4 Year Time Warp

 I last blogged back in June of 2017, almost 4 years ago. I will admit that over those 4 years, the farm has struggled to be a high priority in my life. I ran for the Iowa State House in 2017 to 2018. I worked as the General Manager of the Iowa Food Cooperative in 2019 to early 2020, and I ran again for the Iowa House in 2020. Needless to say, the farm has taken a backseat for several years, but I am committed to get back on track .

2018 Iowa House Run

Working at the Iowa Food Cooperative

2020 Iowa House Run (Pandemic Broke Out 2 Weeks Later)

 

In late 2018, we added a farm we are managing. We have the home farm and down the road three miles we have a 50 acre badly run down farm that will be a prolonged work in progress. We started by installing a water system in November and got it operational just after Christmas 2018. This was the short window after the 2018 election and before I started working at the Iowa Food Cooperative. 

Hydrant Base Assembly 2018

Trenching into the Building 2018

Cobett Base Installation 2018

Open Trench Line 2018

Cobett System Install 2018

For most of 2019 and 2020, little progress was made on that farm. New rock got laid down, the power system got updated, a short section of brand new fence go installed, and an old building or two got burned up but there is a lot to do that just did not happen. 

Spring 2020 Fence Install Looking North

Spring 2020 Fence Install Looking South

Burning Up Old Collapsed Buildings

This brings us to 2021. I have been cutting low quality trees right a left, clearing old fence lines and working on building new fence. I have six goals on this farm this year. I want to finish getting the west fence line cleared out and fully replaced, create a fenced repository for hay storage on that farm, fence the cattle lot, clear out around the old house site so I can bring in a concrete breaker and get rid on the foundation. Then we can use the foundation pieces to help make culvert crossings on the farm. Finally I want to  continue to cut trees to increase the accessibility to parts of the farm that are hard to get to or inaccessible now. 

Burning Lots of Brush Piles

Clearing Trees from Fence Lines

Lots of Trees in Fence Lines

Cleared Fence Line, On to the Next

Sinking Fence Posts

Burning Spent Hay Residue from Feeding Cattle All Winter

On the home farm, we did get the barn fixed up after the hail damage of June 2017, created a permanent divider in the barn between the livestock and the equipment, replaced our livestock trailer, bought a tractor, sold the same tractor, and bought another tractor. We also got all of our tractor loaders swopped out to skid loader quick attach systems for a serious quality of life upgrade.

Replaced Hail Damaged Roof

Permanent Livestock Divider

Newer Livestock Trailer

Bought a White 2-55 & Sold It (Decided Cab > 15 HP)

Our Pair of New Holland 2120 Tractors

Quality of Life Improvement Skid Loader Quick Attach

One for Both Tractors

With the Pandemic we have seen insane demand that greatly exceeds what we can produce and what our local food system has evolved to handle. We sold more beef quarters in 2020 then we have in all of the 13 years we have farmed previously. We had to book all of our 2021locker dates back in August 2020 and ran out of ground beef in late November. In 2019, we struggled to sell our ground beef, now we can't keep it in inventory. Our poultry locker plant closed in late 2019, and in 2020 we were down to one last state inspected kill poultry locker running in all of Iowa. Because of that we can now only sell whole chickens and can no longer sell individual parts. A feed issue where our mineral got changed out for a diluted mix plagued us for most of 2020, but got cleared up in time for our turkeys to finish out fine. With the pandemic, we were conservative with the number of turkeys we raised, only to find demand strong there as well, despite limits on family gatherings. With the solid demand continuing into 2021, we are hoping for a good year. The first 2021 broilers are off to a great start and look really promising. 

Last Operating Inspected Kill Poultry Locker in Iowa 2020

Picking Up Beef From the Locker 2020

Less Than a Week Old Broiler Chicks 2021

That is a quick summary of the past four years. We are a little run down by the toll 2020 took on us but making and seeing progress on the land and in the facility improvements is motivating. I look forward to seeing our customers again. Until then thanks for reading and supporting us, and keep your fingers crossed for rain. 

Revving Up for 2017 and Beyond

It has been way to long since my last blog post. With the mild winter, rampant sickness, tons of meetings, and Janice’s promotion, it has been very busy around here. Some of our lingering projects are almost complete. The new chicken house has been put into service despite a few finishing touches on the interior that needs completing. The building is located jetting out into the cattle winter lot, to hopefully help reduce fly levels and therefore reduce the risk of pink eye (which hit us hard in 2016).

Front of the Layer Building (recycled metal and all)

Southside of the Layer Building

Pulling 150 feet of wire through Conduit Sucks

Layers Moving In

I did get some of our frost seeding on late, but it got done. I put on a mix of 50 pounds of birdsfoot trefoil and 50 pounds of Haifa white clover. I use just a shoulder mounted bag seeder a manual spinner, so the process can take several days to get over the whole farm.

100 Pounds of Seed to Spread

Our first 2017 chicks got here two weeks ago. They are growing well and depending on the weather, should be outside in a week or two. They should be available to customers by mid-June. We are brooding in stock tanks like we have in the past, but I have constructed some smaller brooder hoods based on a design I was using on the old farm. This helps the chicks regulate their own temperature and should help avoid health issues like pneumonia. 

