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In this episode, we chat with Emma Jagoz, Founder of Moon Valley Farm CSA, and learn how she started her CSA in her neighbor's backyards and grew to their own 25 acre plot. After the pandemic struck, she shifted the CSA from catering to high end restaurants and chefs to feeding consumers with their extended season of growing.

Meaghan Malinowski:

Welcome to the Farm Credit AgVocates podcast. I'm your host, Meaghan Malinowski, Content and Digital Marketing Strategists at Horizon Farm Credit. Today’s guest t is part of the 36% of women producers in the U S and has an amazing story to share around her CSA, Moon Valley Farm in Woodsboro, Maryland. When the pandemic hit Emma and her team at Moon Valley had to pivot away from high end restaurant sales and extend their growing season by seven whole weeks to make sure that they could adequately feed their customers and communities. So without further ado, let's jump right into my interview with Emma Jagoz at Moon Valley Farm.

So we'll go ahead and get started. Thank you so much for joining me today. Emma, I'm glad to have you on here.

Emma Jagoz:

Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

Meaghan Malinowski:

 I want to kind of jump right in and introduce you to our listeners because you guys have had a really busy year, and I'm really interested to hear how you got started with Moon Valley Farm and how you decided to start a CSA? Because it's a very interesting and unique business model.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED WITH MOON VALLEY FARM AND HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO START A CSA?

Emma Jagoz:

It is. So this is my ninth season of running a CSA farm. But I had heard about a CSA program for my sister and I fell in love with it from the start. I really strongly believe that communities are strengthened by access to healthy and nutrient dense food. And that's so many communities are lacking access to this processed and prepackage fast foods have become the core diets for many people.

So I believe that re-centering our diets around whole foods grown locally and organically communities will be able to take back power and control in our lives. And I just really wanted to be a part of that work, the reclamation of health and power by helping people lead healthier lives.

So I started growing food when I was pregnant with my first born. I read somewhere that if you ate arugula while pregnant, your baby could get a stronger brain development. There’s other foods too. But  I latched on to that and I started growing a lot of arugula out in my apartment balcony, so that I could have a smart baby, and it was just one of those random things that I latched on to. And, and then I started an in-ground garden the next season and wanted to raise my kids, myself and also start a business, doing something I believed in.

Meaghan Malinowski:

How cool, that's amazing. I'm adding that a regular thing to my back pocket for trivia night for whenever we can go back to that. That's so awesome.

So when I first started at Horizon I started as an intern and one of my first tasks was to do research on different topics in Ag and write blog posts and articles and stuff for like our SEO. Community supported Ag was one of the topics that that I read about and I don't come from an Ag background. So I have been really excited to talk to you about the community aspect of a CSA and kind of where that comes from.

WHAT DOES THE COMMUNITY AT MOON VALLEY FARM LOOK LIKE AND HOW DO YOU HOW DO YOU USE THAT NETWORK TO HELP YOU RUN THE FARM AND CONTRIBUTE TO THAT BIGGER PICTURE?

Emma Jagoz:

Well, to be honest, this has looked different each season of the farm. When I first started, I was the sole farmer and I was also raising my two children who were under age two at the time. So the community aspect then, looked like friends and neighbors, volunteering to watch my children for a while or pull weeds or help me harvest because they could see that I had my hands full. And throughout the next several years, I leveraged networks that I had to and created new networks to access more land by bartering with my community to grow on their land. So the community engagement then was very central to the farm. But I think the, the main question is how most of my CSA members involved with the farm are? And most of the CSA members receive a weekly box of veggies and their primary engagement with the farm, our on-farm events that we offer several times a year, we'll offer a potluck just so that people can come to the farm and meet the farmers and share some of the delicious dishes they make.

And we also offer workshops than events like cooking classes and plant sales and on farm festivals in the falls. So all of those are canceled this year. This year we have increased our focus on our online community which is something that we've always actually been cultivating. We have a weekly e-newsletter for our members where we share on farm happenings, as well as what our harvest or that week recipe ideas storage tips, preservation tips. And we also have a really active, closed Facebook group for our CSA members in which all of us share recipes, kitchen hacks, and meal prep tips. Sometimes it's just takes a picture of what's in your share and say, wait, what is this again? And how should I cook it or help my dish turned out weird? How can you help me? So we offer things like that as well. And, and that's, that's been a big part of the community year.

Meaghan Malinowski:

I imagine that's probably something that really kind of grows legs of its own more or less. And everybody kind of gets engaged and I love joining groups like that because it's so nice to see, you know, what other people are working on and get advice.  I think for food, it's, it's really at the center of a lot of our, you know, more personal interactions with people and the events that we go to, like you said, it's, it's really food makes an event really a production, you know? So I think it's really cool to, to hear how your community has kind of grown over time and how that shifted. And I'm sure, you know, with the pandemic taking things online, it's probably nice to have that already kind of set up.

WOULD YOU SAY PEOPLE ARE MORE ENGAGED NOW THAN THEY WERE BEFORE DURING THE PANDEMIC?

Emma Jagoz:

Yes, absolutely. With the online community, yes. And then I, I get messages from those who prefer in person and events and they are active online as well, but they do miss it, but yes, a lot, a lot of people are focusing more on cooking. We also started a Facebook closed group for a garden club. We've always sold seedlings each season. And we actually did contactless home delivery for our plant sale this year instead of offering an on-farm event. And so a lot of people got access to our seedlings and they've been sharing progress photos of their gardens and disease and pest issues sometimes with their plans or just they're proud harvests. And so that's been a really fun new group that we started this year. And the engagement is great in that one as well.

Meaghan Malinowski:

Awesome. I love hearing that. I, I really got into gardening during the pandemic and I went and bought all of my seedlings. I've actually got two watermelon plants out front that have really taken over our driveway. And at one point probably about a month ago, we had about 18 watermelons just sitting. And it's funny because we, you know, we just bought our house a year ago, but with working all the time and living near the beach, you know, we're always doing something or going somewhere, but we have been so blessed to have been able to meet our neighbors and make friends around our watermelons. We have people that stop by and they're like, wow, they look great. Like you better be careful people are going to run off with them. And it's like, well, it's fine. At this point, we have so many, you might as well, but that's really cool to have that connection with people and be able to have them kind of journey through that together through your CSA. So that's awesome.

And I want to go back to what you were saying about bartering and expanding the CSA, because I think that seems to be a really unique solution to like the biggest challenge of starting your first generation and, and having the space to do that.

WHAT DOES [BARTERING FOR LAND] LOOK LIKE IF YOU'RE WILLING TO SHARE US YOUR TRADE SECRETS AND STUFF?

Emma Jagoz:

Yeah. I a hundred percent. So I started off farming, my parent's backyard. They had about half an acre of cultivatable land. And I realized that when I started with a 12 person CSA, based on that half acre of land, that I wanted more space to grow a greater diversity of crops, especially some of those bigger crops. Like you mentioned, watermelons that take up just a lot of space, but also sweet potatoes and potatoes and winter squashes. So I looked at my next door neighbor and I asked her if it would be okay if I farm her yard. I noticed she didn't use it very much and just pay the service to mow it. And I thought, well, it might be a little cheaper for her if I farmed it and I would be great for me. And she said, Oh, nobody's ever asked me that before, let me think about it. And then she thought about it and said, yes. And at that same time, actually another neighbor on the street saw what I was doing and had chatted with me about it and said, Hey, you know what, I've got a brother-in-law who's about 20 minutes away. And he had some land would you be interested in using that? And this man was a quadriplegic, and so he had to pay somebody to mow and maintain his property. So he was very motivated to get somebody to do it and was happy to barter for a CSA share. So we started off with those three and actually the neighbor next door saw what I was doing on the, on the first two pieces of property. And they said, oh, would you want to do it that on my yard too, I've got about an acre back here you could farm. And they were delighted to get a CSA share and to mow less. And so I ended up farming six different properties, spanning 15 acres of certified organic vegetables at the end of 2019. And that's the same time that we took the plunge and purchased property. So I was finding that I absolutely loved everything about the generosity of the landowners that allowed us to use their property, but I had to make long-term investments for the farm, like greenhouses and high tunnels and some other infrastructure like permanent walk-in coolers in order to do the right thing for my business. So we ended up purchasing land, but for eight years we bartered for the use of land in order to gain experience and be able to take the time to invest in equipment and really find a community of eaters who are willing to support us in the meantime. So it was a lot lower risk when we purchased land. Cause we already had a lot of things in motion.

Meaghan Malinowski:

SO YOU WENT FROM A 12 PERSON CSA ON A HALF-ACRE TO HOW MANY ACRES DO YOU GUYS HAVE NOW? ARE YOU IN ONE LOCATION NOW?

Emma Jagoz:

Yes, we are just newly in one location this year. The farm is 25 acres and we're growing for over 500 members CSA.

Meaghan Malinowski:

Wow. Oh my gosh. That is amazing. So you guys you guys are busy normally, but then this year. I'd also like to mention, this is a very good example of how, if you don't ask the answer's always no. So I love that you approached people in a different way of, of trying to get around to it. You know, it was beneficial for them, but also gave you the space that you needed to grow. And I think people are probably more open to it than we think initially. Because you know, you probably are like, oh gosh, like nobody's going to want me to like grow things on their land. And it's a lot of this and that it's I love hearing that people were so open to it.

Emma Jagoz:

Yes. People ended up being really proud of the tomatoes they had in their backyard. Right. They didn't have to do much for it. And they could show their friends, their big tomato patch or their herb garden.

Meaghan Malinowski:

That is so cool. I love that. Well, let's flash forward then now that we're, you know, we're at the 25 acre property, I wanted to see if you would walk us through kind of what happened when COVID struck, you know, we had the stay at home orders and everything kind of shifted to everybody being at home and not really traveling and doing that thing.

And what did [COVID changes] look like for you guys?

Emma Jagoz:

Well, we have been selling 51 weeks out of the year for the past five years. Our CSA program goes from May to the end of December which is a 33 week span. But the rest of the weeks were made up with restaurant sales in the winter time. So we do restaurant sales year round, but they're the only sales outlet from January through April. So when COVID struck in March we had a lot of product in storage and in our greenhouses for the restaurants and we had some folks on staff to help with that including a delivery driver. And when we got the news that COVID was here and we had the stay at home order, I decided to offer our CSA program seven weeks early. So we had product, we felt like the best way to utilize it under the circumstances was to offer home delivery shares to our CSA members.

We, we saw that people were scared that grocery stores were overburdened, shelves were empty. We knew that many were unable to risk leaving their homes. If they were at higher risk or, you know, some people were, a lot of people were unwilling to and really wanted to help slow the spread. So we launched our program seven weeks early and the response was overwhelming and we ended up deciding to double our CSA membership from last season to this one. So last season we ended with a 250 member CSA. So this season we really embraced home delivery because of COVID. We still utilize our pickup locations, which are primarily at Mom's Organic Market location throughout Maryland and also some small businesses. So we continued offering pickup at those starting in May when our regular season started, but we actually still sell to restaurants and we're selling to makers and restaurants the whole time, but demand changed significantly from how we anticipated it. And the CSA program has been more popular.

Meaghan Malinowski:

I'm sure your customers were very relieved probably to see that you guys were, were able to do that because it was, I mean, it was definitely a little bit scary for a little while trying to navigate it. And I mean, I can't imagine, you know, having children and having to think about that aspect too and thinking, you know, how am I going to feed my family? And that's, I think it's awesome that you guys really approached it from a, you know, how can we, how can we alleviate some of that stress for our customers and work through that together. So I think that's pretty awesome. I think that part of that anxiety is coming from not knowing, cause we've seen so many supply chain disruptions in this time and a lot of people don't really understand how each piece affects the rest of the puzzle. If it's not, you know, in the right spot, then everything kind of has to shift a little bit pivoting a little bit away from what the fundamentals were I guess that shifted.

HOW'S THE PANDEMIC AND EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED, MAYBE WITH THIS THE SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTION, HOW HAS THAT CHANGED THE WAY YOU VIEW YOUR CSA AND WHAT YOUR PURPOSE IS AS A FARMER?

Emma Jagoz:

Honestly, it hasn't really, we have been community supported from the beginning and we've always highly valued growing for our neighbors and our friends and what we call our “farmaly.” We have always found great purpose and inspiration and that growing for people who value nutrient and seasonal vegetables, I think that a lot of new faces decided to try out our CSA program and other CSA programs throughout the whole country. And I think it's, it has strengthened the idea that local is more reliable and can be better.  It’s strengthened our sense of purpose for sure as well, but I think it's really strengthened other people's value of CSA programs.

