MLT NEWSLETTER
Fall 2013
Cultivating
Resilient Communities
MLT Board of Directors:
Rita Bober
Norm Bober
Ken Dahlberg, Chairperson
Maynard Kaufman
Ron Klein
Suzanne Klein
Michael Kruk
|
Jim Laatsch
Lisa Phillips, Treasurer
Michael Phillips
Thom Phillips, Managing Director
Jan Ryan, Secretary
Jon Towne, Newsletter Editor
Dennis Wilcox |
Women and Food: Honoring the Web of Life
By Rita Bober
After reading the book: Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat
by Temra Costa, I wanted to research and write about women in Southwest
Michigan who are following the ideas she shares in her book:
Building new farm-to-eater
relationships (farmers, CSA entrepreneur, have a Farm Stand, a bakery
or a restaurant that serves local food) - Advocates for social change
(policy, media, etc.) a person working toward a more holistic food
system - a system that nourishes our bodies through healthy food, in a
way that protects the soil and wildlife, is fair to farm workers and
helps local economics - Promoting local and seasonal food through a
restaurant, catering company, community-supported kitchen, a Farmers
Market, or a composting business, a teacher of gardening, canning, and
sustainable organic growing practices - Networks for sustainable food,
use media as a tool for outreach including future farmers, local food
sources, etc. - Urban farm women - Promoting the next generation of
sustainable farmers
For the most part, women are the nurturers and
caretakers of our families. We do the shopping for our food, we
cook the meals, and clean up afterwards. It is no surprise, then,
that women have the power to transform the way we eat and the way we
farm. But we rarely hear about them. Being interested in
gardening, I have seen a lot of books written by men on farming (and
gardening), and articles on well-known male chefs. The author,
Temra Costa, profiles twenty-six women who are working toward a more
holistic food system. Women in this book share a love of the land and
animals they raise. Love of the land focuses their efforts on
preserving the soil and love of animals motivates others to challenge
the factory farm system. Agriculture needs to be a business that
is one of service to the common good. Women Foods & Ag
Network is one website that supports and advises women on this
journey. Below are some of the women in southwest Michigan that
are making a difference.
Dale Abbott - The Trybal Revival Community Garden; Common Ground of Kalamazoo
Dale grew up on a farm and has had backyard gardens
most of her life, so she’s familiar with the concept of growing food
for direct, personal consumption. Many people are not comfortable with
this concept. The vast majority of our population is completely
disconnected from their food. For many people, food only comes from a
store or is served from a commercial kitchen — the concept that they
could eat food that was not processed or prepared by some “entity”
outside their control is pretty far outside their box.
“When my partner and I moved to an inner city neighborhood
and were offered a small, flat, sunny vacant lot next to our house, we
immediately jumped at the opportunity to create a community garden. The
first year was challenging – people liked the idea, but weren’t sure
they wanted to participate; the second year we worked a bit at
recruiting people in our neighborhood, and by the third year we had
people coming to us asking to garden with us. Starting the community
garden was the launching point for our involvement with other community
food initiatives in Kalamazoo.
“We started the The Trybal Revival Community Garden
4 years ago; that was our first step in connecting people with fresh
food. Since then we partnered with the Kalamazoo County Land Bank
to acquire several abandoned, now-vacant lots in the block next to us
and are developing a small edible forest with fruit and nut trees,
berries, some perennial vegetables and space for annual vegetables as
well. This is the Trybal Revival Eastside Eco-garden, and it is a
long-term project, we may not live long enough to see some of the trees
become fully mature, but the project has a lot of immediate benefits
too. Aside from the annual gardening space, it serves as a model for
urban food production. People need to realize that you don’t need a 100
acre farm to grow food – there are pockets of vacant land all over the
city and those could all be green pockets growing food for people in
those neighborhoods, or being sold to local residents or restaurants
for income.
In addition to our community gardening/greenspace
projects, last year I revived an old project that had been in the works
for a couple years, which was to make very basic, easy to follow
instructions available on how to grow food and how to prepare food.
This materialized as a website: www.FromPlantToPlate.org. The website
is intended to be used by individuals as well as educators and
fresh-food providers to help educate and encourage people to grow and
eat fresh food.
Through our involvement in community gardening we
were instrumental in establishing Common Ground Kalamazoo, the
Kalamazoo Community Garden Network. Common Ground was formed as a
collaborative between the Kalamazoo County Land Bank, MSU Extension,
Fair Food Matters and The Kalamazoo Nature Center. We remain actively
involved in this organization that helps support over 40 community
gardens throughout Kalamazoo County.
For us this started as a way to improve our little
slice of the planet by creating positive greenspace on vacant lots and
building community with our neighbors—that remains at the core of our
mission. We read a lot of depressing news about what’s going on in the
world, and most of it we can’t effect change over . . . so we do what
we can where we are . . . and hope it helps.”
Erica Barajas – Executive
Director at Fair Food Matters; former program manager of the Growing
Matters Garden and helped develop the Douglass Farmers’ Market
Erica’s awareness of food issues got a kickstart
from serving as a volunteer in the United States Peace Corps in Bolivia
from 2007-2008. She was assigned as a Natural Resources volunteer
because of her background in science, and worked with the elementary
school in the village to develop a school garden program. She also
started experimenting with growing her own food during that time, in
pots made from recycled two liter bottles and tires in a shared patio
space. She was surprised to learn that in Bolivia local, fresh food was
normal and cheaper than processed foods and it made her wonder why the
system in the US is so different.
