Organic Broadcaster | Winter 2023-2024 | Volume 32, Issue 1

32 Winter 2024

Farmer summits, Farmer café, and a convergence RAINSING Pasturized pigs in the winter SOE is here -is your supply chain ready?

Observations from an inspector

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In this issue Letter from the Executive Director

WHO WE ARE Marbleseed, formerly known as MOSES, is a nonprofit committed to supporting the Midwest’s organic and sustainable farmers through farmer-led events and educational resources that help your farm grow.

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Feature: Farmer Summits, Farm Café, and a Convergence

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Remembering Roger Blobaum

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Policy Spotlight: Hollistic Needs to Address in the 2023 Farm Bill

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Grafting Workshop and Scionwood Exchange

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Marblesed Rcognitions Celebrate Farming Generations and Collective Impact

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SOE is Here – Is Your Supply Chain Ready?

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Interconnections are Key to a Thriving Regional Grain Economy

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Raising Pastured Pigs in the Winter

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It’s More Than Farming. It’s Family, It’s Culture and Beyond.

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Seed Sovereignty: Engage Your Economic Power Through The Seed Economy

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Alternative Energy and Energy Savings on the Farm

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Book Review: The Lean Micro Farm

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Observations From an Inspector

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Interperatation Services at the 35th Annual Organic Farming Conference

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Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards Rule (OLPS):

ORGANIC BROADCASTER CONTRIBUTORS Editor:

Jo Facklam

Graphic Designer: Jake Luck

The Spirit of Continuous Improvement for Organic

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Classifieds

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Are you passionate about organic and regenerative farming? Want to write for the Organic Broadcaster? Send your pitch to jo.facklam@ marbleseed.org. Please include an intro about yourself and a few paragraphs about the article you’d like to write.

Advertising Coordinator:

Jo Facklam & Sophia Cleveland

Digital Content Producer: Jo Facklam

The Organic Broadcaster is a quarterly magazine published

by Marbleseed. Opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Inclusion of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of a product.

Content may be reprinted with permission.

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advertising@marbleseed.org

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Subscription: Manage your subscription by emailing info@marbleseed.org COVER PHOTO CREDIT: Hilgendorf Farms Welcome, MN

Marbleseed was founded by a small group of farmers who gathered in the dead of winter to share knowledge, connect over production methods and build community together. In 1992, they published the first edition of the Organic Broadcaster—a publication for organic farmers, by organic farmers. A donation to Marbleseed helps us continue to foster farmer-to-farmer learning, through resources and publications like the Organic Broadcaster.

By donating to Marbleseed, you become an essential part of our mission to foster the growth of this remarkable community and directly support resources like this magazine! Together, we can sow the seeds of a more sustainable and resilient future for farmers in the Midwest.

Donate online at marbleseed.org/donate or by mail to PO Box 339, Spring Valley, WI 54767.

Letter from the Executive Director

From The Executive Director One of my favorite children’s books is Can’t You Sleep Little Bear?

by Martin Waddell. As we head into this season of extended darkness, the lines from this sweet book often float up from memory.

“I don’t like the dark,” said Little Bear.

“What dark?” said Big Bear.

“The dark all around us,” said Little Bear.

Although on the surface, this is a bedtime book, it is also a book about attending, accommodating, and honoring the perceptions and truths of others. As we are now at the point of winter where the long nights are settled into our bodies and the rhythms of our farms and daily lives, uncertainties and fears that lurk in warm season shadows can creep out, edging into our consciousness.

For those of us in this northern climate, winter should be a time of rest and replenishment. Dormancy while we wait for spring leaves us wondering when it will arrive. Will the winter be cold enough to help with pest pressures? Will we run out of hay? Will the cold stay with us through calving, kidding, lambing, farrowing, adding more stress about the outcome?

After a drought and a wet fall, what will the fields of April bring?

Like Little Bear, there is much to fret about. Some of it well beyond our control, sometimes fears imagined, and some that are real. Most of us enjoy the solitude of farming. Living where the only neighbors seen daily are the flock of eighteen turkeys that circumvent the fields and barns suits us. We find joy in the only tracks in fresh snow from our own boots, our animals, and the welcome and unwelcome wildlife.

But when the dark and alone becomes too much, having a companion like Big Bear, who walks with us and listens is what we all wish for. On Thursday of this year’s annual conference, through a partnership with the North Central Farmer Rancher Stress Assistance Network, we are offering a full day of content on wellness and wellbeing. Farmer veteran and Leadership Consultant Ryan Ehrisman will facilitate a morning session entitled “How to Go From Surviving to Thriving” leading into an afternoon Farmer Summit on Wellness. Watch for more wellness programming through this partnership throughout the year.

Marbleseed is hosting our 35th organic conference this year! Born out of the needs of those first certified organic farmers to gather in community and learn

from each other is our legacy. Beyond the annual conference the last weekend in February, Marbleseed continues to offer field days, technical assistance, resources and ongoing mentorship. And all of these rely on farmers willing to share their experiences and listen to the needs of their peers.

After last year’s successful Farmer Convergence at the conference, we are offering more time and space for emerging content and networking. Read more about these opportunities on page xxxxx. We are also celebrating 35 years and making space for a farmer jam session in the exhibit hall. There will still be films, and a new wellness room. We will recognize exemplary farming practices, along with innovations through our Farmer of the Year and Changemaker. We want there to be joy in coming together, along with learning, and shared accomplishment.

Our staff has grown this year. Come and meet the new faces at Marbleseed and hear about programmatic efforts around organic transition, climate and conservation, and food system values chains that benefit small-medium sized farms. The work is big and the collective effort even bigger. We are so thankful for the farmers that are truly stewards of the land and the allied organizations that are our partners.

And there is also real darkness in the world. Concerns about climate, markets, and ongoing injustice in our agricultural system accompany uncertainty about a Farm Bill that has only been extended without a new one passed. These are big pressures well beyond our own farm management. But when we share our perceptions, strengths and skills, we become a collective voice that can address them. Our general session this year will feature three speakers who are all doing something about reducing waste in our food and farming systems. Their creativity can inspire us all to think about how small things can make a big difference.

At the end of the book, when all attempts to dispel the darkness cannot appease Little Bear, including the offer of the bright moon and stars, it is ultimately togetherness with Big Bear that allows sleep to come.

Sending you all a heartfelt winter hug. Come and join us in La Crosse this February for levity, learning, and light.

Lori Stern

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Photo Credit: Justine Bursoni

FARMER SUMMITS, FARMER CAFÉ, AND A CONVERGENCE: Farmers Lead The Way On Content At The 35th Annual Organic Farming Conference

By Lori Stern, Justine Bursoni, Alex “Bagwajinini” Kmett Leading up to Marbleseed’s 2023 Organic Farming Conference, our “farmer-led, rooted in organic” tagline felt more critical to our rebrand than our new name. It told the story of who we remain to be in the shifting space of organic agriculture. Our organizational beginnings as a gathering of farmers engaged in organic production, fighting for a national standard are reflected in that tagline. For many farmers that were there in 1989, organic is a movement.

Last year saw the addition of a new farmer-led educational process to the Marbleseed Organic Conference which we called the Farm Viability Convergence. It drew on dialoguebased, learner-centered approaches to farmer education that several of our constituents received training in, and the Open Space Technology provided the method and container for emergent leadership around the theme of “Farm Viability” as Organic Broadcaster | 4

the convening group understood it. A total of 22 discussions were held across two sessions during the final four hours of the conference, including infrastructure needs, farmer wellness, the Rural-Urban Divide, a New Homesteaders Act, land access, tribal harvesting, Land Back, economic models that promote community-based food access & profit, and alternatives to capitalism.

We noted that the Open Space Method created a powerful space for effectively creating connections and strengthening what is already happening within the organic movement: planning and action, learning and doing, passion and responsibility, participation and performance. Many attendees reported that they felt it was a safe space, that they were truly listened to about topics they were passionate about. Feeling that the event resonated with our tagline, “farmerled, rooted in organic,” it presented a continuation of the arc of required growth as an organic movement.

Wanting to be true to our history, Marbleseed focused on farmer voice in determining conference content.

And in 2024, the 35th Anniversary of the Organic Farming Conference, it has never been more critical for farmers to shape the content and conversations in La Crosse. The challenges faced by small-medium sized farms and the food system require creativity and participation.

Embracing the Convergence’s success and integrating feedback we received to improve and expand upon it, we are excited to announce that the Convergence will return in 2024! As we continue to grow and implement dialogue-based learnercentered approaches to farmer-led education as an organization, we have adjusted the format to utilize a variety of methods across the three days of the conference, coalescing together on the final day for a grand exchange of ideas.

We recognize that farmer-led education and learner centered spaces require a new set of

facilitation skills and methods, particularly if safe space and learner freedom are also goals. With support from a North Central SARE professional development grant (NCR-SARE Grant ENC22-209 “Educational Methods for Farmer Self-Organizing.”) Marbleseed will be offering a training on all of these facilitation methods, along with other interactive methods for adult learning. The training will be on January 30 at Farmers Rising (formerly Angelic Organics) in Caledonia, Illinois. Find out more information and register at: https://marbleseed.org/ teaching-for-transformation-approaches-to-farmers-aslearners. This event is free of charge to support attendees in coming to La Crosse and sharing their facilitation skills across these farmer-driven opportunities.

We will begin these offerings at the conference on Thursday afternoon with five concurrent Farmer Summits on the topics of Wellness, Organic Certification, Farm Hacks, Livestock, and Climate and Conservation.

These Summits will be facilitated similarly to last year’s Convergence, using an “unconference” method of developing our content. Summit topics will be hosted by partner organizations. Any attendee can convene a discussion on a subject that matters to them, and all have the freedom to move about from discussion to discussion, providing a space for our community to grow together organically at the grassroots level.

As Owen Hablutzel and Lori Stern stated last year, “When participant passion—your specific joys, concerns, challenges, and enthusiasms—is the only limiting factor to the discussion, the vigor, emergence, surprise, and discovery are the most certain outcomes.” Depending on your passions and the collective expertise in the room, you might find yourself sharing success stories or challenges to organic certification, working to solve the most pressing climate challenges faced by organic farmers, exploring ways to support mental and physical health for farmers, engaged in a dialogue on innovative approaches to disease management in organic livestock, or learning low-cost and DIY solutions to enhance productivity. These are just a sampling of the types of discussions that participants may convene during the Farmer Summits on Thursday.

On Friday, there will be opportunities to continue these discussions over lunch in a format we are calling the Farmer Café. This format will allow attendees to visit with one another at in-table talk discussions that are sectioned off by topic, with the intent of continuing conversations or starting new ones around the themes introduced at the previous day’s Farmer Summits. Papercovered tables and ample markers will be provided for attendees to make notes and drawings on the discussions held, which will be photographed for the 2024 Convergence’s Book of Proceedings.

On Saturday, the rhizomic conversation threads that grew throughout the previous two days will come together at the Convergence’s finale event. This twohour session will be facilitated in a ‘Knowledge Café format, inviting all attendees to convene discussions as

we further develop and share ideas together as a diverse community. Together, our experiences and perspectives have the power to influence positive changes throughout various facets of the agricultural sector, from the grassroots to the grasstops. This convergent session will serve as an opportunity to grow together and learn from one another as a community of farmers, academics, collectives, business owners, and policymakers working toward a holistic and sustainable future.

Finally, following the conclusion of Marbleseed’s 35th Organic Farming Conference, the notes, illustrations, and photos collected from the Farmer Summits, Farmer Café, and Convergence will be compiled for a Book of Proceedings. The Book of Proceedings from last year’s Farm Viability Convergence will be available this winter on the Ag Solidarity Network. It is important to acknowledge that the notes produced are not representative of the full discussions that took place and are intended to be starting points to continue the discussions, and we regret not getting it published sooner. The depth of which the notes connect to the conversations is reliant upon the notetakers, their capacities to process information from spoken to written word amid a lively and engaging conversation from one moment to the next, and their perceptions of what is important to document (which is informed by their understandings and lived experiences) and may differ widely from each session’s convener. By patchworking together the notes and occasionally reaching out to participants and conveners for clarification, we’ve done our best to present the content of each discussion with clarity. We thank all our participants for sharing their knowledge and hope you will join us in continuing these discussions on the Ag Solidarity Network as we build anticipation for the Farmer Summits, Farmer Café, and Convergence at Marbleseed’s 35th Organic Farming Conference!