Meaghan Malinowski:

Yeah, absolutely. And maybe willing to try something a little bit new and outside of the box. I had an inkling that that was going to be your answer. You guys are very, I mean, if you go on your website or your Facebook page, you guys are very purpose driven and have a very, very clear mission of what it is that you're trying to do. And I think for some of the producers that maybe don't have direct access to their customers I think pivoting may have been a little bit more difficult just because the experience is probably not really there or it's so new, it's, it's definitely kind of a scary thing. I think you're absolutely right. I think it's very reassuring to know that your purpose is really where you guys are coming from and what your, what your strength is.

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU THINK WE'LL STICK AROUND AFTER COVID LIKE PERHAPS THE HOME DELIVERY THING OR MAYBE EXPANDING THE CSA? TIME-WISE LIKE, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?

Emma Jagoz:

For us personally, we are having our longest CSA season to date. Like I said, we're, we're growing for that 33 weeks you in close the seven earlier. So this year we'll have a 40 week long CSA program. And actually to be honest, this was in our plans before COVID, but we are going year round with our CSA starting 2021. So we were going from the 40 weeks CSA in 2020, and we're starting off the first week of January with a new CSA program. And this is because we've had the experience of offering year round vegetables for our chefs for the past five years. And this year we're able to make those investments that I referred to in our high tunnels to expand our winter production ability and the diversity that we can offer in the winter months. So we feel confident that we'll have great CSA boxes for our members.

Like I said, that's kind of that, that was our plans anyway, but a longer CSA program is definitely I'm going to stick around for us. And we are planning to stick with home delivery as well. I think to some degree it was of the times and people are really used to having Amazon boxes dropped at their door and frankly people's lives are just so busy that they, they need convenience. So and then in the climate with COVID, a lot of people just, you know, are avoiding stores rightfully so and want to trust that the people that they do come in contact with are being safe with COVID. So actually one other thing is that COVID force us to rethink our packaging. We changed from using a waxed box for a CSA so that we could reuse it to a recyclable cardboard box because we weren't sure if, especially in the beginning of COVID if COVID stayed on materials. And so we didn't want to recollect the boxes from our members and we wanted something that they would be able to recycle or reuse. So we switched to our cardboard box and we're going to, we're going to keep those as well after COVID.

Meaghan Malinowski:

That's awesome. Yeah. Cause I happened to collect those back again in the sanitizing and all of that stuff. I was probably a, a good move for the efficiency of that kind of process.

Emma Jagoz

Yes.

Meaghan Malinowski:

So you answered quite a few of my questions now. I'm like, okay, what else do I want to know? It seems like, I think it's pretty lucky that you guys, you know, already kind of had those growth plans in place, and we're already thinking about what expansion was going to look like.

IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU EVALUATE EACH YEAR OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU KIND OF PLANNED FOR WHEN YOU STARTED THE COMPANY OR, YOU KNOW, WHAT DID THAT LOOK LIKE? THAT PLANNING PROCESS?

Emma Jagoz:

I would say that it's grown organically if you will. As, as I got to know my customers and what they wanted, and I got to know the land better, I realized that year round growing is possible here. So I strongly believe that habit is a big part of changing the way that you eat. And I think that if we want to change toward a more local diet, which will help curb carbon emissions and can ultimately help improve the health of the Bay, if the local land is managed organically.  I think that we need to help create good habits that can stick for our customers. And I want to not disrupt the way that my customers are eating and cooking by having it be seasonal and ended up costing me a lot of time and money to tell CSA members when the signup again, and sort of get them back in the habit of buying. And I saw that with chefs when we went away for a few months in the winter, it was hard to get them back in the habit of buying. I saw that also with my staff. I didn't want to end up laying them off seasonally and then training a whole new staff the next season. So I want my whole community from everyone, from the eaters to the people that work on the farm to be in the habit of growing and eating locally. When I realized that that would help with customer retention and that would help with customer happiness and their success with their CSA boxes, if they just stayed in the habit of eating locally. And if my, my employees stayed in the habit of growing food and working on the farm, they stay strong and they would be able to help me in the off season with all sorts of different infrastructure projects.

Meaghan Malinowski:

SO YOU REALLY JUST HAD TO GROW INTO IT?

Emma Jagoz:

Yeah. Yeah. We, we just sort of, I just kind of had a revelation throughout time that, you know, Hey, what's frustrating me is like customer retention is like, I have all the customers. And then at the end of the season, I tell them we don't have anything else for you see you next year. And I decided, well, that's actually my problem. And I can change that. I didn't say, you know, I can grow some, you know, some more cabbage, some more winter squash and you know, some winter hardy greens, especially utilizing high tunnels and all sorts of different techniques to really expand on that. So that's been a main thing and for me in the beginning, and, and always, I've just loved growing for CSA and for chefs. I just realized that if I could expand on the number of weeks I sell to those people, I don't really have to find new people. I just have to grow more for the people I already have.

Meaghan Malinowski:

And you now have a whole year's worth of things to be marketing to them.

 HOW DO YOU GUYS MARKET YOUR SHARES WHEN YOU ARE LIKE ACCEPTING NEW CUSTOMERS OR IS IT MOSTLY JUST PEOPLE THAT SIGN UP PRETTY MUCH FROM YEAR TO YEAR?

Emma Jagoz:

We have expanded our CSA program every year. So we, we do end up marketing. I realized after the first couple of years that, I didn't, I was too busy and didn't take any photos. And, but when I tried to market in the winter time, when I finally had time to sit at the computer, that I didn't have any proof that I farmed that year. And I didn't have of photograph of what I was trying to sell. And so that really stuck with me and I, and I committed to documenting the process. And I think that our customers really want that ability to see what's going on in the farm, even if they have busy lives and full work schedules and childcare schedules and things like that. So I wanted to be able to show my customers what we're doing to be transparent and to be educational and help them see what we do in order, like what goes into their food.

So I started using anything free that I could find to help promote throughout the year. And I realized that, you know, if I started taking pictures in the winter when we only had kale and spinach people weren't as excited about that. So I started taking the approach that if I do a little bit of kind of marketing all the time that it would just, it would help. So we committed to posting on Instagram and Facebook regularly, and we send out a regular newsletter to a list of folks who are interested in local and seasonal eating in which we share tips, then preservation ideas, and like hey everyone, time to make tomato sauce and like a little heads up and things like that and how to grow food. And so we kind of do it regularly, but I've, I've utilized all sorts of different things. I like to give out stickers that people remember us and I handwrite postcards and things like that.

Meaghan Malinowski:

There's nothing better than receiving a handwritten note.

Emma Jagoz:

I think it's meaningful.

Meaghan Malinowski:

It really is. It means, you know, when I get them, it's one thing to get, like the little note that like comes with it or whatever it is, like something typed up, but when somebody writes it out, there's just something about it. I keep most of them, I have drawer full of them. Yeah, it's, I think taking that extra step people really appreciate it. And it sounds like a lot of what you're doing to market the farm is really providing value and that's what people are looking for. So I think that's amazing. Yeah. And you know, the growth that you guys have experienced is I think it's nothing short of amazing. I love I love hearing that you guys really just took it year after year, pushing those boundaries.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE TO ANOTHER FIRST-GENERATION FARMER?

Emma Jagoz:

Get a mentor and, and then get another mentor. I think that you need to be bold about asking questions. I took several bold steps and asking people if I could farm their yard out of the blue. And I have asked people that I thought were kind of out of my league if they would be my mentor. And they've pretty much all always said yes. And if they said, no, it's fine. You know, just ask somebody else. But farmers are extremely generous with their knowledge, and it's really wise to take them up on the opportunity to, to learn from them. Most farmers I know are extremely humble and are also willing to share the knowledge they do have, and not only getting a mentor for farming, but also getting mentors in other things. I have a business mentor. For example, I have a mechanical mentor as well because I realized that farming is running a business and wait, do I know how to do that as well? Like I learned how to grow tomatoes, but do I know how to grow a business? So I asked somebody who's not at all related to agriculture and his background to help mentor me on the business side of things. And I asked somebody who also knows nothing about agriculture to help me learn how to fix my equipment. And those connections have been really invaluable to me. I think you can absolutely be a self-taught farmer. I am a self-taught farmer. I did a ton of reading by some of these folks that I thought were farming, how I wanted to, and I took classes that I could find and that worked for my schedule. And I did a lot of learning on the internet, but there's, there's, there's nothing that compares to being able to call somebody up on the phone and ask them a question.

Meaghan Malinowski:

One of the things that we talk about quite a bit is that we want to surround ourselves with people that that we want to be like, or I may not be very good at one thing, but if I can surround myself with somebody or a group of people that is much better at it than I, than I am always learning and always growing. And I think that approach is so sustainable because you're, you're curious and you're just committing to continuing to learn and building those relationships. And that's, that's super important if we want to keep growing our, you know, our farms, our selves.

Emma Jagoz:

Yeah. And I mean, you mentioned that being a first generation farmer, I think in addition to access to education, two of the other biggest challenges for me were access to funds and access to land. And we had talked a little bit about how I access to land until I could save enough to purchase land on my own, but access to funds was a huge thing. I really started a farm with just a couple of hundred dollars, which is way less than what I would recommend starting a farm with.

Meaghan Malinowski:

If you have the option.

Emma Jagoz:

Right, but you know, bootstrapping is totally something that works again, especially if you do have access to people who know how to fix things, or if you're handy, you know, that kind of thing. And I know that a lot of farmers are debt averse. I definitely started off debt averse as well. In part, because I wasn't really confident about my marketing and my cash flow, but when I did decide to get my first business loan to purchase a tractor and a high tunnel, I was just truly stunned at how those purchases were able to increase my ability to farm efficiently and how big of an ROI they had. So I would not necessarily recommend getting into debt right away, but, to really consider the value that some of those pieces of equipment or infrastructure pieces could add to your operation.

Meaghan Malinowski:

And I think he took a really creative approach to it, too. It's you have to grow sustainably and kind of buildup that capability, or the it's difficult to visualize doing that when you're just starting off, you're in a couple backyards, you know, doing something, but it's super small scale. It's like, well, what do I need to, what do I need to do that for? But as you start to expand that and grow into it I think it becomes a little bit easier to, to visualize that, but like you said, surrounding yourself with people that that might be a little bit better at something than you to also kind of gives you, gives you that scope and helps you see the bigger picture. Thank you so much for joining us. This has been extraordinarily eye-opening, and we do have one sign off question that we like to ask everyone.

WHAT DO YOU ADVOCATE FOR IN AGRICULTURE?

Emma Jagoz:

This question brings me back to my experiences, starting out as a farmer and the barriers I faced, which were access to land, resources and education. I advocate for more resources on these topics to not only more young and female farmers like myself, but especially for BIPOC farmers as well, and all experience levels in our region. I think that I advocate for more loan and grant opportunities. More land management opportunities for BIPOC folks and agriculture. I would challenge banks to give out loans to farmers and to examine who is and who isn't receiving them already and, and their loan history, and to make movements towards challenging systemic racism so that BIPOC farmers can have more, better and more affordable access to resources, land, and equipment. And I advocate for challenging those organizations who offer grants to be sure that BIPOC folks have access to those opportunities as well.

I advocate for more and more land to be managed organically and responsibly. I fully believe that if we use more cover cropping and regenerative ag around the Chesapeake Bay, that we will be able to curb a lot of the issues that are happening with our Bay right now. And that as stewards of the land surrounding the largest estuary in North America, we have a responsibility to do so. I think we have to all be open-minded to change our farming practices quickly, as we discover new ways of protecting our soil health and our waterways. And I truly believe that if we focus on giving more BIPOC folks more resources and access to land it will get us to a healthier Bay and region faster than if the status quo remains in place. And really in summary, I would like to say that I advocate for LOVE, which stands for local organic veggies for everyone.

Meaghan Malinowski:

I love that. That’s a great summary.

Emma Jagoz:

Thank you.

Meaghan Malinowski:

Well, thank you so much for sharing that with us. I think what you guys are doing at Moon Valley Farm definitely acknowledges so many of those issues and so many of those things, and I think even better, it encourages us to work together to find solutions. So I appreciate your insight. And that is a great way of looking at it.  So one last thing I wanted to give you an opportunity to share with our audience where they can find you if they wanted to sign up for a CSA share.

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE OR IN PERSON, ALL OF THAT GOOD STUFF?

Emma Jagoz:

Well, we are located in Frederick County in Woodsboro Maryland, and you can find us online on Instagram @MoonValleyFarm. We have a website at www.moonvalleyfarm.net. And you can find us on Facebook as well @MoonValleyFarm. And that Facebook group that we're talking about is the group's backslash Moon Valley Farm.

Meaghan Malinowski:

You will definitely find those and put them in our show notes. Thank you all for tuning in today. And please remember to rate, review and subscribe. Don't forget to share with a friend. You can get all of these podcasts notes and subscribe to email alerts at mafc.com/podcast. And if you have any suggestions for topics or guest suggestions for the future, please feel free to email us at podcast@MAFC.com.

So thanks again, Emma, for joining us, we appreciate your time and look forward to seeing how you guys grow in the future.

