Why Food Safety is Crucial to Beginning Farmers

Chris Blanchard, owner of Rock Spring Farm, believes that food safety has to be uppermost in farmers’ minds, particularly those who produce for local or direct markets. It is one of the best ways to protect your livelihood as a farmer because property food safety techniques can lead to higher quality products. It is also imperative for farmers to practice good food safety techniques because each individual farmer is protecting all the farmers who are trying to do direct marketing or marketing their products locally. As Chris explained, commercial spinach growers are still suffering from the impact of a big food safety scare in 2006 when e-coli 0157:H7 sickened hundreds of people in 26 states. Spinach sales have not yet recovered. From Chris’s perspective, all it takes is one sick kid from a farm-to-school program anywhere in the country to destroy farm-to-table programs everywhere.

So what can farmers’ do to minimize the risk of unintentional contamination of their products? Most food safety techniques are really simple according to Chris.

• Install a hand wash station near your washing and packing area. All you have to have is running water, disposable towels and good soap. This can cut down on any cross-contamination between products and any unintentional contamination from workers.

• Keep sick people off the farm – or at least in the farm house. People suffering from gastrointestinal illnesses may not mean to bring the germs on the farm, but they do carry it on clothing and skin.

• Maintain your cold chain. The rate of biological activity doubles with every 10⁰ increase in temperature. Keeping produce at the right temperature and humidity maintains quality as well as protects against pathogen contamination.

• Test your water often. Maintaining water quality for producing or washing products is extremely important because many pathogens can be water-borne. Testing just once a year can miss changes in the environment that can contribute to pathogens in the water (e.g. moving animals around on a nearby farm on a seasonal basis may impact your water source.) Chris recommends quarterly testing of water.

• Shud is not good! This combination of s*#t and mud can be deadly to vegetable and fruit products. Don’t move from livestock operations to vegetable operations on the same farm or neighboring farms without a major clean-up of boots, clothing and skin.

For more information on ways to protect your products from contamination, see Kansas State University’s Food*A*Syst manual that contains checklists of procedures that you can implement on your farm to reduce your risk of food safety contamination.  (by Mary Hendrickson)

Estimating Income to Achieve Farm Goals

Last week in Wisconsin, I had the pleasure of hearing Chris Blanchard of Rock Spring Farm in northeast Iowa. Chris has a very successful vegetable farm that includes a CSA, sales at farmers’ markets and wholesale sales to grocery stores and distributors in the Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota tri-state region. His advice to farmers – be “big enough to achieve the income you want.” Starting too small can wear you out as you try to work a full-time job and farm part-time. Too big can bring its own set of headaches.

He advises new farmers to think about what it will take to achieve “your long-term goals.” How much profit will you need? Are you looking to pay your bills only? Or are you also focusing on putting something aside for retirement, paying for college for your kids, having health insurance? Most farmers would say yes, we need all those things. What might not be so important is a new home and a new car – perhaps you just need a car that starts!

Chris Blanchard’s point is that you need to know what kind of income you need to achieve the goals you set. From there you can figure out how much product you need to grow. For instance, if you want an income of $50,000 per year, assuming that you are going to clear about 40% on what your farm produces, you will need to sell $125,000 worth of products. If you want to do any improvements, you’ll need to add $10,000 for capital investments per year. That means that you need about $135,000 in gross income. So if you can gross about $10,000/acre, you’ll need 13.5 acres of crops. Another way to think about it is in the amount of bunches you need to sell each Saturday at the market. If you are making $2/bunch on carrots for instance, you’ll need to sell 1,500 bunches to make a goal of $3,000 at the farmers’ market.

To sum it up -- beginning farmers need to consider what goals they are trying to achieve, and then figure out the income stream needed to achieve those goals.

Chris Blanchard’s presentation will be available at http://fyi.uwex.edu/aic/local-food/scaling-up/  (by Mary Hendrickson)

Pasture-Raised Heritage Breed Turkeys

SARE Youth Grant Recipient YNC08-001
Missouri Youth – Will King

Objective: To hatch and raise my own turkeys out of my existing birds, to market my birds to various ethnic groups that come to our farm to buy livestock and poultry, and to cook one of my birds and do a taste test and survey about how the bird tasted compared to store-bought turkey.

Results: Raising heritage turkeys outdoors on pasture reduces stress and is a healthier environment for them. They’re better adapted to outdoor life. Before receiving this grant, I had two different varieties of heritage breed turkeys, but had not tried to raise any on my own. When my original turkey hens started laying eggs, I put them in an incubator. I also put eggs under broody chicken hens and, toward the end of the laying season, let two turkey hens set on a clutch of eggs.

