The Beginning Farmer Show

Spring on the farm is often a rushed time because everything is coming to life all at once! On our farm that means projects that have been thought about all winter need to begin, new livestock are being born, work needs to begin in the garden, and so much more. To make matters worse it always seems like everything is a priority and there will never be enough time to accomplish all that we want to get done. That's where a good set of tools come in though. Of course that could mean "mental tools" like using your knowledge of the ground you are working to make decisions on planting or grazing. Or, it could mean "physical tools" such as my John Deere 4020 that is a fixture in most every project that happens on our farm. In the spring though there are often certain tools that shine, and while I may use them from time to time all throughout the year there won't be many days in March or April where you wouldn't finding me using one of them. Some tools make the work more efficient, some bring better quality to the work, and some even make the work more enjoyable! Below you'll find my "top 5 tools for spring on the farm", but I want to hear what some of your favorites are. Comment below ... Five Tools For the Farm in the Spring Stihl Chisel Tooth Circular Saw: This is a blade that attaches to my FS130 trimmer and it makes prep work for the electric fences go much more quickly and take much less toll on my back. Steel Post Pounder: There is nothing fancy about a post pounder, but I like one that has plenty of heft and no handles to cause me trouble. Rear-Tine Garden Tiller: Even though our garden produce isn't something that we sell it plays a huge role in the viability of our farm. That's why a good rear-tine tiller is so important in the spring. Weather App for my Phone: Tools aren't just for hitting, cutting, and building ... sometimes they help you plan your day or week! I've been trying to use the technology I already have for more than just funny YouTube videos (not to be confused with the super educational Beginning Farmer Videos that will be coming soon). Keeping tabs on the weather helps me plan my days, and if the forecasts are trustworthy, my week. Family and Friends: I'm not saying that my family and friends are tools, but they sure are a big help and are more important than any of the other tools that I find myself using on the farm. Even more so than my tractor! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

When I dropped our first batch of hogs off at the locker for processing I was completely lost. I didn't know where to drop them off, I wasn't 100% sure I could even get them off the trailer by myself (and I could tell they were too busy to help), and I was even clueless when it came to my cut selections (even to the point where I didn't understand where all the cuts came from on the hog). To put it simply I had no idea what I was doing, which has actually been a pretty normal part of this farming adventure! Processing at a local locker is just one of the many differences between the pork we sell and what our consumers may be used to purchasing at their local grocery store. There are differences in our animal care, differences in our feeding, differences in the space they have, differences in the breeds, differences in the cuts you can purchase, and of course differences in how they purchase our meat! All of that shows just how important consumer education is, and why small-scale farmers need to continually work to educate and encourage a growing customer base. 6 Points of Emphasis for Customer Education & Encouragement Know Your Cuts of Meat (or whatever your product is) Share Your Raising Practices & Livestock Husbandry What to Expect With Frozen Meats It's Not Packaged Like at Big Box Stores The Processor Makes the Final Product What Sets Your Product Apart (your elevator pitch) Links Mentioned in the Episode Crooked Gap Farm Meat CSA Camps Road Farm Chicken CSA Chick Brooder Plans Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

When we began our Crooked Gap Farm Meat CSA in January, 2014 it was with the hope that it would replace our farmers market sales. In fact we were so hopeful that it would replace those sales that it was part of the reason we decided not to attend the market at all in 2014. While making that decision I realized it probably would have been best to do the market part-time at the beginning of the season to help our customers make the transition, but we were just so burnt out from the market that we jumped in head first to the Meat CSA! The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model is not a perfect fit for every farm, but it has worked well for us and it is growing. There is one thing I'm certain of ... like most other things in farming and marketing there is a learning curve (especially when you are offering a variety of products) when it comes to putting together shares and managing the inventory. On this weeks episode of The Beginning farmer Show we are going to take some time (a lot of time actually) to answer questions about our Meat CSA model. The direction for this episode came in the form of a great e-mail from Kevin who asked: How do you determine what goes in the box each week? How did you price it? Is the goal to have a customer at the end of the year end up with: for example, a 1/4 or 1/4 hog, an 1/8 beef and 10 chickens or do you do it based on what's in the freezer that week? If not, how do you know if the customer is getting a balance of cuts (i.e. not too many chuck roasts and also not all steaks)? Are there any cuts of the animal that you absolutely don't put in the box based on their value? Along with Kevin's questions I also posted the topic to The Beginning Farmer Show Facebook page and had more great questions come in! I've done my best to offer my thoughts, but I would love to hear what you think about the Meat CSA model. Do you have any tips that I haven't thought of? What is working in your marketing efforts? Join the discussion in the comments below. Links Mentioned in the Episode Crooked Gap Farm Meat CSA Camps Road Farm Chicken CSA Chick Brooder Plans Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Raising poultry on a small-scale beginning farm is a pretty common thing, especially when the birds are egg laying hens! There is just something aesthetically pleasing about seeing a flock of hens foraging through the pasture and farm yard softly clucking or chasing bugs. Plus, they produce eggs with dark orange yolks that have a flavor that most people are used to when it comes to the simple egg. But, is there really a dark side to the small-scale farm egg-laying flock? Maybe "dark side" is a little much, but the truth is for most small-scale beginning farmers the profit margin is pretty slim when it comes to the eggs. Once you factor in the cost of the chicks, the cost of the feed just to get them to laying age, their housing, the water, the labor, the costs of marketing the eggs, and all the other incidentals each carton of one dozen eggs has a lot of money in them! When I think about all of that I often wonder, "Why in the world did I just order 150 laying chicks?" That is a valid question because if we've learned anything from over 100 episodes it is that the beginning farming journey isn't always easy! I do think there are some good reasons for having laying hens and egg production as a part of your farming enterprise and I would love to hear why you think it is an important piece of the farming puzzle ... comment below! Links Mentioned in the Episode Poultry Enterprise Budgets Farminar "There is a Reason Farmers are Hungry" by Tim "The Economics of Egg-Laying Chickens" Podcast Episode from Homesteady John Suscovich's 2015 Pastured Egg Budget Video "250 Laying Hens in Winter is Not Profitable" Video from John Suscovich Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

"The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter Campaign Why in the world would you shave your beard in the middle of winter when snow is coming? What are a few of your farming tricks of the trade? How do you decide when you need to make price increases? Those are just a sampling of the questions that I'm going to attempt to address on this weeks episode. Notice that I was very clear there and I did not say I would "answer" them, but rather I'll just do my best to share my thoughts. Below you'll find a list of the questions that came in over on the Facebook page and the links that relate to those questions. One of my most favorite things about farming is the exchange of knowledge, so if you have any thoughts on these subjects please comment below! Farming Questions From Listeners: Guinea Recipes and Thoughts: Guinea Fowl with Sage, Celery, and Blood Orange One-Pot Roast Guinea Fowl What Happened to the Beard: The Art of Growing a Beard -- Maybe I should have read this first Managing Manure: Composting Hoophouse Manure: Is it Worth It? -- From PFI Manure and Compost -- Also from PFI Insurance for Farm Sales: We use Farm Bureau, but check with other vendors in your area. The Infrastructure for Eight Pigs: Small-Scale Pig Raising by Dirk Van Loon -- My most referenced book for beginning pig people. I can't believe I didn't mention it in the episode! Tricks of the Trade: Expandable Hose -- I purchased the purple one because it was the least expensive! Simple Green Spray -- My go to for deep cleaning the chainsaws. The Three B's - Balance, Budgeting, and the Business Plan FINPACK -- I'm working to get everything together so I can go through this with someone. Determining Product Pricing: "Meat Pricing" Farminar from Practical Farmers of Iowa on March 1oth, 2015. Again, I can't believe I forgot to mention this in the episode. Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