The process of applying for a grant can seem overwhelming. You likely have many questions you need answers to before beginning the application process. This article provides an overview of what a grant is, how to find grants for farming, the entire grant application process, and how to complete it successfully.

What is a Grant?

A grant is a financial award given by an institution, or grantor, to an individual or company to complete a shared goal. It is a plan, not an idea. A grant is a conveyance of funds with strings attached from the funding source. The grantor has a specific problem they are looking to solve with the help of funding. To be awarded the grant, your application should satisfy the grantor’s problem.  

How to Search for Grants  

You can find grants for agriculture in many different places; you just have to be willing to put in the legwork to search for them. A few viable ways to find grants for your farm business are to stay informed with your state Department of Agriculture, maintain a connection with local industry organizations, sign-up for industry stakeholders’ e-newsletters, and follow their social media accounts. You can also look on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website (Grants and Loans | USDA) or research state and county economic development websites for other local grant opportunities.

Where to Find Grants

Here is a list of websites you can use to find grants for agriculture in the Mid-Atlantic:

• Delaware Department of Agriculture
  • Grants & Loans - Delaware Department of Agriculture - State of Delaware
• MARBICO
  • MARBIDCO | Maryland Agricultural & Resource Based-Industry Development Corporation
• Value-added Producer Grant Program
  • Grant Awards | Rural Development (usda.gov)      
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How to Find the Right Grant and Determine Eligibility

When you first find a grant to apply for, check to see if you are eligible. You need to identify if your goals match the institution’s goals. There are two different types of grants that you can apply for: a federal grant or a private grant.

• A federal grant will typically have a larger amount of funds available and will cover a larger geographical area. Questions to ask before applying for a federal grant include can you meet the match, how many applications will be funded, how much money is being offered, and do you need to change to meet the guidelines.
• A private grant is from a specific institution and has different rules to be answered before you start an application. Some questions to ask before starting an application with a private grant include identifying the geographic region, the range of grants, and the type of project needed.

More questions to ask, regardless of the type of grant, include does the funding agency share your goals, are you interested in the same populations, has the agency funded similar projects to yours, and when will the award be made.

FOLLOW THE GRANT GUIDELINES

The most crucial part of applying for a grant is to make sure you follow the grantor’s rules. If you not, your application might not even get reviewed.

• The first step is get the full scope of the grant’s guidelines.
• The second step is to read the guidelines thoroughly, multiple times.
• The final step is to follow all of the guidelines.

When following the guidelines, make sure to respond to all of the sections and cover each topic in the order they are presented. The format should also match the application with corresponding headlines. It is crucial to your success that you re-read the guidelines while you are completing the application.

POSSIBLE TECHNICAL ISSUES

Before starting the application, take note of possible issues that could arise with submitting the application. For example, if there is a conflict of interest between your business and the institution the grant is coming from, this could potentially be an eligibility issue. If there are conflicts of interest, contact someone from the institution to determine if it would make you ineligible for the grant. Other possible problems could include the due date, page limit, margin requirement, spacing and numbering, type requirement, and letters of commitment. If these issues occur with your application, it may not get reviewed.

SAM AND DUNS NUMBERS

• A System for Awards Management (SAM) number is used when purchasing or selling with a federal organization. It is a unique identifying number that is specific to your organization and registered with the government.
• A Duns number (from Dun & Bradstreet) is a credit profile for your business. It is needed to show your business’s credit history and to evaluate your company.

These numbers will be required for a federal grant and may be needed for a private grant. You may need a printed copy of these numbers to prove you are in good standing. Make sure you establish what you need so you have enough time to gather the correct information - registering to receive these numbers can take three to 14 business days. Here is a link to a tutorial on How to Get a DUNS Number and Register with SAM | NRCS (usda.gov)

Qualities of Effective Grant Writing

To be an effective grant writer, you need to tell your story. Be concise and detail-orientated so it is clear to the grantor why you need their funds. Your writing needs to be creative, organized and engaging to appeal to the funding source. The review committee will look at numerous applications. Keeping things clear and articulating a well-thought-out plan will help to build confidence with the selection committee. To prepare for the application, create an outline for your plan. It will include one or two goals with several objectives relating to those goals. Be realistic about how many goals can be achieved with the amount of money you could be awarded. Each objective should include the steps of how you will achieve and measure the success of the goal.

WRITING STYLE

When writing a grant, your language and style of writing should always be professional and specific. When starting the application, write directly to the funding source, but never in first person. Also, avoid acronyms, jargon and language that is biased. Be clear, persuasive and use current, established data from a reputable source to boost credibility. You are writing on behalf of your business, not yourself.  For example, make sure to avoid using “I” when writing because the application is being written from your company, not yourself. Instead of saying, “I will use these funds to increase sustainable practices” you would say, “These funds will increase the use of sustainable practices.”

PARTS OF A GRANT

The Title

The title is a very important part of the grant. It should convey what the project is about in a clear and concise way, but still be engaging. The title should also use language that can be understood by people who may not be in your specific industry.

The Abstract

This is similar to an executive summary in a business plan. This should be of the highest quality and be able to stand alone without the rest of the application and still be understood by the reader. It will explain the solution to the problem you are facing, without referring to the proposal. It should be clearly written, one page, and single spaced, unless otherwise indicated. All of the key elements should be covered in the same order as the application. The abstract is very important to the overall application because it is the first source of information regarding your proposal.

The Problem Statement

The problem statement will answer the question or problem the grantor has proposed. This part of the application establishes the framework for the project’s goals, objectives, methods, and evaluation. Provide a thorough explanation of your need for funding and answer anticipated questions the reader may have. It is also important to incorporate proposal guidelines into your statement. Data can also be used to add credibility to your solution. Make sure the data is the most up to date and relevant to your topic.

Objectives

The objectives are a crucial part of the application. They are going to establish how you will achieve your goals with the funds that the grantor may award you. Objectives should include who is going to do what, when they will do it, and how it will be measured. They will also discuss your desired results of the project. These objectives should be action oriented and will typically begin with a verb. They need to be arranged in order of priority.

Developing Your Budget

There are two portions of every budget: the numeric part and the narrative. The numeric aspect of the budget is broken down into specific categories that establish your expenses and what supports them. The narrative portion reports on the numeric portion and details the costs of the expense and why you are requesting the funds. It should establish the benefits you would get from receiving the grant. Be realistic on your numbers - do not inflate numbers to try to impress the grantor. In this portion, ensure that the math is correct and the numbers you have submitted make sense with your business.

Cost Share or Match

Each grant will be either a match grant or a cost share grant, or a combination of the two.

• A match grant is raising a certain amount of funds and the grant will be a percentage of that. An example of this is $100,000 raised and a 50% match would be $50,000 given.

• A cost share grant is where you already have the budget funds, but the grantor covers the rest. An example of this is a 50% cost share of the total project cost where the funder puts up $100,000 which is half of the total $200,000 cost of the project.

Letters

There are two types of letters that could be needed in your grant application: a letter of support or a letter of commitment. Both should be submitted on official letterhead.

• A letter of support comes from someone who supports your idea and your ability to complete it. This shows the grantor that other people also believe in your proposal and that you have done research on it with other people.
• A letter of commitment will come from someone that is willing and committed to working on the project with you. This letter will detail what they will contribute and if the project receives funding, when they will contribute.

EDITING YOUR GRANT

Once you have completed your first draft, set it aside for a day to give yourself time to recuperate. Then, comeback and read through it again to revise it. If possible, have someone else review it and take notes on where you could improve. When editing, make sure you have not written in first person or used jargon.

What to Do Before Submitting a Grant Proposal

To make sure your application is submitted successfully, it is important to know where it needs to be sent and the due date. Make sure you know if it needs to be postmarked or received by the due date provided. It is also important to have the make sure you have the correct address for mailing. Some institutions will not accept an application that is late or addressed incorrectly.

GRANT PROPOSAL REVIEW

Evaluation criteria will measure:

• Overall application
• Project purpose
• Potential impact and industry support
• Expected measurable outcomes
• Work plan
• Budget and narrative
• Funding priority

When completing your application, think like a reviewer. Focus on making sure that your proposal matches what the grantor is looking for.

Reasons Why Grant Proposals Fail

There are many reasons proposals may not be accepted. If they are not submitted on time, if the guidelines are not followed, if they do not meet priorities, or if the application is not complete, the proposal will most likely be denied. To avoid this, make sure you follow the guidelines, deadlines and formatting exactly as the grantor lists them.

Applying for a grant can seem like a daunting task, but with careful preparation and attention to detail, you can be sure that you put your best foot forward. You can also register to receive our webinar replay to learn more tips for successful grant writing presented by Ginger Myers, Former Director of the Maryland Rural Enterprise Development Center and the Extension Marketing Specialist of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland Extension and Keith Wills, the Learning Solution Specialist at Horizon Farm Credit.

The Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement has announced the sixteen recipients of their 2021 scholarship program. Ten thousand dollars will be awarded to each of the students for a total of $160,000 to pursue their careers in the agriculture industry. The recipients are are:

• Zachary Baker from Adamstown, Maryland
• Brandon Bixler from East Earl, Pennsylvania
• McKenna Breeding from Felton, Delaware
• Cahlen Cheatham from Myersville, Maryland
• Colton DeValle from Damascus, Maryland
• Taylor Halbleib from Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
• Maddie Musser from Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
• Arilyn Oatman from Holtwood, Pennsylvania
• Paige Peiffer from Lebanon, Pennsylvania
• Sarah Scott from Bird-In-Hand, Pennsylvania
• Skyler Slimmer from Myersville, Maryland
• Lynne Thomas from Fallston, Maryland
• Rachel Waldner from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Leslie Webb from Greenwood, Delaware
• Rachel Widmaier from Cambridge, Maryland
• Garrett Wright from Mardela Springs, Maryland

“On behalf of all of the Foundation Board members, we are very proud of each of the scholarship winners this year,” says Tony Ill, Chairman of the Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement. “The future of agriculture is bright with these students preparing for careers in the industry, whether it’s on the farm, or what we like to call on the ‘other side of ag’.”

The non-profit Foundation was established in 2015 and is funded by MidAtlantic Farm Credit. The Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement’s scholarship program awards scholarships valued at $10,000 to high school seniors or students currently enrolled in an advanced educational program. The applicants must be planning to pursue a career in agriculture and reside in a county within MidAtlantic Farm Credit’s five-state territory.

“We encourage all eligible students to apply for the 2022 scholarship later this year,” adds Ill. “The applications we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing has been incredibly impressive, and we thoroughly enjoy learning about each student’s unique background and career aspirations.”

For more information about the scholarship and other Foundation programs, please visit fcfoundationforag.org.

LISTEN TO The Peterson Brother's EPISODE HERE OR FIND US ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST LISTENING APP!

On this episode of the Farm Credit AgVocates Podcast, we interview Greg and Kendal Peterson of internet sensation, The Peterson Farm Brothers. You may recognize their name from their 20 different parody music videos, but the brothers are also huge advocates for the ag industry, writing "myth-busting" blogs and sharing their operation's daily happenings on social media. 

In this episode, you'll learn how they got started and why they think it's so important for other producers to start telling their stories and making the effort to educate consumers.

 Johanna Rohrer:

Welcome to the Farm Credit AgVocates Podcast. I'm your host Johanna Rohrer, Marketing Specialist at Horizon Farm Credit. Today's guests are well-known as creative influencers in agriculture, helping to positively influence and tell the story of Ag. The Peterson Farm Brothers consists of three brothers, Greg, Nathan, and Kendal Peterson. Together they produce entertaining and educational videos on their YouTube channel and blog about common misconceptions in Ag. In addition, they're known for speaking up about agriculture and encouraging others to share their farm story. We are thrilled to be able to connect with the Peterson family. Without further ado, let's welcome Greg and Kendal to the podcast. Welcome.

Peterson Brothers:

(Both) Hey.

Johanna Rohrer:

It’s great for you to join us here in the MidAtlantic region.

I THOUGHT WE'D JUST GET STARTED AND ASK YOU TO JUST INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR FARM.

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) Sure, so we live on a family farm. I'm Greg, I'm the oldest brother and I'm married to my wife BrookeAnna. Nathan is the middle brother, he’s married to his wife, Riley, and he's home taking care of the farm. A lot of times when we travel, it's just two of the three brothers and we kind of rotate around. Kendal and his wife Caelan, he's the youngest brother, and then our sister, Laura, and our parents are the family farm operation. Our farm is a fifth generation family farm. I'll let Kendal tell about what we grow.

(Kendal) Our background is feeder cattle, and we grow a lot of just typical Kansas crops, corn wheat, milo, alfalfa beans, and some forages. So that keeps us busy. And we like to joke that we raised another commodity, videos. That's kind of our diversified farm there in Kansas. That's where we filmed and where we work every day. We were where we worked together and that's where the dream kind of came up to show our friends what we do on the farm. We wanted them to be able to see what we're doing on weekends and then after school, when we were young, when we made the videos.