None of the incubated eggs or those under the chickens hatched. Two eggs under the turkey hens hatched, but neither poult lived past day one. I’ve since learned that to increase hatchability of eggs, I need to increase the feed protein level from the 16 percent I was feeding to 20 percent. I need to make sure eggs cool to 50 degrees before putting them into an incubator, and to keep setting turkey hens where the hatchlings can’t wander off and get chilled.

Since none of my eggs hatched, the only young birds I had were the 16 Royal Palm turkeys I bought with the grant money. I’ve kept back a Royal Palm tom and four Royal Palm hens to use as breeders. 

I processed a pasture-raised heritage breed tom, which my mother served at two Missouri Extension Council dinners. I surveyed those attending. They said they thought it tasted better than a store-bought turkey. Most said they’d be willing to pay a little more for a local, sustainably raised bird.

There is demand for this type of product. I am going to try this project again, and will be printing a sales brochure, and planting disease-resistance dwarf fruit trees in my turkey pasture.

Can Straw Mulch and a High Tunnel Be Used to Better Grow Ginger in the Midwest?

SARE Farmer/Rancher Grant Recipient FNC07-650
Kansas City, KS – Pov Huns

Objective: To determine whether ginger production can be improved on an urban Kansas City acreage through use of straw mulch, a high tunnel, and other practices that would allow producers to forgo the usual 10-year crop rotation system.
 

Results: With my wife, Chaxamone Lor, I grew specialty vegetables and herbs for years in Fresno, CA, but we have moved to Kansas City, KS, where we continue to grow produce on a 3.95-acre urban site. We serve a diverse customer base including immigrants from Africa, the Middle East, South America, the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands, and Asia, as well as locals interested in healthy eating.  Our produce is sold at the City Market in Kansas City, MO.
 
We want to meet growing demand by altering production practices to extend the growing season. 
 
Ginger does not grow well in the Midwest because of the short growing season. We set out to see whether straw mulch and a high tunnel could be used to extend the season by increasing early spring temperatures. I also wanted to grow ginger without the commonly used 10-year crop rotation, which prevents the development of nematodes and rot before the ginger matures.

Because ginger grows slowly, has a limited root system, and is subject to nematode damage, I sterilized the ginger seed pieces with a bleach solution, dried them, and planted them in plastic bags filled with peat moss to conserve moisture.  To achieve sprouting, I placed the bags in a 75 to 80 degree environment.

After sprouting and gardening, the rhizomes were transplanted into raised beds made of cinder blocks and filled with peat soil and covered with straw. There, they grew to maturity and were harvested.

I found that plants grown on the outer edges of the raised beds were susceptible to excessive moisture and fluctuating temperatures, resulting in smaller roots.  However, even in the outer bed, results were within expectations, with every 0.1 pound of rhizomes planted producing a half pound to 2 pounds during the second year of production. 

In the inner bed, results were much better: Every 0.1 pound of rhizomes produced 1.5 to 5 pounds in Year 2.  Nematodes were not a problem.

One challenge we ran into: Other local farmers adopted our production methods, but as supply increased, prices plummeted, making it difficult to meet expenses.

Still, our project showed that these methods could help local specialty farmers meet increasing demand for their produce.   

Planting and Growing Giant Miscanthus as a Bioenergy Crop in Missouri

SARE Farmer/Rancher Grant Recipient FNC07-692
Kingsville, MO – Steve Flick

Objective: To determine the commercial viability of giant miscanthus as a bioenergy crop.

Results: Interest in developing energy from biomass continues to grow. Giant miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus) is a vigorous perennial grass that can grow as tall as 14 feet. It has tremendous potential for bioenergy because it recycles nutrients, has a significant yield, has little or no need for chemical weed control or fertilizer, and will produce for many years.

I decided to develop fieldscale plots of giant miscanthus and gather data to identify the suitability of Missouri soils for the grass and evaluate the production potential for our region.

In 2007 I began by handplanting 5,000 plants, covering 15,000 square feet on my farm. Later, I modified a bermudagrass sprigger to plant rhizomes. Giant miscanthus thrives in hot, wet conditions.

Our two harvests so far were 6.7 tons in 2008 and 11.7 tons in 2009, more than the harvest from traditional switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) grown in the area. We processed one crop of round bales into biomass pellets, which were used at a local utility to create electricity.  Planting giant miscanthus is very labor intensive, and I believe most farmers who grow it will plant it in small fields (less than 10 acres). If purchased from a local grower, the rhizomes will cost about $5,500 per acre to establish.

I believe giant miscanthus is most likely to be of interest to young, beginning farmers; displaced tobacco farmers; and truck gardeners.  Small-city farmers might also be interested.