Erica was originally hired at Fair Food Matters in
April, 2010. She also serves on the board of directors at the
People’s Food Coop, and is a community organizer and workshop
facilitator with ERAC/CE (Eliminating Racism and Claiming/Celebrating
Equality). In her spare time, she is pursuing a bachelor of fine arts
at Western Michigan University, and occasionally plays percussion with
the Kalamazoo Philharmonic.
“This is an important part of my life because I see
access to healthy food as a human rights issue, and now that I know
that I can’t remain silent about it. There are huge disparities in
healthy food access which contribute significantly to differences in
public health outcomes such as the recent news about infant mortality
rates in Kalamazoo. Another reason that this has become an important
part of my life is that I love working with people and I’ve met so many
passionate people who are working on similar issues. I’m part of a
community that believes in taking care of its constituents, even if
we’re not doing that well enough yet.”
Lucy Bland – Founder and Program
Manager of the Can-Do-Kitchen, a program of the non-profit Fair Food
Matters; a longtime owner of the People’s Food Co-op and involved with
a growing anti-racism/anti-bias community, spearheaded by ERAC/CE (Food
Justice)
“It started in high school, when I took a psychology
class and decided that would be my major in college. During my second
year at WMU, I took Roger Ulrich’s Psychology class, Introduction to
Human Behavior. It opened my eyes to the horrible things we do to each
other and to the earth and led me to seek out WMU’s Environmental
Studies department. From there, the road led me to the People’s Food
Co-op, where I volunteered and eventually worked for four years. During
my time there I learned about healthy food choices, started questioning
where our food comes from, and why so much of it was controlled by
large corporations. I also joined the Kalamazoo Community Gardens
Initiative where I learned about the benefits of growing our own food
in community with others. During this time, I unknowingly launched
myself head-on into food justice issues and learned firsthand that it
doesn’t work to “help, fix, and save” people. I continued to do work
that fueled and compelled me – native plant gardening with Tom and
Nancy Small, teaching high school youth to cook from scratch, teaching
my peers how to start and maintain community gardens, growing and
selling food at the farmer’s market, networking with small
growers, learning commercial cooking, homesteading, people management,
and program development skills. My life with the People’s Food
Co-op, Kalamazoo Community Gardens Initiative, and Fair Food Matters
(for 11 years) has always been a weaving of food, justice, and access
issues. Thirteen years later I am finally beginning to understand how
absolutely crucial health equity, education equity, and food access
equity are and the role I can play in getting us there.”
“Fair Food Matters has been such a central tenant of
my life, I feel that its struggles and successes are often my own.
There is no leaving work at home; it all blends together. Most notably,
the growing understanding of food justice and food access has been a
tandem journey for Fair Food Matters and I. I feel we have
finally found our path by joining a fellowship of individuals and
organizations who are charting a path into a future where community and
equity are stronger than capitalism and greed.”
Nancy Essex – Owner of Flowerfield Enterprises
Mary Appelhof opened Flowerfield Enterprises in 1979
and published the book Worms Eat My Garbage in 1982. It is widely
distributed nationally as well as internationally. In this landmark
book she states: “When spring came, I used the resulting vermicompost
in my garden and discovered that the production of broccoli and
tomatoes was much better than I had dreamed possible”. Mary wrote an
entire chapter in her book about using castings to increase yield using
nutrient rich, microbial rich castings to complete the kitchen scrap
cycle – from food to garbage to food. Mary’s introduction into growing
food was a result of a different goal – making folks responsible for
their own garbage.
Mary was a caring and ambitious environmentalist
with a passion for nature. She influenced the world with her
efforts. Mary passed over in 2005. She was recognized as a
leader in vermicomposting. When Mary died, Nancy became the
owner of Flowerfield Enterprises. Besides the products they sell,
Flowerfield also does presentations from Girl Scout troops to national
conferences, both on vermicomposting and compost tea. With Nancy at the
helm, Flowerfield Enterprises is dedicated to continuing Mary
Appelhof's legacy of improving the environment through knowledge and
service to the public.
Nancy has worked at Flowerfield Enterprises for over
20 years. “It has become more and more evident that for our own health,
the health of our children and our animals, we need to learn to produce
less toxic and more nutritious food and reduce if not eliminate the use
of toxic chemicals. Based on a better understanding of how soil, plants
and nutrients interact I searched and began producing a new Flowerfield
product in 2006 - Flowerfield Compost Tea. Rather than leach chemicals
into the water supply, compost tea enhances the natural chemistry of
the soil. The brewing process is monitored carefully to insure that
beneficial organisms are present in sufficient numbers to out-compete
any pathogens or toxins. Plants grow and produce crops in a natural,
organic, safe environment. Growing food using compost tea is completely
safe for people, animals and plants. Worm Castings are an important
component of Compost tea along with organic compost and nutrients for
the microorganisms.”