Johanna Rohrer:

Greg, I know one of your most popular videos a few years ago was “I'm Farming and I Grow It,” which was my first introduction in particular to your family.

DID YOU EVER INTEND TO MAKE THIS MUCH OF A WAVE IN AG WHEN YOU STARTED PRODUCING YOUR CONTENT?

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) No, we never really had a big picture plan. We didn't plan to go viral. Even like Kendal said, that first video on “Farming and I grow it,” it was really more aimed at our friends and people we actually knew. We knew we were putting it on YouTube and we filmed it to be seen by more people than our friends. The most views we ever talked about it getting was 50,000. We told that to each other kind of as a joke, like this is going to go viral, we're going to get 50,000 views. And what ended up happening was we got 5 million views in just a week, so 5 million instead of 50,000. It was a surprise to all of us, especially our parents. They were pretty overwhelmed right at the beginning there. We'd had our YouTube channel for a couple months, but we hadn't really uploaded anything. That was our first kind of real video that we'd done. And it really blew up.

Johanna Rohrer:

Obviously you're managing a couple of communication channels, videos, blogs, and you have to write some of your content to make it all kind of come together and flush out.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PART OR DO EACH OF YOU HAVE SEPARATE JOBS IN THE PROCESS OF WHEN YOU DECIDE TO PUT A NEW VIDEO PARODY TOGETHER?

Peterson Brothers:

(Kendal) We definitely have separate jobs. Greg's really the creative mastermind behind it all and makes sure that we're getting content out on the different social media sites. Nathan and I help with lyrics occasionally, but for the most part, it’s Greg that comes up with the lyrics. The parody videos are the big projects, they take the most time and the most creative outlet. The blogs and posts on Facebook, Instagram, and different social media are more like Nathan and I. We can just pull our phones out of our pocket and share what we're doing right then and there.  So that's a little simpler and not as much planning has to go into it.

Johanna Rohrer:

Initially when you made your first music parody, what made you want to try to do that?  Because it was something that was super creative and something that maybe wasn't well-known in that space.

WHAT WAS THE BURNING DRIVE TO WANT TO TRY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) This was back in 2012 when we made that first parody and I was a junior at Kansas State University and I was majoring in Ag Communications. A lot of what my major talked about in our classes was how we can reach people outside of Ag. How can we communicate what we as farmers do to people, to consumers. And so I already kind of had that background just from school, so that was a big driving force of why I wanted to make the video. We also grew up in the middle of Kansas, so we weren't urban, but we are close to a town of 50,000 people. So at our high school, we had a lot of city kids and we were always trying to convince them that farming was cooler than they thought it was. We were just trying to make farming cool. And it just shifted from a few of our friends to a lot of people online.

Johanna Rohrer:

Absolutely, I can relate with that because having grown up in the MidAtlantic region and on a family farm myself, a part of our operation is row crops and traditional production, but another piece of it is direct marketing to consumers. As a young child, by the time I was able to make change, I was in a sales room selling fruit and vegetables to our community, so making that connection between consumers and our family story, I can definitely relate with that. And then also going to school and realizing that my elementary school that I went to, didn't really have any farm kids in it.  I think this generation shift to help tell the story of agriculture is really needed and it's really cool that you've been able to do that through your music parodies.

ANOTHER QUESTION THAT I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT IS, HOW DO YOU PICK YOUR SONGS? YOU GET REALLY CREATIVE WITH YOUR SONG CHOICES. SO HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THAT?

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) Well, not every song is able to be a parody, I mean it's not like we can truly take a song and make a parody of it. I sometimes joke that they write themselves because sometimes you'll try to come up with an idea and there'll be nothing for this song or that song but then, “oh, here’s this song, here's an idea here and this kind of works.” Sometimes we parody songs that we really like that style of music. And sometimes we parody songs where we don't even like the song, but it's popular and it works.

I think our number one goal is, will this parody be successful? Is this a song that's worth taking the time because it takes a lot of time to put these together? We’re not going to waste a bunch of time on a song that's not popular, that’s not going to be successful. We've done a couple of parodies where we really liked the music behind it, but then there's some that we're almost embarrassed of the song. This is a terrible song.

(Kendal) After we sang it a few too many times, then we really don't like the beat behind it because then it gets stuck in your head.

Johanna Rohrer:

Yeah. I'm sure having the right song makes the process a little bit more fun.

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) Yeah, it does. Sometimes, you know, it's the connection between the original and the parody, it's almost every single line. And then some songs, you've got maybe a line here, a line there, like in “I'm Farming and I Grow It.” It was the example where we were able to refer to those original lyrics or just the concept of the song and the music video on almost every single line, so that made a very good parody.

Johanna Rohrer:

SPEAKING OF LYRICS, WHO WRITES THE LYRICS, WHO'S PRIMARILY THE CREATIVE MIND BEHIND THAT SPACE?

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) I do most of the lyric writing and people ask, how do you write the lyrics? How long does it take? I don’t know, I really don’t know. I have a notes app on my phone where I jot down ideas and a lot of those come while I'm working on the farm. If I've gone through a spell where I haven't worked much on the farm, then you don't come up with as many ideas. A lot of creativity just comes from it.  It's not necessarily a quick process. You have to spend a lot of time with nothing, and then everything comes at once.

(Kendal) You can't really force it either. You can't just force a creative idea to pop in your head.

(Greg) It reminds me of writing a paper in school. Being in the Ag Communications and Journalism major, we had two papers due a week my senior year. Sometimes you'd sit there for three or four days before the paper’s due and you just got nothing. And then you'd just hammer out the whole paper in one night. It's a little like that.  Nathan and Kendal will help with a few lines or they'll pitch in an idea or provide feedback.

Johanna Rohrer:

You pick a song, you start to write the lyrics and you're in production.

WHAT DOES THAT PROCESS LOOK LIKE?

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) I will sit down and come up with the lyrics and that's usually the first step. That can take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.  The “Highway to Sell” video took a couple months just because we were so busy working on the farm. After that, we'll record the audio first and get that finished.

(Kendal) When we go out to film, we take a piece of paper with any ideas that we have jotted to the side of each line. For the first few videos, we had tons of ideas because we could just walk anywhere on the farm and show what was going on and the different equipment that we were using, or crops that we were growing in. It was really easy and now we've kind of run out of some of our ideas. So we have to think a little harder when we're walking around the farm, making things engaging or making them relate to the original song. Once it's filmed, probably the majority of the time from that point on is spent editing, sliding the clips together, making the lips line up correctly and having transitions that are good in the video.

(Greg) There’s a lot of B roll footage that we shoot throughout the year that is thrown into the parodies. And so, it’s a process for sure.

Johanna Rohrer:

I've noticed in the last two parodies that I feel like you've engaged with a bunch of other audiences and I think that's really cool. In particular, my two nieces love to watch your parodies, they're three and seven and they love the new parody, “Corn Revolution.”  I just wonder when you were putting these videos together and you do that collaboration, what was your thought behind that?

WHERE DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA TO REACH OUT TO MORE PEOPLE THAN JUST FEATURING YOU GUYS IN YOUR FILMS?

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) I think Kendal kind of talked about it a little bit, we’ve done so many kind of cookie cutter parodies where it's just us and it's our farm, and people have seen it. I mean, that's not a new idea anymore. And so we started featuring other YouTubers, way back in probably 2015, 2016, Farmer Derek and Little Fred, from New York.  Those were the first couple of YouTubers we parodied and there really weren't very many other farmer YouTubers at that point. Now there’s quite a few. And then of course we've received submissions from fans or from kids. We’ve done that on several parodies. We did it on “Taking Care of Livestock,” “We Will Milk Cows,” and “Corn Revolution.”

(Kendal) When you bring in other families, they bring a lot of excitement to the video and that's their five second spot or two second spot, and so they can fit a lot of excitement in that one spot. It helps that they can share the video and say, “I'm in this video.” And so that “Corn Revolution” video, had a lot of kids in that who were very excited to watch it and see themselves in the clip.

(Greg) I really wrote that song with featuring kids in mind, with the chorus. So that one was actually a creative process from the running of the music to the extra amount of work out. I put in a lot of work in the “Corn Revolution” for sure.

Johanna Rohrer:

Oh, well, I can reassure you that there are some really young agricultural families that I think are enjoying that video quite a bit. And I guess that just leads me to ask you a question. There are a lot of younger kids that I think do look up to you in this space, and did you ever think that when you started this whole video process, that would happen as farmers and agriculturalists? We're less than 2% of the population and at the end of the day, we kind of all have that common ground of being connected to the land and growing up from generation to generation.

DID YOU EVER THINK, WHEN YOU STARTED THIS THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE LITTLE KIDS THAT ARE GOING TO LOOK UP TO YOU?

Peterson Brothers:

(Kendal) Well, we didn't even feel that old yet, I don't think. And so, I was 15 when we made the first video and so we were going to FFA conventions and going to these things, and I felt like I was the same age as a lot of people. I was advocating to a bunch of ranchers who had been working for 50 years and they were experts in their field and I hadn't even been to college yet. Then, looking towards the kids, you can definitely see how they just eat up the videos and they want to watch it, and their parents even tell us that they can't get them to stop watching the videos. They watch it and they ask for it over and over.  Our mom always told us to be leaders for good and so I think that part has kind of carried over into this part of our life, where we want to set that good example. It’s definitely been a motivating factor for us too. We feel like we can get the younger generation excited about agriculture and taking over the reins and working on their own projects, and working with the land and that legacy that you're talking about. That is definitely a driving force for us. And we think about it a lot more now than we probably did during that first video.

(Greg) It’s something we take very seriously as being role models for kids. It’s something that was recognized by the very first video. We were sent hundreds of videos of kids watching what we were doing. And then of course, when we started doing speaking engagements and traveling, we would meet thousands of kids over the years who just look up to you and it's such a responsibility. We don't take that for granted. We were in FFA, 4-H and leadership organizations growing up and that's always been a part of who we are and we’ve tried not to change from that.  

Johanna Rohrer:

It’s such a good reminder to realize for those of us that are growing up in the industry, that really every day we have an opportunity to lead and it's not only just within our industry, but it's also within our community.

I’M JUST CURIOUS, WHAT OTHER TYPES OF ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR FARMERS WHO WANT TO HELP SHARE THE STORY OF AGRICULTURE? YOU SAID YOU KNOW YOU'RE A LITTLE BIT YOUNGER AND JUST GETTING STARTED IN YOUR CAREER AND YOUR FARMING OPERATIONS, BUT FOR THOSE FOLKS THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS OR ARE BRAND NEW TO AGRICULTURE, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR THEM?

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) What we've learned is just sometimes you just want to farm and you don't feel like sharing. It takes effort, it takes work to reach out, to share what you're doing. We always encourage people to take the initiative and it's something that you don't just do once. You have to continue to take that step, continue to do it and it’s important. At the same time, don't be too hard on yourself. We’ve talked a little bit about how every little bit counts. You don't have to make a YouTube video that reaches millions of people to make a difference, even if you're just reaching out to a couple of people who are in your family or your friends, or your community, that helps.

(Kendal) I would also say don’t take for granted the stuff that you kind of just learned and you inherently knew, whether that's growing up on the farm or growing up with an organization such as FFA or 4-H . A lot of people can learn a lot from the simple things, such as doing chores and what it takes to take care of livestock, and sharing the simple things that are regulars for our day. Whether you know, doing chores and stuff, they can learn this is what a farmer is doing and this is what it takes to raise food, livestock, and milk, or whatever it is in your region. Then, when they see that they might have a question about that part of the industry, they'll come to you and they'll ask because they've seen a clip of it, or they've heard that’s something you've talked about in your group of friends. And that's a good way to get known as kind of a token person to be asked questions about

Johanna Rohrer:

In Ag it's important that we all continue to help tell the story of agriculture. I think we have a responsibility to help share what we've all grown up to know in our homes.  I think some things you have to be deliberate in how you want to share, and also become that trusted community member. Whether that's in the digital space or just in your home environment, there's always an opportunity to connect with people.

I'm just curious what motivates you to keep coming up with creative ideas? You’ve had “Corn Revolution” that's come out recently and a new video here just recently “Highway to Sell.”

WHAT’S THAT BURNING PASSION THAT HELPS MOTIVATE YOU TO SAY, “I WANT TO DO ANOTHER VIDEO”?

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) I think there's been times over the last eight years where we've done a video because it's been awhile and we needed to do a video, but most of them are a desire from me to create. I've always been a creator. Even before the YouTube videos, I think anyone who has a creative mind like that, they can relate to that, whether it's a musician or an author.  There is kind of this burning sensation to create and to be able to look back at what you've created in the past and then think about what you want to create in the future. Also, social media has changed a lot.  We weren’t really making any money when we first started, and now YouTube and Facebook, they pay something.  We’ve tried to create even more content than just the music videos as it has become even more of an actual job than just volunteering your time. So there’s a little bit of both of that.  I've always lived life with the goal of trying to make a difference, and so that's probably the number one thing for me.