"The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter Campaign It seems like lately there have been a rash of articles about farming and about how you just can't be a successful beginning farmer. Okay ... "a rash of articles" may be a little bit of an overstatement on my part, but there have been a couple over the last year or so. The first one that really grabbed my attention was, "Don't Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Farmers" by Bren Smith and published in the New York Times. I really appreciated Joel Salatin's response in a "Letter to the Editor" (although I will admit not everyone agreed with Mr. Salatin). Most recently the article that is making the rounds is titled, "What nobody told me about small farming: I can't make a living" by Jaclyn Moyer. I have lots of thoughts on both of these articles, but in someways I don't feel qualified to respond because I'm not making my full-time living on the farm. The biggest thing I took away after reading both of those articles though is that I just want to be positive about the possibilities of farming. The work and business of farming will always be difficult and the margins will always have the possibility of being tight because there are so many variables that you can't control. Nevertheless I want to be positive and encouraging when it comes to the beginning farming journey ... all while telling the whole story (including the hard lessons learned). Three Encouraging Books for Your Farming Journey: You Can Farm by Joel Salatin The Contrary Farmer by Gene Logsdon Gaining Ground by Forrest Pritchard Other Links Mentioned In This Episode: Start2Farm.gov (Great links to help with your beginning farmer journey) 12 Month Farmer Finance Challenge Non-GMO vs. GMO Feed :: Episode 50 Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

"The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter Campaign Our "farm" began with six egg-laying backyard chickens before moving out to the 40 acres that is now Crooked Gap Farm. Somewhere and somehow along this farming journey though the poultry operation was pushed to the back ... and eventually to the way back! Once we began adding pigs, cattle, and eventually sheep to the farm I became less focused on the plans and managing of our poultry flocks. It's not that I didn't keep upgrading infrastructure or that we quit having birds, but rather it was just a part of our farm that I didn't put much thought into. That is going to change this year though because I have a plan for both our meat chickens and our egg-laying flock! The Ultimate Crooked Gap Farm Chicken Plan for 2015 Our Egg-Laying Chicken Plans (Ordered ASAP): Buff Orpington (15-25) - brown eggs Black Astralorp (15-25) - brown eggs Delaware (15-25) - brown eggs Barred Rock (50-75 including roosters) - brown eggs Araucana (at least 25) - blue/green eggs Pearl-White Leghorns (at least 25) - white eggs Our Meat Chicken Plans (Chicks arrive at the end of February) Dominiques (25 cockerels) New Hampshire Reds (25 cockerels) Nacked Necks (25 cockerels) White Rocks (25 cockerels) Pioneers (25 straight run) Freedom Ranger Black Broiler (100 straight run) All total that means there will be a bit over 300 chicks coming to the farm in the span of a few weeks which does cause some issues when it comes to brooder space, especially when keeping them warm will be more difficult with winter still hanging on. My plan is to brood the meat chicks in my two 4x8 brooders that have lids and 2 inch styrofoam insulation that I put on top to keep the heat in. That means that I will be building a quick hover to put in the laying chicken wagon I built last year. Something along the lines of this maybe. What I can tell you is that I'm excited to have a plan! I'm sure there will be some bumps along the way still and I know there will be some "hard lessons learned" to share, but at least I have something to start with. Do you have chick plans for this spring? If you're ordering chicks what will you be ordering? I'd love to hear your thoughts! One More Kickstarter Support Option! From now until February 12th at noon you can get nearly 50% off of John's eBook, "Stress Free Chicken Tractor Plans" just by using the code "kickstart" when you check out. That is a great deal, but equally as cool is that John will also be backing "The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter Campaign with the proceeds from the sales. Not only can you choose to support the campaign and receive some cool rewards, but for the next two weeks you can also get a cool eBook and support the campaign at the same time! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

"The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter Campaign We just need to get this out of the way ... I am super excited about the awesome and amazing kick-off to "The Beginning Farmer Show" Kickstarter Campaign! We have blown past the original goal and are well on our way to stretch goal number one. All of that means two things ... Thing number one: You all rock! Thing number two: My excitement is pretty much overflowing and that means what begins as discussion of our Meat CSA pretty much turns into a "Beginning Farmer" ramble session! But, it also shows how excited I am about our Meat CSA. We began our Meat CSA in January 2014 as we transitioned out of doing a farmer's market for half of the year. The biggest reason for this was because of time, not that the Meat CSA takes less time than the market (although it does take slightly less), but rather because the time is spread out more evenly. After experiencing the ups and downs of this marketing avenue for a year though I have come to love it. Although that doesn't mean that it is the perfect fit for every farm. One More Kickstarter Support Option! From now until February 12th at noon you can get nearly 50% off of John's eBook, "Stress Free Chicken Tractor Plans" just by using the code "kickstart" when you check out. That is a great deal, but equally as cool is that John will also be backing "The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter Campaign with the proceeds from the sales. Not only can you choose to support the campaign and receive some cool rewards, but for the next two weeks you can also get a cool eBook and support the campaign at the same time! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

"The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter Campaign We've done it! We've made it to Episode 100 of "The Beginning Farmer Show"! And yes, I do mean we because there is no way I wouldn't have made it this far without the encouragement of everyone who has listened, taught me, asked questions, and contributed to "The Beginning Farmer Show" community. Making it to episode 100 is a cause for celebration though, and I wanted to make this episode extra special. Of course there is the fact that the Kickstarter Campaign launches today, but on top of that I have an extra special (and longer) episode. Over the past 99 episodes it became evident that one of the more popular aspects of the show were the hard lessons learned that I share. With that in mind I wanted to dedicate this episode to hard lessons learned. I didn't want to stop with just mine though, so I invited my great farming friend John Suscovich, of "The Growing Farms Podcast", to come on and share some of his hardest lessons learned. Over the course of nearly an hour John and I went back and forth sharing what some of our most difficult lessons have been and what we have learned from them. No matter where you are on your farming journey I know you'll find something in this chat that will save you a "hard lesson" in the future! But wait, there's more ... Not only did John take time out of his busy farming schedule to chat with me, but he also threw out an offer for all of "The Beginning Farmer Show" listeners that is both humbling and awesome! From now until February 12th at noon you can get nearly 50% off of John's eBook, "Stress Free Chicken Tractor Plans" just by using the code "kickstart" when you check out. That is a great deal, but equally as cool is that John will also be backing "The Beginning Farmer Video" Kickstarter Campaign with the proceeds from the sales. Not only can you choose to support the campaign and receive some cool rewards, but for the next two weeks you can also get a cool eBook and support the campaign at the same time! If you had to narrow down your top three farming hard lessons learned what would they be? Share yours in the comments below! Links Mentioned in this Episode: Farm Marketing Solutions Website The Growing Farms Podcast Farm Finance Challenge "Stress Free Chicken Tractor Plans" eBook (use the code "kickstart") Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

It is pretty awesome to think that we've (you the listeners along with me) made it all the way from episode 1 of The Beginning Farmer Show up to episode 99 this week! In fact if you are really interested in digging deep you can find an episode 0, but I'm not going to give you the link because it's pretty bad. But, what I'm most excited about is heading into the next chapter of The Beginning Farmer Show heading into 2015. I'm excited to begin writing more blog posts, bringing more intelligence to the show in the form of listeners with farming/business knowledge to share, and of course the biggest news ... The Beginning Farmer Video Project Kickstarter Campaign! You've heard me talking about it a lot over the past few months, but I'm finally ready to roll out the campaign, and if it is successful to begin producing Beginning Farmer Videos. I've been blessed to have a lot of help along my farming journey and I want to share what I've learned along the way as well as those hard lessons learned that I wish I could have avoided. There will be more details in Episode 100 of The Beginning Farmer Show, so stay tuned ... What do you think The Beginning Farmer Show should cover in 2015? I'd love to hear your thoughts, or better yet ... hear you on the show raising the intelligence level! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

For the past six years my plans for farm growth could best be described as, "Whatever hits Ethan's mind we do"! There is a major problem with that though as I have talked about in past episodes about my business plan (like this one and this one), and even though I've said it before ... this year needs to be the year of progress on our farm. I've had a lot of fun learning, growing, and experimenting on the farm and now it is time to get to business. I'm not sure if that means our farm will grow a lot this year or if it means we will scale things back at the end of 2015, but I do know that we need to get moving. With that in mind I wanted to share some of my goals and vision for this coming year. Some of the things I want to share are 100% going to happen (the pig woodlot fences being expanded) and other things are pie in the sky sort of ideas (expanding to a new niche or product). Then there are the types of things that I really want to do, but I'm not yet sure how they are going to flesh out. On the top of that list is on farm classes and I'm willing to take ideas, suggestions, and thoughts on that one! What do you have on your list for the coming year? What do you think ... should I expand the sheep ... are the on-farm classes in the future of The Beginning Farmer Show and Crooked Gap Farm? Join the discussion below! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