Lori Evesque – Education Coordinator for Tillers International; started EatLocalSWMich Website; lives on Little Red Hen Farm
“I first became involved with food issues the first
time I planted my own vegetables. Although I ‘helped’ my dad in his
garden when I was young, it didn't make that great an impact until I
started growing things myself. The next major impetus was after having
children and realizing how important their food was. When we moved to
Michigan when my kids were 3 and 1, I became involved with the co-op in
Paw Paw and each year my involvement increased.”
Lori has been involved with food issues for more
than 20 years. She lives on a small farm where she grows water
cress in a aquaponics system (sold to the co-op in Kalamazoo), makes
maple syrup, periodically has bees (none currently), raises chickens
and ducks, and grows some of her own food. As Education
Coordinator at Tillers International, she directs the educational
classes for the organization. These classes center on rural
sustainability from farming organically and with draft animals,
homesteading skills like canning, cheese making, and more. Through Fair
Food Matters, Lori has also taught canning classes and started
community gardens in the Kalamazoo area. In 2007, Lori started a
website: EatLocalSWMich (a yahoo group) that exists to increase access
to local food. It has over 750 members.
This has become an important part of Lori’s life for
“both myself and my family, I have found that what we eat has more and
more impact on our health. I also believe it has a tremendous impact on
the health and long term health of our community and local economy.”
“I think everything that is happening (regarding
farming and related food issues) has been wonderful and would like to
see things continue. In many respects, I think things need to speed up
in order to stay ahead of the societal decline I see coming. That said,
I think society changes slowly unless there are drastic events taking
place, which may well happen. Besides that, I think local, healthy food
is only the first step in becoming a more resilient and self-sufficient
community and would like to see an expansion from growing food locally
to more production of value added foods as well as other products
needed by people from soaps, household items, clothes, tools and more.”
Karla Kauffman – Maple Tree Meadows
Farm; Founded the Three Rivers Sustainable Food Group and helped
develop the River Country Local Food Guide
“I became involved with food issues when a colleague
at the West Michigan Environmental Action Council in Grand Rapids began
focusing on the issue. It helped me focus my environmental activism on
an area I enjoy and doesn't need as much scientific knowledge as other
areas. Also, I grew up on a farm and had wanted for years to get back
onto a farm and try to ‘live the life.’ So here I am in a fixer upper,
exhausted, and also knowing it's where I need to be.
“My farm is Maple Tree Meadows, a tribute to the
former name, Gleason Meadows, and the maple trees in the yard. I make a
small income from hay my neighbor makes on the farm and a Soul &
Soil retreat series for women in ministry. The rest is professional
income, off the farm.
“This farm is central to my values. This is how I
(following Thomas Jefferson) think we all should be able to live!
Tending a small plot, producing most of what we eat, and having a life
literally grounded in local connections and the Earth. I'm also hoping
to be able to share the farm with others who want and need the
connection as well.
“I've been on the farm for 5 years, involved in food
sustainability issues for 10 or so. Since college I've made my food
from scratch and paid attention to health and environmental issues with
my food. I would like to see the SW Michigan area become known
for sustainable farming practices. Developing networks among people and
providing interesting invitations for health and good living via our
eating wholesome food may be an approach. We recently had a local
dinner in my barn - lovely. I’d like to see native species returned,
such as paw paws as our banana substitutes. I'd also love to see local
faith communities explore the responsibility of caring for the Earth
and approaching sustainability from a theological perspective. For this
community, that approach might attract people that otherwise would not
be interested.”
Penny Kelly – owner of Lily Hill Farm and Learning Center; Teacher, Author, Naturopathic Doctor
“From the time I was born to the time I left home at
eighteen, our family grew all our own food. I spent my childhood
helping to plant the annual garden, then weeding, harvesting, canning,
freezing, and drying what we would eat all winter. We got our beef from
Grandpa & Grandma who were still raising cows, chickens, and
pigs. We made our own bread, sometimes got milk and eggs from Grandma,
sometimes had our own chickens, and maintained a small orchard. We also
bought fruit from a traveling guy who came by several times every fall
with bushels of grapes, plums, peaches, pears, and apples. When I
moved to the city, I was happy to be free of ‘all that work’ but
quickly went downhill in terms of my health. I never put two and two
together – nutrition and physical degeneration – until I was in my
early forties and came down with severe rheumatoid arthritis.
Then, in an effort to heal myself, I began to study nutrition,
agriculture, health, and all things related.”
Penny has been involved in growing and marketing
food since she was a child; in helping to start Community Gardens in
Kalamazoo MI in 2009, in teaching courses in “Organic Gardening” and
“Getting Well Again Naturally” at the farm and on-line for over 15
years, and in helping the next generation of gardeners/farmers/food
activists get a good understanding of the connection between the soil
and our health as well as a good footing in the business world for over
20 years.
Penny became involved in helping start community
gardens as a way of building relationships in urban neighborhoods. Her
thinking was that if things became bad economically, difficulties could
quickly arise. However, if people were working in the gardens all
summer, side-by-side with their neighbors, they would be much less
inclined to attack, be competitive, or hostile to those same
people when times of need arrived. The gardens were a way of
structuring cooperation and giving people both support and the
connections that would encourage them to “feed one another” at all
levels of being.