(Kendal) I would say we can see the difference that we've made both in encouraging kids to pursue Ag and also in reaching people who knew nothing about Ag and to see the impact of that with different videos, the comment section, and when meeting people. I would say that's what pushes me, and also just knowing that for some reason, there are thousands of people out there that care that I'm out walking with my cows.  I can pull my phone out and just show them what I'm doing.  I think it's funny, but it's also motivating at the same time. I like that part of things, that even though I'm out in the middle of nowhere in Kansas, there's people that care, they want to see how my cows are doing.

Johanna Rohrer:

That leads me to kind of talk a little bit about misconceptions in agriculture, because we do have quite a few of them in our industry, and it is encouraging for us to be able to have people like you who are sharing that very authentic, real story of, “Hey, I'm out here in the field, feeding my cows, caring for them.”

WHAT HELPS YOU SELECT THOSE AGRICULTURAL MISCONCEPTIONS THAT YOU CHOOSE TO SHARE WITH? OR IS IT JUST WHAT YOU'RE FEELING THAT DAY? “I REALLY WANT TO SHARE ABOUT THIS” OR IS THERE EVER ANY PARTICULAR STRATEGY TOWARDS WHAT YOU SHARE IN THAT SPACE?

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) I don’t know if there’s strategy. We see a lot of our comments on our videos and you can tell obviously the comments are from people outside of Ag and you really start to pick up on things that they hear and they ask if a lot of these things are really true. Our first topic we tackled was GMOs back in 2014, which was our first blog. It took a while to get to the point where I felt like I knew what I was talking about. Kendal talked about how we didn't feel like experts and I think part of it is we've learned how to answer some of these questions. From talking to people smarter than us, talking to the experts, and then being able to convert that into video form. Just because someone is a scientist, doesn't mean they're necessarily good at conveying that information to people.

Honestly, we started with the blogs and now my plan is to actually transition those blogs into video content that's short and engaging. As good as the blogs have been, I do think that people are more apt to watch videos and that there's a different level of trust when you can see the person whose talking to you and actually visually see what's going on. I think that’s a big part of what we need to do in the future, and continue to do. And that's another motivation for advocacy.

Johanna Rohrer:

So before we sign off today, I have one final question for both of you.

GREG, I'LL START WITH YOU. WHAT DO YOU ADVOCATE FOR IN AGRICULTURE?

Peterson Brothers:

(Greg) That's a good question. I advocate for probably families. We've met so many thousands of families on the road as we travel, speak, and perform. There’s a lot of large Ag businesses and we're thankful for those, but at the core of the Ag industry are the farm families who are working around this country and around the world. That is who I advocate for. I know those families from meeting them. I know my family, I know my community, and for people to assume that we would be purposefully doing something to harm the environment, animals, or the food supply, it doesn't make sense. I truly feel if [consumers] can connect with the actual people [working] in agriculture, they would realize that they're not being misled. We’re not perfect, of course, but it’s when you get to know the people and so that's, that's what I advocate.

(Kendal) I would say I advocate for that way of life, farmers with what we're doing out there is we're taking land, we're taking the animals, and we're improving upon them. We are doing the best job that we can with our livestock, producing a set of calves, producing milk or producing the most yield that we can get out of an acre. Also, treating that land well so that in five years, it's yielding even more or in 20 years, it's yielding for the next generation, and doing as much as we can with what God's given us. And I think that's the way of life that is worth protecting and worth advocating for.

Johanna Rohrer:

Greg and Kendal. Thanks for joining us to share your personal experience and encouraging others to join you in telling the story of agriculture.

Remember to rate, review, subscribe, and share this podcast with a friend.

When production is low or damaging weather such as floods, drought, hail, or wind storms come along, it can be devastating to production agriculture. Crop insurance protects farmers so they can financially meet both their personal and business obligations, helping to ensure survival of their farming business.

Although crop insurance sounds like an obvious purchase, some farmers still hesitate to purchase a policy because they fear they won’t be covered or it is too complicated. We’ve busted a few common myths below to help clarify.

MYTH #1: I HAVE MOSTLY IRRIGATED GROUND – THAT IS MY INSURANCE.

FACT: As we saw this past year, excess moisture can really cause problems for farmers. It can delay planting and harvest, wash out planted crops, or create the perfect environment for plant disease.

Crop insurance covers anything that is a natural cause of loss. This means too much rain, not enough rain, plant disease, hail, and wildlife damage. Additionally, most policies include replant or preventive planting coverage, both of which people needed & benefited from this past year.

MYTH #2: THERE ARE TOO MANY RULES AND I CAN’T MAKE A POLICY WORK FOR MY NEEDS.

FACT: That may have been true in years past, but over the last few years, many new options have been introduced that help tailor a policy to meet your needs.

Now, you have the ability to insure your irrigated and non-irrigated crops under different coverage levels and different unit structures. Make sure to talk to your agent about the Trend Adjusted Option and the Yield Exclusion Option; both help enhance your Actual Production History (APH).

There are policies available for many different crops, not just grain. Whole Farm policies cover diverse operations that produce crops that are otherwise uninsurable. Producers can now purchase the new Dairy Revenue Policy to protect their dairy operation.  There are policies for hay and pasture, nurseries, orchards, and processing vegetables.  Grapes are now insurable in several Maryland and Virginia counties.  Written agreements can be used to cover crops that are not insured in your county, but are available elsewhere in the country. This would allow us to use that state/county policies’ rules and regulations to insure the crop here with approval from the Risk Management Agency (RMA).

MYTH #3: I HAVE TO USE THE COUNTY AVERAGE IN SETTING UP PRODUCTION HISTORY.

FACT: Your agent should use your historical records to set up a policy whenever possible. If you can’t provide history, a percentage of the county yield is used to establish your APH until you can start providing your own production records. 

MYTH #4: IT DOESN’T PAY.

FACT: As of February 4, 2019 Maryland farmers have paid $10.6 million in premiums out of pocket for 2018 crops and received over $16.5 million in claim payments.

MYTH #5: IT COSTS TOO MUCH.

FACT: Crop Insurance is federally subsidized, making the rates affordable. Premium on a 70% coverage level policy is subsidized at 59%.

Now that we’ve sorted through the myths of crop insurance, give our team of experts a call today to discuss your policy options. We’ll help you prepare for the unexpected. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff has over 25 years of policy writing experience.  We want to be more than simply your agent – we want to be a valuable resource for you and a consultant on your team.

LISTEN TO Chuck and Emily's EPISODE HERE OR FIND US ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST LISTENING APP!

Summary

On this episode of the Farm Credit AgVocates podcast, Katie Ward sits down with Chuck Fry and Emily Snyder of Rocky Point Creamery to celebrate National Ice Cream Month and learn about the new robotic milking system on their farm. We also dive into the children’s book written about his farm and what makes their ice cream so special. 

Visit Rocky Point Creamery at 4323A Tuscarora Rd. Tuscarora, MD 21790 on Tuesday-Sunday from 11:30 AM to 8:30 PM.

Katie Ward:

Welcome to the Farm Credit AgVocates podcast. I'm your host, Katie Ward, Public Relations and Communications Specialist at Horizon Farm Credit. July is National Ice Cream month and to celebrate we're bringing on a special guest to the podcast this episode.

Chuck Fry is the owner and operator of Rocky Point Creamery in Tuscarora, Maryland. He's the fourth generation to raise dairy cows and opened the Creamery in 2012 as a value added business on the farm for the community. His fiancé, Emily Snyder manages the creamery and handles all marketing and communications for the business. She's also a familiar face around Farm Credit as she's our relationship manager here for Farm Credit Express. I'm honored to call these two peers in the agriculture industry and friends.

So without further ado, welcome to the podcast, Chuck and Emily. Thanks so much for having me on your farm to chat today. So how was your spring season this year? I know we are coming into summer in two days so I'm sure you're gearing up for a busy season on the farm and at the creamery.

ROCKY POINT CREAMERY

Chuck Fry:

Every season's different, it's been a good spring. I think the things that always amazed me is no matter what kind of rainfall you get, no matter how bad you think it is, you got to love Facebook because it looks back five years and almost to the day we were harvesting barley at the same time.

You go back year after year, farming is a cyclical process. It's always amazing, no matter what kind of spring you have, everything winds up on time and everything usually winds up good. Last year with COVID, what a cluster that was, that was crazy. So I don't know that anything's normal anymore. Farming's never been normal.

Katie Ward:

Get a little scare and then you get some rain or you get some good turn in the market and everything gets back to normal. So Chuck, can you give our listeners a little background of your farm? I know it's been in your family since 1883, which is pretty incredible.

Chuck Fry:

Yeah, not many businesses make it past the second generation, let alone the fourth generation. That beer company that made it four, Yuengling, so they're right up there too. So anyway, we got kicked out of Virginia in 1882, basically because the farm was too valuable to farm. It's a long, boring story, but it's still fascinating that no matter how far you roll through life, the constant remains the same that farms are way more valuable than their face.

The history is the farm was bought at auction at the local little Point of Rocks town. Point of Rocks used to be a bustling town, it had multiple churches. It was kind of the point where the CNO railroad and where the railroad and the CNO canal met. There was a giant rock stuck out over the Potomac River. The railroad actually got ahead of the CNO canal Point of Rocks. We had a lot of trade that happened on the canal boats between here and Washington back then. So cattle would be hauled into Washington for slaughter, grain, all kinds of things went on the canal boats, which it's kind of crazy right now.

Katie Ward:

Yeah. That makes it a great location for a farm.

Chuck Fry:

But who would ever thought Point of Rocks, you know, when we opened this Creamery, we were like, who's coming here for ice cream, but I guess you proved me wrong again.

Katie Ward:

You're close to Harper's Ferry so I feel like a lot of people will go see that and get some ice cream on the way home.

Chuck Fry:

Yeah.

Katie Ward:

Cool. So can you tell us a little bit about opening the Creamery in 2012 and why you decided to add this to the farm?

Chuck Fry:

You know, it's been said when God closes one door, he opens another one. That's kind of what happened with us. We were in the turkey business, started it in 1996 and had a pretty good 15 year run on the poultry business. But it went through six or seven different changes in management and ownership. They went from full production to organic and the organic trail didn't work out like they had hoped. So they had to cut producers, they cut about 75% of their producers. It was one of those functions where, what do you do when they say, sorry, you can't grow turkeys anymore.

We've always milked cows. As quirky as that is, we’ve always milked cows. So we wanted something at the point to say, I want to own this from beginning to end, no matter what the state, whether it was good, bad or ugly. So we went to a National Ice Cream Retailers Association Convention, sort of like Farm Bureau, except I don't want to say fun, crazier people. Where the opening line, this guy came down doing somersaults in the isle, much different than Farm Bureau.

A good group of people, the networking there and when we came back from that, we started bulldozing dirt. Within six months’ time, we were ready to open and make ice cream, we got a lot of good ideas. Then what we didn't realize is when you start making ice cream, you got to do something with it. So we actually opened in December, which is a crazy time to open, but being the dumb farmer that I am, I didn't know how to deal with customers and so the POS system had to be learned.

The flow of this actually was a good time, you know, we didn't make any money, but it's just like anything else you do. Now, forwarding ahead 10 years, it's been a super big blessing. We've totally flipped. It used to be the cows ran the show, and now the creamery pays for the cows. I feel like, I don't want to say a horse farmer, having their off farm job to be able to feed your animals. So the creamery is feeding my cows.

Katie Ward:

Yeah, so next year will be 10 years. Are you doing anything to celebrate?

Chuck Fry:

Trying to get out of bed.

TECHNOLOGY ON THE FARM

Katie Ward:

So how many cows are you currently milking here on the farm?

Chuck Fry:

About 120, give or take. We were milking more, but we kind of cut back. There was a time, life happens. I went through a lot of changes in my personal life, things happen and you change. I was going to get completely out of the dairy business and then Emily comes along and kind of saved me from that spiral.

I always loved the cows, but it was a trying time. So anyway, you handle what's thrown at you and lo and behold, we just put in robots. We’ll talk a little bit about that later. We upgraded, did a lot of work at the barn and renovating. That whole farm area had been kind of let go. We just weren’t going to put money into it. We didn't know what we were going to do. So it's exciting, having a regeneration of interest.

Katie Ward:

So yeah, embracing technology.

Chuck Fry:

We don't have any choice.

Katie Ward:

Yeah, Emily actually wrote a good piece in our Leader magazine, that's actually coming out next week. So right before this podcast will launch, about technology and ag, and kind of gave a deep dive into the robotic milking system and how technology is used in equipment and all different other aspects of the industry.

