Working WITH the Land


"Hell yeah I eat small trees, what about it?"
There’s a few things we’ve chosen to emphasize with our farming model, one of which is to work WITH the land, not against it. Among the multitude of problems we see with so-called “conventional” or “industrial” ag is the unsustainable approach of forcing human technology and infrastructure on mother nature simply because we can and because it’s cheaper and “more efficient” in the short-run. Early memories of dirt feedlots full of cattle eating corn in the deserts of New Mexico come to mind. Those farmers work hard and that’s the way the American milk industry has trended, so I don’t blame them, but that approach just doesn’t make sense to us. So with each decision we not only ask ourselves what it means for the animals, but also for the land.

Because of this we have to remain highly flexible. As we get to know the land better and as it evolves over time we have to adapt our business to make the best use of it. The more time we’ve spent on the farm the more we’ve come to appreciate the fact that right now the land is more suited for dairy goats than it is for dairy cows. Our land is full of wooded areas, cedar saplings, and blackberry bushes. Years of pasture negligence have led to nearly complete erosion of soil organic matter and a rapid increase in “weed” growth. Well, it just so happens that goats tend to prefer many of the “weeds” we're growing and we want to use that to our advantage.  
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Farmstead Cheese Equipment: What's a Small Farmer To Do?


Maria at Masseria la Greca outside Lecce in Salento, Italy

Since the end of last summer we’ve been acquiring the bits and pieces to put together the creamery. The primary components we’re interested in are the milking system (pipeline or bucket, we don’t know yet), the bulk tank and the cheese vat. The milking system is exactly what it sounds like. It includes the piping and the vacuum system required to milk the animals. In a bucket system you pump the milk directly into buckets and then dump it into the bulk tank. In a pipeline system you pump the milk through a pipeline that flows directly into the bulk tank. There are other variations as well, but those are the basic methods. The bulk tank is where the milk goes for cooling after milking. It cools the milk to approx 40 degrees within an hour or two. Once the milk in the tank is cool and you have enough to make cheese you open up a pipeline and the milk flows to your vat. From there you begin the cheesemaking process. Aside from the construction of the building, these three pieces of equipment are typically the largest capital expenses.

Last summer we got very lucky and found a highly affordable vat being refurbished after use at a University on the west coast. The process took six months of intensive hunting and networking. Not as simple as an eBay search. Then our inspector spoke on the phone with the fab guy, we sent the inspectors detailed photos and spec sheets and eventually we got the green light. Once we get our creamery construction underway we’ll have it shipped out and it will need to be inspected and approved all over again. 

 

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Human Farming

No, not farming humans. And no, I didn't mean to say humane. I am talking about the people actually doing the farming. The humans.
 
 
Why is this interesting to me? Because thus far in our research we’ve focused on growing grass, humane animal husbandry, creamery construction, cheesemaking, distribution, etc. When you plan to run a small farm you need to learn a little bit (and sometimes a lotta bit) of just about everything. What gets lost is yourself. At least I've found that to be the case in today’s literature. That was until I started reading an interesting (and free) out-of-print book that focuses on the humans doing the farming. 
 
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