If there is one thing that I've learned along the trail of my beginning farmer journey it is that I really don't know much when it comes to farmer. That was reinforced as I began recording today's episode and attempting to answer some listener questions! The good news though is that I'm not in this journey alone, so it is okay for me to say, "I don't know" from time to time and the turn to others that have more experience or at least more varied experiences than I do. In part that is why I shared the questions on today's episode ... because I didn't know the answer, but I'm sure someone listening will have some thoughts and I can't wait to here them! So, if you have any thoughts on ... Fencing for pigs in the woodlot (I'm a firm believer in electric fence and shared some of my more in depth thoughts in Episode 56). How to improve the pasture after you move pigs off (Honestly this is not something I've done yet, but wanted to experiment this year. If you have any suggestions let us know ... in Episode 37 I shared some research I did on this topic). What the typical day looks like for a beginning farmer with an in-town job (I'm confident of this ... it is anything but typical. But, what do you do in that situation to accomplish as much as possible). The best "must have" farm outerwear choices for women (My advice ... layers ... lots of layers, and make sure you keep your fingers and head warm). What do you think? Any tips, tricks, or suggestions ... let us know in the comments below! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! Links Mentioned in This Episode: 10 Christmas Gift Ideas for a Beginning Farmer As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Did you know that well over 50% of Iowa farmland is owned by people over the age of 65? That means that in the coming years there will be a lot of farm land changing hands in one form or another. In some instances it may just transition to a son or daughter that continues the farm, in other cases it may be inherited by the next generation and the rented out to the highest bidder, and if you are a beginning farmer (or hope to be one soon) there may even be a possibility for you to build a relationship with a farmer. One thing is for sure though, and that is that many of these farmers over the age of 65 do not have a farm succession plan spelled out yet. That is one of the many things that I learned from my chat with Teresa Opheim, the Executive Director of Practical Farmers of Iowa, and why I am so excited to share this interview with you on this episode. Teresa and I talk about the mission and goals of PFI, the importance they place on farmer led research, and she even has some great encouragement for beginning farmers! Are you a member of Practical Farmers of Iowa (come and see me at the conference if you are)? Have you thought about becoming a member? What organizations are you a part of, and how do they help make your farm a "practical farm"? Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! Links Mentioned in This Episode: Practical Farmers of Iowa Annual Conference Practical Farmers of Iowa Farminars Practical Farmers of Iowa Research As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

I love all seasons on the farm, but there is just something special about winter on the farm that really makes me thankful. In my mind it begins at Thanksgiving as we enjoy the bounty of the growing year, continues through the Christmas season, and then all the way to January and February as the kids (and parents) enjoy the fun that winter on the farm offers. Christmas on the farm is also the perfect time for telling stories and I love a good story ... especially when it is a farm story! Some stories make you thankful for what you have, other stories help remind you of what is truly important, and there are even stories that are just fun memories of times gone by. On today's episode I want to share three such stories. One comes from "Successful Farming" Magazine, another comes from the story of an Iowa farmer, and the last comes from my own childhood farm memory. Do you have Christmas or winter memories from the farm? Stories that you love to share? I would love to hear your stories so don't be afraid to share! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! Links Mentioned in This Episode: Christmas During the Great Depression by Sam Moore The Christmas Pony by Clarence Hill As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Of all the farming related questions I receive I would say that the majority of them have to do with money. Questions like: Can I make a full-time living? How much will insurance cost? What is the profit margin per hog? Can I at least break even? All of those are great questions, but like many things in life the answer isn't always a yes or no, but rather it is usually "it depends". That was also the answer I had to give for a couple questions that I received over the past week. It's not that I didn't have thoughts on the subject, but sometimes a simple question like, "can I at least break even" just leads to so many more questions. Questions like: What price will you have to charge to break even? Do you have interested customers? How much marketing are you able to do? What about input costs (feed, pigs, water, structure, etc.)? All of those questions and their answers will make it possible to answer the, "can I break even" question. Very rarely though do I lack an opinion on a farming subject, especially when that subject is pigs! That is why on today's episode I attempt to answer Doug's question about whether or not he could break even raising 3 to 6 American Guinea Hogs (or any pig for that matter) on his three acre property. The easy answer is yes. I mean if you have people willing to pay enough you can break even no matter what, but of course that is where the variables come into play. Once you take all of those into account I think the answer still may be yes, if you can come up with reasonable answers for questions about feed, purchasing feeder pigs, marketing, and so much more. What do you think? What does it take to raise 3 to 6 pigs and break even or make a profit? Are you doing it now, or are you hoping/planning to do it in the future? I would love to hear your thoughts! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! Links Mentioned in This Episode: Building a Sustainable Business (Online Resources) Building a Sustainable Business (Book available from Amazon.com) As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

This past week has been a bit overwhelming on the farm and in our world of farm business planning. When things get that way it is always nice to do something a little more lighthearted and fun, which is exactly why I have put together my Second Annual Beginning Farmer Christmas List! Farmers can be hard to shop for because usually if there is something they need it is needed at that moment and can't wait for the nearest birthday or holiday, but it is still nice to have something for them to open up if you have a farmer or future farmer on your shopping list. On today's episode (and listed below) you'll find ten things that I think make great gifts because I use them on my farm, or they are so awesome that I actually have them on my wish list. There are things for reading, things for working, things for making that work easier, and of course even a bonus item that will help you clean up at the end of the day ... The Beginning Farmer & Future Farmer Christmas List Carhartt Double Front Logger Jeans GreenBest Expandable Garden Hose Chainsaw Helmet System The Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry Gaining Ground by Forrest Pritchard Kinco Pigskin Leather Gloves and the Six Pack of Gloves Fence Staple Driver and the Fancy Fence Staple Driver Acres USA Subscription Cordless Impact Wrench Knipex High Leverage Combination Pliers FarmCrafted Soap made by The Beginning Farmer's Wife What is on your farming Christmas list or what would you suggest for other farmers? Check out what was on my Christmas list last year! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! Links Mentioned in This Episode: Interview with Phil Kramer Part One and Part Two Growing Farms Podcast interview with Forrest Pritchard As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

If you ask anyone that has know me for even the shortest amount of time they would probably tell you that I am a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of guy. I like to come up with an idea and then just start doing it without putting a lot of thought into how it will get done, or rather more accurately what it will take to get it done. For example there have been more than three or four times when I have brought livestock home to the farm because I really wanted them or because they were a "really good" deal with no plan on where to house them or what will keep them from deciding to hang-out in the neighbors cornfield. The same can be said for my "business planning" up until this point. Unfortunately I haven't been too concerned with the business of the farm over these past six years and I'm starting to understand that it probably has hurt my decision making along the way. It's not that I haven't been thinking of the dollars and cents, but rather that I didn't dig down deep into what those numbers were saying and how that impacted various things on the farm. All of that is changing though because I am about 1/3 of the way through my business plan workbook and I've been doing a lot of writing, answering questions, and assessing the farm, labor, enterprises, values, and marketing. My business planning isn't exactly flying, but I am finally making some steady progress and along with that progress I'm beginning to recognize a few things that have me thinking ... My Business Plan Insights So Far ... There is room for growth in my markets ... especially when it comes to hogs. The Meat CSA and our Whole/Half Hog sales need to receive more of my focus I really need to hone in on our shared values for the farm and make some cut-backs in other areas. Pigs truly are the centerpiece of our farm ... by a large margin. Not every enterprise on the farm is a good idea judged purely by the numbers, but that doesn't mean they don't have an important place on the farm Have you ever made a business plan? If so, what surprising things did you find? What should I be looking for as I do all of this evaluation and planning? Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! Links Mentioned in This Episode: Building a Sustainable Business (Online Resources) Building a Sustainable Business (Book available from Amazon.com) As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