She became involved with helping nurture the next
generation of gardeners/farmers/food activists through her classes and
consulting work as a Naturopathic physician. Naturopathic medicine is
not recognized in Michigan, but Naturopaths are allowed to teach. In
the process of teaching others how to heal themselves, the next
generation of gardeners and farmers is beginning to emerge. In
addition, two of Penny’s four children are now involved in seriously
growing healthy food for others; her son raises pasture-fed chickens
and her daughter both raises vegetables and bakes beautiful, nutritious
breads and muffins for the Farmer’s Market in Kalamazoo.
Barbara Norman – owner Barbara’s Blueberry Patch, Covert, MI
Barbara is a third generation farmer on her
blueberry farm in Covert, MI. She and her grandson sell
blueberries, blueberry value-added products through a non-traditional
CSA,
Farmer’s Markets, and her products are available through Eater’s Guild
CSA year round. They also sell various vegetables and blueberry
plants.
In 2007, Barbara received a NCR-SARE Diversity Grant
to develop “The Continuing Face of Sustainable Agriculture
Project. “This project carried the SARE Sustainable Agriculture
story to well over 2,000 small scale, limited-resource producers and
farmers,” says Barbara. These included urban farmers in Detroit,
MI, small-scale African-American farmers in several locations in
Illinois, and the historical community of African American farmers in
Nicodemus, KS.
Barbara also worked with Dr. Leroy Ray, Jr. in his
Farm Research Cooperative, which encouraged African-American youth and
small farmers to learn about science, agriculture and nature.
Kim Sanwald – co-owner of Brickyard Farms, Writer
Kim became interested in food issues over 7 years
ago when she made a significant life-change and became a partner in a
5.5 acre vegetable truck farm. This choice took her far beyond
her lifelong love of food, to someone who became immersed in how food
is grown and the local food movement. “We are seasonal vendors at the
Fulton Street Farmers Market in Grand Rapids. I am also
Vice-President of the Market’s Board of Directors. Being both a
vendor and being on the Board allows me to get insight into two very
different kinds of business models. One is the side of the
farmer; the other is how the market relates to its local community.
Being a farmer, allows me to create relationships
with our customers that span across many social and economic
backgrounds. Learning what kinds of whole foods interest
different cultures has been rewarding. There is the added benefit
of sharing tips on food preparation, recipes and the challenge of
creating excitement around using fresh vegetables. Both my
partner Val and I find it curious, just how many people don’t cook on a
regular basis. One of the reasons I wrote a memoir/cookbook two
years ago (Basics with a Twist), was to share with others how farming
has influenced my thinking about food and the importance of supporting
the local food movement.
“As our world continues to struggle with
sustainability issues, I feel each of us has the power to create the
kind of world we want to live in. As fossil fuels become more
costly to produce, and the food industry model of cheap, processed
foods slowly fall out of favor, each of us in the local food movement
has a responsibility to help educate those interested and receptive to
change. I feel this is best done by example of how we live.
Many people who sell food at the market, don’t necessarily eat the food
they sell. We not only eat our vegetables, but somehow find the
time during the busy farm year to put up as much as possible.
That way we do our best to eat off our farm all year long. Time
is a challenge for many, who live busy urban life-styles. Since
moving to a rural area, I have learned first-hand how working with the
land can’t help but change your perspective. Although I have only
been seriously involved in food issues for the past seven years, I feel
that this is something that will only grow more important the longer we
farm. We are both pushing 60, yet feel that we aren’t interested
in an early or quiet retirement. We feel we have a rich, yet
modest life.”
Punkin Shananaquet – Community Health Representative for the Gun Lake Band of Potawatomi
Through her work, Punkin emphasizes the importance
of understanding diet as an essential component of a Native American
lifestyle. She recognizes that the traditional diet of her ancestors is
important in helping her people make healthy choices on what foods they
eat and serve to their families. This is essential because of the
high rate of diabetes in Native communities. According to Indian
Health Services, American Indian youth aged 15 to 19 years saw a 68%
increase in diabetes from 1994 to 2004.
Food systems including gathering, harvesting,
collecting and preparing foods have long been a central part of Native
traditional culture. For generations, Native communities gathered
together to participate in seasonal harvesting activities such as maple
sugar camps, fish harvests, rice camps and to plant and harvest
crops. These activities have always brought together extended
families, friends, and neighbors, thus strengthening their
relationships with each other. Activities are based on
cooperation. They create intergenerational connections, and are as
important for social wellness as they are for physical health.
Because of these concerns, Punkin has been
instrumental in providing educational programs through the Jijak
Foundation and the Great Lakes Lifeways Institute for her community and
interested visitors. Workshops on wild rice processing, the old
way of making maple syrup and sugar, learning to prepare and eat wild
game such as deer, goose, squirrel, etc. are held at the Jijak Camp,
south of Hopkins, MI. At Camp Jijak, there is also a community
garden where the Three Sisters (corn, beans, squash) are grown.
Punkin’s daughter, Carly,
was chosen by the Tribe to cook meals at their gatherings because she
knows the traditional teachings about preparing food especially about
being in a happy place as this mood is passed on through the cooking
and one wants good relations with the food and those that partake of
that food.