According to Everyday Activism, movements go through phases. Some of the discussions and sessions we anticipate at this year’s Organic Farming Conference reflect this shift into what Every Day Activism labels as “mainstreaming.” They define this phase as when ideas that were once considered fringe become mainstream, and warn that “in this phase, movements become more vulnerable to co-option” in the form of “corporate profiteering that uses the movement for marketing versus committing to changing harmful practices.”

Democratic methods of education and knowledge/skill sharing are ways to take the movement energy back and move forward together.

Lori Stern is Marbleseed’s Executive Director. Justine Bursoni is Marbleseed’s Farmer Education Manager and Alex “Bagwajinini” Kmett is Marbleseed’s Farmer Education Specialist. Alex and Justine will be facilitating the Convergence.

These trainings are supported by NCR-SARE Grant ENC22209 “Educational Methods for Farmer Self-Organizing.”

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Roger with elephant statue during first trip to China in 1975

activist, and leader in organic farming research, education, advocacy, and policymaking. Little did he know that this moment would set the stage for a remarkable legacy, preserved in the historical archive of the Roger Blobaum Organic History Website.

Roots of Awareness: Roger often attributed his connection to nature and organic principles to his childhood in southern Iowa during the Great Depression.

Growing up on a diverse crop and livestock farm, he learned the value of the natural environment and the interdependence of all living beings. His upbringing instilled in him a profound respect for the earth and its resources.

Remembering

Roger Blobaum: A Pioneer, Leader, and Historian of the Organic Movement (1929-2023) This tribute was prepared by Atina Diffley, editor and designer of the Roger Blobaum Organic History Website and former MOSES board member, and Faye Jones, original executive director of Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES, now Marbleseed) Roger Blobaum, a visionary and trailblazer in the organic farming world, left an indelible mark on the agricultural landscape. His remarkable contributions encompassed a deep commitment to organic practices and advocacy.

In this tribute, we celebrate the life and legacy of Roger, whose passion and dedication continue to inspire. As well as the essence of Roger, he was a loyal, passionate, precious friend and mentor to so many in the organic community.

A Pivotal Moment: In 1971, Roger Blobaum experienced a transformative moment that defined his life’s purpose. His visit to Clarence Van Sant’s organic farm in Grinnell, Iowa, left an enduring impression. Witnessing the vibrancy of the soil, crops, and livestock at this farm inspired him to embark on a lifelong journey as an agricultural consultant,

Roger Blobaum sitting on a small tractor in China. 1975

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A Life Enriched by Diverse Experiences: With academic qualifications in journalism, mass communication, and dispute resolution, Roger’s career encompassed a wide range of experiences. From his days as an Associated Press political reporter to serving as a press secretary and legislative assistant for Senator Gaylord Nelson where he wrote the first DDT ban bill, to interviewing, photographing, and writing about Midwest organic farmers in the 1970s for Rodale publications, Roger played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of environmental policy. His extensive travels, such as his visit to Chinese collectives during the Cultural Revolution, allowed him to witness millennium-old regenerative agricultural practices that further fueled his passion for sustainability.

Champion of Non-Profit Organizations: Roger was a tireless advocate for non-profit organizations, contributing his expertise to over thirty regional, national, and international organic and sustainable agriculture organizations. His fourteen-year tenure on the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES, now An excerpt from the Congressional Record: Senator Gaylord Nelson Introduces Legislation to Ban DDT. 1966statue during first trip to China in 1975

Roger Blobaum (far right), director of Americans for Safe Food Initiative, presenting signatures of 136,000 consumers who supported the 1990 Organic Production Act Bill to Senator Patrick Leahy.

Marbleseed) board highlights his dedication to mentoring and nurturing new leaders.

Environmental Stewardship: Roger’s work extended beyond domestic boundaries. He played a pivotal role in the International Organic Accreditation Services, served on the USDA’s National Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Council, and was a founder and associate director of the World Sustainable Agriculture Association. His involvement in the Codex Alimentarius Food Labeling Committee allowed him to influence the development of international organic guidelines.

A Heart Rooted in the Midwest: Despite his extensive travels and contributions on a global scale, Roger’s heart remained in the Midwest. His vision for MOSES Organic University, the Farmer-To-Farmer Mentoring Program, and the Organic Farmer of the Year Award all had their origins in the heartland.

A Legacy of Organic Research: Roger’s impact extended to research as well. He played a pivotal role in developing and coordinating Ceres Trust programs that has awarded over $6 million in grants to land-grant university faculty and graduate student researchers.

Honorary Recognition: In 2013, Roger received the Honorary Recognition Award from the University of WisconsinMadison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, recognizing his lifetime contributions to sustainable agriculture.

A Historian’s Legacy: Roger Blobaum was not only a pioneer but also a dedicated historian. Over the course of four decades, he diligently collected documents and materials from more than thirty-five state, regional, national, and international organizations, preserving the history of organic agriculture. The Wisconsin Historical Society Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Collection, established in 2012 with the support of the Ceres Trust, now houses Roger’s collection and is accessible to the public.

The Roger Blobaum Organic History Website: Roger’s website offers a curated selection of documents from his extensive collection. We invite you to visit the website to explore the history of the organic movement, learn more about Roger’s life, and share your memories and comments on his legacy. https://rogerblobaum.com/ legacy/ Continuing Roger’s Legacy: Roger Blobaum’s life was a testament to the strength of one individual’s passion and dedication to creating a better, more sustainable world. His influence on the organic movement and his unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship continue to inspire and guide us.

Roger’s legacy is a reminder that we all have the capacity to make a lasting impact on the world, just as he did.

Learn more about Roger’s legacy here: https://rogerblobaum.com/ Roger, at heart a farmer, hoeing on an organic farm. 2016

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The Queer Farmer Convergence Creates New Realities

Policy Spotlight:

HOLISTIC NEEDS TO ADDRESS IN THE 2023 FARM BILL

By Nicole Wolcott A sustainable and resilient agriculture system is built from the ground up: from the grassroots. Our food system has a foundation in the soil, the very base of the earth. Keeping with this theme, our support building, education, and advocacy must be centralized in our communities. The Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) has done deep work to cultivate a narrative that is centered in this thinking.

We believe that all living things have intrinsic value, and it is up to us to make good, healthy, nutrient-rich, and sustaining food a right. Your voice and your opinions have power. As we continue to push for building a diverse and just food system in the 2023 Farm Bill, we need you to share your stories and truths. No matter your background or understanding of agriculture, you Organic Broadcaster | 8

have a stake in our food system. You are a steward of the land; you eat and thrive off the land. Therefore, this groundswell of rich work is crucial to formulate an equitable living world for all.

There are so many facets to the farm bill that contribute to this connection between us and the earth. We are a cohesive system that must take care of one another. That’s why in the 2023 Farm Bill we are approaching our work with this lens. Starting with healthy soil, if we don’t have it, we won’t have food.

The Agriculture Resilience Act (S. 1016, H.R. 1840) has set a net-zero goal for agriculture by 2040. This will include investments in research, soil health, farmland preservation, pasture-based livestock, renewable energy, and food loss and waste.

Some of this foundational land care work is also supported through the Small Farm Conservation Act (S. 2180, H.R. 5354) which was recently introduced in the House. This streamlines access to federal conservation assistance for small farm businesses, establishes an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) subprogram tailored to small farms and ranches, and creates a bonus payment for farms <50 acres employing soil health practices. These are all voluntary, but if a farmer wants to focus on the health of their land further, we should support them in doing that.

All this though is not possible if we don’t improve access and strengthen our local food systems. There have been many notable marker bills with hopes of being added to the final farm bill including the Local Farms and Food Act (S. 1205, H.R. 2723), Farmers’ Market and Food Bank Local Revitalization Act of 2023 (H.R. 2378), and the Strengthening Local Meat Processing Act (S. 354, H.R. 945). Recent introduction of the Food Supply Chain Capacity and Resiliency Act (H.R. 4873) shows that while there is clear interest in diversifying our food supply chains, there is much capacity to be built.

beyond measure, we will work to steward a sustainable agricultural future. We must make investments in our local community food systems, address discrimination in the USDA, and combat consolidation to be resilient in not just our food access but economies.

Nicole Wolcott started working with OEFFA in 2023, with experience coming from being an organizer in the broader environmental justice field over the past five years. She grew up in the organic foods industry and is passionate about building collective power for equitable access to local, organic foods. When she is not engaging in deep community-building work, she enjoys doing anything outside and using nature to cook nourishing foods and make natural body care products.

As I speak with a lot of our member leaders and farmers, the theme of “leveling the playing field” is a consistent phrase. Corporate consolidation and influence in our local food systems compromises our food security and local economies. Therefore, addressing consolidation in the farm bill must be a foundation for making local food systems resilient and sustainable for us all. The Farm Program Integrity Act of 2023 (S. 2610) closes loopholes in the farm payment system and ensures taxpayer support is targeted to those actively engaging in farming. Our local farmers who need support are the ones who should be benefiting from these programs, not farm operations that are the top 1% of the nation’s commodity farms taking full advantage.

Lastly, with a massive piece of legislation like the farm bill, there are a lot of opportunities to address historical discrimination in our economy and food systems.

For instance, the Fair Credit for Farmers Act (S. 2668) improves access and accountability for farm loan services offered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), waives loan fees for historically underserved borrowers, limits over-collateralization on farm loans and protect farmers’ homes, and establishes eligibility term limits.

While a lot of this may seem very “in the weeds,” intersectional and transparent thinking must be at the core of legislation supporting beginning and BIPOC farmers.

I encourage you to reach out to your members of Congress to advocate for your needs and interests in the 2023 Farm Bill. If you’d like to see more of the marker bills OEFFA is supporting, please visit our farm bill tracker here. Reoccurring activism will be critical to ensure a just and equitable agriculture system for the future. To the farmers who support us in ways

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apple. But if you cut twigs from your favorite apple tree and graft them onto the roots of a different variety, these grafts will grow into trees that produce fruit identical to the parent tree. In that way, a single variety can be propagated repeatedly. All McIntosh apple trees, for example, are derived by grafting from the original McIntosh apple tree, discovered in 1796 in Ontario, Canada. A graft usually combines two varieties: the scion variety (McIntosh in this example) will become the top of the new tree, bearing leaves and fruit; whereas the rootstock will develop into the root system. The rootstock variety affects the final size of the tree: a dwarfing rootstock will produce a smaller, more compact tree than a semi-dwarf or standard rootstock.

GRAFTING WORKSHOP AND SCIONWOOD EXCHANGE

By Chris McGuire The Friday evening grafting workshop and scionwood exchange is a longstanding annual tradition at Marbleseed’s Organic Farming Conference. This year’s workshop will be held on February 23rd from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The workshop is led by the Organic Fruit Growers Association (OFGA), an organization of growers who’ve joined together to promote organic fruit growing in the Upper Midwest through research and education. OFGA believes strongly in the importance of sharing information and resources, and this workshop is a great example of that.

Experienced fruit growers teach grafting techniques and assist learners with making their first hands-on grafts. There’s also ample time for conversation where we exchange tips about grafting and every aspect of successfully raising organic fruit Organic Broadcaster | 10

for market. Rami Aburomia from Atoms to Apples, an organic orchard in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, has attended the workshop for many years, and he says, “I always look forward to it! It’s amazing to be able to purchase a couple of rootstocks and select from a variety of scionwood brought in from all over the Midwest.

Then on top of that, learn from the Midwest’s experts how to best graft.

