Priorities

ReThinking Baker Heritage Farms

ReSetting Priorities

The first step in our process of ReThinking Baker Heritage Farms is to re-set our priorities.

One of the issues that was burying us was our efforts to get the farm fully up and running as soon as possible. This was obviously the wrong approach and almost lead to our demise. The best way of ReThinking Baker Heritage Farms is to revisit our Farm Plan.

Last year we drafted a Farm Plan under the guidance of the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture (Beginning Farmers & Ranchers Class). This process included Identifying Short Term (1-5 years), Intermediate (5-10 years), and Long Term (10 plus years) goals. After identifying our goals, we went through a process to prioritize our goals, a process that required us to consider those goals most important for family well-being and business success, short-term goals that will help achieve long-term goals, short-term goals that could conflict with or impede long-term goals, and goals so important that they should be attained even if they prevent reaching other goals. From this process, we established Baker Heritage Farms' top five goals by priority, which included:

1. Determining the best use of the land while maintaining good stewardship;
2. Plot development, fencing, and stock housing;
3. Determining the best produce and stock/poultry for improving health, decreasing expenses, and remaining sustainable and environmentally friendly;
4. Purchase appropriate seed, seedlings, and stock/poultry; and
5. Being an integral part of the community through farming and sharing of experiences.

Determining the best use of the land while maintaining good stewardship is an ongoing process. This is the goal that reminds us that, no matter how rough the work gets, we cannot lose sight of this goal by reverting to commercial farming methods (use of insecticides, herbicides, GMO seed, heavy machinery, etc.). To stay on track with this goal, it is important that we set reasonable priorities that allow us to complete the necessary work within an acceptable (and doable) time frame.

We have accomplished a good part of our second goal, plot development, fencing, and stock housing. Unfortunately, the loss of our first flock of turkeys last year can be attributed, in part, to getting in too much of a hurry. While we protected the flock from overhead hazards, we neglected to ensure that the ground level was secure, and neighborhood dogs got in under the fence and killed the entire flock. We ran into the same problem when we built our hen house. While we had rough plans, and did all of the measuring (even measured three times to cut once), we forgot one small detail that has turned out to be a rather large detail, we did not "square" the house. As a result, we have doors that don't open or close easily, and already lost half of the roof (temporarily covered awaiting for better weather to install new roofing). Wasted time and money from being in too much of a hurry to "grow" the farm.

Goal number three, determining the best produce and stock/poultry for improving health, decreasing expenses, and remaining sustainable and environmentally friendly, is another goal that will be ongoing. Based on this goal, we spent several months over the winter preparing our 2013 seed orders, however, twenty-twenty hindsight tells us that we could have done a better job. Rather than working with seed we could get that would meet our requirements (both organic and heirloom), seed that would meet the literal terms of these requirements, and seed that would be less expensive, we based our preparations on  criteria that was not necessarily practical. We prepared our seed order based on what we wanted to grow rather than what we could (and should) grow, forcing us to spend more money and stretch the the requirements to the edge of the envelope. Even our original flock of turkeys did not meet the literal requirements we set (they would have needed to be artificially inseminated), though our current flock of chickens does meet the literal requirements.

Goal number four, purchasing appropriate seed, seedlings, and stock/poultry, has been met as of this moment, only because we stopped purchasing seed when we realized that we would not meet our planting schedule.

We are currently failing to meet our goal of being an integral part of the community through farming and sharing of experiences. As we have been in such a rush to get the farm up and running on a large scale that we have not been able to actively participate in our local community, the farming community, or even in sharing our experiences. This blog is a prime example of our failures. We have not delivered what we have promised, to keep you informed of many aspects of backyard and small acreage farming. We have promised to deliver our costs, and have not yet done so (I promise we will be doing so soon). We have not kept a complete dairy of our work here on the farm.

All in all, while we are on track with our goals, we have failed to keep them in mind on a daily basis. Thus, we are rethinking our priorities.

Our immediate priorities are evident.