The Anishinabek have long understood the
importance of balancing their needs with the needs of “all our
relations”- plants, trees, animals and Mother Earth. The
ancestors applied carefully developed systems to ensure this balance,
and to protect and care for the resources of the Earth. Whether
rotating hunting grounds, restricting rice beds for reseeding, offering
tobacco before harvesting or sharing the harvest with birds and
animals, sustainability is not a new idea for American Indian
communities.
Hidden Cost of Hay for Small Scale Rotational Grazing ©
Ron Klein, Windshadow Farm, & Dairy
The cost of maintaining livestock is the major
expense in operating a dairy and creamery. High ticket items are
harvested forage (hay), grain and mineral. There are
several profitable dairies in the Midwest that have been able to switch
to low or no grain and drop hay costs by emphasizing prescribed
or rotational pasture grazing. Rotational grazing requires
attention to the nutritional quality of growing forage, condition of
livestock, moving animals to new pasture swards and assuring that
the life giving soil is healthy and soil micro flora and
fauna robust. Studies in Ireland and New Zealand have shown
that with a balanced grazing system, nutrient dense forage, and healthy
soil, additional grain does not result in a significantly profitable
increase in milk.
Though we view each acre of pasture as a 43,560
square foot solar panel, our primary focus is soil. And that
healthy soil ultimately has everything to do with profitability,
quality of life for man and beast, clean water and, ultimately, a
healthy environment for now and into the future.
We earned a grant to draft a Comprehensive Nutrient
Management Program (CNMP) under the guidance of a highly skilled expert
in soil science and nutrient management. Our consultant was very
much in tune with ecoagricultural and holistic/natural practices. A
very detailed assessment of our farm’s total nutrient production and
needs was completed in a few months. The nutrient content of
soil, manure, soiled bedding, straw and hay were tested. Surveys were
made of all topography with detailed maps. The extent of slopes
and proximity to drainage that flowed into the Black River precluded
all but a small area being suitable for tillage.
We set a long term goal for a hay yield of 5.0
tons/acre/year that would translate into approximately 2,000 lbs. of
available forage/acre per 60 day rotation. We chose a 60 day
rotation to break the parasite life cycle rather than peak vegetative
growth. If the pastures got ahead of the animals we’d save money
by haying and keeping forage in a vegetative-nutrient dense-growth
phase. The calculations to achieve our goal of producing harvestable
forage and after soil tests indicated we would have to add nutrients
equivalent to an 18 inch layer of our manure bed pack over our
pastures. It took us 26 years to build 18 inches of excellent soil at
our farm, Dancing Turtle, in Kalamazoo County, on top of glacial gravel
outwash and that was just an acre garden. We are obviously in
this for the long haul. We became very sensitive to how and where we
spread manure. We rebuilt an older PTO driven sprayer to spray
excess milk and whey. And knew that since we were deficient in
nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) we had to be deficient
in trace minerals and micronutrients. But where to begin with a
mere 30 acres?
We rejuvenated our west 8 acre pastures first.
Our soil analysis indicated we would need to initially add 600 pounds
of lime, 130 pounds of K Mag (potassium and magnesium), 530 pounds of
potash, 150 pounds of Map (10-50-20) and 75 pounds of urea per acre to
meet our nutrient needs. The cost would be $314.75 per acre
divided into two applications. We priced out “organic” sources for
these nutrients and learned that the cost would have broken the bank,
so we settled on commercial fertilizer just to start a decent stand of
forage. We had quite a bit of machine work to do. The first pass
of the disc cut through the sod to reveal yellow powdery clay that
looked like sand when it was dry. We smoothed out ruts and
furrows, and rolled the base. We hired out the first application of
fertilizer. Though we were supposed to make two fertilizer
applications we could only afford one. The pastures were seeded with a
diverse forage mix, and we knew that by shallow disking most of the
field we would be able to regrow many of the forbes, weeds and grasses
of the original pasture. A diverse pasture is not only beautiful with
flowers and grass; it also provides higher quality nutrition and
interest for our grazing dairy goats. Slopes were mulched with
four tons of moldy hay. And we were blessed with several days of
misty rain. After spending $326/acre (including labor,
fertilizer, seed and equipment rental)-the 8 acre (out of 28
acres total) pasture looked great the following year and has since
received all of the manure and bedding from our dairy barn.
So, we have green pastures, nice grass and legumes.
And now folks (armchair experts) are saying “you’ll start saving money
by taking hay from your own property and-TA-TA---you will be
sustainable!!!!” Lucky you, but we knew it could not possibly be
that easy. So, I sharpened a bunch of pencils and asked:
What
is the real cost of hay? Is it cost effective for us to harvest
hay from our land or better to purchase it and focus on controlled
grazing?
In talking to fellow grazers, I was surprised to
learn that they often would mow their pastures to feed their hay back
to the soil, and then purchase hay and think of it as a component of
their fertilizer program. Why? Because a lot of nutrients (consisting
of N,P, K, trace minerals and micronutrients) are removed with each ton
of hay that is cropped.
According to the Penn State Agronomy Guide
each ton of timothy grass hay (which is not our “best” hay) removes 50
lbs. of nitrogen (N), 15 pounds of phosphate (P2O5) and 50 pounds
of potash (potassium, K2O). Studies from Ohio and Mississippi
show similar results (Table I). And even if removed hay is fed
and the resulting manure spread there is still loss, plus any
nutrients retained in manure and bedding are moved around the
farm to other fields. Of course nutrients also head out the farm
gate in the milk truck. With nutrient loss over a few years, the
quality of hay being put up diminishes. Since plants need
balanced nutrients, a deficiency in one means that forage plants can no
longer take up all nutrients efficiently resulting in compromised
growth and limited nutritional quality for grazing animals.