I grafted a few Luscious pears at this workshop years ago and many customers have enjoyed the fruit from those trees since.”

Why graft? Virtually all cultivated apple, pear, peach, plum, and cherry trees are grafted. If you plant seeds from your favorite apple variety, each seed will grow up into a tree that is unique, and all the offspring will be different from the parent. Most of the seedlings will lack the good flavor and other desirable traits of the parent

At the grafting workshop, an experienced grafter teaches benchgrafting, a technique for winter, indoor, grafting of dormant plant material. The bench-graft is one of the most common grafting techniques for creating a new tree.

We discuss the basic principles of grafting and then demonstrate selecting wood for grafting, cutting the wood with a grafting knife, joining the scionwood and rootstock, and then wrapping and sealing the graft.

After the demonstration, workshop attendees can purchase one or more apple rootstocks and try out grafting themselves using free apple scionwood. Several experienced grafters are available to help you with your first grafts. You can then take home your newly grafted trees, store them for a short time, and plant them outdoors as the weather warms in spring.

My wife Juli and I raise organic apples for sale at Two Onion Farm in Belmont, WI. Many years ago, at the workshop I saw another grower demonstrate a simple, inexpensive, homemade tool to repeatedly and accurately cut scionwood and rootstocks for grafting. We duplicated the tool and have used it ourselves to make well over a thousand grafts since then. It’s an example of how growers can benefit when we come together and share practical information.

If you already know how to graft, you are still welcome to come to the workshop and participate in the free exchange of scionwood. Growers from all over the Upper Midwest bring scionwood from their favorite trees, including lesser known and heirloom varieties, and trade scionwood with other attendees. Liz Griffith from Door Creek Orchard in Cottage Grove, WI is an OFGA board member and long-time workshop attendee. She says, “My family grows many varieties of fruit in our small commercial orchard, including both heritage and modern varieties. We’ve accumulated a lot of experience with them, learning about their unique flavor profiles/use and which consistently perform well in our south-central Wisconsin location. It’s fun to share this knowledge and scionwood with other fruit growers and to advance our shared mission of growing local organic fruit.”

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Organic fruit growers of the world, unite! Join us at this year’s grafting workshop.

The grafting workshop and scionwood exchange will be held at Marbleseed’s Organic Farming Conference on Friday, February 23rd from 6:30-8:30 PM. Chris McGuire is the coordinator at the Organic Fruit Growers Association. In addition, he and his wife Juli farm together at Two Onion Farm in Belmont WI, where they raise organic apples for their local community. Contact Chris at ofgacoordinator@gmail.com.

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who have been historically discriminated against. An honoree organization or community does not have to be a producer, but needs to directly support farmers through their work If you love the work of seeking out new relationships and sharing stories of past and future agricultures, we would love to have you on the Recognition committee. The committee meets about four times a year by Zoom. We take nominations for affinity groups, or sectors of our community that we should consider for the next Farmer of the Year or Changemaker. You can also nominate an organization, network, family, or individual for either of these recognitions.

Do you have an organization, group or farmer you’d like to see recognized? Please get in touch with a Marbleseed board or staff member or submit a nomination on the website. We keep an ongoing file of past nominations for Farmer of the Year and Changemaker. This is not a competitive process, but a way of showcasing particular stories for a given year that the committee decides should be highlighted: stories to inspire, relationships to nurture, and innovations to make us think.

Marbleseed Recognitions Celebrate Farming Generations and Collective Impact

By Clare Hintz, Ph.D. Marbleseed offers two recognitions every year that we celebrate at the annual Organic Farming Conference: Farmer of the Year and Changemaker. The Farmer of the Year Award is meant to honor farmers who have contributed to the organic farming movement through significant experience. We want to ensure that their stories and wisdom are shared with the next generations of farmers. Farmers of the Year are Certified Organic producers in the Midwest.

The Marbleseed board also recognizes that much inspiration is to be gained from those sustainable and regenerative producers and food systems champions who are innovating in the spirit of the organic movement.

The organizations, communities, and people we honor in this category are doing more experimental work that doesn’t always fit in the neat box of Organic certification.

The Changemaker recognition celebrates emerging leaders in the organic farming and food movement who creatively overcome systemic challenges in order to nurture a thriving agricultural future for all. We want to especially recognize communities of regenerative agriculture, food sovereignty, and/or local food systems Organic Broadcaster | 12

For the 2024 Conference Changemakers of the Year, we are pleased to honor the Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition, with Gary Besaw and colleagues representing the network, which is composed of all Wisconsin Tribes along with Lac View Dessert. Their vision is to rebuild a vibrant food system that will provide nutritious and culturally appropriate foods for people that need it and to support the economic development of indigenous and local food producers in the Great Lakes region.

For the last several years they have built a network of local producers to provide food for elder boxes. By 2022, their project had expanded to all eleven tribes in Wisconsin. Their work is a model for any community rebuilding a local food system and food access.

We are also pleased to announce Valerie Dantoin and Rick Adamski, their son, Andrew, their daughter in law, Heather, and their partner, Scott as our Farmers of the Year. Val and Rick ran an organic dairy operation beginning in the late 1990s and served on many regional boards. Val also launched the Sustainable Food & Agriculture Associate Degree Program at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, which is a model for what other technical colleges can do to build capacity for more beginning farmers. Rick and Val have now transitioned Full Circle Community Farm to the next generation, and the farm focuses on grass-fed beef, among many other products. You’ll learn more about their stories at the conference and in the next issue of the Broadcaster.

Clare Hintz is a Marbleseed board member and runs Elsewhere Farm in Herbster WI, a production perennial polyculture supporting winter and summer CSAs and other markets. She is also the editor in chief of the Journal of Sustainability Education.

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SOE is Here – Is My Supply Chain Ready?

By USDA National Organic Program staff In January 2023, the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) published Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE), the most significant rule governing organic agricultural products sold in the United States since the original Organic Foods Production Act published in 1990 and the biggest update to the organic regulations since USDA established the NOP in 2002. To continue doing business in the U.S. organic market, businesses operating within an organic supply chain must comply with the rule’s requirements

by March 19, 2024. As we near that Organic Broadcaster | 14

implementation date, many organic farmers, businesses, and others currently operating or interested in operating in the organic market may be thinking, “SOE is almost here¾am I ready to be fully compliant?” NOP is encouraging you to go one step further, and say to yourself, “SOE is here¾am I ready, and is my supply chain ready?”

Through SOE, NOP aims to bolster consumer confidence in the value and integrity of the organic seal, increase transparency across supply chains, provide additional tools to enforce the regulations, and raise the cost of violating the USDA organic regulations. To accomplish this, the

SOE final rule addresses a wide range of topics that work together to close gaps in the current regulations. Some of the topics include who needs to be certified, product traceability, import certificates, standardized certificates of organic operation, on-site inspections, producer groups, annual update requirements for certified operations, certifier satellite offices and equivalent organic standards. Collectively, the regulatory changes in SOE accomplish many things. Among the most important is improving the NOP’s ability to trace the movement of an organic product from the farm where it was produced, through each stop or

exchange point in its supply chain, to a retail store shelf or other consumer point of sale.

The certification requirements outlined in SOE are key to improving the traceability of organic products.

SOE requires almost all businesses operating within an organic supply chain to be certified organic after the implementation period ends. With very few exceptions, this requirement applies to operations that produce or handle organic products, as well as the importers, traders, and brokers operating within an organic supply chain. That means any uncertified businesses operating within your supply chain after March 19, 2024, could potentially be jeopardizing the integrity, value, and premium price of your organic products. Products that do not comply with the organic regulations may not be represented, labeled, or sold as organic in the U.S., and producers and handlers may be subject to violations that could include fines or loss of certification.

If you are an organic producer or handler, it can be daunting to know just where to start. However, those involved in organic markets need to know what is expected and what changes they need to make to their existing operation. Many small-scale organic producers will have just small changes to make to their existing operations. Yet you will still be responsible for knowing what is expected and confirming you are ready for SOE. For example, something seemingly small, like using an incorrectly labeled non-retail container or not having proper documentation, can break the chains of organic integrity in your supply chain.

Preparing for the implementation of SOE starts with the following four questions – if you cover them all now, chances are you and your supply chain partners will be in a good place by March 19.

Have You Read the Rule?

Reading the SOE rule is key in determining how it applies to your operation and those you do business with. Don’t leave this to chance– know what needs to be done on your operation and how to maintain it. Know what is expected of the next link in your supply chain, too. Knowing what is acceptable in the rule will help keep you prepared, and aware, if you suspect something isn’t right with a supply chain partner.

Have You Identified Changes for You and Your Supply Chain Partners?

The SOE rule requires changes that may impact both you and your supply chain partners. For example, most uncertified commodity brokers and uncertified handlers will need to be certified before the implementation period is over to continue doing business in organic markets. After the implementation date, electronic import certificates will be required for imported commodities or products, another important step in fortifying supply chain traceability and organic integrity.

Will You be Ready to Implement Changes by March 19, 2024?

The implementation period for the SOE rule ends March 19, 2024. Make a plan with your certifier and supply chain partners now to make sure you and your partners are compliant by this deadline.

“We believe the value in the USDA organic seal is the ‘many hands’ working together for the common good of the organic industry,” stated Dr. Jennifer Tucker, deputy administrator of the National Organic Program. She went on to say, “USDA invests a lot into protecting the seal. The changes being implemented through the Strengthening Organic Enforcement final rule helps USDA increase consumer confidence, improve traceability across supply chains, and level the playing field for certified organic producers.”

To learn more about SOE, visit the USDA National Organic Program’s website, or consult with your organic certifier.

Have You Talked to Your Certifier?

Having an open line of communication with your certifier is one of the best ways to make sure you are compliant with the organic regulations and stay up to date with any changes or news in organic production and markets. Contact your certifier and prepare by reading the rule first. Come with a list of questions to make sure you understand what is required, and how to make changes accordingly. Ask questions beyond your operation to make sure you understand what to look for in compliant supply chain partners as well.

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Interconnections are Key to a Thriving Regional Economy

By Elena Gutierrez Byrne and Amy Halloran The popular notion of local food suggests that regional eating is a simple choice. Just go to the farmers’ market and fill your arms.

Yet there is a dearth of easily accessible breads, beers, and other grain products with local ties. The commodity grain system that’s developed over the past 150 years severed connections between farmers, millers, maltsters, bakers and distillers. In modern context, these parties rarely have opportunity to meet, let alone develop close, trusting relationships.

That’s what the Artisan Grain Collaborative (AGC) is working to change.

AGC is a network made up of Midwest stakeholders throughout the grain value chain. Members range from grain breeders and farmers, to intermediary processors like mills and malthouses, to chefs and brewers, to organizations involved in strengthening agriculture and food systems. When the group was conceived of in 2016, there was an interest in linking farmers and end-users such as bakers, and including grains as part of the local foods movement. Now with Organic Broadcaster | 16

a membership of 200 individuals, businesses, and organizations from across eight states, fostering connections is key. Relationships and collaborations are crucial to many types of support—from information sharing, to building a sense of community, shared values, and friendship. Trust-based connections are fundamental to establishing an ever-stronger regional grainshed.

We think a lot about how to do our work. There’s no playbook for reviving regional grain systems.

Communities and enterprises can’t turn back the clock and reconfigure 19th century approaches to doing business. Everyday life has changed too much to simply reinvigorate old models of agriculture and food production. Plus, the past is full of exploitations, of people and land; there is no perfect grain moment to seek and restore. Instead, folks are weaving new fabrics. Alternative food—especially grain—involves many hands, requiring new looms to join many threads.

AGC’s loom construction is thoughtful and deliberate. In imagining our organization, we use a phrase to describe the breadth of our membership: the “grain chain.”

How can we serve the people in the grain chain?