For a whole host of reasons I absolutely love the Thanksgiving holiday! I love it because of the history, the season that it comes in, the focus on family around a table, and of course because of the fact that it often points people to remember an idea that we don't think of often enough ... Thankfulness! As I look back on this year of farming (and the past six years since we began) I realize that I have very much to be thankful for on the farm. And it is not just the good moments, because there are often reasons to be thankful even in the midst of difficulty. Below you will find a short list of the things that I am thankful for as a beginning farmer. Of course this is not the complete list, but rather those things that are most closely related to our farming journey ... I am thankful for all of the difficult tasks, moments, hours, days, and weeks on the farm. I am thankful for the family, friends, and neighbors who have helped me along the way. I am thankful for my wonderful wife and children. I am thankful for the opportunity to work outside no matter what the weather is. I am thankful for the fact that the livestock help keep me humble. I am thankful for the countless farm friends that help keep the farm running by supporting us. I am thankful for the farmers that came before me. I am thankful for the sunsets, the cool breeze, the softly falling snow, the spring rains, and the beautiful stars at night. I am thankful that I am a farmer. What are you thankful for this year? No matter where you are on your farming journey I would love to hear what you are thankful for and what sticks out in your mind! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! Links Mentioned in This Episode: George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Winter preparation will vary from climate to climate, but here in South Central Iowa it means getting ready for temperatures that can head south of zero, snow that can suck you into the ditch, and wind that seemingly will find it's way through all your warmest layers! Because of that in an ideal world I would head into winter with all of my preparations done and then just carry on the minimal chores needed for the farm and relax next to the wood stove. The reality though is that no matter how well I plan to prepare for winter I always miss something, or in the case of this year winter decides to sneak up on me earlier than I think it should arrive. Nevertheless I keep preparing for the short days, cold nights, white snow, and blustery winds. Below you'll find some of the things that I try to do as we prepare for winter on the farm ... The Gathering of Firewood - This one might not matter to you, but for me it is how we keep our home warm and our expenses as low as possible. The Watering of Livestock - Water tanks, heaters, automatic valves, and hoses! There is so much to keep track of and in working condition when the temperatures drop below freezing. The Feeding of Livestock - Feeding in the winter often means working around deep snow, mud, and even roads that are impassable. All of that becomes even more difficult if you rely on a tractor for some of your feeding. The Warmth of Livestock - Give the animals a place where they can find shelter from the wind and a dry place to bed down is always priority number one on any farm in the snow belt. The Cleaning of the Farm - I love when we get six inches of softly falling snow. It is beautiful and even fun, but where I've run into problems in the past is when it covers up and hides things that I need! The Gathering of Warm Clothes - The most important winter preparation in my book is gathering together all of my cold weather clothes so that I can stay warm doing all the other things on my list. If I can't stay out there and stay warm then things aren't getting done. The Checking of Fence - If you use electric fence like I use electric fence, and you have snow, then you probably want to have the ability to shut down sections of the fence (or even individual wires) to keep it from shorting out in the snow. The Maintenance of Equipment - There are now fully enclosed buildings on my farm where I can pull in equipment and work on it out of the cold and wind, so I like to have all of my equipment ready to go for the winter in hopes of minimizing my breakdowns. The Monitoring of the Forecast - If there is a big storm coming I want to have all my hay in place, feeders filled, and plans made for taking livestock to the locker. That means keeping an eye on the forecast even if they don't have the best track record for accuracy. The Enjoying of the Season - Winter is going to come to Iowa no matter what I do, so I might as well enjoy the snow as much as possible. And I do enjoy it! What are you doing to prepare for winter? Is your neck-of-the-woods colder than mine? Warmer than mine? I'd love to hear how you prepare for the changing of seasons. Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! Boots and Links Mentioned in This Episode: Arctic Sport Muck Boots Original Chore Muck Boots XTRATUF Work Boots Cobett Waterers As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

The very first "farm animals" that we had while we still lived in town were chickens that we raised in our backyard. But, while still living in town the second "farm animal" that we began purchasing were our Dexter Cattle. Obviously we weren't able to keep them in town (the police even made us get rid of our chickens), but my dad only lived a little more than an hour away and had plenty of pasture, so that is where we began our herd. Before I knew it we had way too many Dexters because I had been finding way too many "good deals". At that time (around seven years ago) I was completely enamored with the Dexter breed, with grassfed cattle, and with having cattle as the center piece of our farm. Times have changed quite a bit and while we still do have our Dexters I am beginning to question their place on our farm. Not cattle as a whole, but the Dexter breed specifically. While I very much appreciate the smaller size of Dexters, the tri-purpose use that they can have, the great flavor of their meat when raised solely on grass, and of course their stately looking horns ... there are somethings that are beginning to make me question whether or not they are the best fit for our farm. Over the years I have often had this thought pop into my head in regards to high price for breeding stock compared to the amount of meat you receive from each steer, but recently a few other questions have begun bouncing around my head and they have me thinking maybe it is time to shift my focus when it comes to cattle. Generally speaking, while I do love my little Dexters the economic realities of wanting to have a wholly viable and financially sustainable farm has me question where they fit into the picture. I think the real question then becomes what are your goals for having cattle on your farm. Do you just want a small herd to provide a few steers for you, your friends, and a few customers? If that is the case then maybe they are a perfect fit for you. But, if you would like grassfed beef to be more than a small sideline to your business then I think you should at the very least consider other options ... or maybe even write-off Dexters completely. What does that mean for this beginning farmer and for Crooked Gap Farm? Well, the jury is still out and honestly I probably won't be quick to make a decision on this one because I have quite a bit invested (time, money, and emotions) in even my small herd of cattle! I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Leave a comment below or join in the fun on The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook. Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

"Margin is the space between our load and our limits. It is the amount allowed beyond that which is needed. It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. Margin is the gap between rest and exhaustion, the space between breathing freely and suffocating. Margin is the opposite of overload. If we are overloaded we have no margin. Most people are not quite sure when they pass from margin to overload. Threshold points are not easily measurable and are also different for different people in different circumstances." At least that is how Richard Swenson, M.D. describes margin in his book Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives (a book that I have not read, but does seem interesting). Of course I could talk a lot about the importance of building margin into your life, but I may not be the best one to speak on that subject because I do have two off-farm jobs currently and margin is my biggest struggle! What I want to talk about specifically today is the importance of building margin into the life of your farm so that it is sustainable physically, financially, ecologically, and on and on and on. This is a topic that came to the front of my mind this past week when I was talking with someone about the low grain prices. They were lamenting the fact that the prices were low and how hard it was on farmers and even the agricultural equipment manufacturers. Of course I knew that when they were talking about farmers they were specifically referencing farmers that only raise grain (corn and soybeans). We talked about how John Deere had cut jobs and all sorts of other implications, but then I mentioned the fact that as a purchaser of grains the lower prices were a pretty good thing for me and hopefully will allow me to catch up a little after two years of higher prices. All of this got me thinking. Of course I could spend hours talking about the problem of the lack of diversified farms in the United States these days, but we don't have that much time (or patience)! What I can talk about though is the importance of building margin on your farm so that when prices go up (or down), when the rains come (or don't), and when the sales are great (or they're not) you are prepared to survive. Building margin in the end may slow your growth or have other implications, but if you are properly building margin I think you will have a farm that can stick around because there will be money, resources, and a farmer that isn't burnt out! What do you think? How do you build margin on your farm? Let me know in the comments below or join us on The Beginning Farmer Facebook page ... actually you should probably do that anyways :) Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

This past week I posted a "fall farm" picture to the Crooked Gap Farm Facebook page and there was a great question about the style of our pasture pens for the rabbits. Of course this had me thinking about the best way to describe them (video of course ... maybe you have heard about a coming Kickstarter project), but beyond that it got me thinking about the role of the meat rabbits and guinea fowl on the farm. Right now they both are important pieces because the rabbits are they way our son gets involved in the business and the guinea fowl provide sales of course, but there is also the fact that they do a great job eating ticks and bugs! As I thought about it though, if I was starting my small scale farm with the focus of building a sustainable business that does more than just support a hobby I don't think either of those animals would be ones that I would start with. Of course if you are wanting to get a start in town the rabbits would be perfect, and if a family homestead was your goal then you might enjoy the guinea fowl (if they don't annoy you too much). The facts are that with both the guinea fowl and the rabbits there is a huge benefit because your starting costs are rather low, your time to return (as in when you sell the meat) is fairly short, and the learning curve is less steep than cattle. It is also true that in many locations rabbit and guinea fowl meat is probably an untapped market. That can be both a blessing and point of concern. Not that you can't market them, but there will be more work in educating customers on the benefits, cooking methods, and great flavor. As a point of comparison ... even if you are raising pasture based poultry or pork there will always be people willing to take a chance on a whole chicken, bacon, or pork chops. What I'm trying to say is that they have a place on the farm, but if I was starting my farm from scratch again they would be in the long range plans rather than year one or two. Of course all of that being said, if I would have started with meat rabbits in town instead of egg laying chickens the police never would have called asking me to remove my chickens! With that in mind maybe rabbits are the perfect thing to start with if your beginning farmer journey begins in town! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