Noxious weeds start to take over and time is spent dealing with toxic
plants like horse nettle, milk weed and nightshade. So what does
it really cost to put up your own hay realizing that: You cannot take from your pastures without giving back?
TABLE I: POUNDS OF NUTRIENTS REMOVED PER TON OF HAY
NUTRIENT
|
PENN STATE STUDY GRASS (TIMOTHY HAY)
|
OHIO STUDY COOL SEASON GRASS HAY
|
MISSISSIPPI STUDY BERMUDA GRASS HAY
|
NITROGEN
|
50
|
40
|
45
|
PHOSPHORUS
|
15
|
13
|
12
|
POTASSIUM
|
50
|
50
|
35
|
The cost of replenishing lost nutrients
I’ll use commercial fertilizer for
this discussion and only focus on the N-P-K lost as per the Penn State
Agronomy Guide, i.e. 50 lbs. N, 15 lbs. P and 50 lbs. K. And I need to
add a disclaimer, fertilizer prices vary throughout the year and from
region to region, the numbers I am using just illustrate a point and
provide a way of thinking about the question as to whether it is better
for a specific farm to harvest hay or purchase it. Remember each
farm is different. First off, we
need to purchase fertilizer for the specific components needed to feed
our soil and know how to calculate the “true” cost of that component.
For example, how do we calculate the true cost of nitrogen in urea
(46-0-0)? First, we need to know how many pounds of N are in a ton of
fertilizer (in this case, urea). The “46” indicates the
percentage of nitrogen in the mix. Since fertilizer costs vary
throughout the year we’ll just use early 2013 prices.
46% x 2,000 lbs. /ton= 920 lbs. of N/ton of urea.
Apply a ton of urea and you are actually applying 920 lbs. of
nitrogen. In early 2013 urea sold for $545/ton. So, 920 lbs. of nitrogen costs $545, and a pound costs $0.5924 or $29.52 for 50 lbs.
There are other sources of nitrogen, with different
percentages of N per ton. If you know the true cost of nitrogen
per pound you can more wisely purchase fertilizer, otherwise it is easy
to get hosed.
We can get our phosphorous (P205) from DAP (18-46-0, diammonium
phosphate, 18%N, 46% P). In early 2013 DAP was $635/ton. There
are 920 lbs. of P and 360lb N per ton of DAP. Replacing our 15
lbs. of P would cost $10.35 and we’d pick up an additional 5.8 lbs. of
nitrogen with our 15lbs of P. This nitrogen input can be
subtracted from our urea input to lower our urea costs, but usually is
not. For this discussion I won’t subtract it. Potassium
(K2O) from potash (0-0-60, 60% K) was $585/ton. With 1200lb/ton
of K per ton of potash we’d be looking at $.4875/lb. or $24.38 for the
50 pounds removed per ton of hay.
Thus, cost to replace our lost nutrients per ton of
grass hay would be: $29.62 for 50 lbs. N, $10.35 for 15 lbs. P and
$24.38 for 50 lbs. K, for a total of $64.35. So, there is a great
season and a first cutting harvest of 2 tons of grass hay per acre
then, the cost per acre could be estimated to be $128.70 for lost
N-P-K. We need to add an additional $10 for the cost of spreading
this lost fertilizer. (Additional cuttings would vary in quality
and tonnage, so just for this calculation we’ll only use first cutting
grass hay.)
Total cost to replace lost nutrients: $138.70/acre
Custom haying costs
We cannot afford haying equipment and have to hire
someone to cut, rake, maybe ted, bale, haul and stack in our hay
barn. Custom haying is charged either by the hour or the
task. The Michigan State Extension website has a table that lists
the average cost of agricultural operations for any given year on a per
acre basis. Using 2013 data we can calculate an estimated
cost of custom haying as summarized in Table II.
Table II
Task
|
$/acre
|
MOW
|
$12.85
|
RAKE -1
|
6.18
|
RAKE-2
|
6.18
|
BALE @0.86/SQUARE
|
57.831
|
TOTAL
|
$83.04
|
1. Based on 2
tons per acre, 60 lbs. per square, or 67 bales. Lighter squares would
mean a higher cost. 45 pound squares would mean around 89 bales
per acre for a cost of $76.54 or $101.75 per acre.
Just a word on producing square bales: Our cost per
acre for 60 lb. square bales dropped in the field would be
$83.04. For our (theoretical 2 tons per acre) we would
expect 67bales (4,000lbs ÷ 60 lb. /bale), at $1.24/bale, or
$41.50/ ton! Folks who like smaller bales would pay less per bale
but more per ton. From our example (see footnote Table II), we’d expect
89, 45 pound bales at $1.14/ bale, but $50.89 per ton!
Round bales because of less machine time drop the cost per ton.