Future success will depend on building more biorefineries that can process giant miscanthus.  These plants can provide jobs in rural America. Missouri has one biorefinery, the Show Me Energy Cooperative, which licenses technologies to other producer groups so they can emulate our model. With today’s tight capital markets, I see these plans being developed on a small scale – fewer than 150,000 tons per year.  Processing biomass is not easy, but the demand for renewable fuel is growing, especially for European export.

Natural Fiber Socks

SARE Farmer/Rancher Grant Recipient FNC01-349
Alton, MO – Nancy Barnett

Objective: To promote the production and use of wool, mohair, and Angora rabbit fiber to produce natural fiber socks. This is a sustainable agricultural operation because it turns natural fiber, a renewable resource, into usable products.

Results: I have a 12-acre farm in southeast Missouri on which I raise sheep, Angora goats, and Angora rabbits, practicing sustainable production by allowing the livestock to rotationally graze.  We needed an outlet for the animals’ natural fiber of wool, angora, and mohair to produce more revenue for the farm and make the animals more cost efficient. I have been a hand spinner for 25 years and have sold my natural fiber to other spinners for almost that long.

However, there is only so much fiber that one can sell, so we began to look for a product that would use the fiber and generate income. Our solution: natural fiber socks.

We obtained a commercial sock machine needed to process our fiber into a commercial product – socks labeled as 100 percent wool, 15 percent Angora and 85 percent wool, and 25 percent mohair and 75 percent wool. They sell for $10, $18 and $12 a pair, respectively. The profit on the Angora/wool socks is the greatest, averaging 75 percent markup if I do the washing of the wool before sending it to the mill and also if I am able to deliver the fiber to the mill owner at one of the fiber events I attend. I have many repeat customers who look for me at the fiber events I attend every year.

Response has been very good. Farmers, fishermen, hunters, and hikers who need very warm socks have been a good customer base. I attend craft and fiber festivals to promote my products and was interviewed by Successful Farming Radio.

River Hills Purebred Poultry Marketing Alliance Research Project

FNC07-687 Silex, MO – Paul J. and Kelly Harter, Kelly and Phyllis Klober, Nathan and Sarah Price, Mark and Michelle Wagstaff

Objective: Local farmers supplying eggs to the River Hills Poultry Project Alliance (RHPA) project have been maintaining laying flocks and producing eggs for years, but the market for those eggs has been limited by the lack of a delivery system to connect producers and consumers. The project seeks to develop a marketing approach for both eggs and live chicks to expand opportunities for the alliance’s producer members, who specialize in heirloom poultry breeds.

Results: Four families operating small poultry operations in east central Missouri specialize in heirloom poultry breeds such as Orpingtons and Delawares, which used to be common on family farms but now are considered rare and endangered. These birds are hardy and well-adapted to the traditional, natural production methods these small farmers prefer.

Initially, the alliance conducted surveys on breed preferences, existing ventures, marketing methods and outlets, and seed stock sources and pricing. The surveys showed a preference for classic, heritage breeds; a desire for better seed stock; and a strong interest in buying from farmers rather than commercial hatcheries. One factor the surveys didn’t initially reflect is that many of the farmers supplying table eggs use hybrid layers primarily, while farmers maintaining flocks for both table eggs and baby chicks are using heirloom breeds.  This information represents the reality of certain trends that currently exist among small producers, each having specific goals and management systems.

The alliance’s local table egg marketing efforts, headed up by Mark and Michelle Wagstaff, have moved beyond the initial grant support and were selfsustaining in 2009, with a steady supply of 300 dozen eggs every week provided to customers in the St. Louis, MO, area. Deliveries for the 2010 season have increased to over 500 dozen per week. While many Community Supported Agriculture ventures require customers to pick up their goods, the alliance provides weekly deliveries, which has led to increased orders from RHPA.

The increased success of the table egg market has enabled the alliance to solve one of its initial challenges – the high cost of shipping egg cartons.  Now that the alliance is buying in bulk, its supplier is waiving shipping costs.

Interest in locally produced poultry and eggs is even higher than the RHPA expected.  Urban consumers have been especially interested. 

A second portion of the project – the shipping of live chicks – is already underway in earnest in 2010, with an initial order for 25 Delaware chicks sent to a buyer in Tennessee. Individual RHPA members have started websites to encourage sales. Local chick sales have been steady, with customers willing to pick up orders themselves, enjoying a farm visit in the process. This type of “hands-on” approach brings buyers and producers together on a personal level, something that is missing from the majority of chick orders today.

Plans for 2010 and 2011 also are to develop a local hatchery for heritage breeds.