If you've ever spent much time around children you have probably heard the phrase, "that's not fair!" In my eight years of researching my beginning farm and being a real life beginning farmer I have also heard that phrase from beginning farmers (myself included). In fact I've even heard it from politicians talking about agriculture when I visited them in Washington D.C. a few years back. What I'm trying to say is that it is very easy to fall into the trap of looking at my own farming situation and decide that it is unfair because others may have more land, more money, better markets, and a whole host of other things. I believe the reality is though that there is something about every beginning farmer (and experienced farmer) that is unfair ... the business world calls that an "unfair advantage". On our farm we have the unfair advantage of buying a farm smack dab in the middle of an already successful Farm Crawl. Not every farm has something so great for marketing and not every farm can create an event like the one we are part of because you can't just pull 7 farms within 20 miles of each other doing a variety of forms of direct marketing. Another unfair advantage for our farm is my prolific love of talking about the farm. I'm not saying that I'm the world's best speaker or writer, but I do love to tell the story of our farm and I'm not afraid to share it with just about anyone who will listen. My question for you is what is your "unfair farming advantage"? What are those things that set you apart from other farmers ... things that they just can't run to the closest farm store and buy? I would love to hear what your unfair advantage is ... what are you going to take advantage of on your farm! Check out The Beginning Farmer Show on Facebook! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Over the past several weeks I have been teasing TBF Videos the next big thing for The Beginning Farmer, and last week as part of a "hidden track" after the closing music I mentioned an upcoming Kickstarter Project. We are getting closer to releasing our funding campaign, but I'm just so excited about the project that I had to share a few more details on the show today! There are some awesome rewards in the pipeline for being a backer of this campaign, we have a couple VERY cool "stretch rewards" if we can go above and beyond our goal, and of course if our project is funded successfully we will be producing The Beginning Farmer Videos! I can't wait to share the campaign with you, so stay tuned for more details coming soon. But, what really makes this episode cool are the four great questions that came in from listeners over on The Beginning Farmer Facebook Page. On today's episode I answer questions about brooding chicks, learning about pork cuts, researching feed conversion ratios, and building farm websites. Of course great questions deserve equally well thought out responses so this episode runs a little longer than some of the previous ones. Along with my own thoughts I share quite a few links in my responses, so you will want to be sure to check out the links below. Do you have thoughts on any of these subjects? Did I lead anyone astray? Join in the community below in the comments section! Links mentioned in this episode: Pork Be Inspired guide to cuts Better Bacon App (I can't even find this app, but some of the videos are still out there) Whole Beast Butcher by Ryan Farr Feed Conversion Ratio on Wikipedia Niche Pork Production: Managing Feed Costs AgMRC Livestock Resources Farm Marketing Solutions: Build a Farm Website in 4 Minutes As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

The Farm Crawl 2014 has come and gone and this years event was record setting! Overall we are estimating the event drew over 2,000 visitors and that our farm had over 1,800 people touring the farm in a short six hour span! Those are numbers that are hard to believe and humbling all at the same time ... plus, they are very exciting. Now that I'm a few days removed from the event and looking back there are a few experiences that I wanted to share with you. First of all it was amazing to meet so many podcast listeners face-to-face ... and some that had even traveled quite a distance to visit the farm. Unfortunately because it was so busy I didn't get a chance to spend as much time chatting as I would have liked, but know that I wanted to. Another great thing from the day was great encouragement we received from so many visitors complimenting our farm and the products that they have tried ... I can't tell you how great it is to hear someone say that our pork chops were the best they ever had! Above all though the biggest thing that I'm taking away as I look back on this years Farm Crawl is just how important it is to have on farm events for a direct marketing farm. The connections that are made, the marketing opportunities that present themselves, and the ability of the farm to tell it's own story are priceless. On today's episode of "The Beginning Farmer Show" I want to share some of my most important highlights, the reasons why I think you should consider an on farm event, and of course the multiple hard lessons learned from this years Farm Crawl! Links mentioned in this episode: Growing Farms Podcast Episode 57: On Farm Events for Marketing and Fun As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Last week I woke up much earlier than the sun and headed all the way to northwest Iowa to visit Seven W Farm and try to consume as much farming knowledge as possible in such a short time. It's not that the Wilson family didn't have much to teach, but rather that there was so much that I wanted to take in! In fact I'm not sure if I was even intelligent enough to soak in all the great farming experiences and knowledge that live on that farm. I first became aware of this farm back in 2009 when I watched the Niche Pork Webinar Series (you can find Dan Wilson's presentation in the link). The chance to visit the farm was a can't miss opportunity. There were quite a few things that I took away from the day, but some of the coolest things were checking out their laying chicken design, learning about their organic dairy, and of course seeing the pigs and their pasture farrowing set-up. Sometimes I get insulated in my own little "farming world" down here where the only things I think about are my farm and the farm that I work at from time to time. Being on another farm that had similar operations to mine, and even things I would be interested in looking at for the future, really helped open my eyes to what was possible for my farm. Even though their farm had similar operations and similar values and methods of raising their livestock there was still quite a few things that I took away and would like to add to my farm. I hope that you look for chances to get on other farms in your area for learning experiences, because honestly they can't be beat. And ... if you live in Iowa or the surrounding states you should probably check out Practical Farmers of Iowa. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Even farmers take a break. EthanWent and checked out the CentralTime Tour this weekend! The Beginning Farmer Show was your first introduction to me, "The Beginning Farmer", then you may not know that what is now a podcast initially began as a blog about my farming journey (or hopeful beginning farming journey). My very first post was way back on September 23rd, 2006 (that's eight years ago!). Since that time there have been over 900 posts on this blog plus even more from my day's writing for Epicurious. What began with questions like: How much capital will it take to get started? How much cash-flow will be needed, and where will it come from as we start? How much can I expect to make with certain crops or livestock? And, how and to whom will I do all of my marketing? ... has morphed into discussions about breed selections, hog loading procedures, and so much more! What I really want to say though is that I've learned to love podcasting and the community that has grown up around "The Beginning Farmer Show". It's been exciting trying to answer as many questions as possible from all of the listeners, but to be completely honest I think I have probably learned more from everyone that has offered advice and help than I could ever hope to give! The most important thing to me has always been to share the "real life" stories and lessons and experiences from the farm. I mention all of this to say that I think there are some exciting opportunities ahead for "The Beginning Farmer Show". Opportunities that I hope will continue to grow the community, share farming knowledge, and encourage beginners ... because I know as a beginner myself that encouragement is always welcome. I have two things in mind. One is video and the other is something that I'm still fleshing out at this point. There will be ways for you to get involved though ... so stay tuned for more details after the Farm Crawl. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Lately I've been going through what I'm calling my "Farming Reality Check". It's not so much a mid-life crisis or even a "mid-farm crisis" as much as it is the fact that I am quickly (after slowly) coming to the realization that there needs to be more shifts and movement on the farm. A few weeks ago it became painfully clear that the balance in our life had gone from extremely shaky to absolutely falling off the ball out of balance. This shake-up (which I admit had been coming for sometime) has finally got me to the point where I need to honestly evaluate what is going on at the farm and what maybe needs to have big changes. There is good news though! The good news is that I'm taking the bull by the horns and attacking the balance issue as best as I can ... with the help of my family and all the great listeners of The Beginning Farmer Show I'm building a business plan and taking a close look at everything we do on the farm and why we do it. Not everything about this episode is a downer though. Thanks to a growing group on the new Beginning Farmer Show Facebook Page I wanted to take some time to answer questions about two of my favorite topics ... chainsaws and pigs! Below you will find links to the resources I mentioned: The "String Method" for weighing pigs. Stihl FS130 Stihl MS 241 C-M Stihl MS 261 C-M Here is the fence charger I use ... the Stafix X6i One more thing ... I mentioned in this weeks episode that I'm getting about 1,500 volts on the ground wires in my fence. Is this normal or do you have any thoughts on what I'm missing that would be causing this? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