We know one important answer to that question is to help make the grain chain more visible. To this end, we set out in 2020 to make a visual aid to illustrate what the grain chain encompasses. With the creative skills of Amy Sparks of A Visual Spark in Minneapolis, MN, AGC’s Education and Outreach Working Group developed an infographic entitled Our Regional Grain Chain to depict the variety of grain chain roles, as well as the importance of collaborations across those roles.

Making the infographic was a multimonth act of weaving together many ideas, and trying them out on members to see where we hit and where we missed. We are pretty pleased with how it turned out, and so are our members, who have distributed thousands of copies of this infographic as cards, and hang posters in their businesses.

When we rebuilt our website, we embedded the infographic. Its style and content have become a foundation of our messaging.

As we developed and used the graphic, we – and by we, we mean AGC as a network of members, not just paid staff – saw we needed

to find a way to further visualize and animate the collaborations depicted in the bottom section. These collaborations spell out how the intersections along the grain chain happen. For example, “Farmers, Scientists, and Makers identify and develop staple crop varieties that work well for farms, food, and drink.” Such statements were ripe to come to life. This October, AGC launched a video series, Grain Chain Connections, to do just that.

The process began a year ago with a meeting of many AGC members to help visualize and plan the project.

From that day-long session at Granor Farm in Michigan, we began to discuss themes that were important to convey through the stories: Land stewardship, Community/relationships, Soil/human health, and Keeping money in the community/Local supports local.

Thinking through the possible stories of collaboration within AGC’s network was inspiring work and led us to realize how much we want to keep telling these stories. A core planning team of five members saw the project through to the end of filming four stories this July, captured and edited by Boxing Worm Creative Company, and financially supported primarily by the Food and Farm Communications Fund.

The first story—The Farmer, the Miller, and the Baker— digs into how three Minnesota AGC members are working together to strengthen the grain chain. Beth McConnon and Mark Askegaard of Askegaard Organic Farm, Patrick Wylie of Baker’s Field Flour And Bread, and Tiffany Singh and Christopher MacLeod of Laune Bread reflect on how they came to work together, what they find meaningful about their partnerships, and how their work is fostering development of the regional grainshed in their communities.

Laune Bread, a mission-oriented bakery, wanted to purchase Linkert wheat from Askegaard Organic Farm, but couldn’t buy the farm’s entire crop and mill it themselves.

Enter Baker’s Field, who agreed to bring in Askegaard wheat for Laune, and to sell to other customers as well, forming trusting relationships in the process. As baker Chris said, “It feels really empowering to have agency in a system that’s really built for commodity food.” Agency is a big deal within grains, where everything is set to the standards of bulk industrial processing, from the seeds that are planted to the milling specifications required. Other quotes from the short help explain what it

means to create a series of relationships beyond such constraints.

Beth (farmer): “One of our main goals that might separate us from conventional farms, being organic, is we try not only to produce healthy crops—we want the end result to be healthy people.”

Patrick (miller): “By working with local growers and sourcing these things, we’re able to show that this is a viable way to feed people.”

Mark (farmer): “To make a farm really work and have that diverse crop rotation, you need to have communicative effort between consumers and farmers, saying, these things are important.”

Tiff (baker): “Even though there’s a few hundred miles of distance between us, there is a real face, and a real voice, that is reciprocated, and recognized. Knowing that, you can feel good about the decisions that all parties involved are making.”

We’re excited to have three more important stories on the horizon, with two focusing on the importance and value of corn and collaboration. One focuses on Tortilleria Zepeda in Lone Rock, WI who are making authentic Mexican tortillas true to Mesoamerican

Behind the scenes shots from filming the Grain Chain Connections stories, L to R from top left: Mark and Beth Askegaard getting a tour of the Baker’s Field facility from Bailey Kimitch; Heidi Zepeda of Tortilleria Zepeda describes nixtamalization; filming hand-pounded Indigenous white corn; Halee Wepking and Lea Zeise; Jen Falck and Laura Manthe of the Ohe·láku corn growers cooperative; Fresh Roberson and Molly Breslin wrapping filming with Clay Glazik and Lukas Reichert of Boxing Worm Creative Company, and Elena Gutierrez Byrne of AGC.

Grain Chain Connections

traditions—nixtamalized and milled from the corn around them in the driftless area of Southwest Wisconsin. Another follows a journey towards greater food sovereignty through milling for the Ohe·láku (“Among the Cornstalks”) corn growers cooperative within the Oneida Nation, Wisconsin. In the final episode, Fresher Together and Breslin Farms discuss how small grains to beans can sustain regional farmers who grow them while also feeding the surrounding communities who may have limited access to these nutrition-packed staples.

We are excited to be generating educational media that will help pull folks into the work and values of the Midwest grain chain, and hope that you will watch and share episode one, and stay tuned for more.

Find the films and background at graincollaborative. com/grainchainconnections.

Elena Gutierrez Byrne serves as Communications Manager for the Artisan Grain Collaborative. She has a background in nutrition and works to encourage people to know their farmer and consider the social and environmental impacts of their food choices.

Amy Halloran wrote THE NEW BREAD BASKET, and teaches baking in various settings. She is working on a history of American bread baking that is also a memoir of the city of Troy, New York.

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Raising Pastured Pigs in the Winter

By Sal Dagget Livestock producers in a fourseason climate must contend with unpredictable and at times extreme weather. Keeping animals comfortable in inclement conditions is important for their health and productivity. As a pastured swine producer in the upper Midwest, it is essential to have a system in place to protect our herd from both the muggy days of summer and the frigid days of winter. As average temperatures continue to drop in northern latitudes, it is an ideal time to review our strategies for maintaining a healthy herd through the winter months.

For our first four years of swine production, we purchased feeder pigs in the spring and butchered in the fall. There were some advantages to this model: no worries about drinking water freezing, less investment in bedding and shelters, and (if one got up early enough) generally more pleasant weather for daily chores. However, our farm also grows produce for farmers’ markets and wholesale; and that means we were operating two concurrent enterprises for half of the year without any significant

agricultural enterprises for the other half. One method to develop a more balanced workload was to begin raising pigs year-round.

For those raising pigs in the winter, there are two main scenarios; the first is to purchase feeder pigs in the summer/fall and butcher in the winter/spring. The second scenario is a farrow-finish operation, in which case you will likely be caring for both mature breeders as well as feeder pigs year-round. We added a boar and two sows to our pig operation this summer, so we have 3 adult breeders and 9 feeders until February when the feeders are scheduled to go to butcher. Shortly thereafter the sows will farrow, and we will be raising an additional 1220 piglets.

We run our pigs on a pasture-based system, providing about 1 acre of pasture per 10 head in the spring through fall. 2- or 3-strand electric fencing divides the pasture into smaller paddocks to separate groups by age and feed type. When snow accumulation requires us to turn off the electric fence, we will use hog panels to confine the pigs to smaller sacrifice pastures adjacent to the barn. Though some considerations

for winter pork production are similar for both pastured- and barn-based systems, my focus is on management strategies specific to pastured pigs.

As the weather cools, our concern shifts from supplying adequate pasturage and shade to providing adequate shelter. Pigs have a relatively small thermoneutral zone1. This is the temperature where the pig can devote all their energy into growing (feeders) or gestating/ maintaining body condition (breeders). Outside of this narrow range, pigs may have a lower feed conversion rate or require additional feed to maintain appropriate body condition. With 60-70% of the cost of raising pigs attributed to feed2, it is important to create conditions that maintain a tolerable temperature, even on subzero days.

A dry and draft-free shelter is our primary method for creating comfortable winter conditions for our herd. Our system uses a 3-sided pole shed divided into two pens with a hut in each pen. We use a deep bedding system in the huts, adding straw as needed to ensure even a burrowing pig can’t reach the cold floor. The hut roofs 19 | Marbleseed.org

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Raising Pastured Pigs in the Winter

hope that providing supplemental heat will improve the feed conversion rate of winter-raised feeder pigs and ultimately prove to be a cost-effective decision.

Our general guidelines for providing supplemental heat are: one heat lamp per group of 40-75 lb feeder pigs when the temperature is below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. At 75-100 lbs, we will turn on the lamp when temperatures are below 20 degrees F. For larger pigs, we consider turning on the light only if the pigs are displaying signs of extreme cold, such as excessive piling or refusing to come out of their huts.

These guidelines are more applicable to nighttime temperatures, as our hardy heritage breed feeder pigs are often out on pasture as soon as the sun rises, even when daytime temperatures are below the threshold.

The mature breeders aren’t quite as active but will leave the warmth of the hut to explore the pasture in the late morning or afternoon. We will provide supplemental heat to winter-born piglets to maintain their thermoneutral zone during the first critical weeks of life.

are metal, so we prevent condensation from forming and dripping onto the bedding by stacking straw bales on the roof. A narrow gap between the walls and roof allows additional condensation to escape and improves ventilation inside the huts. Nestled into these wellinsulated huts, the pigs should be able to generate enough heat to stay comfortable even in belowfreezing temperatures.

If a barn isn’t available for winter housing, I have seen successful models using high tunnels with plywood or pallets along the bottom edge to create a barrier that keeps the plastic safe from damage. The doors on these tunnels could be opened just enough to let pigs out to pasture or much wider to vent heat on sunny days. I’ve also seen farms that have very well-insulated huts out on pasture, which might require additional labor to keep them dry during winter storms.

One question that may come up for the swine farmer is if or when to supply supplemental heat, and I’m sure the answer depends on the particular shelter system in use. We provide some supplemental heat, as our goal is to prioritize animal well-being and our own peace of mind. Though maintaining profitability is an essential factor in raising meat for sale, at our small scale we can afford to invest an additional few dollars per animal per year to presumably increase their comfort. We also

Winter feeding differs from summer only for the breeders, as the feeders have access to unlimited feed year-round. We follow the advice of one swine nutritional guide,3 which suggests an additional .5 lbs increase in daily feed per sow for every 10-degree F drop below 68 degrees F, unless pigs are overconditioned. We don’t have a grain bin, so we stock up on gestation and lactation feed in 50# bags and feeder feed in 1000# super sacks. All the feed is on pallets which we can move around and store in the pole barn behind the livestock pens. We try to stock enough food by early December to last until March or April, so we don’t have to worry about coordinating feed deliveries during the snowiest months of the year. Rodent traps are preemptively placed around the feed and monitored so that we can keep track of pest presence. A good barn cat would probably do the job as well, if not better.

Clean water access is essential for healthy and fastgrowing pigs and can be one of the greatest challenges for winter livestock producers. We use a 70-gallon sheep stock tank with a submersible de-icer. The tank fits under the fence to provide water to both pens.

We fill the tank 2-3 times a week with a hose that is fully drained after use to prevent ice from forming a plug inside. In warmer months, it might be feasible to drain a near-empty tank and clean it before re-filling each time, but that’s not possible in freezing weather.

To keep water as clean and palatable as possible, I use a homemade siphon to remove the sediment that accumulates in the bottom of the tank before filling the tank with clean water. We avoid these issues in the warmer months by using nipple waterers attached to 50-gallon barrels, which is an efficient way to offer unlimited clean water to pigs. If electricity is not available, manually hauling water 1-3 times a day may 21 | Marbleseed.org

Raising Pastured Pigs in the Winter

be necessary to provide adequate hydration in subzero temperatures.

Manure management is the final consideration with raising pigs in the winter. Pigs are clean animals, despite unfounded stereotypes, and have a designated area for their bathroom needs. However, if this area fills up, they will move to another, and another, which can be a major concern for producers with relatively small pens. Manure and urine left to collect near shelters can create odor, dampen bedding, and provide an environment that promotes diseases. I try to muck out the barn and areas around the pig huts at least once a week. I can usually accomplish this in less time than it takes to re-fill the stock tank. I gather the manure in an informal pile outside the barn that I will transport to a designated composting area when we move the pigs out onto pasture next spring. We are in the process of writing a manure management plan for our farm, which will reduce potential risks from parasites and other pathogens.