But I need to get this hay into the barn. From
the same MSU Extension Service tables unskilled agricultural laborers
were paid on average $13.46 per hour. We’d need two people
working the wagon, and then stacking in the barn. We can estimate at
least ¾ hour of uninterrupted work, excluding travel time and rest
breaks. An hour would be more reasonable, but we’ll stick with 45
minutes for 67 60lb bales. So for two workers at $13.46/hour we
would have to add an additional $20.19 to give a total cost of $103.23/acre, or $1.56/bale of grass hay, or $51.60/ton!
(Our 45lb. per bale example would be $1.37/bale or $60.97/ton-the cost
would likely be higher since there would be more labor involved in
putting up 89 bales versus 67 but you get the point.) Anyway-cost wise
we are looking good!
Now, if we add the hidden cost per acre to replace
nutrients removed we get: $103.23 stacked in the barn, plus
$138.70 in nutrient replacement costs, or $241.93/acre. That translates
into an actual cost of $3.61/60 lb.
square or $120.95/ton of grass hay assuming a yield of 2 tons per
acre. How can that be? So let’s do the calculation per ton:
On a per ton basis
we’d have: $41.50/ ton dropped in the field, $10.09/ ton to stack
in the barn, $64.35/ton for lost nutrients and $5/ton to spread
replacement nutrients. That comes to a true cost of $120.94/ton.
A little less because I rounded off, but essentially the same so let’s
call it $121/ton of grass hay as the true cost. (Our 45lb square bales
would cost us $130.25/ton or $2.93/bale. Or, sixty eight cents less per
bale but $9 more per ton.)
One of the other variables with custom haying is
being able to time your harvest to obtain hay at peak nutrition.
Custom hay producers will likely be harvesting their fields at the same
time your fields are at their prime. Unless a premium is paid to
give your fields a higher priority it is likely you will not be able to
harvest until after portions of your fields have started to go
rank.
Livestock eat pounds NOT bales of dry forage.
We buy hay for our 100 dairy goats by the ton NOT
the bale. There is great variation in bales of hay. We have
purchased second cutting hay for $5/bale from different producers bales
ranged in weight from 45 to 60 pounds! We determine our hay needs in
tons and then convert that number to a specific size bale (square, or
round), not the other way around. We are also aware that is great
variation in the nutrient content and quality of the forage.
How much hay do you need?
With our dairy goats we need to consider the possibility of our grazing
season ending in late October and beginning again in Mid-April-we
figure approximately 170 days of feeding only hay. Each dairy
goat should consume 4-5% of their body weight per day, and I add an
additional 1% for waste-goats waste hay. That gives me a
conservative dry matter uptake of 6% of body weight. Thus a 100lb
goat should have access to 6 lbs. of dry hay per day or 1,020 lbs. of
hay for the winter. For our herd of 100 does, plus four
bucks with an average weight of 125lbs, translates into 7.5lbs of
hay per goat every day and 780 pounds per day for the
herd. The total for winter would then be 132,600 pounds or 66
tons. Since we need to keep dry forage in front of the does
during our milking season, I add an additional 190 days assuming 2%
body weight with the rest coming from grazing. That gives us an
addition 23 tons to be safe. Left over hay can be carried into
the next season. Thus, the total tons needed would be 66 tons for
winter and 23 tons to carry through the rest of the year for a total of
89 tons.
Things get complicated when we need to divide the
tonnage into first and second cutting hay with second cutting fed
during late gestation through lactation, plus feeding our replacement
doe-lings.
We have a strong motivation to extend our grazing
season to drop hay costs. Grazing will allow feeding less hay and
that which would be fed while does are on pasture can be less expensive
first cutting grass-depending on its nutritional content.
So what to make from all of this?
Think about hidden costs and hidden
benefits. If it costs (true cost) approximately $121/ton to
produce hay from your own land then buying hay at $125-130/ton for
grass hay does not sound all that bad. If you need carbon and
nutrients you could also see a further benefit IF you think of
purchased hay as a fertilizer input. Using our calculations, each
ton of hay could bring around $64 in nutrients at early 2013 prices
(that does not include carbon and trace minerals) to the farm.
There is also another benefit; I like the idea of buying local and
supporting my neighbors who produce hay. Their scale of
production is more cost effective than mine would be, in
large part using hay in a crop rotation system, and pricing includes
fertilizer costs.
The most common way nutrients are wasted and quality
forage lost is the failure to maintain proper soil pH. In a prescribed
or rotational grazing system that translates to adding lime. Lime
does add a cost, but without an appropriate pH, optimal or close, we
are just tossing away our dollars when applying nutrients. The
nutrients are not available to plants for uptake, not utilized and wash
away. Washed away nutrients are serious environmental
pollutants. pH plays a complex but absolutely vital role for
nutrient absorption. Eventually, grazing livestock depositing urine and
manure, and manure application, as we recycle nutrients, will result in
acidifying soil and require the application of lime to keep pastures
productive.
“Without proper pH, you are throwing away money and forage quality when applying nutrients.” Jeff Douglas, NRCS, Van Buren County, Michigan.