One of the great things about the community that is springing up around The Beginning Farmer Show is that I often receive encouraging e-mails and messages, questions, comments, and links to helpful resources. One of the bad things about me is that when my computer died I neglected to add an important e-mail address to my phone's mail application and because of that I've missed a bunch of great e-mails! There are some great topics though and I want to cover as many as possible. Here is a sampling of the topics that I will be attempting to share some thoughts on ... Dealing with processors can be a challenge. There are often things we as producers worry about because we have spent a lot of time and care getting our livestock to that point only to drop them off and drive away (in some cases). I'm getting pretty passionate about completing my business plan and I'm thankful for all the encouragement and tips that have been coming in. In the future (maybe this year ... maybe next year) we'll be spreading compost on our pastures in order to fully utilize our deep bedding and to help improve our pastures. When is the best time to do that and what about spreading compost in addition to seeding pastures? Even though it would be great if all our interactions with other farmers would be perfect and idyllic our our beautiful farm dreams the reality is that they are people and sometimes it goes better than others. Recently a listener related a story along these lines to me that gave me a lot to think about. All of those questions together though have lead me to some conclusions about The Beginning Farmer Show, my farming journey, and some things that I would love to see moving forward. I'll give a bit of a preview today, but really what I want to say is that I've been extremely blessed to have the help that I've had and I want to share that help as much as possible! Like I said ... there will be more details coming. We covered a lot of ground on today's episode! Do you have any tips on working with butchers, building a great business plan, spreading compost and seeding, or even connecting with experienced farmers? As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

I love working with the pigs, I love driving the tractors, I love attempting to fix the tractors, I love building fence, I love a lot about farming (even the dirty work), but I'm not a big fan of running the numbers and big time planning. What I'm trying to say is that I'm six years into my on-farm journey and I have never completed a business plan ... although I have started a few times. My thoughts on farm business planning have changed recently, as in they've done a complete 180º turn, and I'm in the process of working on my plan. The big question is why have I had such a change of heart ... The main reason for the my heart of change can be summed up in one phrase, "Something needs to change." I have some idea of things that could change on the farm that would help the business and the family, but I've come to the conclusion that a real life Farm Business Plan could really come in handy. I think it will be especially helpful when it comes to things like communication, taking emotion out of the decisions, goal setting, and plans for the future of the farm. There is one problem though ... I feel completely incapable of making a business plan! Luckily I have resources ... here they are: Building a Sustainable Business Workbook from The Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (This is the one that I'm using and I love it because not only does it have the information, but it has case studies from other farms as well) Online Worksheets from the workbook mentioned above ... Do you have any tips, tricks, or experiences when it comes to creating your Farm Business Plan? I'd love to continue the discussion in the comments below! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Farming is great! Let's say you've done your research, got set-up on your farm, and now you're even raising some crops or livestock ... you are officially a real life farmer. Of course if you want to continue to be a farmer you should probably figure out how to make a dollar or two along the way. That's where marketing and selling comes into the game, and it is important to realize that those are two things that you will spend a lot of time doing if you want to be a full-time (or part-time) direct-to-consumer farmer. On our farm we started out slow with our marketing ventures and quickly worked our way up to a very large farmer's market. But, looking back and considering the direction that we are going now with our marketing I'm not sure if I would go the route of the farmer's market. Sure the farmer's market was the main way that we built up our customer base (and we have an amazing group of customers and farm friends), but when you factor in an off-farm job, a family, and the fact that I really had know clue what I was doing with the farming and marketing it might have been less stressful if we would have tackled our market growth in a different way. That is the great thing about living in the 21st century though ... there are tons of opportunities to get the word out about your farm and products. There are plenty of gyms and fitness centers that often times love partnering with farmers, we have healthy living conferences, there are even CSA events where farms can set-up and talk to potential customers about the things they offer. I'd love to hear your thoughts on marketing! What has worked for your farm (or business)? Do you think you have to do the farmer's market thing to be successful? Any suggestions that I missed? ... from Ethan's bookshelf ... one of the upsides (besides the awesome time with my son) of a couple hours four times a day sitting at a hospital was that I found myself with time to read :: this is what I was reading The Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

If you are going to be a farmer you have to do some sort of farming! It doesn't matter if it is livestock, vegetables, grains, tree crops, fruits, or whatever else you can think of you still need to be doing something other than living on a place in the country. If you are a fresh beginning farmer like I was just under six years ago the question then becomes, "What sort of farming am I going to do?". This will probably be something that you think about throughout all of your farming research, learning, and even your land search. But, I believe (if your like me) that you may not settle on what works for you until you actually get your "hands dirty" on the farm. Of course there are many things to think about when you are choosing your farm ventures, but on this episode I wanted to talk about five that were particularly important to me. Land :: What can the farming land you have access to support? Money :: Some ventures take much more capital than others, so which ones will fit into your budget the best? Market :: Knowing what is being done in your area and what isn't will be very important to you as you build your farm. Niches :: What can you do to create a specific niche in your area that sets you apart from other farms that may be your "competition"? Passions :: Are you not a big meat eater? Then raising hogs might not be the thing for you! What are you passionate about and what do you love learning and talking about because that will be important when it comes to telling your farm story! Here are some links related to the New York Times Opinion piece by Bren Smith titled, "Don't Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Farmers" ... Growing Farms Podcast Episode 54 - John shares some of his thoughts on the article. Permaculture Voices Podcast Episode 65 - Diego shares his thoughts on the article and why he believes the solutions are going about it in the wrong way. Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Farmers - A response article from Jenna Woginrich. Letters to the Editor regarding the original article - The best response is from Joel Salatin, and it is the first one you'll see. What advice would you give the beginning farmer looking to find the ventures that fit them and their farms? What do you think about the New York Times opinion piece? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

If you call yourself a beginning farmer, but you aren't farming because you have no place to farm does that mean you are still a farmer? That question is really a bit to deep for me, but I did want to spend some more time talking about land because I know how big of an issue this is for beginning farmers. If you remember from episode 75 I spent most of the episode talking about my latest beginning farmer idea ... renting an abandoned homestead area to begin your farm. Of course that idea may not be possible or appealing to everyone, so I wanted to share a few more ruminations on land that I have been running through my head lately when it comes to beginning farmers. After our first official "farm building" (besides the house) was done I was showing it to my uncle and explaining how I planned on using it. He really only had one comment, "It's not big enough." Of course I tried to explain that I built it as big as I could afford, but what he was really saying is that no matter how big it is you'll never have one big enough because there is always something else you want to have indoors or under cover! He was right ... and now that I'm almost 6 years into my farming journey I'm wishing I had more land. In my mind that is another plus for renting because it may not tie you down to a very specific area like purchasing does. Plus, if I would have tried started out on a very small parcel I may have had a better idea of just how much area was needed for my farming ventures. Another way to find access to land that I think isn't pursued enough is the idea of partnering with a current farmer. That may mean coming to some sort of agreement with a potentially retiring farmer, possibly finding employment with a farmer looking to change directions or slowly work their way out, or maybe even just come alongside a farmer who has areas of the farm that aren't being utilized. Whatever the agreement may be I believe the value that you would gain as the beginning farmer would be more than just access to land ... there would also be a potential wealth of knowledge that you could mine! Do you have any advice for the beginner looking for a place to farm? Let us know in the comments below! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Let's say you want to begin a farm (that may be one of the reasons you listen to this podcast). You've done some reading, you've connected with other farmers and organizations, and you've even spent a year working part-time on a real functioning farm. Now you finally feel like it is time to jump in and do some farming on your own, but as a beginning farmer either you see the wisdom behind starting small and with minimal investment or you just don't have much to invest other than your desire because you are a beginner! Either way you are going to need some place to farm, and if you are like me that means you are starting with nothing ... no family land, no land of your own, and not a lot of knowledge to get you there. When we began our farm I went against everything that I had read and heard because I just felt like I needed to "own" a farm, but if I was going to do it all over again or give advice to another beginner like myself I would strongly encourage them to go the route of renting. In fact lately I've come up with my perfect farm rental plan. Have you ever been driving the back roads in your neck of the woods and seen those old abandoned farmsteads of 2 to 4 acres? I see plenty of them here in Iowa and I often wonder about the lives of those farmers when they were thriving farms, but lately I've been thinking about the possibility of using them as beginning farms. Usually they are unused, full of trees and other brush, and just waiting for an enterprising beginning farmer that is willing to work and wanting to learn! In today's episode I'm going to talk about why I think they are a good option and what I would do if that is how I was beginning. Do you have any advice for the beginner looking for a place to farm? Let us know in the comments below! Other Links Mentioned in this Episode: Permaculture Voices Podcast Episode As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!" If you're used to waking up on Wednesday morning and finding a new episode in your podcast app you already know that this episode is a little late. But, on the flip side I was able to record an early morning episode sitting on the porch looking out across the farm. You can see the view from my "podcasting studio" on the right. One other thing you notice on this episode is a few more distractions that come from recording on the front porch ... distractions as in kitty cats and heifers on the loose. Hopefully though it gives you a small glimpse into the interrupted life of any farmer. Beginning a Farm: Research For most prospective beginning farmers the first stage is research. Anytime you are starting a new business, occupation, or venture most of us try to learn as much as possible so that we aren't jumping in completely unaware. That's the way it was for me at least. I read dozens of books, hundreds of magazine articles, countless blogs, and plenty of research papers. In fact I did so much reading that I'm not sure how much I was actually able to consume and retain! If I was going to do my "Farming Research Phase" all over again I would do it differently than I did over eight years ago. Here are my three steps ... •Reading The Contrary Farmer by Gene Logsdon Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan You Can Farm by Joel Salatin •Connecting Practical Farmers of Iowa Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) Farm Aid Beginning Farmer Resources •Doing Sometimes (most of the time) it is important to just dig in and get our hands dirty. Find farm, almost any farm, and volunteer your time ... ask if they need a hired hand ... or even offer to pay for the experience (it's that important). BeginningFarmers.org Jobs/Internships Links :: Other Resources Mentioned in the Episode :: Part 1 of The Beginning Farmer interview with Phil Kramer (all about pigs) Part 2 of The Beginning Farmer interview with Phil Kramer As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