Winter can prove to be a difficult time even for experienced swine farmers, with weather creating a variety of challenges unique to pasture-based producers. Managing for cold temperatures benefits farrow-to-finish farms as well as winter feeder pig operations that take advantage of the “off-season” to re-supply their meat inventory before the busy CSA or farmers’ market season begins. With the right infrastructure and a good system in place, many of the cold weather challenges can be minimized. It is possible

Organic Broadcaster | 22

to raise a healthy herd of pastured pigs, even through an upper Midwest winter.

Sources: • https://extension.psu.edu/cold-temperaturemanagement-for-pigs • https://www.sare.org/publications/profitable-pork/hogproduction-systems/raising-pigs-on-pasture/ • https://www.asi.k-state.edu/extension/swine/ swinenutritionguide/ Additional Resources: https://extension.umn.edu/swine/small-scale-swineproduction https://extension.oregonstate.edu/collection/swineresources-small-farms Sal Dagget (along with partner Joe) manages Stubborn Oak Farmstead (formerly Roosterhaven), a neurodivergent-led intergenerational farm in western Wisconsin. They currently raise vegetables and pastured Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs but are always experimenting with other enterprises with the goal of growing connections through food. They believe that the ideal farming system nourishes people, creatures, and the land. Find out more or get in touch by visiting www. stubbornoakfarmstead.com.

bringing high quality fresh produce from the garden to our customer’s kitchen.

Our family farm is in Marathon County, the largest county in Wisconsin, which is known for its rich soil and ideal farming location. Our farm has been certified organic through MOSA, USDA since 2021. The first year, we farmed one and a half acre of 10 varieties of organic garlic; and then quickly expand into three and a half acres of garlic in 2022. In 2023, we’ve expanded our farming operation to include varieties of vegetables and herbs from diverse ethnic populations. Our farming operation has grown to provide our customers with high quality fresh produce.

It’s more than farming.

It’s family, it’s culture, and beyond

By Ying Lo My husband Xiong and I are both come from organic farmer families back in Laos but as we grew up in the United States, we pursued different career path. As we shifted our careers, we realized that organic farming brings us back to our family tradition. And how much we, culturally, forgot where our food comes from and how to grow healthy foods. Therefore, we realized that we could make an impact in our community by growing healthy vegetables and making them accessible to every family.

In our Hmong culture, farming is a way to feed your own family but not a business or career. We would like to be a role model for our Hmong younger generation that farming could be a career or a business, could be fun, and could bring rich relationships. We’re very excited that our son Adam, who was a recent college graduate, recently joined our farming operation and became part of our family farming tradition.

We started GreenGold Gardens (3G) in 2021 and our mission is “we farm for you and deliver to you.” Our core value is “farming reflects our passion and heart of love, growing high quality and nutrient-rich organic produce is our farming practice and cultivating customer’s loyalty and happiness is our service.” We are committed to

Back in our old homeland Laos, organic farming was our family/Hmong cultural tradition for many generations.

Our families have a long history of sustaining their living mainly through organic farming. They knew nothing about conventional farming, tilling, and disking soil, or applying herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. They only practiced organic farming with no tilling and disking.

They relied on the good soil micro-organisms, good topsoil, and mother nature’s nutrients to help their crops grow and thrive. They had no knowledge about croprotation and covering crops to help nurture and rebuild the soil health. When the soil depleted, they moved to new locations. As result of this, our families had no permanent place to farm due to constantly moving to new farming locations every few years.

Therefore, organic agriculture is not a new concept to us and our Hmong community; it has been part of our Hmong family’s tradition for many hundreds of years.

Even though we are rooted in organic farming, our knowledge about organic farming is very limited. We realized that there is a lot of learning and training we need to support our growing operation. We intend to pursue organic farming and promote locally grown healthy foods. In our perspective, organic farming emphasizes the importance of family orientation and small-scale farming as well as building healthy soil, healthy environment, healthy foods for the community and the planet.

We are happy to be part of the organic farming industry which represents 2% of American agriculture industry.

Being an organic grower, we depend on the good microorganisms, good topsoil, and mother nature’s nutrients to feed our crops; the downside is that this can be challenging due to a lot of hand labor. What we’ve found is that practicing organic is rewarding for us. As a lot of the labor work is done by hand, this has brought our family closer by working together in the field. In addition, our children now appreciate the fresh food we eat and the life cycle of our vegetables.

Having a background in the health food industry for so many years, we understand that the use of chemicals kill all the micro-organisms in the soil, therefore, farmers must apply more and more fertilizers because nothing can grow well without fertilizers. To reduce this problem, 23 | Marbleseed.org

It’s More Than Farming. It’s Family, It’s Culture, and Beyond

at 3G, we practice regenerative agriculture which is less tilling and disking practice with the support of cover cropping. We always planted cover crops after we finish harvesting our crops to rejuvenate the soil health, soil protection and reinvigorate nutrients for future planting.

Cover cropping replenishes the soil with good nutrients and oxygen; we believe in nature’s fertilizer.

Another method we use is crop rotation, we don’t grow the same crop family in the same location for two years in the roll. This helps to reduce disease and increase crop health and yield. Our aim is to focus on replenishing the soil, restoring biodiversity, high-quality produce, and nutrient-dense foods for our community.

At 3G farm, we grow unique varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs from different ethnic diversities. Our aim is to become one of the organic farming operations that has the capacity to grow, educate and help other farmers, especially the Hmong farmers who want to farm organic as a career.

Additionally, we aim to extend our experiences and services to help people learn about the benefits of organic foods, resources, and services by hosting educational seminars, workshops, farm tours, and handon training events. Hmong farmers in particular, are under-represented and have less resources to be part of the organic farming industry and we would like to support them to grow organic.

What we’ve learned is that farming is not only about growing vegetables and marketing to the consumers. We found that farming helps to strengthen our relationship to spending quality time with one another as a couple, speaking the same career language, and sharing similar goals and vision for our family. In addition, farming strengthens our children’s work ethics. Now that we farm together, we have quality time together as a family, more opportunities to be nature such as enjoying the sunrise and sunset, and nourishing our body with fresh air, and more importantly, farming has nourished our family connections.

In addition, we have more time to connect with our immediate families and friends at a deeper level and listen to our elderly stories which have been passed down from generation to generation and we are very grateful for this opportunity to have richer connections with our elders and others in our community. We’re also able to connect with new/younger Hmong generation who are interested in becoming farmers, a path that was look down upon as a poor lifestyle and not a nourishing rich career in our Hmong community, build new friendships and learn new farming skills and techniques.

All these experiences together have made our lives richer and more fulfilling.

We intend to continue to acquire more farming knowledge, innovative growing methods and continue to learn and engage with our farming community

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and introduce us into wholesaling. Also, the WI LFPA program helps us to connect with the community in need with healthy fresh produce directly from our farm to their kitchens. We’re grateful for the WI LFPA program and the opportunity to make a difference in our community.

by attending conferences, workshops, field learning, training, dialogue and connecting with other farmers.

Currently, we sell our fresh produce through the farmer markets, local organic food groceries, food auctions, wholesale and the WI Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (WI LFPA). In addition, we have donated our produce to Farm Shed, Salvation Army and families in need. For future expansion, we intend to open our own Farm Fresh Store on the farm so that the community gets fresh veggies directly from the farm to their kitchen.

We’re very happy that we got involved in the WI LFPA program in 2023. Since we’re a new grower who has very limited connection to the market, the program has been a great help to get us off the ground to a good start, serve as a foundation for us to expand our farming operation,

In conclusion, we’re excited to be part of the local organic agriculture industry where we grow healthy foods for the local community. We make our produce available to all the customers who want to buy local, eat fresh, support local agriculture and the economy as well as save the environment. And we’re thrilled to introduce farming to the younger generation’s farmers because growing-eating organic is a lifestyle -- “you feed your mind and body with the healthy foods you eat.” Our core belief is “eating healthy foods serves as the foundation for healthy living.”

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SEED SOVEREIGNTY Engage Your Economic Power through the seed economy

By April Jones Seeds are reflective of our cultural values, thoughts, and passions.

They showcase the adaptability of our landscapes and allow us the opportunity to see the glory of the land. Seed diversity and uniqueness is the true strength of the seed movement as it informs us of what we have to move, shift and change throughout our lives to create a space of love, harmony and care.

As we diversify our seed background, it allows us to explore our own ways of persisting through our resilient growing practices in varied and everchanging climates. Incorporating seed selection process, means choosing seeds that have the best flavor, taste, resistance to pests and adaptability to the natural habitat.

Creating a flexible growing system involves assembling and procuring the best, and highest quality seeds available. Sourcing these elevated seeds is a priority, as it has a direct correlation to your establishment of a resilient growing system. Growing a resilient food system starts with identifying your seed values. Is it important to you for the plant to add Organic Broadcaster | 28

color and definition to your garden or commercial plot? Are you growing food to just sustain your family so you will be focusing on taste, flavor and high productivity? Or are you a market garden or commercial grower who is taking produce into the common marketplace? Are you are looking for colorful, flavorful and unique produce that will give you a competitive edge. Identifying what is important to you as a grower is the first step in creating your own productive, adaptable, and successful growing habitat.

Building a network of seed resiliency in your garden or farm is a foundational step towards a more productive and nutritious crop. We all desire crops that are able to meet the growing challenges of the modern day, such as being able to thrive with less water, and be pest and blight resistant. Crop diversity and choosing the best seeds available allows for additional success to each growing season. By carefully selecting our seeds and partnering with great seed producers we can create our own climate-resilient crops that will benefit us as farmers and our communities.

By adapting our seed selection and by analyzing the landscape we see what types of crops will excel.

Likewise, by honoring our agricultural backdrops of the land we showcase how they interplay with the soil.

The landscapes across our country are diverse and vast. Knowledge about seeds will differ along with the landscape in each locale. The beauty of the seed movement is that it will adapt and change with the terroir of the earth. The flavor and the taste will also change based upon soil composition and water access. Seed diversity is a strength and resource that is the workhorse of our shared agricultural success and prosperity.

Meadowlark Hearth’s Seed Festival is the embodiment of this new seed movement. A movement of adaptability, respect, and the embrace of our natural world. Beth and Nathan Corymb of Meadowlark Hearth Farm and Seed Company are enthusiastic about seeds and seed production. They offer outstanding varieties of seed for home growing or commercial use. At Meadowlark Hearth they grow numerous types of vegetable seed, including varieties of cabbage, onions, carrots, beets,

swiss chard, parsnips, herbs, flowers, legumes, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, cucumbers and squash among many others. Meadowlark Hearth also produces bedding plants and offers a year round CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in addition to raising grass fed cattle.

Seed sovereignty is a movement of caring for the earth and our neighbors. Empowering each of us to grow culturally relevant crops that align with our cultural food ways, and traditions. The Corne De Bouc french heirloom tomato which is available in the Meadowlark Hearth Seed Catalog, is an unusual five inch long, pointed tomato, that can be used for fresh eating, can be sun-dried, or processed to create a thick tomato sauce or fresh salsa.

The flavor profile is sweet, slightly smoky, with a robust flesh and hearty structure. The name Corne De Bouc means goat’s horn. The outstanding flavor draws the tomato grower back to this unique tomato time and time again.

The Music Aria Garlic was a sweet variety that added vigor and robust flavor to the meals. Roasting the garlic was an effective medium to bring the fullest of taste to each bite. The Red Chesnok Purple Stripe garlic was added to olive oil for salad dressings and to cook alongside a variety of farm fresh vegetables, tomatoes, onions, squash and more.

During a luncheon at Meadowlark Hearth Seed’s, everyone was able to enjoy the bounty of the land. The Corne De Bouch was transformed into fresh salsa, with

Valencia Onions that were pungent and sweet. We tried California Early-Nebraska Select Garlic with an aromatic flavor profile, and Bolivian rainbow peppers that were bright, colorful in hues of reds, purple and cream which added flavor, color and heat to the salsa.