First, we have 26 live chickens in our barn that are ready for their new home. Our most immediate priority is to prepare for their transfer to the chicken coop as soon as the weather permits.

Second, we have close to 1,600 pepper seedlings and 200 tomato seedlings that will need to be planted soon, and the plots are not ready. It is imperative that we get these plots prepared as soon as the weather permits so that they can be transplanted in a timely manner, or we will lose the entire crop.

Third, we already have a substantial investment in February seed. Our next priority is to start working the appropriate plots so that we can get these seeds planted. We will be reviewing the seeds on hand to determine if we should wait and do a fall planting (some of the seeds can be spring or fall planted) or go ahead and push to get them planted now. Our decision will most likely be weighted heavily by what the weather does once we have seen to the chickens and the transplants.

Next, we need to stop, look, and listen (no, not for the train, but possibly the train wreck). We need to stop what we are doing, look around and see what needs to be done, and listen to common sense. To do this, we have placed Debbie's homework assignment for the Beginning Ranchers and Farmers Program on high priority. This is the Whole Farm SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis. This analysis will help us to build on and further develop our strengths, while minimizing the impacts of our weaknesses, if not eliminating them (in other words, slow down and do the job right). This will also allow us to be more responsive to the opportunities and threats our environment offers.

Another area we need to look at is curtailing our expenses. We went overboard in 2012 and the first part of 2013, again, trying to get everything done at once. Prior to our starting our push to get the farm up and running, most work on the property was based on what we could do with little or no expenditure. There is no reason that getting the farm up and running cannot be successful using this same strategy. Our ReThinking Baker Heritage Farms has opened our eyes to what we can do that does not require large expenditures. Restarting our compost operations, which took a back seat to field work and other operations this winter, is a prime example. Composting is probably the most effective and least expensive method of reducing expenses available to the backyard or small acreage farmer.

Another priority will be to get the farm in shape. We have neglected the aesthetics of the farm. Never having been interested in impressing others, we have allowed the farm to vegetate, building up brush piles, leaving work half-done, allowing materials to pile up, and generally becoming disorganized. Guess what, having an aesthetic farm does not mean impressing others, it means having pride in what you are doing, which is hard when you are always seeing things that need to be done (generally small things) and putting them off because you have work to do to make your farm "real", or you are too tired to do the small things because you have been working to make your farm "real". Again, twenty-twenty hindsight actually showed us that, while we were obviously not impressing people with the aesthetics of our farm, we were trying to impress people (or maybe just ourselves) by showing them we were "real" farmers. Another lesson learned - we don't really care what others think, it is what we think that really matters (not to discount others opinions, but rather to do what is right for all).

You will be a part of our resetting our priorities. You will get to be a part of the process. As we rethink our priorities, we will share them here on the blog, and hope that, if those of you who follow us have comments or recommendations, you will feel free to offer them. We want this farm to be a family farm, not only our family, but our farming community family as well.

Blessings,

Donald Baker

13JAN20

Greetings from Baker Heritage Farms;

Another slow week on the farm.

Debbie was accepted into the 2013 Oklahoma Beginning Farmer and Rancher Program Horticulture track and her first class was Saturday; however, as she is out of town for an extended period, David attended on her behalf. This is the same program Donald attended in 2012 and that David has applied for (though he has applied for the Livestock track) and hopes to enter in 2014.

The purpose of the BFR Program is to assist beginning farmers and ranchers with training, resources, and mentoring. The goals of the program include developing successful agriculture enterprises, operating financially viable farms, and being good stewards of the land.

The program provides an in-depth, year-long training course at the Kerr Center with instruction in business and whole farm planning. The program is provided under a grant from the USDA and is sponsored by the Kerr Center, Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative, the Rural Smallholder Association; Oklahoma State University Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, and  the Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers Association.