If you're like me you read the latest books, find the best websites, and listen to the greatest podcast about your topic and then think you can go from 0 to 60 in no time flat. Sure, maybe you understand there will be a learning curve or some bumps along the road, but all in all you think it is totally doable and totally doable in your own prescribed amount of time. In some ways that is how I was when I started my farming journey. I read about the people that were doing it. I talked to beginning farmers that were making it work. I thought I had looked at every possible angle! But, what I didn't do (and what I still don't do from time to time) is do a quick reality check and compare apples to apples. If I had done that I don't think I would have actually changed anything other than my thoughts on how long it would take to get from "Point A" to "B" and so on. On today's episode I want to talk about just those sort of reality checks. Today you can find all sorts of great books, videos, and blogs talking about a great way to make a living on the farm. In fact you'll find links to some of my favorites below. But, at the same time it is important that you understand that just because "Farmer A" is making $50,000 per year on 1/2 an acre doesn't mean that you can go out and do it tomorrow. You probably can do it, and for some of you it may happen tomorrow, but more realistically it will take some time and learning to get to that point. That's why my show has plenty of "Hard Lessons Learned" and most weeks I have multiple lessons to choose from! :: Great Resources for Those That Know They Can Farm :: You Can Farm by Joel Salatin - This was the beginning of the rabbit enterprise How Joel Salatin Nets 60k/year on 20 Acres of Rented Land! (Video) Joel Salatin on "Part Time to Full Time Farm" (Video) -- I didn't mention this on the show, but I was there that day and there are a lot of great nuggets in this one! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

It's Marion County Fair week for us at Crooked Gap Farm. That means that we are extremely busy and that our children are the centerpiece of the farm this week (actually they always are, but you get what I'm trying to say). With that in mind I thought it fit perfectly to take some time on today's episode to a question from Lisa on Facebook. The questions was about getting kids involved on the farm and specifically mentioned age appropriate chores, and while we didn't dig into that completely I do believe we have a great episode because I decided just to go straight to the horses mouth. On today's show my son and I sit down in the show ring stands to talk about the fair, his projects on the farm, and what gets him most excited. Of course I have plenty of "proud father" moments throughout my interview with Caleb, but above all I'm excited because of how excited he is when it comes to the farm. If you do have any questions for Caleb about his life on the farm feel free to send an e-mail or leave them in the show notes and I think I can convince him to come on again! :: Some Books Caleb Has Read :: You Can Farm by Joel Salatin - This was the beginning of the rabbit enterprise Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits by Bob Bennett- Not about pastured rabbits, but still very helpful to beginners like us ARBA Standard of Perfection Book - A huge help for the show ring As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

How do you know it's time to rotate the cows? Can an agriculture business degree be helpful to the independent farmer? Are Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs good with kids and family? Those great questions (and more details) came in from listeners (all The Beginning Farmer Show listeners are awesome blossom) over the past week. Below you'll find some links related to each of the topics that I touch on in today's episode. Plus, if you listen to the show you'll get to hear me ramble (because I'm a bit stressed) about the county fair. More on that next week ... :: Livestock Guardian Dogs :: Livestock Protection Dogs by Orysia Dawydiak - The way more intelligent approach to train your LGD. Livestock Guardian Dogs Website - Links to more articles than you can shake a stick at! :: Rotational Grazing :: Geared Reel for Polywire - In my mind a must have for rotational grazing. Polywire for Rotational Grazing - Holds up in the weather fairly well and is easy to set-up and take-down. I don't have any connection with Powerflex other than I like their poly wire. Grass-Fed Cattle by Julius Ruechel - One of many books that helped shape my rotational grazing ideals. All Flesh is Grass by Gene Logsdon - My favorite farming author and small-scale implementation. Quality Pasture by Allan Nation - If you want to get serious then get this book! Comeback Farms by Greg Judy - In my mind this is the best plan out there if you want to follow a plan. :: Agriculture Economics :: I wish I had some great links on this topic, but I don't ... What are our thoughts? How can having a degree in Agriculture Economics degree benefit the independent small farmer? As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Sometimes things get a little wild and crazy on the farm even when you think you have everything planned out. That has been the case on the farm for the past week or so (or actually the last six years if I'm completely honest with myself). We've had lots of rain and even some wind storms to go along with it. The storms caused some large branches and smaller trees to fall on the electric fence in the woods shorting everything out. The pigs that just joined the party in the woods last week found a small hole in the fencing that was exploited while the fence was shorted out. We have had some great publicity on the farm thanks to an article in the Des Moines Register. And, all sorts of other stuff has been popping up from 4-H projects to hard lessons learned. I say all of that to say that this weeks episode is very unique for a couple of reasons. First of all it was recorded in the comfy (slightly breezy and cool) confines of the hoop building, and secondly I sat down to record with out any plan at all. You may notice both of those things come out in today's show, but hopefully there are also some diamonds in the rough. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Hosting any event on your farm is always stressful ... hosting a farm cookout can be even more stressful ... and hosting a full on seven course feast on your farm with five chefs, a crew of kitchen help, professional servers, and more might even cause enough stress to drive you a little batty! That is exactly what happened on our farm this past weekend, and although it was stressful at times (and caused me to be a little nervous) it was probably one of the most satisfying and humbling moments I've had as a farmer. The crew that came out to the farm was beyond professional and passionate about what they were doing. All of that made for a wonderful event that often left me speechless. If you're looking for a way to say thank you to your farm friends, connect with new customers, or build a relationship with the chefs and food movements in your area I cannot recommend a dinner such as this one highly enough. Just be prepared for a little stress ... As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

The importance of believing in what you are doing on your farm, why you are doing it, and the value of what you are producing is central to your farming journey. At least that is the case with my farm! I've always been a person that want's other people to like me, and when it comes to the farm sometimes I can doubt my farming plan or my products when people are turned off by the price, the way we raise our livestock, or any other sort of craziness. Over time though I have come to realize how valuable the customers (farm friends) we have are, and also to realize that we won't have everyone as a customer ... just the best ones ;) Today's show is a little bit on the disorganized side I'm sure as I was working with back-up recording equipment for the first time. Although ... if the sound quality wasn't too awful let me know because there are a lot of other things I could do with this set-up in the future. As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