So do you want to kind of give an overview of the robots now and just kind of why they're more efficient for your operation?

Chuck Fry:

Well, I don't know who's listening to this, but whoever's out there listening, realizes that labor is a challenge. I don't care what you are. The dairy industry, is 24/7, cows have to be milked every day. It doesn't matter if it’s Saturday or Sunday, or you've been out drinking and throwing up, I don't care. You still got to do it and finding the right mix of people that they love that and are willing to commit to that, it's really challenging.

So it's been said that McDonald's can put a hamburger in your mouth without a human touching it, that's what's going to happen to all industries as technology moves forward. You just have to be able to replace human labor, which you can't get with technology that works. These robots work 24/7, they're running round the clock. I don't have a machine, a combine, a tractor, anything that I put 8,000 or 9,000 hours on a year.

You think about the amount of time, those things are just running every single minute of every day, and it goes back to old school. We used to have a parlor, you could milk 150 cows in two hours, took two people, but that two hours, every day you were done. So you shut the gate and then you go do your other stuff. This changes the way you farm because the cows are being milked all day long, all night long.

Sometimes you get a call that you don't want to hear at three in the morning, something's out. Three in the morning, I'm usually kind of coming to, but you call me at midnight, I'm dead. I'm not answering that. So technology is awesome. I mean, we've replaced a three people, one full-time person, and two part-time people. Just based on the hourly rate that the state mandates and all the benefits that go with that, it's easy to pay for this robot just based on labor.

Emily Snyder:

I think we've picked up a lot of efficiency too. Less antibiotic use, there wasn't a ton before, but Katie, we were showing you how it picks up on mastitis and you can treat that naturally, if you will.

Cows are happier that helps with milk production, milk quality is up. There's a laundry list of things beyond labor that the robots have done for us. Supposedly there's more free time involved too, but I don't think we figured that one out yet.

Katie Ward:

Well, it's only what four months?

Chuck Fry:

Yeah. I mean you have good days and bad days. Yesterday wasn't so good, today has been awesome. So as long as technology works, but everybody out there has a computer at home, the minute that you hit the button to print something and the printer doesn't want to work and you can't figure it out. The first thing you want to do is open a window and throw it out.

We really can't do that with the robot, but there's days that you have those. So the main driver in this is, is cost. It’s expensive, but so is labor, so is housing, so is all the things that are associated with employees. The biggest thing is animal care and quality, our herd has completely changed.

It used to be that you would go out and you would move the cows physically from one barn, move them into a holding area, a lot of hoop and holler and scream at them because they just needed to move. To now, there’s no noise and that you can walk through the herd, touch them, pet them, they're like having 150 German Shepherds or Labrador Retrievers.

Maybe they're nicer, I don't know, but they just kind of love on you and lick you and don't move and that's good and bad. Now you can't move a 1500 pound cow if she doesn't want to move. It doesn't matter what you're going to do. She's going to stand, you're going to go around her.

Katie Ward:

Right, I guess the popular phrase now is cow comfort. That we're hearing a lot in the industry is just, you find that you get a better quality and more results when the cows are comfortable. It seems that this robot, allows them, Emily was explaining when you they're feeling full, and they know that they can walk in and get milked and not have to wait.

Chuck Fry:

Well the interesting thing about it, it changes the dynamics of your herd. It used to be, everybody was milked at the same time. Everybody went to the feed bunk at the same time. So your boss animals would run out your little animals and they'd have to wait until everybody got done. This takes that totally out of the equation.

They can do their own thing. Instead of like, we have a six row barn, which is usually short on feed bunk space. Now it's fine because 70% of the cows are laying down at all the time. Then you have a 30% of some are milking, some are eating, some are just being curious, that kind of thing. So there's no crowding at a feed bunk, there's none of that. They're just kind of coming and going at will.

There was a nice YouTube video about a guy over in Scotland, somewhere to put one of these in grazing. He's grazing his cows almost a mile away from the farm. So they have a little area where the cows come and go, and you would think that in a conventional way, all those cows won't fit through that little area, but they're just constantly coming and going in this little lane all day long. And it's the same thing in the barn. It's interesting. It changes the way everything I've been taught to do as a dairy manager, completely changes your world. And that's good and bad.

Katie Ward:

Yeah. Well, hopefully as the more months go by, the cows and everyone will get more used to it and it'll be even more efficient. So I know Emily was telling me a bit earlier that about 20% of the milk that you get from your cows here on the farm comes in and is used at the ice cream here in the creamery.

So a lot of people love Rocky Point Creamery ice cream from all around Maryland. You're part of the ice cream trail, other states come here. So what makes your ice cream so special?

ROCKY POINT CREAMERY’S QUALITY ICE CREAM

Emily Snyder:

Well, we're one of the only cow to cone operations. So we literally have a hand in every step. We milk the cows. He raises the crops that feed the cows. We’re there doing that every single day. Then it comes down here, we make the ice cream right here on the farm.

It's a really cool feeling to be able to hand a customer the product that you had a hand in every step of. It's considered super premium, so very creamy. Probably one of the best ice creams. I know we're biased, but probably one of the best ice creams you will ever experience.

Chuck Fry:

I love all ice cream. So trust me, I'll eat anything. I'm a hog in that way. But I have my preferences and it's like anything else, you can have a steak, you can go to Ruth Chris and have some of the best steak in the world, or you can go to your freezer and get the best Angus steak, same with the ice cream. I had a foodie come to us and he's like, what's your favorite place to eat? I'm like my back porch. You know what you're putting on that grill, same way with the ice cream.

The cool part about us being ice cream. I call myself the ice cream farmer. That's a real catchphrase. But anywhere we go, we're always tasting other people's ice cream. The bad thing is you’re a critic and I try not to say anything to other people because they're always waiting for your reaction. All ice cream is good. Everybody that makes their own ice cream, I have say on the trail and up and down the east coast is just good food. If you're not happy eating ice cream, I can't really help you. There's a special place in hell for you.

Katie Ward:

Yeah. Is it true that you taste vanilla, because that's where you actually taste the quality of the ice cream, because it's not kind of diluted with the other flavors?

Chuck Fry:

So we can talk about that all day long. Vanilla is your most pure form of ice cream. You can throw chocolate and throw all kinds of flavors in it. You don't really taste the quality of the cream. But we use that same quality of the cream and all flavors.

So when you taste ours and we don't put a lot of overrun, overrun is a secret catch word for air. So when you go to the grocery store, you start picking up pints and you weigh other people's products. There's some products up there, you can just pick up. It used to be half gallon was a thing you could, some of these half gallons don't weigh as much as our pints do. They have to be careful with that because a lot of companies will put a lot of candy and stuff in their ice cream. So it's full candy and so it depends on what you want to buy.

Ben and Jerry's is great. They have great flavors. I love Ben and Jerry's, in my opinion, there's a lot of candy in that, which makes theirs heavier. But if you go vanilla to vanilla, the override is what you're buying. So if you want to buy air, it's just different. We use an Italian machine, to make our ice cream, which is kind of unique. A lot of the people in Italy make gelato, which is just poor ice cream in my opinion. But when you use a gelato machine to make ice cream with 14% butterfat, then you got the bomb right there, that's pretty good.

Katie Ward:  

That's the percentage you all use here?

Chuck Fry:

Correct. We're not afraid of dairy fat at all.

Katie Ward:

That’s what makes local better, I think. So how many flavors of ice cream does the creamery typically sell in one day? Like if someone customer were to come in, what are their options?

Emily Snyder:

We always have 24 flavors of our hand dipped out. That includes all our ice creams, well not all of them, but ice cream sorbets, which are dairy free. So we have those options and a vegan option.

Katie Ward:

Well, you have to please everyone though.

Emily Snyder:

That’s out sometimes, we also have no sugar added options and then we have soft serve. So there's three flavors of that. Then a variety of sundaes, milkshakes, and a couple of different products like that.

Throughout the year, we do over a hundred different flavors, so kind of seasonal. So like when peaches come in, we'll start doing peach. At the holidays we do a lot more mints or like an eggnog flavor, cinnamon, like the more spice based flavors, that kind of thing.

Chuck Fry:

When crabs come in, we do a crabby cow. That's crazy. I never thought that, it started off as a joke. We basically stole it from somebody else, everybody loves their thing. You know, it doesn't matter what it is. And I wouldn't want to eat a pocket of that stuff, but you know, whatever floats your boat.

OTHER ROCKY POINT CREAMERY PRODUCTS

Katie Ward:

So do you collaborate with any other local producers on the ingredients?

Emily Snyder:

We do. We started doing cheese last year with the start of COVID, milk prices took quite the hit. So that was kind of the kick to make us do cheese, which we'd wanted to do for a while. So one of those actually has a local wineries wine in it.

Mazzaroth Vineyard is 20 minutes up the road in Middletown. So we use one of their Petite Verdot. So it's a really deep colored wine. It tastes really good, smells really good. We've got a couple other partnerships we've been in collaboration with.

Flying Dog Brewery before, done some of their events. We've just spun some beer milkshakes. I would love to do a cheese with them. I think that would be really cool. So now things are getting back to normal. I think we'll start having those discussions again. We catered an event, maybe two weeks ago, met a guy who does a little candied bacon business, and we've been wanting to do maybe like a maple bacon or some kind of bacon basis.

Chuck Fry:

They did bacon. It doesn't matter for bacon in anything.

Emily Snyder:

So that is officially on the docket now for a flavor this year. It's pretty cool.

Katie Ward:

And what else do you sell here at the Creamery besides ice cream and cheese, any beef?

Emily Snyder:

We do sell beef. We do steaks hamburgers, burger patties, lots of different cuts. That's a good portion of our business. We talked about cheese, we've got milk here, used to do eggs. That's kind of hard to get a big enough quantity to keep customers happy.

Chuck Fry:

Unless you grow your own, it's hard. So we have Angus. So we send them up to Pennsylvania to get processed because Maryland's short on processing. We were such good customers of those, they were able to fit us in last year, even during COVID when people weren't doing it, and we were getting beef regularly.

So we booked this year out entirely because it's the hardest part, trying to get people to work with you to say, I want to end up with a product that is X, Y, and Z. Sometimes you have to compromise, sometimes what you really want and what you really get is somewhere in between. So you try to tweak that, we're trying to tweak everything.

ROCKY POINT GRAIN OPERATION

Katie Ward:

A little more about your grain operation, how many acres?

Chuck Fry:

So we're big in the cover crop and have been doing cover crops for 30 plus years, I've been doing no till for a long time. So we do a lot of cover crop management. The good thing about cover crops and dairy cows, is its food for milk.

So we grow a lot of barley and we're using a hulless barley. Which if you know anything about barley, usually when you cut it, it looks like barley and the tank has got a hall on it. But when you cut this new variety of hulless, it almost looks like wheat. So the feed value in that barley is almost 40% more than the regular because you're not taking the hull with it. So straight into the feed for your cows because it's not worth anything on the market.

The cover crop program is really strong. We harvest a lot of small grain for silage. Those cows will eat 300 acres of small grain for silage and then another a hundred acres of barley for grain. Then at that point, it gives us the opportunity in the fall to say, well, do we keep corn or sell corn? What's the market going to look like? It looks like the markets are pretty strong.

We have soybeans too. We will use a lot of those soybeans back through the cows. We will roast them, comes out smelling like peanuts, and it's a good fat energy product for the dairy. So we try to run as many things through the cows as we can, because that's your ultimate. That's your ultimate feed, is whatever you can grow on your own.

PARTNERSHIP WITH ST. JUDE’S

Katie Ward:

I'm sure your consumers like knowing that what the cows eat, you grow here. So they can literally sit in the Creamery, look out the window and see the fields.

So I always am inspired when I see your sunflower field pictures each year and the charity that you do with St. Jude's. So can you tell our listeners a little bit about this project?

Emily Snyder:

Chuck started that five or six years ago.

Chuck Fry:

We pretty much did that when we opened it. It wasn’t about St. Jude's. We just did the St Jude's recently, but it was more of we're out here in the middle of nowhere and when we wrote our business plan for the ice cream shop, I'm like, nobody's coming to Point of Rocks to get ice cream. So we have a road that moves very fast by us and to try to get people to notice, we just planted sunflowers out there.

So it was like, wait, what is that? That brought people in that were new customers that kind of said, "Hey, I noticed the flowers, I didn't know what the building was."

It started as ads and turned into a really great community project with St. Jude's and everybody knows about St. Jude. So that will wear your heart out.

Katie Ward:

Yeah and last year you raised $9,000 for them, which is amazing.

Emily Snyder:

So we charge a dollar per cut flower and accept donations. We get lots of people out just for the photo op for them, for the ‘gram, we ask them to donate. So we get a lot of cash donations. We added to our point of sale, like our credit card system.

We got a number of donations that way. I unknowingly put something on Facebook that created a link, and we got a heck of a lot of donations last year, that way. So that really helped get us to that $9,000.