Fresh Bono Cucumbers which are a select cucumber for Switzerland were also served. They are large, dark green with a smooth skin fruit that does not need trellising.

These bono cucumbers were sliced up with precision, with an eye for design. The bowl looked like a piece of artwork, as each bono cucumber glistened in the sun parading their refreshing, deliciousness and juiciness.

Orange Rodelika Carrots were grated finely and placed in a large bowl. This type of carrot is (Rothild) bred by a biodynamic farmer and breeder Dieter Bauer in Germany. The carrots were straight forward ingredients that were made simply and showcasted the craftsmanship and history of the expertise of the seed growers at Meadowlark Hearth.

Red Cabbage Amarant, which is an early cabbage with a wonderful reddish purple hue that forms a solid head and stores extremely well and is good as an early, mid season or late crop. This unique cabbage can be stored for a couple of months into winter. The Red Cabbage Amarant was grated beautifully and added to a bowl with a good dose of organic olive oil, salt and pepper.

The color was bold, strong and a vibrant purplish-red color, with an earthy, sweet smell. The dish was inspired by the community and shared heritage that allowed the participants to see the beauty, and paradise of locally grown food.

Bono Cucumber and Super Lakota Tomato, Basil, Valencia Onion was a medley from heaven. The colors that played off each other, red, white and green,looked like a piece of art. The flavor was exquisitely blended and balanced to create the secret to success in the dish.

It was a nostalgic dish, that was perfect, refreshing and flush with vegetables. The Super Lakota is an abundant producer with fleshy six to eight ounce fruits. It is an excellent slicing tomato, that is very juicy with good old-fashioned flavor. Basil is certified organic and is a good strain of regular basil, genovese type from a german Biodynamic seed source with excellent rate of germination.

Black Turtle Beans were cooked to perfection with just the addition of olive oil, salt and pepper. The bean is a bush plant that yields small black beans that are packed with flavor. They make a delicious soup, baked beans or bean spread.

Pike Orange Cantaloupe was bred in the 1930’s in Monmouth, Oregon by Aaron Pike. The fruit is colorful and fragrant, weighing between three and six pounds. An Oblong fruit with a very sweet and distinctive cantaloupe flavor. The smell of the fruit was very sweet, perfumed and strong. The flavor was distinctive, sweet and airy with lots of juice and succulent zest.

29 | Marbleseed.org

Seed Sovereignty

Seed access allows us to explore our own culinary traditions, and to expand into new territories of taste, aroma and dishes that encompass the power of seeds.

Seeds allow us to access new ideas and create culinary masterpieces that are based on our own shared culinary heritage and experience. When we explore our shared seed heritage we elevate our cooking experience and bask in the wonder and joy of each unique and beautiful harvest.

was placed on top of the so that they were completely covered. Then everyone was instructed to find a partner across from each other and to form two rows. Musicians played the Virginia Reel as participants learned the number and everyone was off to dance the day away on top of the carrot seeds.

Seed sovereignty is about accessing all of ourselves, our innate musical, dancing, cooking and harvesting ability.

This makes us stronger, more resilient and more robust human beings. Accessing seed sovereignty allows us to show off our creative and festive natures. The Seed Festival was an elevation of the seed movement that allowed each person to participate in the wonder, beauty and elegance of the transformative nature of seeds. It was an enlightening and educational experience where the participants learned how to access, grow and process many different types of seeds. Seed sovereignty is an ever evolving movement that showcases our innate ability to care, love, and thrive in diverse and expansive environments.

April Parms Jones is originally from Akron, Ohio and advocates for her community as part of the food justice, water access and the food sovereignty movement. She is passionate about community gardens, farmer markets and creating a just food system. Having expertise in the role of farmers markets and in human elements of shifting the food system. She is a writer, public speaker, consultant, blogger, recipe developer, book reviewer, event planner and more.

At Meadowlark Hearth the participants were able to see a large, juicy, vibrantly red Brandywine tomato being processed. The tomatoes were placed on a machine that pulverizes the tomato, into a large bucket. The smell of fresh Brandywine tomatoes was fragrant, robust and sweet. As the red pulp hit the bottom of the bucket with a smacking sound, each tomato built up a layer for the next. Soon the bucket was full of a bright red, luscious liquid that had to sit for two weeks to ferment in order to harvest the tomatoes.

The Seed Festival was a behind-the-scenes look at seed processing, and growing practices. Touring this beautiful farm, the participants learned about the types of crops that were being grown, and how the farm’s layout allows for the best growing conditions for seed production.

The participants of the Meadowlark Seed Festival were invited to be a part of dry seed processing of the chosen crop such as carrots or fenugreek. There was a large tarp that was placed on the ground, then carrot seeds were strategically placed on top of the tarp. Another tarp Organic Broadcaster | 30

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Alternative Energy and Energy Savings on the Farm

By Kevin Mahalko The topic of on-farm energy savings and generation is one of the most important topics of the era. . There are many environmental and economic considerations at stake. In my role as a Grazing and Livestock “Ask a Specialist” at Marbleseed, I see a lot of innovation and new ideas. Most importantly, I see the farmers and people driving energy-smart innovation and implementing new technologies on their farm, regardless of scale and operation type. . Recently, I attended several conferences and events to learn from some of the farmers, researchers, and partners driving this alternative energy adaptation.

All humans — including agriculturalists, hunter gatherers, and nomadic cultures — depend on the energy of the sun to grow crops; forage fruits and vegetables; and raise livestock. From an agronomic perspective, many strategies can be used to convert the Sun’s energy into food we can utilize, including . managing manure, building soil, and planting for a multi-story plant leaf solar collector. . Increasingly, these have become major topics in organic and regenerative farming; it’s clear

that managing land and livestock in a responsible way is a key principle of an “energy smart” farm.

Chris Wilson is an organic dairy and crop farmer near Cuba City who has implemented various energy saving practices, including solar power on his family farm. Fueled by his concern that farmers need to be aware that current agriculture is spending far more energy in production than the actual human consumption needs,. . Chris investigated balancing some of the Wilson Family Farm’s energy demand with solar arrays. Through research and consultation with several installers, they settled on installing both . rooftop and grid pole mounted solar panels. Placement and sun angle were factors in location and sizing. This system installed on the farm provides about 1/2 the energy needed for a relatively large, multifamily, organic dairy farm. The possibilities of a farm scale methane digester are also being researched.

Chris emphasizes working with your local utility company to balance power produced and ensure most energy stays on farm and is not sold back to the grid. Chris warned that farmers spend more on power

bought than sold, so it is important to estimate and monitor this balance.

He is looking at battery technology store energy in the future. Chris mentioned some of the consultants that were helpful, including Todd Timmerman for the installation, Stanley Minnik for consulting, and ThirdPowerSolutions.com as a resource. Chris highlighted the value of a Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant for covering costs and making the system more affordable. . Chris has also included other efficiency innovations on his farm, including milk cooling and heat capture, net metering, and manure management. . Chris says, “you can’t buy yields and flush nutrients.” The Wilson Farm has an extensive crop rotation, and manure management with nutrient management with precision mapping has helped yields and built organic matter.

I attended the Wisconsin Farmers Union Convention and talked with Sarah Lloyd and Michelle Ramirez White about Alternative Energy policy and how the installations can be made more friendly to farmers while preserving farmland for multiple uses. . This requires some cooperation with farmers

Alternative Energy and Savings on the Farm

and industry. . Wisconsin Farmers Union President Darin Von Ruden has been active in the research and partnerships within the energy industry to hopefully help benefit farmers. . This includes wind power, solar, menthane capture, and many efficiency measures. .

WFU delegate Hans Breitenmoser of Merrill, Wis. runs a larger scale freestall conventional dairy. . He has worked with Seventh Generation on a wind feasibility project and installed a 160-foot research tower for wind in 2010. . They found the project could produce wind power but not enough payback to meet investment. . In addition to his wind project, Hans decided to do two solar installations, one 20KW North Wind Solar which offsets about 10% of the need on the main farm and. a second 20KW solar array that supplies 100% for a heifer barn and the house in summer, and 50% in winter. The family has also implemented several energy savings strategies, including plate coolers and heat recovery, ventilation management, and lower energy draw waterers. The farm went through an energy assessment with Focus on Energy and implemented LED lighting and smart drive ventilation. The farm also recycles agricultural plasticsand reuses bunker covers. Hans cites other efficiencies like cattle genetics, forage varieties, and harvest efficiency as helping to lower energy consumption per pound of production. The family also owns a hybrid car,Hans says his wife Katie works as a midwife and has put many miles on it, as the car has proven to be reliable especially in time critical situations! They are looking at electric vehicle options as the products develop.

Nate Trussoni is a multi-generational organic dairy farmer in the Viroqua, Wis. area. He emphasized first working with your local power company to explore options and rates. Nate said the simultaneous metering in real time shows energy cost ratio at .13$ to purchase and .03$ to sell for a solar grid. There are now some options to bank energy during higher output periods. Nate’s farm built the array in 3 sections of 50 panels;. the panels can be tilted and adjusted for the seasons and. cows can eat under the panels.. The Panels are in a higher traffic area of the farm for managing vegetation near the array.

According to Nate, the Sustainability Team at Organic Valley was helpful in recommending consultants and installers, and in working through a REAP grant. I talked with Lexi Leum about the effort Organic Valley’s CROPP cooperative efforts are making to help farmers through these projects. There are efforts in the co-op to have farmers implement these types of green energy to work towards becoming netzero carbon emissions by 2050.

This includes a multitude of practices and technology implementation. Carbon insetting encourages farmers to bank their own carbon credits and control their own resources in this emerging carbon trading market. Nate mentioned he had attended the Marbleseed Organic Farming Conference in the past, where his interest in alternative energy was piqued, ultimately deciding to research these various energy savings options before settling on the solar array. For Nate, whose farm is situated in the Coulee hills, geography, enviromental impacts, and the region’s history were considered just

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as much as sun access when it came to deciding the placement of the solar array. In addition to their solar array, Nate’s farm is practicing pasture management and seeding and they are also doing milk pre-coolers and heat recovery on a mid-sized organic dairy. For the future, Nate is looking at batteries and other opportunities that come up to save energy.

I had a chance to interview Dr. Brad Heins of the University of Minnesota-Morris to find out how years of grazing and alternative energy research are looking on the research dairy. Dr. Heins said that there are measurable up front energy savings with the Grazing herd vs. the Conventional herd on site. The obvious thing is having cows harvest forage themselves as much of the year as possible while spreading their own manure. Cows doing the work is very helpful to reduce mechanical forage harvest and manure handling. The research farm is utilizing many new varieties of forage to enhance the pastures and manage challenges like drought, effectively using plant leaf and cover to utilize sunlight for plant function and growth rather than drying out bare soil. Dr. Heins helped bring the solar project online in 2018, he wanted the panels raised to an 8-foot-high minimum so cows could graze under the panels and utilize the shade aspect. The installer was helpful in meeting this requirement and in placement for multiple benefits. The array could allow access underneath for mowing if needed. Weather has not been an issue — the system has withstood a 90 MPH

windstorm on the prairie and snow build up. In contrast, the panels on the barns are a bit more of a shallow angle and require some snow removal. Ultimately, the system appears durable and has the ability to pay for itself over time. Dr. Heins suggested building at 80 percent generation capacity of your energy use. He is excited to grow this system and upgrade it as battery capacity and portability become more accessible for solar arrays. Currently, Dr. Heins is working to implement portable panels which could provide shade in various parts of the pastures, so mobility of infrastructure is potentially just as important as moving livestock to new paddocks! Dr Heins and his team provide opportunities to visit the research farm with field days and much information linked through the UM-Morris site. He is happy to work on future livestock projects such as looking at methane management, digesters, and comparing energy use in various systems of livestock and crop management. Cooperating and partnering with farmers and other research institutions will help speed up progress in this important work!

Kevin Mahalko has an organic dairy herd in Gilman, WI, producing milk for the Organic Valley Grassmilk program. Kevin is president of Grassworks, a grazing educator for River Country RC&D, and an educator for the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship Program.