There is a delicate balance when it comes to the relationship between water and farmers. If you're in the midst of a drought with no rain in site you are praying for rain, but if all it does is rain when you are trying to put up dry hay you are cursing the rain! There is one thing for sure though, you can't control when it will or will not rain so you'd better be prepared for both options. All of this is to say that this week I'm going to spend some time responding to a listener e-mail about water ... or the lack there of. I don't know if there is a silver bullet type of answer for the question, but I do know that I've learned a few things from the past two years of dry spells and there is one major thing I will do different if we are dry again for an extended time. If you've been around the show for a while you know that I'm passionate about farming in general, but starting a farm and beginning farmers more specifically! A little while ago I received a great e-mail from a blog reader who shared what his plan for dipping his toes into the world of farming is. I thought he had some great plans so I wanted to share them ... plus, that e-mail in conduction with the e-mail about water got me to thinking. Thinking about starting farms, trying to be like other farms, the importance to collecting ideas and adapting them to your farm, and even having a farm that is an educational hub! If you have any ideas about farm classes you would enjoy I'd love to hear about them in the comments below. Here are some helpful links from today's show ... Farm Marketing Solutions As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Life at Crooked Gap Farm has been pretty rough over the past week. Not that life still wasn't fun and enjoyable, but rather that it has been full of "Hard Lessons Learned"! Since the hard lessons are often the portion of the show that receives the most comments and feedback I thought it would be fun (or therapeutic) to spend some time sharing the happenings from the last week and the hard lessons learned from the ups and downs. This week I have lessons from my desire to do everything all at once, updates on the hoop building (or lack thereof), news about fancy dinners, and the traveling life of a farmer. Most importantly though I take some time to talk about the lessons learned and some very important takeaways! Here are some helpful links from today's show ... Gobs of Guineas -- Blog post from The Beginning Farmer's Wife Crooked Gap Farm :: Taste of Knoxville As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Here is a shot of the semi-finished wagon. Notice my chicken door with-in the person door. That is one of the improvements I'm most excited about.[/caption] In just over five years of farming I have now built four variations of a chicken wagon and each one improved on the failures of the ones that came before. Of course it didn't take much to improve on my first wagon which was built out of a great find from a machinery auction. On today's episode I wanted to take some time to talk about the design for this chicken wagon and why I decided to build it the way that I did. Below you will find a series of pictures showing my chicken wagon build at various stages along the way. Here are some helpful links from today's show ... John's Stress Free Chicken Tractor Plans How We Raise Chickens on Crooked Gap Farm Here are all of the building supplies needed for building my 10x15 chicken wagon. We laid out the floor with our 2x4 joists and then placed the 3/4" treated plywood on for the floor. The walls were built with studs 2' on center. I actually attached my steel horizontal instead of vertical like it normally would be so I had less cutting to do. One of the best things about this wagon was that I borrowed an air nailer from a friend. That made the framing process much faster! An important thing to work on as you are framing the building is trying to keep everything square. That doesn't happen often on my farm, but that's why I always say "it's good enough for who it's for." Here my son is working on the frame of our hinged roost, this will be great for when he needs to clean it out ;) As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

First of all let me apologize ... somehow I got a little long winded in this episode. The subject of financing the farm is one that I'm passionate about and care about deeply because I not only want to see my farm succeed, but other beginning farms as well. So, when I talk about grants, loans, and other funding options I have a tendency to go on and on and on! What I do hope that you can take away from this episode though is a quick overview of some helpful resources when it comes to "finding money" and my passion for boot-strapping and saving like crazy to get the farm off the ground! As a little aside ... it seems to me that the farmers I interact with from day to day are the kings and queens of boot-strapping and getting by with less, so I would almost call it a required farming skill! Here are some helpful links from today's show ... Practical Farmers of Iowa Interview with Luke Gran of PFI (Part One and Part Two) Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (Research Grants) F.A.C.T. Fund-a-Farmer Grant PFI Savings Incentive Program USDA Beginning Farmers Grants NRCS Funding Opportunities Farm Credit Services of America (FCSA) Loans FSA Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Loans The Beginning Farmer Blog Post "Why FARM?" from October 9th, 2006 You Can Farm by Joel Salatin (Great book about just going for it on the farm) As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Check out that picture on the left ... that's me ... and that's the huge tractor that I drove this past week pulling a big huge wide field cultivator. The good news is that I didn't even hit anything, and I helped get the field ready for organic corn (but I'm more excited about not hitting anything)! On today's episode I'll talk about how I helped prep the soil for the Non-GMO corn I'll be using later this fall and then I'll dig into a "potpourri" of farming subjects. This week I'll be discussing (not so much answering) questions from three different listeners that left comments on our Crooked Gap Farm Facebook page. The topics include: Pink-eye in Cattle, "Pasty Butt", Livestock Guardian Dogs, and Dexter Cattle. Here are some helpful links from today's show ... Vetericyn Wound & Skin Care (affiliate link) Vetericyn All Animal Pink Eye Spray (affiliate link) Apple Cider Vinegar (With The 'Mother') (affiliate link) Finger Lakes Dexter Creamery Livestock Guardian Dogs Association As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Fair warning ... this episode was recorded with minimal notes, no post production editing, and late at night (or early in the morning depending on how you look at it). I do believe though, that it will give you a good taste of what spring is like on Crooked Gap Farm these days. As you listen to the show you will hear about how I haven't finished the hoop building yet, how the pastures are quite where I want them to be, how the woodlots still need some seeding and fencing, how the chicken wagons aren't done, how the garden still needs work, and of course (as you can see from the picture above) how the sheep don't seem to care about my electric fence! What I'm hoping you'll get out of this raw episode is a true picture of life on my beginning farm in the spring. This is a busy time of year on all farms and ours is no different, so we are just trying to keep our heads above water and accomplish as much as possible. And, if we can accomplish a little more than possible that would be nice too! As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

I am very excited to have "Part Two" of my interview with Wesley Hunter of Providence Farm on the show today. On todays show Wes and I talk about some of the most important steps in raising a heritage breed chicken ... the eating and the marketing! There are challenges of course when it comes to raising meat chickens on pasture, but when it comes to your customers the most important challenge is the marketing and education. Wes has some great information about the results from his blind taste test and how some of the struggles associated with marketing a heritage breed (because they are different than most chickens found in the local grocery store ... in a good way). If you have any questions for Wes leave them in the comments below and he'll answer as best as possible. Through the help of a SARE Grant Wes was able to do some great on-farm research comparing a variety of heritage meat chickens for things like feed efficiencies, dressed weight percentage, total feed consumption, and even an unscientific taste test. It would not be a stretch to say this is one of the best sets of episodes to date! If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below and Wes or I will take time to answer them. Helpful Links from Today's Episode: A Comparison and Evaluation of Heritage Breed Broiler Chickens on Pasture by Wesley Hunter "Economics of Heritage Breeds" blog post by Wesley Hunter Providence Farm Blog Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

Life on the farm is always full of difficult decisions. Sometimes they have to do with livestock, sometimes they are about projects, and sometimes there are even difficult marketing decisions to be made. For the past few months we have been working through the process of making a difficult marketing decision, and we have finally come to the conclusion ... We will not be doing the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market this year. This is a huge change in our marketing plan for the farm, and honestly it is very scary because for the past two years the market has been by far our highest grossing sales opportunity. But, with a full-time job off-farm and another farming job working for the neighbors I have been finding myself spread too thin to accomplish the work that I feel needs to get done. The lack of time because of the demands from my other jobs, along with less product availability than expected and a desire to involve the family more, has led us to the point where the market just needed to go ... at least for this moment. In today's episode I wanted to share a little bit about the thoughts we had while making this big decision and then what big changes this means for our marketing going forward. Sometimes you just need to dive into something ... and we are diving in head first this time! Helpful Links from Today's Episode: Orbit SunMate Hose Timer (Amazon Link) Crooked Gap Farm Meat CSA Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter

I have to admit that this episode (and the following episode) is one that I was very excited about doing for purely selfish reasons. I am super excited to have Wesley Hunter of Providence Farm on the show to talk about heritage breed meat chickens. This is a topic that is on my mind a lot because I just haven't been able to find a replacement for the birds that I was able to raise a few years ago. Through the help of a SARE Grant Wes was able to do some great on-farm research comparing a variety of heritage meat chickens for things like feed efficiencies, dressed weight percentage, total feed consumption, and even an unscientific taste test. It would not be a stretch to say this is one of the best episodes to date! If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below and Wes or I will take time to answer them. Helpful Links from Today's Episode: A Comparison and Evaluation of Heritage Breed Broiler Chickens on Pasture by Wesley Hunter "Economics of Heritage Breeds" blog post by Wesley Hunter Providence Farm Blog Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I'm thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn. If you do enjoy the show, don't forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show! I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with "The Beginning Farmer" and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links ... Crooked Gap Farm Crooked Gap Farm on Facebook Crooked Gap Farm on Twitter