There is great benefit in enriching our soils and
enhancing the quality of our forage for your farm, neighboring farms
and the environment in general. Quality forage means healthier
animals, higher quality milk and cheese, and reduced costs. If,
for example, a robust forage base allowed us to increase our total
yearly grazing by 45 days we would save 780 pounds of hay per day, or
35,100 pounds, or ~18 tons. 18 tons at $130/ton is a savings of
$2,300. Higher quality forage would also allow dropping feeding hay
during our milking season by 13 tons for a total savings of
$4,000. And by using feeders that cut waste (that extra
1-2% I add in figuring our herd’s hay needs for the year there would be
more savings. Wasting hay by inefficient feeding is like driving
down I-94 and tossing cash out the window.
As you get into this farming thing it is important
to think deeply to find and understand hidden costs and realize that
you’ll be often be more successful using a sharp pencil instead of more
sweat and plowing.
Just think about it.
Best Wishes, Ron
Ron and Suzanne Klein, with two
livestock guardian dogs, and 104 spoiled dairy goats, own and operate
Windshadow Farm & Dairy in Bangor. They are partners with Tom
and Cathy Halinski of Evergreen Lane Creamery in Fennville where the
farm’s goat milk is magically converted into excellent soft and ripened
cheese. http://www.evergreenlanefarm.com/
Windshadow Farm is a Grade A dairy and also MAEAP verified in Cropping,
Livestock and Farmstead. The dairy is pasture based with forage
harvested by the dairy herd through managed rotational grazing.
Thanks to Steve Bemis, custom hay cropper, and Jeff
Douglas, expert grazing specialist and Conservation Officer for the
Natural Resources Conservation Service, Van Buren County, Michigan for
insight, critical commentary and direction.
References:
Annis, David, Fertilizer-Buy the Numbers available at http://www.noble.org/ag/soils/buy-the-numbers/ check out the articles listed at http://www.noble.org/ag/soils/
Brady, Nyle and Weil, Ray (2008) The Nature and Property of Soils, 14th edition Prentice Hall, Columbus Ohio. (A valued reference book).
Frankenfield, Andrew (July, 2008) Determining the Cost of Hay, Field Crop News, Vol. 08:20, July 22, 2008
Halligan, James Edward (1912) Soil Fertility and Fertilizers, republished by Forgotten Books 2012, www.forgottenbooks.org
(A classic!) Modern editions have a lot of chemical formulas and
math that illustrates how far we are removed from the reality of the
natural world).
Kauppila, Dennis and Rogers, Glenn (May, 2008) Hay and the Cost of Fuel and Fertilizer. University of Vermont Extension
Michigan Custom Machine and Work Rate Estimates (2013), Michigan State Extension available at: https://www.msu.edu/~steind/1_2012%20Cust_MachineWrk%2010_31_11.pdf
Newport, Alan (April 25, 2013) Is Hay Nutrient Removal Still An Underrated Cost? Prairie Farmer, accessed at http://farmprogress.com. (Accessed 10/23/2013)
Ohio Agronomy Guide 2013-2014 available at http://agcrops.osu.edu/specialists/fertility/fertility-fact-sheets-and-bulletins/agron_guide.pdf
Penn State Agronomy Guide 2013-2014 available at http://extension.psu.edu/agronomy-guide
And we also have:
Fertilizer Calculator available at: http://www.crystalsugar.com/agronomy/agtools/npk/
Fertilizer cost estimates:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/gx_gr210.txt
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/fertilizer-use-and-price.aspx#.UeM_wawU-So“though historical prices through 2013 are included
GRAZE-monthly print magazine available at www.grazeonline.com . This is a must if you are seriously considering a graze based farming operation for dairy or meat.
Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA). Many excellent educational videos available via U-Tube and boots on the ground-walking the land-expertise.
Van Buren County Soil Conservation District, Paw Paw, Michigan
© 2013 Windshadow Farm & Dairy, LLC
A Tree Story:
by Jon Towne
In 1982, a honeylocust seed was
planted in a little nursery at the School of Homesteading which became
a small tree: After a couple of years it was transplanted to shade the
house up the road at the Land Trust Homesteading Farm. It grew
fast in its 3 decades putting on more than an inch in diameter in some
years. It soon cast its limbs over the two story house nearly
meeting the older black walnut on the north side. The tree worked
hard providing much needed shade keeping the appreciative occupants
cool in the summer. It removed carbon out of the air. In
some later years it produced seeds in foot long pods of its own, many
of which were wheelbarrowed over to feed the cattle in late fall when
they needed it the most. Seedlings sprang up in the pastures, I
wonder why? 2013 was also a productive year, this tree became
festooned with seed pods. But change was needed. With a new
metal roof and more insulation, the house was less in need of cooling,
and more in need of the sun's energy to heat water. A decision
was made and this tree was brought back down to earth. Its heavy
wood will provide much needed warmth next winter and the trunk will
provide a saw log. The Chinese chestnut and the beech waiting in
the under story will now have their chance to grow. Meanwhile the
honeylocust branches, still laden with nutritious pods, have been taken
to the pastures for the cattle to eat. Maybe more young
honeylocust will spring up there....
Passing Organic Farmland to the next generation, a Southwest Michigan
Eutopia One of four
Pre-conference Field Trips sponsored by the Agriculture, Food and Human
Values Society . Organized by Laura DeLind, Ken Dahlberg, Maynard
Kaufman, and Taylor Reid June 19, 2013 A
synopsis: http://www.michiganlandtrust.org/BangorFieldTrip.pdf
Have a Merry Christmas and a warm winter! Jon Towne
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