BOOK REVIEW

THE LEAN MICRO FARM

By Tay Fatke “Growing food is hard-work and it’s under-appreciated. I’ve always felt compelled to share what’s not worked for me and the mistakes we’ve made. I tried to produce materials that I wish had existed when I was starting.” Ben Hartman shared this sentiment with me early on in our discussion about his new book. The Lean Micro Farm: How to Get Small, Embrace Local, Live Better and Work Less. This is Ben’s third book in eight years, all of which focus on lean farming. In The Lean Micro Farm, Ben states “Lean is fundamentally about scouring your workplace for waste, rooting it out, and then replacing the waste with activities that add value.” I highly recommend Ben’s first two books, Organic Broadcaster | 34

The Lean Farm and The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables, both of which have been instrumental in improving my family’s farm efficiency and educating the farmers I work with.

After farming for 11 years in rural northern Indiana, Ben, his wife Rachel and their two young sons moved Clay Bottom Farm into the city of Goshen, Indiana to be closer to their community, school, and their family. Clay Bottom Farm went from 1 acre in production to 1/3 acre, halved the number of greenhouses and went from seven buildings to one barn-house. The move meant all sales are within 1.5 miles of the farm and the number of steps from home to field to processing room significantly decreased. Ben, Rachel

and the team work less and grow on a smaller footprint, but the farm earns just as much as before they made the move. The Lean Micro Farm explains Clay Bottom Farm’s get-small story and how it can be applied to existing farms across the world and to farms that are still a dream in someone’s head.

The Lean Micro Farm is organized into two parts. Part 1 is Principles of Getting Small which explains the 5 principles Clay Bottom Farm used to get small and Part 2 is Setting Up a Lean Micro Farm which details how those principles were put into practice. The information in part 2 is extremely beneficial for those who are starting a market garden and want to use a minimalist approach, or for existing farms that want to

try something new. Throughout the book, Ben shares how he didn’t know if it was the best move to get small.

But over and over he finds that it was the right choice, and they can work a 35-hour workweek, use only local resources as inputs, rely on less tools, rely on 80% of their sales from four focus crops and still make as much money as before.

I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Ben about his latest book and asking him some questions.

Tay Fatke (TF): Starting this new farm must have been very time-consuming. So why was it important to write this book and share this knowledge at the same time?

Ben Hartman (BH): I would like to give credit to my wife Rachel for encouraging the book project and it’s to her credit that we moved. We’ve moved our farm two times and each time we moved it’s because she has had the foresight to ask the question: are we in the right place for what we want to be doing. The move was an opportunity to be closer to family and to resources for our two young kids. It was an opportunity to hit the reset button on the farm and design a new farm from scratch. We put the book together to tell a story of how we did that based on, at the time, 12 years of growing experience and starting a new farm using lean thinking from the get-go. The reality is that the lean system really does work and when you apply better focus and cut out waste, you actually can do less but better. It’s been a challenging four years; I’m not saying it’s been

all smooth, but it’s been so rewarding to see these principles play out.

TF: In the book you talk about the 4-2, which is 4 crops and 2 customers, can you explain how that is especially beneficial to beginning farmers?

BH: On a small-scale diversified farm, in the first few years there is a high level of experimentation and a high learning curve. However, every farm that I know of that has been successful long-term has made a pivot at some point in applied focus. Which is to say, which crops can grow at a low cost of production, producing a high volume and that sell at fair market or high price. It takes a couple of years to gain this skill to grow these crops and to understand which of the hundreds of crops that one could grow fit into that small category. Likewise, with customers it can take a few seasons of experimenting with selling. I think farmers markets are great incubators and a great place to start, but I encourage farmers to branch out from there and search out institutional accounts, wholesale accounts, experiment with CSA and find a mix of customers that put in consistent high-volume orders that pays fair prices and are located close to your farm. We use the Pareto 80-20 principle to help us hone in our 4-2. The language that Pareto uses is vital. What we wanted to discover was who are our vital customers and what are our vital crops and really be ruthless about eliminating or drastically reducing the effort we put into the crops or customers that don’t fit inside of that circle.

35 | Marbleseed.org

Book Review: The Lean Micro Farm

hoe. Especially as we get older, an aging farmer needs to think carefully about body strain. Sometimes it’s thought that when we move from gas powered to electric and you lose power and torque but that’s not universally true. We put Hoss fixed sweep blades on for bed prep and slice under the soil surface by 4-6 inches and it very gently lifts the soil with no soil inversion and it’s much easier and faster to do than broad-forking and achieves the same end.

Ben will be at the Marblseed 2024 Organic Farming Conference teaching a half-day Organic University (OU) on Thursday 2/22. In this session, Ben will explain tools from the Japanese lean system that can be used to identify and cut out waste from a farm operation, in order to increase profits and sustainability with less work.

The session is for all sizes and types of farms, though there will be an emphasis on ways to apply lean on micro scale vegetable farms. As part of this OU, Ben will tell the story of how Clay Bottom Farm recently used lean to downsize from one acre to 1/3 acre without taking a pay cut. Ben is also one of the keynotes for the Marbleseed 2024 Organic Farming Conference.

TF: Chapter 10 in the book “A Plan for Selling $20,000 from your backyard” is an incredible resource you provide. What other advice would you give to beginning farmers?

Ben Hartman is a farmer and author of The Lean Farm, winner of the prestigious Shingo Prize. In 2017 he wrote a field guide companion called The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables and was named one of 50 green leaders in the US by Grist. He is a senior consultant for USAID-funded projects. Clay Bottom Farm offers on-farm workshops and online courses teaching farmers how to farm smaller and smarter.

Tay Fatke is Marbleseed’s Farmer Education Specialist.

BH: Advice I would have for a beginning farmer is to focus on the health of the land as a key metric for success. Success is not just your profits and your productivity… even though I am a lean guru. Nothing is more important than the health of the land and the health of the community. If you have a supportive community around your farm and land that is healthy, that’s the best foundation for your new farm.

TF: In this book I noticed that you really cut down on fossil fuels usage and are focusing on battery powered tools in your system.

BH: It’s a win-win isn’t it? Better for the environment and also, we save money by electrifying our farm. When we set out to design the farm four years ago, we wanted to be an all-electric farm and not use fossil fuels on our farm if at all possible. We run natural gas heaters for about a month to protect early greenhouse tomatoes and are working on alternatives to that use. Otherwise, we have a 15kw solar panel system that powers various electrified systems on the farm. Probably the tool that has been the biggest game-changer on the farm the past two seasons is the Tilmor E-Ox which is an electric wheel Organic Broadcaster | 36

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Observations From An Inspector

By Dean Dickel Wow, I just finished my third season of organic farm inspections and am mostly impressed with the 61 farms I visited this summer.

Here are my observations and takeaways from my work, with the caveat that I am unable identify clients due to the confidentiality agreement between inspector, producer and certifier.

My inspection list included farms in Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. There were 27 farms with livestock (18 dairy cattle, six beef, and three goat milk), 18 strictly crop farms (including four produce and one maple syrup), and 16 poultry operations.

The story of the year of course was a blistering drought that had set in by

Memorial Day and didn’t break until the Fourth of July, or even Labor Day for some.

I remember Amish farmers in the Kalona, Iowa area scrambling to find moisture to plant corn into the weekend before Memorial Day. They say innovation is the mother of invention and that was never truer than the farmer who had set the row cleaners to the lowest setting, making a trench for the planting unit, and also placed tractor weights where the insecticide boxes were originally mounted to force seed even deeper.

Sure enough with a little luck and timely rain, the field looked fabulous when I returned to the area in August.

There was still plenty of hardship to go around, however, as farms that missed those early July rains would

fall into the category of crop failure.

And a handful of dairies had to curtail grazing after pastures became void of vegetation.

One lesson for the future here is to be sure to notify your certifier if pasture dry matter intake drops below the 30% threshold. Certifiers will likely grant waivers in these instances, but if the inspector shows up and cows (or goats) are not on pasture, you will likely get hit with a non-compliance.

While the drought was a huge challenge for almost every farmer, it was surprising to see later in the season how good the majority of the organic crops looked once the rains came. It bolsters what I had heard and seen in the past. Organic systems seek to be more resilient than conventional ones.

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Most surprising were the two farmers who grow both organic and conventional crops pretty much side-by-side who remarked that their organic soybeans would likely equal or exceed the yield of the conventional beans. This is an important observation for an inspector to document due to the risk parallel production poses to organic integrity. Next year’s inspector will need to take a deep dive into harvest records to confirm no co-mingling has occurred.

For me personally it was great to see how many organic farmers are reaching such a high level of production. Nowhere was that more apparent than in Amish communities in Iowa where soybean yields are consistently in the 60s and corn in the 180s.

Beans are a relatively new crop for the Amish with harvest methods having been the biggest hindrance.

Some communities allow using custom combining (with guidance and yield monitors no less), but others cut beans with the same binder they use to harvest oats and the beans are immediately run through a thresher and loaded for market.

Corn is picked, stored in ear corn cribs, and shelled and sold in the spring. I asked one of them why he was storing the cobs in a round crib. “I use those to heat the house,” he said. Some have also found a specialty market for organic cobs and insisted I list them in their product profile.

I have been around the Amish a good deal of my life and always wondered why they seemed to be born with a green thumb. I thought more about that this summer than I ever have before and wondered out loud what we can learn from them.

There is something to be said about developing a system and sticking to it. The Amish have been using the same farming system for generations – long before organic came into existence. The crop rotation is simple, and tillage is consistent. Moldboard plowing is at the center of their tillage system and, still, I seldom see severe erosion on these farms.

Manure is the other constant on Amish farms. Almost all have a livestock enterprise. But in the one community with no tractors there were also plenty of horses. One of the farmers with about 100 tillable acres told me he had close to 20 of the big draft horses which could be expected to produce close to a ton of manure per day!

I would have to say these farms also tend to be using more and more of the biologicals such as compost tea.

It appears there is a benefit in bolstering the microbial makeup of the soil – especially when manure and crop residues are plentiful.

On the larger non-Amish grain farms, it appears chicken manure pellets are becoming more available again.

Shortages the past few years were driven by high demand

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from conventional farmers and the bird flu shrinking layer flocks. Fewer birds mean less poop.

Some, but not all, mainstream organic grain farmers also seem to be making progress in reducing weed pressure.

They have a new weapon in the war against giant ragweed. It’s the weed zapper. I’ve only seen very mixed results in the past, but this year was different. It may be improved machines or better operators, but in one case it actually looked like the field had been sprayed. Now I’m wondering if we might need to require some kind of verification that a zapper was used.

A farmer in Illinois told me he plans on building a selfpropelled zapper this winter as he has had many requests for custom work next season, some even coming from conventional farmers with herbicide resistant ragweed.

In the livestock sector, a major focus is the new Origin of Livestock rule aimed at eliminating the practice of perpetual “transitioning” replacement animals. Fortunately, more times than not I was able to breathe a sigh of relief when farmers answered the OOL question with “all animals on my farm were born on the farm to organic mothers.”

Amish Beans

Transitioning or purchasing animals as replacements will trigger a thorough review of sales records to show animal ID was maintained. Most livestock operations I inspected still struggled with ID issues –mostly animals losing tags.

Add in problems sourcing replacement tags post Covid, and animal ID is a serious challenge for certifiers.

The beef herds have an added challenge in tagging their calves. I have personal knowledge of the danger in handling a new-born calf with their protective mamma watching and listening nearby. I give these operations a little leeway by listing cow/calf pairs until the offspring are weaned and have been tagged. Each calf will eventually have to have a dam listed on the animal ID list.

The animal ID issue is also central if/when an animal is sold for organic slaughter. The farm ID and whatever ID (usually a sticky back tag the buyer uses to track the animal through slaughter) has to be included in the Bill of Lading or other record of sale/transfer. This is becoming more important as the demand for organic beef -- mostly in the form of cull dairy cows -- appears to be on the rise.