The program includes Enterprise Development, Business Plans & Budgets, Record Keeping, Whole Farm Planning, Goal Setting, and Intro to Marketing. In addition, the Horticultural track includes Planning, Acquisition of Supplies, Ground Preparation, Fertilization, Compost and Compost Tea, Biochar, Vermicomposting, Organic Compliance, Grazing versus mowing, Variety Selection, Irrigation, Weed Management, Insect and Disease Management, Harvest and Post-Harvest Management, Equipment Maintenance, and Marketing.

It is a very comprehensive training program and the learning continues even after the program ends. Donald is still reviewing what he learned and apply that knowledge to the farm as we build it.

For more information you can go to: http://www.kerrcenter.com/beginning-farmer/index.html

Donald spent Saturday morning putting more fence posts in around the production fields.

Putting in Fence Posts

As soon as we can, we will be placing our first seed order, as well as an order for our seed bed equipment for planting seeds for later transplant.

For now,

Blessings from Baker Heritage Farms

"Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten" David Ogden Stiers

Planning for Planting

Greetings from Baker Heritage Farms;

If you are planning on a garden in 2013, it is time to start planning. One thing we have learned over the past year is that proper planning, while it does not guarantee success, makes life a whole lot easier.

Donald spent much of the weekend working on gathering crop data and drafting a planting calendar for next year. The data gathered has been entered into spread sheets, and the production crop spread sheet includes:

• Crop;
• Crop Family (used to ensure proper rotation, allowable double-cropping, and companion crops);
• Planting method (transplant and/or direct seed);
• Days from seeding inside to planting in the field;
• First and last days to plant indoors;
• Planting relative to first frost-free day;
• First and last days to plant in field;
• Germination temperature range;
• Germination optimum temperature range;
• Days to germination;
• Time to plant (considers both early and late planting, where applicable);
• Spacing between rows (helps in field setup and calculating seed needs);
• Spacing within rows (also helps in field setup and calculation seed needs);
• Depth to cover seed;
• Days to harvest (this will be useful for double cropping); and
• Frost tolerance.

For cover crops, the data on the spread sheet includes:

• Crop and Family;
• Information on the uses of the cover crop, including whether or not the cover crop will provide Nitrogen, weed control, adding organic matter, improving the soil, how well it grows, whether or not it is cold or drought tolerant, if drainage is important, ease of growth, and whether it will support beneficial insects.
• Seed application rate;
• First and last planting dates; and
• The same planting data as was complied for the production crops.

The planting calendar spread sheets provide the following data:

• Crop and family;
• Irrigation requirements;
• Planting method;
• Companion crops (helps in the planning of each plot); and
• Calendar - which includes planting dates and harvest dates (allows for better visual planning).

We are hoping to be in production year-round, including cover crops, which makes following a calendar even more important. As we have already learned, the most important aspect of being a resilient farmer is the ability to be flexible. These spread sheets will allow us to be flexible in most of our crop operations. We hope to be prepared for whatever the good Lord throws at us, including weather, disease, and/or insects.

We will be companion planting (planting multiple crops in the same plot at the same time) as well as double-cropping (planting successive crops in the same plot). While researching companion planting, Donald learned that you can plan certain companion crops to further reduce insects and disease; however, we may not get quite that involved this year.

As we will are still not sure if we will get cover crops down this winter, double cropping will be very important in our rotation and planting schedule, and will include attempting to ensure that we are helping, rather than hindering, the soil.

Debbie has been reviewing the seed catalogs and has started making a list of the seeds we will look at for planting next year. We will definitely be restricting all of our seed purchases to organic seed. We are hoping to further restrict our purchases to heirloom seed, preferably heirloom seed from our area (or at least the south). If we have to vary from our goal, we will open up the areas the heirloom seed comes from for more variety. Our plan is to save seed from our crops for future planting (our next educational goal - preserving seed).

Our next step is to plan out what we will plant in each plot in our three production fields. We are presuming at this point of time that at least 6 plots will be in cover crop at all times, which will leave us 6 plots for production at any given time. We will also be looking at hand tools to plant and maintain the fields.

There are several excellent resources on the internet for planning your garden.

