does help in times like that to remember, "It's all good."

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Romancing The Farm?

Lest I be guilty of romanticizing life on the farm (ok, I do), here's the post that reminds romance readers of all texts that reality does set in on a daily basis. Each season comes with its own particular problems. Today is a classic spring day. Our farmer plowed under the orchard grass in the pasture by our new barn. He was definitely told NOT to do that, but he did anyway. So, he's replanting grass one month behind schedule, and it may not take. The dirt blow back is almost unliveable; everything is covered with more than a thin veneer of good old-fashioned topsoil. Definitely not happy. Definitely not a farm romance.

Combine that with mowing the grass. I have, without a doubt, the BEST HELP! But between the plowing and the mowing, even indoors my allergies kicked into high gear. The silver lining: I do not have to cut the grass.

Spring ushers in a different kind of llama care. The girls need shearing, and I am having huge problems with the person scheduled to shear them. I may need to learn how to clip them myself. Not so terrible, just a huge learning curve. They are not clipped the same way my horses were. Still, I'm not a novice at clipping.

Then there's the constant shift of weather, hot and cold. My biggest concern is always the fans; when to put them on, and worrying while they run. There's also a different kind of clean up; I sweep more often, and am going to invest in an industrial wet/dry vacuum sometime this week. I do love a clean barn. Finally, I do need to groom the girls before they are clipped. And do I gamble that this summer will be better, with time to learn to wash their harvested fiber, spin and use it. Time will tell.

Is a farm work? Absolutely. Constant work, and even with a team of two to four every other week, there is still much to be done to maintain the beauty and romance of the place. I used to be the primary worker; now, even with a team, I still put in 8 hours yesterday and today. Not a complaint; you could not drag me off the farm. As long as a looker-on visualizes the hours of maintenance behind the beauty, it's okay to romance the farm.

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Horse High & Bull Strong: Another Look

[Animoto video at end of post].

Some businesses actually live their motto, and Ag Fence is one of them. I would link to them, but cannot find them on the internet. No matter; they are busy year round and work in states north and south of us. You would know why if you saw their work. Their teams have worked together for years, and once you get a team, that's the team that returns to do your additional work, or so has been the case for us. A few weeks ago, Et Cetera (in the foreground) got out of our fencing, we think because it was not electrified, and because in some places--because of the hilly terrain--there is space to sneak out underneath. Not any longer; Ag Fence installed a 6th wire, also electrified, and yes, I have the electric fence turned on. When you are chasing a llama, you do not stop to take a picture, but here is the guilty culprit, and the reason why we called the crew back. Well, at least one reason.

The other reason was a health and safety issue. My very practical husband decided that some seasons could provide more challenge than others for getting equipment from the upper to lower barn area. Challenging because there is a steep drop coming down the hill, if you do not navigate it properly. Think icy winters, wet springs. Think no farther; Mickey to the rescue. He had them install a guard rail fence, and it is utilitarian yet attractive, and strong enough to stop a truck. Considering the equipment designated for the new barn in about 2 weeks, I think the fence is timely and needed. The diameter of the posts is the largest I've ever seen in fencing, and are spaced 4 feet apart for over 130 feet, so I feel safer already.

Still, one thing leads to another, and before winter's onset, if we beat the weather clock, we still have more excavating to do. If not, there's always spring. Farm work and projects never end. Perhaps that's what I love the most. Like teaching, you catch up for 15 seconds before falling behind again.

One final bonus of the day's work (the crew arrived at 7:15 and left before noon--they do work fast and well) was getting the dock fixed for winter. Well, partially fixed. Come spring--this mantra is starting to sound familiar--we'll get them back to lift the piece off again, and pour concrete to stabilize the dock. Erosion has taken its toll, with water running off from the number 2 farm which is higher ground, over to the number 1 farm where we live. We get all the run-off, and despite many initiatives, we still get seasonal erosion.

Weathering And Soil

View more presentations from plbenton.

Hopefully the spring fix will eliminate this problem permanently. And, as Mickey would say, all of this for some llamas, when the market for them has dropped dramatically. Lucky for me, the girls are a hobby, and if I never sell one, I'll be absolutely A-OK with that.

If you take a close look, I finally have Mickey where I want him, marooned on the dock without a passageway. He did a cat walk on some 2 x 4s, or maybe 4 x 4s, but he made it back to the "mainland." Loved the moment. Am I "wicked bad" (love this expression, Morgan)? Don't answer.



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A Love Letter

Actually, letter might be a misnomer, but I think of it this way, as an abridgment of sorts. My husband and I agree on many things, even on farm issues, but we differ on one. Organic. He argues that the organic does not mean not sprayed. Rather, it means sprayed, and often with something deadlier than the non-organic cousins. Or, if truly not sprayed, you get a product that resembles our very organic apple. This apple comes from a tree that has NEVER been sprayed. The tree itself is approximately 50 years old, still a high producer. My husband's point: when cut open, worms and all, would you really want to eat it. Or even around it.

Feeling like I am riding the horns of a dilemma, I know there is no perfect answer. Here's what I have tried. We sprayed gently this year, only 4 times, instead of every two or three weeks, and used our llama leavings for fertilizer. We had a bumper crop of apples, pears, and cherries in our stamp orchard, but not without an occasional worm or two with the pear harvest. Apples were fine with limited spraying, and all the fruit seemed to survive the summer deluge, although there is no fall foilage worth viewing.

We will never resolve the differences in our approach to how to farm, but each year we make inroads to a greener, more eco-friendly farm, and that is enough for now.

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Return to Forksville

Image via Wikipedia

Forksville, PA is many things: photogenic, really rural, and a closely-knit small community in Sullivan County that nestles along (literally) the Loyalsock Creek. If we did not own our farm, we would definitely be looking to relocate to this quaint village that time has blissfully forgotten. Echoes of the theme song from Cheers resonate in this tiny place where in one multi-purpose store "everyone knows your name."


Because the ride to and from Forksville offers so many untrodden vistas, we return often; it's almost like having a secret place from childhood, or like stashing hidden and forbidden chocolate. Not too many people (or vehicular traffic) accompanies you to this treasure, so perhaps I should not write about it to keep it that way. We have several return dates on our calendar for county events, since the fairgrounds is only steps away from Forksville's operating covered bridge.

Image via Wikipedia

One of the many picturesque delights is the view of the Loyalsock from the back of the store which doubles (or perhaps triples) as a restaurant and local nightclub. Big Mike's by the water is just a pristine place untouched (well almost) by tourists. We often arrive after lunch and too early for the dinner show (Mike's band entertains 3 times a week), so we get take-out (real home-cooked food) and dine at one of the picnic benches. You might ask why, with our own place as pleasant as it is, we venture to other locales, and the answer is simple: we are used to taking 300-mile rides and think nothing of it to travel that far in a day. We have our "rides," and Forksville is a favorite.

But equally delightful about this ride is its ability to take us on a journey through agrarian America on Route 54. Some of the images captured on the Animoto reflect the untouched but I fear vanishing countryside. So, why this post on my llama blog; another simple answer. The goats you see will likely make their way to the farm this summer to give the girls something to guard. The goat lady said she would welcome my having them on my farm, so it's only a matter of time (and a way to get them home; have the truck sans trailer). And there are always the goats two farms over, as this mountain's sayings go.

Enjoy.

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