Alliances to Remain Profitable
Clark County Home
No One Lives Forever,
But Farms Don't Need to Die
| "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil." Even as a child I have never had a fear of death. There are probably two reasons for this. First, the religion my parents instilled in me and second, I spent a lot of my childhood in funeral homes.
No, my Dad was not an undertaker, but he was the only florist in Brown County when I was growing up. As the delivery boy, I was usually the first person to see the body at the nine funeral homes we served. The funeral directors never helped me carry in the truckload of flowers, so it was just me and the "guest-of-honor". The death of the family farm is totally a different matter. Farm sales usually bring a tear to my eye. It's "gut-wrenching" for me to be at a sale which is forced by health or economics. As the Extension Agent, Agriculture, I guess I feel like I have failed when a farm dies. I second guess myself for being a nice guy; maybe it causes some farmers to finish last. That"s why I have come out "swinging" in my last several articles. We must change to more profitable ventures. This summer, I became ill twice. My first illness occurred at Vince Demana's sale. As I sat in Vince's gator with him and watched over 400 people bid on his equipment, I could see in his eyes this was really tough. It was something he had to do and we talked about a new chapter in his life. This sale I could not have prevented. Cattle prices are good. This farm sale was because of foreign dumping of steel, and health, neither of which I had any control over, but it still was a sad day for me. Pete Gram's sale was a different story. This was my second illness this summer. The Gram farm has had a proud history of agriculture in Clark County. Louis Gram began selling milk and was the forerunner of Riverdale Dairy, where many people tell me the best ice cream and shakes anywhere was sold. The first person I ran into at the Gram sale was Pete's neighbor, Alan Armstrong. Alan said he always believed that Pete and he would be the two old farmers in the neighborhood one day since they currently were the young ones. It was a sad day for Alan, too. Pete is the victim of small farms having little chance of survival against big farms growing corn, soybeans, wheat and beef cows. So how does a small or medium size farm survive? As I look at agriculture today, I see ten enterprises making money to sustain a small farm. The first five are horticulture, horticulture, horticulture, horticulture and horticulture. Only two percent of the farmland in Clark County is devoted to the green industry. Yet horticulture crops generate 50% of the gross farm income in the county. Does that tell you something? There are five other production enterprises - one can make money: (1) large dairy (see my June article); (2) back grounding beef cattle; (3) raising dairy heifer replacements for large dairies; (4) horses from training to boarding to production to providing hay for this fast growing industry; and (5) you'll never guess this one! I'll give you two hints for the last one: (1) Tom and Sarah Wiegel of Plattsburg; and (2) Barn number one at the Clark County Fair. Years ago, Barn #1 was the Holstein Barn. There were more Holsteins in Clark County in the 1950's than any breed of cattle. Now the barn has been taken over by goats! I was on a Clinton County meat goat farm that is netting over $1000 an acre on grass raising meat goats. Macrem Farm is owned by Mark and Amy Brooker. Mark is an interesting fellow. He is the Clinton County Administrator and teaches economics at nearby Chatfield College. The Brookers purchased a 25 acre farm and wanted the farm to pay for itself. They researched freezer beef and other enterprises and the ran across a new breed of meat goat from Texas called Boer. Boer crossed with the dairy goat breeds produces a superior meat goat. Three crops of goats every two years. The does average 1.8 kids per crop. In six months the kids are ready for market with no grain and sell for $100 each. The does get no grain except before kidding. Usually you can put 12 does on one acre. I was there in July and he had 80 does on two acres. He had cut hay off one of the acres for winter and still had 10 inches of grass everywhere. His emergency pasture in case of drought is brush and weed ground! His major investment is good perimeter fencing. Mark does an excellent job of fertilizing and managing his pastures and marketing his product. I can hear the crop farmers now - "Who would eat goat?" There is a huge demand for goat meat. Tom Wiegel tells me when he serves it to relatives and doesn't tell them what it is, they think it's delicious beef. Mark put an ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer for meat goats for sale and had to take the phone off the hook for a week! There is a packing plant in Maysville, Kentucky killing 1200 per week and scouring the countryside for them. Because of the growing diversity of our country there is a big demand for goat meat. Mark has had to sell only six to the packing plant. There is a current country song with a verse that says "Everything changes, nothing ever stays the same." We must constantly change in agriculture. The biggest death threat "to the family farm is the unwillingness to change". Farmers used to call Harvestores - blue tombstones. One day cash grain farming may be called- "green tombstones". Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Admin. and Director, OSU Extension TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868 Updated: August 2001 |