More conventional livestock outlets are becoming certified as processor/handlers for organic animals,

including a number of salebarns. The demand for organic beef is a welcome development for the smaller dairy farms I inspect. In auditing organic slaughter records, I came across a receipt for an organic cull cow that sold at a live auction for $3,050. A Holstein, she weighed in at 1,709 lbs.

The one disappointment in the livestock sector is the apparent lack of pigs being certified organic. I have not seen even one farm with pigs listed in their certification in three years of inspecting. There are a number of organic farms that have pigs, but they choose not to certify them.

I suppose it could be the cost of organic feed, or maybe lack of certified processors?

While I do inspect organic beef farms, it appears there could be more potential there as well. The hot market at this time is for grass-fed beef and most buyers are not insisting on organic certification as well.

From my own personal experience as a former beef producer, the single most important obstacle to organic beef certification is the issue of buffers which require double fencing and separate management of the buffer. The issue of buffers in general is a contentious issue in organic agriculture and probably worthy of an article all to its own.

Organic poultry inspections have become my specialty.

After all, I started in the business before the National Organic Program and its green seal became the standard in the industry. This would have been in the late 1990s and skeptics were quick to tell me that raising poultry without the aid of antibiotics was destined to failure. But, today millions of hens, organic and cage-free, carry the no antibiotics label.

The excitement over eggs has even spread to anyone with a backyard as cities across the country now allow residents to keep a few birds as a source of fresh eggs.

Farm supply stores are a flurry of activity in early spring when chicks arrive, making steel stock tanks their homes until their loving owners scoop them up along with feed and other supplies.

A note for anybody who wants to certify the farm store chicks. Unless the store provides organic, or you pick them up before feed is offered, they will not pass the rule that chickens be under the owners’ control no later than two days of age.

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Observations From an Inspector

Chickens also do not like to be in direct sunlight and are prone to laying eggs outside if not properly “nest trained.” The farmer is required to provide a log of any “temporary confinement” and certifiers require I report on the condition of the access lot. There is a fine line there, however, as some require 50% vegetation, but some chicken yards I see are freshly mowed and it’s obvious (but not provable) that chickens had spent little or no time in the access area.

The key term is access, and I am comfortable with letting the animals decide if they want to go out. The free stall gate leading to the pasture should be open. The poultry barn doors as well. Basically, I would prefer to leave animal welfare decisions up to the animals.

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When it comes to commercial organic egg production, the standard today is the 20,000-bird house (about 50 x 500). There are still a few 5,000 to 10,000 bird barns and at least one I inspected has a total of 33,000 layers in two barns. Processors are all about volume and the rule of thumb is that it takes 40,000 hens to produce a semi load of eggs in one week.

Two controversial issues – synthetic methionine and outdoor access – are the dominate issues at poultry inspections.

Methionine is an essential amino acid that is normally deficient in poultry feed ingredients. Failure to supplement rations with methionine results in slower growth rates of pullets and undersized eggs in layers.

The NOP negotiated a deal with the commercial poultry industry that limits methionine to 2 lbs./ton of feed over the life of the bird.

As an inspector that means I have to review pullet feed records to calculate methionine rates for those first 16 weeks of life. Then, there needs to be a review and calculation for methionine use in the layer barn – anywhere from 56 to 70 weeks. For the standard 20,000-bird layer barn, that amounts to about 40, 24ton deliveries. The math involved is very intimidating and time consuming.

The challenge of outdoor access is that the inspector is there just one day. And the rule is just vague enough that a lot is left up to interpretation. It actually states outdoor access is to be year-round, but lists exceptions for stage of life, climate etc. The rule applies to all poultry and livestock.

I think this rule was propagated by the bucolic image of cows grazing on green grass and chickens scratching around the barnyard. But, in reality, animals just prefer to be comfortable. I expect cows to be inside the airy free stall barn on hot summer days and graze at night.

All in all, it was a pleasurable inspection season for me.

Yes, there were a few serious non-compliances that certifiers will have to deal with and there would not be a need for inspectors if every producer followed the rules. Overall, the job of organic inspector is important and rewarding. I would recommend it to anyone with agriculture knowledge looking for seasonal work.

Dean Dickel was born and raised on an Iowa grain and livestock farm and been involved in agriculture ever since, including as an ag journalist, organic egg and crop producer, and independent inspector. Dean and his wife Mary Glindinning, also a journalist, reside in historic Mineral Point.

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Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards (OLPS) Rule: A Spirit of Continuous Improvement for Organic

By Kestrel Burcham, J.D. Policy is a long game, but this season organic advocates are celebrating progress via the publication of the final Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards (OLPS) Rule.

Finalized at the end of 2023, the rulemaking is the result of sevenplus years of work by the National Organic Program (NOP) – with many starts and stops along the way. The Cornucopia Institute and their partners have been deeply involved since the inception, arguing for stricter standards and enforcement in the name of organic integrity.

The organic community considers the OLPS final rule an “animal welfare update.” Ideally, OLPS will Organic Broadcaster | 42

rectify starkly different production practices and costs among producers and loss of consumer trust in the organic label.

At stake is nothing short of market failure. NOP acknowledged this fear, pointing to potential ramifications for the entire label: The defeat of this rule will signal dangerous stagnation in the organic livestock standards, making it difficult to ever get animal welfare updates again.

Of chief concern is the wide spectrum of animal welfare for avian livestock, not covered by other aspects of the current livestock standards. The existing regulations are too simple regarding outdoor access and other living standards for avian species, leading to a vastly inconsistent application and interpretation of livestock rules

by organic certifiers. For example, some accredited certifiers allowed the use of “porches” for laying hens; in these cases, small screened-in areas were considered to fulfill the outdoor access requirement. Other certifiers deemed this practice unacceptable. The result is unfair competition among producers.

These inconsistencies extend to other husbandry practices. Some producers raise well over 20,000 layers in one barn and offer them next to no space outdoors (and no way to access the outdoors).

In contrast, other brands work to ensure their birds utilize the outdoor areas fully and design living conditions that honor the natural behavior of their animals.

The Agricultural Marketing Service estimates that about 30% of

organic egg production currently comes from hens with access to outdoor areas that include soil or pasture, while approximately 70% of organic egg production only has access to the outdoors through enclosed porches or token strips access alongside massive barns (that are not large enough to contain all the birds in the house). This means the majority of organic eggs and poultry products currently come from animals that never set foot outside.

This reality belies shoppers’ perceptions of organic eggs, with most eaters believing that all organic livestock birds have “outdoor pastures and fresh air throughout the day.” They assume the organic eggs come from birds who are foraging and socializing outdoors. Those brands that do meet these consumer expectations of outdoor utilization compete directly against those that do not, creating an unfair market divide.

This consumer confusion and economic unfairness contributed to the decision to create separate living condition standards for avian and mammalian, to better address the needs of unique species.

OLPS aligns eater expectations with two major wins, making it illegal to designate porches as “outdoor space” and clarifying, what exactly, is considered outdoor space for poultry. It requires that 75 percent of outdoor space must be soil and must include vegetation to the degree possible. It stipulates specific

requirements for exit doors and limits on ammonia levels. And it sets avian stocking density requirements for indoor and outdoor space.

Both the new mammalian livestock and avian livestock sections also further emphasize the importance of “natural behaviors.” OLPS also adds new requirements and specificity to indoor and outdoor living conditions (emphasizing natural behavior and sufficient space), and preventative healthcare practices (noting that treatment must be administered to prevent animals from suffering, even if the treatment causes an animal to lose its organic status). Certain physical alterations, including de-beaking of poultry and tail docking of cattle, are outright prohibited. New sections in transport, handling, and even slaughter will improve organic livestock welfare for their entire lives and exceed the standards of other federal animal welfare regulations.

These updates are needed, and the organic community overwhelmingly showed its support. The USDA collected over 40,000 comments on the proposed rule and many sign-on letters. The Cornucopia Institute and animal welfare organizations such as the Animal Welfare Institute and ASPCA asserted that the new rule was necessary.

Not everyone was in favor. Some opposed it because it did not go far enough for animal welfare, or because it would be difficult for the industry to adapt to the

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Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards (OLPS) Rule

stricter requirements for outdoor access. Others challenged the rulemaking, saying that the USDA did not have the authority to make rules pertaining to animal welfare – one reason the Trump administration had withdrawn the previous attempt at updating organic livestock standards.

Even those celebrating the rule are keeping a close eye on what happens next. While some OLPS requirements will go into effect in one year (January 2024), OLPS extends the typical implementation rate for other provisions. Stipulations regarding outdoor spacing for layers, indoors and outdoors stocking requirements for broilers, soil and vegetation requirements, and exit areas for layers and broilers aren’t mandatory for five years (2029).

These implementation timeframes are a point of contention for many organic advocates. A handful of huge producers are holding the market hostage. A very short or immediate implementation period would most quickly and rightly resolve the widely divergent outdoor layer practices that currently exist among industrial giants and the rest of the organic layer operations in the marketplace. Implementing them sooner could also give chances for new organic producers to enter the market.

The fact remains that the majority of individual farms are already in compliance with OLPS. But a single industrial-scale farm, which is thousands of times larger than a single family-scale farm, has an outsized impact on the marketplace. A long implementation arrests free market competition in favor of industrialized practices.

USDA’s implementation timeframe favors these industrial operations, citing that up to 70% of poultry production will need to modify their facilities or exit the organic market. A fear of market disruption is trumping the urgent need for protecting organic integrity.

Many stakeholders were also disappointed that the stocking density and outdoor requirements for avian species did not go further, by requiring even more space per bird and assuring that they were always able to utilize an outdoor space.

Aviary housing was given the same indoor stocking density requirements as mobile housing, despite these housing types being vastly different. While chickens often benefit from having ample vertical space, it is industry practice to crowd more birds into the same building footprint. Chickens are social animals, but larger and larger flock sizes increase stressors decrease animal welfare and make it more difficult for individual animals to access exit doors. In contrast, mobile housing is premised on superior outdoor utilization, and flock sizes are inherently limited in practice because the housing must be physically moved to fresh ground as the birds pick an area clean.

Organic Broadcaster | 44

While not perfect, OLPS signals that the organic label is still dedicated to the spirit of “continuous improvement.” It promises significant improvement over the current status quo. Right now, the majority of organic poultry and egg production in the United States looks very much like conventional “cage free” and “free range” production — plagued with rampant crowding and lack of legitimate outdoor access. OLPS will also better align organic eggs and poultry with third party labels like American Humane Certified, Certified Humane, and Global Animal Partnership.

Industry heavyweights who dabble in organic — and even producers solely in the conventional marketplace — do not want this rulemaking to succeed. Any improvements in animal welfare regulations, especially those created and enforced at the federal level, challenge their bottom line by bringing unwanted attention to the true costs of industrial agriculture.

Consumers are becoming wise to the tactics of industrialized businesses. This influenced OLPS, with many public commenters noting they “lost trust when they became aware that the organic label has not necessarily meant animals are raised under the conditions they expected.”

Many eaters are willing to pay a premium for organic products, particularly for organic chicken, eggs, and meat. If OLPS can increase consumer trust in the organic label, it will safeguard the value of the label

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has always been getting their hands dirty caring for and nurturing crops that would end up on the dinner table.

Kestrel Burcham Kestrel lives in northwest Oregon, in the lush Willamette Valley. Kestrel has a background in Animal Science and English from the University of California, Davis. They have worked as an animal technician in both research and industry settings and have experience with different types of livestock.

Organic and environmentally conscious food production is part of their background, having grown up on familial farms and assisted in all aspects of farm management. Their favorite part of living with the land

Kestrel Burcham, JD is the policy director for The Cornucopia Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to uncovering the truth about organic food and advocating for an organic label everyone can trust.

Kestrel puts their background in animal science, organic agriculture, environmental law, and animal law to use in policy analysis and advocacy.

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