Vegetable Gardening Online.com has a number of resources, including planing worksheets. They can be accessed at:

http://www.vegetable-gardening-online.com/planting-a-vegetable-garden.html

They have a USDA Planting Zone Chart and a Vegetable Planting Guide that are great started tools:

http://www.vegetable-gardening-online.com/vegetable-garden-worksheets.html

Backwoods Home Magazine has an excellent chart for companion planting that can be accessed on the internet at:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/mettot81.html

Another good resource for companion planting can be found at the Cutting Edge (Seeds of Change):

http://www.seedsofchange.com/enewsletter/issue_55/companion_planting.aspx

Donald made good use of the resources he received from the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers class he took at the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture this past year. Many of these resources are available on their web site at:

http://www.kerrcenter.com

For a successful, stress free, farming experience, start planning your garden today.

Baker Heritage Farms

Ramblings of a Wannabe Farmer

Ramblings of a Wannabe Farmer

By Donald Baker

Last week at our Beginning Farmers and Ranchers class at the Kerr Center, I had the opportunity to have a discussion on successful farming with Mr. George Kuepper, Horticulture Program Manager and the main instructor for the Horticulture track.

We had just returned from visiting Wild Things Farm, a very successful farming operation located in Pocola, Oklahoma.  Our discussion related to the ability of small acreage, or even backyard, farms to be successful.

Based on my limited knowledge of farming and what we learned at Baker Heritage Farms over the past 9 months, it is my humble opinion that small acreage and back yard farmers can be just as successful as large commercial farmers, and possibly even more successful. Smaller farms can adapt more quickly to changing conditions, including weather, markets, and growing habitat, then large commercial farms can.

Larger commercial farms generally specialize in two or three primary crops, concentrating on those crops that will generate the most profit that season. The size of these operations limit plantings, many times to just one planting per year.

Small farms generally plant a number of different crops, and have the ability to plant throughout the year, depending on where they are located. These farms usually specialize in market crops that are in demand in their local area.

When disaster hits, the large commercial farms are more exposed to crop loss, whether the disaster is weather related, or related to insects, fungus, or other disaster. This has been very evident over the past two years. Corn, soy beans, and wheat are generally sensitive to weather, particularly drought or flood. As such, commercial farmers have had two devastating years back-to-back. Their losses were high due to their concentration on one crop. The small acreage farmer, however, can better plan for drought through diversification, planting schedules (Baker Heritage Farm had several successful crops because planting was late, missing the heat related pollination issues that affected many larger commercial farmers), and the ability to address the disaster due to the smaller scale.

How does this relate to profit? Mr. Kuepper and I agree - the small acreage or back yard farmer can be profitable, possibly even more profitable per acre than larger commercial farmers. How can this be possible when commercial farmers have more equipment, better infrastructure, and larger acreage? If you take away the government crop insurance and other government sponsored price support programs, there is a good possibility that the larger commercial farmer will show more of a loss than a profit over time. All of the large equipment cost money, the infrastructure costs money, and the cost of buying or renting acreage has increased substantially over the past several years. The small acreage, or backyard, farmer is usually able to control operating and input costs, more through necessity then planning. By using organic (sustainable) growing methods, the smaller farmer is constantly improving the soil while producing market crops. The crops produced are of higher quality, more favorable, and healthier than those produced by larger farmers, and thus, can bring in more profit when sold locally. The integrity of the soil is maintained, avoiding draining resources from the soil allowing continuous planting without damage to the soil.

Small farm operations can better control costs and production, providing a safety net through diversification (Wild Things Farm has diversified into agri-tourism), and can generate a higher profit margin.

While the payday will not be larger, the profit margin can be, and the additional benefits (lifestyle, being good stewards of the land, time with the family, and working with your hands) are irreplaceable.

Yes, farming is a challenge - but what would life be without a challenge. Will the family farm ever return? We hope so. The objective at Baker Heritage Farms is to determine successful ways for the family farm to exist and to promote the benefits of family farming.

Keep watching for more Ramblings. Next up - challenging the claims that food causes obesity. 

Until next time ...