Farmer-Economist

Ecology is a big concern for us at Cedar Cove Farm. We see the need for soil improvement which will grow better/healthier grass, which will grow better/healthier chickens and cows and rabbits. We see the need for the trace minerals that almost every living thing lacks. So it is important to us to put back more into the soil than we take out. (This is a work in progress.) But, the other day, as I'm bringing home a load of hay, I was thinking of how expensive it will be to feed our small herd through the winter. (Which also made me think of soil improvement again. If we had good soil, I could try to stockpile cool season grasses and feed less hay.)

My thoughts turned to the economy of the farm. Mind you, I am a learning farmer. I didn't have the advantage of growing up on a farm, I learn as I go. Anyway, I was thinking of the tight spot we are in and how the farm, this time of year, produces nothing. We just maintain. The Voice of reason chimed in and let me know that this tight spot is my fault. I can learn from this though. It is my lack of forethought, which got me thinking about economist things.

Questions popped up in my mind: How can I leverage my time? (Time is money, you know.) How can I leverage my resources? How can I plan ahead a little better? It's funny how God times things. I was reading an article just before all of this by Alan Nation. In it he was talking about the notion of fulfilling the basic needs first, before going on to business growth. His article is in the context of grass fed beef, but I think it has applications in all of farming and, heck, family as well.

Before I can worry about growing our poultry business, we must get good at it. Not just good but exceptional. We need, as a family operation, to be able to produce exceptional eating birds consistently. They must be exceptional every time we eat one or a customer eats one. People will pay a low price for low quality, but they will not pay a high price for low quality.

So, how can I leverage my time? First, we have all the animals we want. Cows, chickens, rabbits and future vermacompost (worms). We don't want to add another job to our farm. We can add things that will compliment what we already do, but not "new" things. Second, we just need to get good at it. When we are good at it, word of mouth will do the rest.

So, on the economy of things, we need to focus on producing the best chicken and rabbits this little farm can produce. Doing these things well will pay the bills, when those are paid then we can grow. We need to focus on having "enough" and learn how to leverage it. Like I said, I'm a learning farmer.