Chuck Fry:

It's a bad thing is I just remembered that's one more job I got to get done by Tuesday. Well, you plant it a little bit longer and we stagger, we want to push that business into September. So we plant a little later than most people do.

ROCKY POINT CREAMERY EVENTS

Katie Ward:

Yeah, because if they all grow at the same time, then they all die at the same time. Awesome. And you run the social media for the creamery here.

So how has marketing it to the community and like photography, I know Andrea Hanes is a local photographer here that Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit adores, we use her for a lot of publications and how is it telling the creamery story to the consumer?

Emily Snyder:

Andrea came out, I think it was Tuesday and took a lot of professional photos. I can snap cow pictures and ice cream photos, but I wanted some truly professional ones to put on the website and of course use on our social media just so consumers can really see exactly what the product is.

She captured some of our staff making the ice cream and just the whole process. So I'm excited to see what she comes up with. But I do try to post every day, just keep it fresh.

I've been trying to make the connection between the cow and the cone more because so many people come here and don't realize that all the buildings back there are farm buildings. They don't see the whole picture. So a lot of it's the educational piece and sometimes it's hard, but we do our best.

Katie Ward:

Yeah. You're doing a great job. So do you have any other events or ventures planned for the Creamery this year? I think you may have an event trailer.

Emily Snyder:

Last year, our big fun purchase was an ice cream trailer. Obviously, maybe it wasn't a great year. We didn't know that we went into 2020, right. We were able to take it up to a friend's pumpkin patch, Winterbrook Farms up in Thurmont. I think you've spoken with them before. They do sunflowers, pumpkins, hay rides, all those fun things. So we took the trailer. That was a great trial run.

We will do that again this year. We've gotten a couple other smaller events to do with it. Then we always have food trucks on the weekends. We've got a couple of goat yoga sessions signed off. Nothing too crazy this year, but we're excited next year to start planning some more things and go back to our collaborations with other businesses.

TALES OF A DAIRY GODMOTHER, CHUCK’S ICE CREAM WISH

Katie Ward:

That's exciting. So tell me a little bit about the children's book that was written about your farm. It's called Tales of the Dairy Godmother, Chuck's Ice Cream Wish.

How did that come into fruition and how can our listeners get a copy?

Chuck Fry:

So I was president of the Maryland Farm Bureau and I was also on American Farm Bureau's executive committee. So I was in Washington probably more than I really care to talk about. We were at a meeting doing something and Christie Lujan came up and she said, we're writing this story about dairy and we want your input, we want your thoughts, they really want to do this book and it's about some kids, this and that and the other, but we would rather use your tagline in your story because it's real.

I'm like, oh, that would be fine, as long as the book can be fun. If you're writing for a first grader, it doesn't have to be everything in this world does not have to be politically correct to be fun, so you can have fun in the book. So anyway, they used Chuck's Ice Cream Wish to try to get more people to understand that ice cream actually comes from cows and told the story well. It was voted book of the year, I think, this year or last year.

Emily Snyder:

It was the 2020 book of the year for American Farm Bureau. And then a number of the state farm bureau is I think, nine or ten that I'm aware of, chose it for their 20-21 book of the year. So we did some virtual farm tours beginning of the year, some readings online with kiddos across the country. So that's cool.

Chuck Fry:

So you can get that on Amazon, Chuck's Ice Cream Wish. I’ve never really looked at it, but somebody said you can get it right on Amazon. We have copies here in the store. I'll sign them for a small fee if you buy an ice cream. You know, just one of those crazy things in life that happens that you don't plan for.

AMERICAN FARM BUREAU

Katie Ward:

Well, I think Farm Credit could get some and give them out to our listeners if they would like copy too. So a little bit about Farm Bureau.

How did your leadership roles serving on the American Farm Bureau boards and committees, and a state president kind of guide you as a business owner and teach you things here on the farm?

Chuck Fry:

I would have flipped that and said the farmer taught me about being on the board. The American Farm Bureau is more about connections across the U.S. and other countries. The network of farmers in that is amazing. The friendships that are formed in that is amazing. We had some young dairy farmers from Utah, just come out a couple of weeks ago.

Because we live so close to D.C., they come here, but because of the farm bureau, the bonds that we have from all over, we are still cultivating that. So the management of knowing what big business does, what big agriculture does, how that relates to Washington D.C., whether you like it or hate it, that's the way the world works.

Politics seems to run policy. It doesn't take good politics to make bad policy that seems to happen more often than not. So American Farm Bureau is there in D.C. We at Maryland Farm Bureau and Frederick County Farm Bureau, it all comes back down to the counties. So one voice, one vote, and Emily is on the local board. I hadn't been to a farm bureau meeting in God knows how long and I'm smiling.

Katie Ward:

How many years were you involved?

Chuck Fry:

Forever, it was just seems like, I think I spent three years as president of Frederick County and kind of worked up through the ranks. Then went to the state as first vice president, second vice president or whatever. However it went, it seemed like it was a great time. Met a lot of people, learned a lot of things. Policy kind of changed a little bit and it was a great time, but everything has its time where it's taken a lot of toll out of you.

I gave a lot of time to that. It's really nice to be back at the farm. And it's really nice not to have to get all dressed up and go to D.C. for three days. In the middle of harvest, it would drive me crazy. But you know, it's nice to be able to say, been there, done that and I can kind of do what makes me happy.

Katie Ward:

But still keep all the connections and relationships and continue to learn from the national farmers.

Chuck Fry:

Correct. So Wayne is a new president and I get a call from him every now and then. Zippy is the president of American Farm Bureau, and out of the blue he'll call me.

A lot of times they'll call me and say, Hey, I'm reading your book to a group of kids. And he was like, I wanted them to know that I knew Chucky the Ice Cream Farmer so can you talk to them. It's just funny that those connections and the friendships that were made in farm bureau are just priceless. It still goes on today.

ICE CREAM: THIS OR THAT

Katie Ward:

So now we're going to do a fun little lightning round. I'll ask a question and each of you can tell me your answer to these ice cream questions. So we'll start with Emily. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Emily Snyder:

Rainbow sprinkles on soft serve twist. In depth, then lemon cookie crunch.

Katie Ward:

Lemon cookie crunch. All right. What about you Chuck? Favorite ice cream flavor?

Chuck Fry:

I sort of like soft serve vanilla with nothing. That's so boring. Twist is okay, because it gives you a little chocolate.

Favorite flavor, and the hard dip is hard, so I like white chocolate, so we make a white wedding cake, you know, I only go to weddings to eat the cake. I'll pay for whatever. I just want the white wedding cake.

Katie Ward:

That sounds good. I remember the salted caramel pretzel. That's always been my favorite when I would dip ice cream at the Maryland State Fair and Rocky Point would bring their ice cream for a day. That was my go-to.

All right. So Emily, what's your favorite topping on ice cream?

Emily Snyder:

Rainbow sprinkles.

Chuck Fry:

Good ice cream doesn't need toppings.

Katie Ward:

Okay. Emily cup or cone?

Emily Snyder:

Cone, waffle cone.

Katie Ward:

It smelled amazing, when I came in here this morning from the waffle cone making, what about you Chuck?

Chuck Fry:

It depends on my mood. So a lot of times I just like the cup because I like the ice cream, not all the other crap, but I really like the waffle cones because they have a lot of vanilla in them. So there's the vanilla theme, so boring.

Katie Ward:

Emily, milkshake or sundae?

Emily Snyder:

Oh a shake.

Chuck Fry:

I like it all. I mean, so hot fudge sundae. If you really want to get fat, hot fudge brownie sundae or double fudge with whipped cream. Then don't get on the scale.

Katie Ward:

And then the last question, Emily, Holstein or Jersey?

Emily Snyder:

Oh, Jersey. I love my little brown cow.

Chuck Fry:

Oh no. So I've always had Holsteins, but I'm short and my Holsteins have about outgrown me. I've always bred these cows and with the robot, I breed a lot of cows on the same level as they are. I realize that they're like way taller than I am, so I need a bucket to stand on. So we are breeding everything to Jerseys, buying Jerseys because it comes down to my size.

Katie Ward:

That's awesome. So how can our listeners find Rocky Point Creamery online?

Emily Snyder:

We're on Facebook, we're on Instagram and we have a website. Every once in a while we'll have an article done about us. So I think if you Google us, you should find everything you want to know.

WHAT DO YOU ADVOCATE FOR IN AG?

Katie Ward:

Awesome. We can link to your website and Facebook on our podcasts website.

So we always like to ask our guests one final question, same question to everyone. And that is what do you advocate for in agriculture? Kind of a big picture question.

Chuck Fry:

You want to go first?

Emily Snyder:

Well, I think we kind of talked about it. It's really important that you get the whole picture of where your food comes from. It's not just the grocery store and we hear that so often. Or like I mentioned, people come here and not realize what's literally right behind the creamery is the dairy farm where it really happens.

So I always try to say, hey, this is all the work that goes into the thing that's on your dinner table. You know, whether it's bread or ice cream or whatever it is. There's a lot that went in to getting product in front of you.

Chuck Fry:

I agree and that's why I wanted you to go first because I didn't want to ruin it. But education, I went to college to educate people. I taught school. I just don't have the patience for all that. So my hats off to school teachers, but everything we do here is about food and education. And the more you become educated, the more you realize why farms exist.

There was a little video somebody sent to me and you know, it was about farming and why we've evolved. What are we 2%, or less than 2% of the population feeding a hundred and some percent because most of our products go overseas. So for us working as hard as we do, it allows everybody else to do what they want, whether it's doctors and lawyers, or educators or loan officers or whatever that may be.

You don't have to worry when you come home at night, whether you're going to get something out of the garden and that's a choice, but most of the time you can drive through the Shake Shack on the way home and get a hamburger shoved out the window and we make that possible.

Katie Ward:

Awesome. Well, I agree. Consumer education is definitely a huge priority and something that all of us in the industry try to do every day. So thank you all for contributing to the food, fuel and fiber. And also ice cream.

Chuck Fry:

The ice cream, I don't care about anything else. All about the ice cream.

Katie Ward:

Yeah. Especially in July. All right. Well again, thank you guys for your time. I know you're super busy, so I appreciate this and hope that everyone else enjoys as well.

"NO ICE CREAM BEFORE DINNER - YOU'LL RUIN YOUR APPETITE!" 

A rule as old as time, use by parents around the world to make their children eat their vegetables or clean their plate before dessert. Although your parents were definitely right, you should always eat your veggies, we also think during the month of July, National Ice Cream Month, you deserve an extra scoop!

You can help support your neighbors by shopping local at mid-atlantic dairies, creameries and markets in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. 

Delaware Ice Cream

THE FROZEN FARMER
9843 Seashore Hwy. | Bridgeville, DE 19933

HOPKINS FARM CREAMERY
18186 Dairy Farm Rd. | Lewes, DE 19958

VANDERWENDE FARM CREAMERY
4003 Seashore Hwy. | Bridgeville, DE 19933*

Maryland Ice Cream

BROOM’S BLOOM DAIRY 
1700 S Fountain Green Rd. | Bel Air, MD 21015

CHESAPEAKE BAY FARMS DAIRY
4111 Whitesburg Rd. | Pocomoke City, MD 21851

DELITEFUL DAIRY
16230 Long Delite Ln. | Williamsport, MD 21795

KEYES CREAMERY 
3712 Aldino Rd. | Aberdeen, MD 21001

MISTY MEADOW FARM CREAMERY
14325 Misty Meadow Rd. | Smithsburg, MD 21783

NICE FARMS CREAMERY
25786 Auction Rd. | Federalsburg, MD 21632

PEACE HOLLOW CREAMERY 
2148 Rohrersville Rd. | Knoxville, MD 21758

PRIGEL FAMILY CREAMERY 
4852 Long Green Rd. | Glen Arm, MD 21057

ROCK HILL ORCHARD AND WOODBOURNE CREAMERY
28600 RIDGE ROAD, MOUNT AIRY, MD 21771

ROCKY POINT CREAMERY 
4323 A Tuscarora Rd. | Tuscarora, MD 21790

Pennsylvania Ice Cream

MERRYMEAD FARM
2222 S. Valley Forge Rd. | Lansdale, PA 19446

KLEIN FARMS DAIRY & CREAMERY
410 Klein Rd. | Easton, PA 18040

PINE VIEW DAIRY
2225 New Danville Pike | Lancaster, PA 17603

WAY-HAR FARM MARKET 
7701 Bernville Rd. | Bernville, PA 19506

Virginia Ice Cream 

MACKINTOSH FRUIT FARM
1608 Russell Rd. | Berryville, VA 22611

MARKER-MILLER ORCHARDS
3035 Cedar Creek Grade | Winchester, VA 22602

West Virginia Ice Cream

ORR’S FARM MARKET 
682 Orr Dr. | Martinsburg, WV 25403

TAYLORS FARM MARKET
178 Pilgrim St. | Inwood, WV 25428

When you’re considering buying a home, looking at your current debt balance can be intimidating. But with the right strategies, you can pay down debt and be poised to purchase a new home in six to 12 months. While we can help you finance a home, land, or an entire farm, you can start to prepare for your next loan with these tips.