Checking Out the Brooder Set-up

Hamming it Up with the Chicks

They are cute when they are little

Crafted a smaller brooder hood based on the ones we used on the old farm

Other projects that are getting nudged along on the farm include some fencing and brush clearing. 

I started building a stretch of fence behind the house almost two years ago, but that got stopped when I realized I would have to put a gate in the middle of that expanse of fence because that was the best sledding site for the kids on the farm. I got the bracing for that gate finished last night, now I need to run the wires, hand the gates, and bury the connective wires. 

One Step closer to Finally Getting This Stretch of Fence Done

I did not get very much brush cut this winter, but what I did get cut still needs to be stack and burn. I started that process last night and for a few seconds that pile of brush went up like a candle. That should tell you that it is pretty dry on the farm (we have missed several good rains). 

I found a calm day to burn brush

One of the two things that have really been keeping me busy is my role as Board President of the Iowa Food Cooperative. I have been running meetings, trying to improve processes, and just trying to get everyone on the same page and pulling in the same direction. The Iowa Legislature in there 2018 fiscal year budget eliminated the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.  I made a trip up to the capital to give testimony at the house budget hearing. That testimony is available here. 

Heading up to the Capital

I have also been increasingly involved in my local political party and parallel organizations. With that in mind, I am considering running for public office in 2018. The groundwork for these things takes quite a bit of time, focus, and energy. I will keep you posted if and when I have anything to announce. 

The kids are doing well in there respective schools. Our Daughter, is increasingly reading on her own and is still a social butterfly. Our Son, is shockingly advanced at math and has matured so much in the past year.  I am trying to get them outside more and a bit more involved in farming. Luna (the big puppy), sometimes wants to playfully chase them around a bit and at 50 pounds she can at times be intimidating. I wish both Janice and I could devote more time to the kids, but I try to make the most of what I have to work with. 

Posing Next to Flowers Planted in Memory of my Mother

Kite Flying, Early Spring Winds are Good for That

Luna keeps Growing

Hopefully it won't be so long before the next blog update. Until next time, take care and I will keep you posted about any updates here and on the Facebook page.

The Final Countdown... ...House 2.0

We are, baring some unforeseen complication, less than a week away from living in our house. In the last few weeks, we have been out there almost every day working on something house or farm related. There will still be a lot of small things to do, but the necessary items should be completed by then.  

One the farm side, the pastures have greened-up nicely and on the last day in April, I turned the cows out to graze the the east side of the farm (around 8 acres). I spent early April working on fence connectivity around the farm and getting power to the high tensile lines that went put up last fall. 

Looking Toward the House and Building from the East side of the Farm

Cattle Getting Turned Out to Grass on April 30th

Wiring& Digging under the Gates to get Power to the Boundary Fences

Wiring up the Fences so We Have Power

We have starting to get this growing season worked out. Poultry have been ordered, but we are starting a month latter then we normally would. We have only two calves so far, but several other cows are looking pretty close to calving. I hope we can can get customer correspondence out within the next two weeks, including delivery dates. We do still have some inventory left from last year (whole chickens, ground beef, tenderloin, flank steak, porterhouse steak, and, shorts ribs come to mind). We will be working with the Story City Locker this year. That will cost quite a bit more, so adjustments to beef pricing will come this year.  Beef prices have been steady for three years, but our costs have not. I am excited about the possibility of working with the Story City Locker and about new products we might be able to offer. As it currently stands, we will not have new beef ready until the September delivery, but we should be good to go for fall grilling season. Story City Locker is going to work with our left over turkeys and create some turkey garlic and basil sausages so we have something to offer customers for the summer grilling season. 

The house is coming together finally. There are so many fine details to work out, like sanding and staining trim, touch-up paint, and grading around the house. Despite all of the things left to do, I figured I would share a few pictures of where we are right now. The trim carpenters did a great job. They are some of our new neighbors and are fine craftsmen.

Kitchen in the New House is Coming Together

Egg Washing Station also Coming Tgether

Stove Propane Tank just got Delivered, to its Own Little Concrete Pad

Janice and I just put the Vanities Together Yesterday

Trim Carpenters Built the Wood Lockers in the Mudroom

Trim Carpenters Put the Stairs Together

Another Look at the Stairs

 Through this whole process, the kids of hung in there. We have really been pushing them to the limit here in the past few weeks. Our Son has obviously grown accustom to going to the home improvements stores. They have held up surprisingly well given the circumstances. During this time to, our Daughter had her fifth birthday and our Son is a week our of being two-and-a-half.

Just Another Day on the Job

The Hearth is a Great Place to Set-up the Train Set

Big Sister Trying to Read to Little Brother

Through this whole process, we have had some great help from some friends and family, from painting, to laying tile, to installing insulation, and watching the kids. Without their help, we would be weeks behind. Stay tuned as we hope to get moved in and get production up and running here within the next two weeks.