As some of you who have been eating with us for a while might recall, Great Oak Farm started out not as a produce farm, but as a livestock farm with just about every kind of stock imaginable. We had a flock of 80 ewe sheep, about 1000 free range laying hens, hundreds of pasture raised broilers and heritage turkeys, a few heritage red wattle hogs, 50 hives of honeybees, some beef steers, and a couple of milk cows. We even managed our vegetable fields with draft horses.
However, as our family grew and kids came along, there was a lot less time to keep up on all the livestock chores (funny how that happens, isn't it?) So I made the decision to begin downsizing the livestock while increasing my focus on vegetable production, along with switching to tractor power in the fields. This got rid of twice-a-day every day (truly, EVERY SINGLE DAY, rain or shine, sick or well, -20 degrees outside, etc!) chores and allowed me to settle into a more realistic somewhat regular work day from 7-4 or so during the growing season with a day or or so off each week for much needed family time.
Well, earlier this week, that transition was completed - our faithful farm dog Buster helped me load up the last 3 ewes here on our farm. With no stock trailer to haul them in, I had to improvise (the variability inherent in farming has honed my improv-skills for sure!) so I used some handy lengths of rope to make harnesses with leashes, led them up a snow bank, and secured them into the back of the truck for their journey. Sending the last of the animals away is a bittersweet feeling, but a decision that is for the best. In addition to quality of life considerations, the growing concern for food safety on produce farms and the associated regulations make it more and more challenging to have farms that raise both fresh produce and livestock. There was a time not so long ago that it was hard to imagine a farm that DIDN'T need to have livestock, given the essential role they played in nutrient cycling, and the farm as a whole ecological organism. I can't help but wonder what the future of farming will look like in the next hundred years. In the mean time, I am so grateful for the livestock producers in this cooperative for supplying my family and so many more with meats raised the way I would raise them myself.
Livestock production can seem such a romantic pursuit from a distance, but once you have animals on your farm, they dictate many of the rhythms of your life. They are part of your family, and you a part of theirs, each playing a vital role in the well-being of the other. A give and take dance of life and death, played out before your very eyes each day. It is a big responsibility.
Once the ewes were loaded up, I headed down the road for the local NFO (National Farmer's Organization) sale barn about 10 miles away in Benoit to drop them off. It's a nondescript metal pole barn with a small office attached, set back off the road behind the Benoit Cheese House, another iconic local establishment in our area. If you aren't there on a day when animals are being dropped off, you'd think it was an abandoned shed left over from the agricultural heyday of long ago. But you'd be wrong. On days when animals are hauled down state to larger auctions (after milking chores are completed for the morning at about 11 am) diesel trucks pulling long stock trailers begin to arrive, cattle are unloaded, and worn wooden gates shuttle animals from pen to pen like clockwork.
Inside the tiny office, an assortment of old metal chairs lines the wall, hosting farmers who come for their weekly coffee and donut "social" when they drop off a cull cow or two, supplemental income to offset their meager milk checks. They catch up and talk politics, weather, cows, and generally commiserate about the daily grind that is dairy farming. Aside from the calendar on the wall, the place is timeless - it looks like the same wall hangings have been there since it was built, like something out of a 1960's National Geographic article. The language is usually as colorful as the regular cast of characters who show up with animals to sell. The man who runs the sale barn - Bill, a dairy farmer who lives just down the road - knows everyone by name and seems to enjoy talking to a fresh face when I show up. "The Organic guy" he calls me.
As I led the 3 ewes out of the back of the truck by their leashes, all of us had a few laughs, and he introduced me to a few regulars who were dropping off cattle. They looked genuinely surprised at how fat and healthy my animals were, and with eyebrows raised, they each made a point to drop a compliment. Bill warned them that I was an organic farmer, followed by "Well... sometimes we like to poke some fun at those Organic guys." But he turned to the other farmers and said, "But ya know, Chris here - he's all right. He's the kind of Organic guy ya can talk to, and he'll talk to you too. We're all farming, just doin' things different." I think he has a soft spot for me. I left them with a bag of carrot sticks I cut and peeled from the root cellar that morning before I pulled away to go with their donuts. We gotta look out for those old timers.
Unfortunately, whether they eat carrot sticks or stick to donuts, those old guys at the NFO barn might be a dying breed. Statistics from the USDA show that Wisconsin lost over 800 dairy farms last year alone, mostly small herds from family operations. But those same statistics also have a bright spot - the total number of farms actually ROSE by 100 from the previous year, even after subtracting the 800+ lost dairy farms. The primary reason they improved: an increase in small farms because of people like you supporting them directly through the CSA model!
Thanks to each of you making the decision to eat locally grown food, nearly 20 small farms and local businesses are alive and well here in our community. Aside from the regional economic benefits, eating locally grown foods cuts down on food miles dramatically. Other than our trips up the North Shore to Grand Marais (which is far away from everything!) each other location that our co-op delivers to is less than 100 miles from our aggregation building where we box everything up (and that's saying something given how spread out we are in this region of lakes and trees.) And that aggregation building is only about 15 miles from our farms where the food was grown. Compare that with the usual 1500 miles that grocery store food travels and we're taking a huge bite out of the emissions that go along with typical food transportation.
So whatever your reasons for supporting this Bayfield Foods CSA - to keep small family farms viable in our region, to cut down on food miles, to get access to food raised the way you would raise it yourself, or for a few laughs watching some lunatic take sheep for a drive down the road in the back of a pickup - we are truly honored to be your farmers!
On that note, TODAY Feb 28 happens to be National CSA Day, a day set aside to celebrate the change we can bring about in our communities through the CSA model of agriculture. Planning and preparation for our 2020-21 Summer and Winter CSA season is well under way, and if you haven't signed up for any boxes yet we'd love to have the opportunity to grow for you again this year. You can use this link to get directly to the website: https://www.bayfieldfoods.org/ Just click on the Member Login tab at the top right of the screen, and choose your own adventure in local, seasonal eating! The new Harvie system this winter proved to be a resounding success, and we've decided to stick with this platform. This will allow for you all to customize your meat and veggie boxes in the summer and winter of 2020-21 just like you did this winter - but with hopefully more options to choose from during the growing season.
And we've got a few different ways you can get even more for you order. Firstly, if you order any combination of weekly fruit, veggie, and meat boxes you will receive a $50 credit in your account to add extras and swap items with! If you order any combination of biweekly fruit, veggie, and meat boxes, you'll receive a $25 credit. Credits will be applied at the end of May before the first delivery in June.
Secondly, as a grassroots system of local food production and distribution, word of mouth is the SINGLE most important way to let other people know about the benefits of getting a CSA box. This new Harvie system has a Refer a Friend credit built right into your member profile. Once you are logged in, you'll see a Refer a Friend tab at the top of the screen - click that and help spread the word! You can share links on social media, or send emails to people who you think might be interested. Both you and the referred member will receive a $25 credit once they place an order! And there's no limit to the number of members you can refer.
One final logistical note - if you have any boxes left over from winter deliveries, please make an effort to return them when you pick up your boxes next week. Being able to reuse boxes really helps keep our packaging as sustainable as it can be. Also, keep an eye out in your inboxes for our end-of-season surveys, which we'll send out in a few weeks. Let us know how we're doing!
Think spring, everyone. Here's to a bountiful growing season ahead!
Yours in community,
Chris Duke
Farmer, Great Oak Farm
CSA Manager, Bayfield Foods