Prep Your Existing Home for Sale

If you own a home and need to sell before financing a new property, you’ll have a few items on your to-do list in addition to managing debt. The good news is that the higher your list price, the more funds you’ll have to work with for financing your next home. Even a thorough clean-up can already help get your house in shape for a lucrative sale, so be sure to prioritize the improvements your home needs before the listing date arrives.

Start by making a list of household projects that need attention. Spending a bit of cash up-front can help you clean up your house so that it appraises – and sells – for a higher amount. When you do, consider outsourcing more challenging tasks to professionals, both for your safety and peace of mind. A tree removal service, for example, is better equipped to handle dangerous trees hanging over your property line. Tree removal can cost anywhere from $400 to $2,000, though, so it’s crucial that you check the service provider’s credentials, insurance, certifications, references, and ask for a written estimate.

Start Building Your Credit One Payment at a Time

One crucial factor in your home loan equation is your credit score. A better credit score means more loan options, fewer fees, and even a lower down payment when buying a home. But how can you build your credit while dealing with debt?

Keeping current on your existing debt payments is the best way to increase your credit score. As you pay down balances – even in small increments – you decrease your debt to income ratio and create a more favorable credit profile.

There are plenty of credit tracking apps where you can keep an eye on your score, too. Keep in mind, however, that these apps aren’t always accurate, so the most accurate report comes from one of three credit reporting agencies. The good news is that the federal credit bureaus offer free reports once per year, notes USA.gov.

Start Exploring Home Loan Options

Just because you have debt doesn’t mean you can’t qualify for a mortgage. With our home loan and mortgage services, for instance, you can enjoy competitive and long-term fixed rates. There are also higher debt-to-income limits and lower down payment requirements.

However, if you are still carrying a high level of debt from student loans or other bills, saving cash may be a better strategy than chipping away at your current balance. Having cash in hand means you’re prepared to pay escrow fees, closing costs, and any other incidentals when buying your new home. In many cases, having cash in hand can be more valuable than having a debt-free credit pull.

Strategize, Then Stick with Your Plan

Many financial gurus recommend the “snowball” payment plan for debt. This approach involves paying your smallest balance first, then rolling that fee amount into the payment for the next bigger item, and so on. Experian recommends choosing a strategy and sticking with it, prioritizing a healthy debt-to-income ratio. The right approach for you depends on how your debt stacks up, plus where your ratio currently lies.

One solid tip no matter the payoff approach you take? Avoid opening new accounts or adding charges to credit cards. Stopping the debt cycle takes more than paying off outstanding bills: it involves avoiding running up charges when you’re finally in the clear.

By focusing on paying down debt in small increments and keeping tabs on your credit, you will find yourself a step closer to realizing your dream of buying a home. Have questions about the loan process or your ability to take out a loan? Connect with one of our experts find out whether homeownership is a more achievable goal than you anticipated.

LISTEN TO Sonia'S EPISODE HERE OR FIND US ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST LISTENING APP!

On this episode of the Farm Credit AgVocates Podcast, we interview Global Inclusion and Diversity Strategist, Sonia Aranza, who helps us understand the concept of unconscious bias and how we can use it to invite diversity and inclusion into our farming operations and everyday routine. 

In this episode you'll learn how to recognize your own unconscious biases and shift your mindset to be open to new ideas and tactics that come from the next generation taking over your farm, or the industry connection that you haven't met yet.

Meaghan Malinowski:

Welcome to the Farm Credit AgVocates Podcast. I'm your host, Meaghan Malinowski, Content and Digital Marketing Strategist at Horizon Farm Credit. They say it takes seven seconds to decide how we feel about someone, but how much of that decision comes from logic and reason, maybe not as much as we thought. Today's guest is going to help you think outside the box, by looking inside of yourself. Sonia Aranza is a Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion Strategist. With 25 years of experience, she has worked with huge brand names like Boeing, CIA, Coca-Cola, McDonalds and NASA, just to name a few. She's been featured in HR Magazine and was named one of the top 100 Filipina American women in the United States and in the world. Sonya has spoken for our staff at MAFC on the topic of inclusion and diversity, and I'm honored to have her on the podcast because at the core of her message really helps us reflect on ourselves, our experiences and our thoughts, and how to use them to be more inclusive of diverse perspectives that will help us continue to grow ourselves in every aspect of our life.

Thank you for being here today, Sonia.

Sonia Aranza:

I'm honored to be with you there Meaghan, and your listeners.

Meaghan Malinowski:

So I want to just jump right in and get started. Something that you speak a lot about is the unconscious bias.

AND I WANT TO KIND OF UNPACK THAT PHRASE THERE AND ASK YOU TO EXPLAIN WHAT IS UNCONSCIOUS BIAS AND WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?

Sonia Aranza:

There is a neurology to bias. Our brain has two parts. The first part is called the amygdala and the amygdala is where the unconscious resigns as opposed to the prefrontal cortex where the conscious resides and the body of research tells us that the majority of our biases are unconscious. The majority of our biases are unbeknownst to even to ourselves. So we walk around making decisions littered with unconscious bias.

So what is unconscious bias? It's part of being human. If you are human, and if you have a brain, you have this piece in your brain called the amygdala and the majority of biases reside there. So, it's portable. It is part of the human condition and without deeper awareness as to what your unconscious biases might be. And just the lack of knowledge about this human condition, could many times impact your decisions to produce outcomes that you don't prefer.

Meaghan Malinowski:

That's a lot, that's a lot to unpack. So since it is something that is coming from the unconscious, what might that look like in our day to day activities?

CAN YOU GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE OF A DECISION THAT YOU MAKE THAT MIGHT COME FROM THIS UNCONSCIOUS BIAS?

Sonia Aranza:

Absolutely. So we have a lifetime collection of biases that are unbeknownst even to ourselves that begins from the earliest days of our youth, actually from the time of birth to the time of childhood, all the way up to adulthood. So an example of that would be, your family of origin in your home, who stayed home and cleaned and cook, who went to work. Those early messages are inculcated in your head. And then as you move forward in life schools, the neighborhood, even places of worship, continue to perpetuate those biases. So for example, maybe you're told, that the woman is supposed to be the caretaker, the man is supposed to be the one that goes to work and then, it just goes on and on. And there's actually a body of research that tells us that these things that are inculcated in our head are never erased.

So now how does that show up in our decision making or in our work? Well unconsciously, because we are unaware of these biases. We might say, for example, in our workplace saying, you're trying to manage a farm and the next generation farmer, that really shows interest and enthusiasm might be for example, a millennial female who cares about environment and has, innovative ideas about how to farm, but somewhere in your head, somewhere in there in your unconscious, it could be that in terms of gender, you associate the male as the one who supposed to work, you associate the male as the one who's supposed to take charge of this type of enterprise. So you make a decision often littered with these biases.

Meaghan Malinowski:

I see, so that kind of shines through in the way that you may handle a certain situation or, or move forward with planning. Is that right?

Sonia Aranza:

Let’s just say, a very important point here is all of our decision making is littered with bias. And I want to emphasize that all of it, all of our decision making is littered with biases. The difference is that some have consequences that we prefer and others have consequences that we don't prefer. And sometimes, literally it leads us to consequences that we regret.

Meaghan Malinowski:

I can see that similar to the decisions that you would make in your everyday, kind of work routine. Some are smaller decisions, some are bigger decisions, but each one has a consequence. So that's something that we all have to consider as we go forward with them. And I enjoy your example about transition planning and thinking about that next generation, because according to the 2017 census, the average age of our farmer here in the US is 57 and a half years old. And so many of our customers and their peers are starting to feel the pressure of wanting to retire and hoping that the farm is going to stay within the family and trying to organize all of those pieces. But one of those parts of working with the next generation and navigating some of those generational differences, I think they can be pretty difficult. And that was something I wanted to ask you about also, as far as trying to mitigate these biases with generations that are working together.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST WAY TO NAVIGATE THOSE GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES?

Sonia Aranza:

First of all, before you even try to address that you have to really advance your knowledge about what does diversity, what does inclusion and what does unconscious bias have anything to do with your success? When we talk about diversity, for example, a lot of folks that say, whether you're in farming or, some type of business that is passed down from one family to the other, sometimes we don't really understand the depth and breadth of what diversity is and what does it have to with our success. So diversity is far beyond what people think. Most people think of race or gender, or even generations as we're talking about. It's really a whole lot more than that. Those things are important. What we really want is we want a diversity of thoughts, ideas approach is, and we want increased solutions.  We want greater engagement. We want to avail of all of these different ways of evolving our farm, evolving our business.

 So how do you do that? Well, think of diversity as like a treasure trove that's locked and what unlocks that treasure trove is inclusion. So diversity is just all the ways we're different. It's all the little treasures in the trove; inclusion is the key. It unlocks all of that. Now what gets in the way of inclusion, what gets in the way of inclusion, is unconscious bias. So to your question, you really have to understand it in that school or context first, right? So, say you're a farmer in Maryland, right? And times are changing and so must we, right. If everyone in your organization or in your family thinks the same way, talks the same way, acts the same way, it is not an asset, it's a crippling liability. So how do you prepare for your farm for you and your enterprise to thrive? Well, you need like a diversity of different ways of doing things. Well, how do you really get the best out of these diverse spots and ideas? Well, you have to be inclusive of them, for example, inclusive of different generational thoughts, but also inclusive of different backgrounds and all these things, then knowing all of that, and you understand that what gets in the way is unconscious bias. Then you can confront your bias and the different ways that you can do that.  

Meaghan Malinowski:

What I was listening to you say, it almost sounded like you want us to think about pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone a little bit, and think about a different ways that we can be more inclusive of those diverse thoughts and diverse perspectives.

Does that sound right?

Sonia Aranza:

Actually, it's a little bit more introspective than that. It's really about self-inquiry. It's really about asking ourselves, given where I was born, given where I was raised different, what I know now, what don't, I know. I know what are some of the things that I need to advance my understanding about? So it's a very internal process. Yes. Quote unquote, you can push yourself, but you have to know why. Right, so for example, invite diversity of thought or, seeking people who make you see things differently.

Are you doing that? You're doing that because you want to advance your thinking. You want to be more inclusive. You want to address those things that you don't know.

Meaghan Malinowski:

So before we can adequately address those, we have to become curious about the things that we don't know and maybe how we can grow from having that knowledge.

Sonia Aranza:

I love that. Yes, yes. Yes. I always tell people, curiosity is a fantastic way to advance your understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion. Curiosity is a fantastic point of entry in expanding how you think. So I'll give you an example of that.

 Let's say you're a farmer and you are having a conversation with a generation Z, a generation Z, someone who's born a 1997, so they're like around 22 years old. Or if you're having conversation with millennials who are a little older. The human tendency, your brain is going to want to go on defense. Your brain is going to want to just not really listen, but to confirm what you already want and what you already know. So the way you do that is, first of all, you pause and then you basically tell yourself, Hmm, let's just be curious about this person's perspective. I don't have to adopt it, but let me just be curious. And in that curiosity, you begin to expand your thinking.

Meaghan Malinowski:

It sounds like a big part of, of going through this process with yourself is really also about becoming a good listener.

Sonia Aranza:

Yes, absolutely. Being a good listener and be a generous listener.

Meaghan Malinowski:

I like that word. I like generous.

Sonia Aranza:

Yes. Because, we're all told to listen, but we don't listen generously. So what does listening generously mean? Say for example, you're at a fundraiser or something and somebody is selling candy. So you dig into your pocket and you take out a buck or whatever it costs. Generously would be opening your wallet and taking out a 20. Okay. It's above and beyond. What's familiar and comfortable to you. So this same thing would listening generously. Right? So I don't know much about, say for example, certain types of technology that has to do with the next generation of farmers. I go know much about people of different backgrounds who love farming, but they speak English as a second language. So listening generously is just really listening above and beyond what I normally do above and beyond what’s comfortable to me.

Meaghan Malinowski:

Now that we've kind of explored what it means to really be curious about what we don't know and what kinds of perspectives could really give us a different viewpoint on any of these topics that we're looking at as far as transition planning. I'd also like to think about and talk to you a little bit more about working with employees that may speak a different language. So language is kind of a big barrier for some of our customers. Many of them use the H-2A Visa program and we have guest’s workers that come from other countries to help with harvest and things like that. And I think it's something that as you go through it over time,  you pick up on some of the language a little bit, but I know that that can be a huge barrier to communicating with the people that you want to hire to help work on your farm.

 So what, what kinds of things would you suggest for some of our customers that have to deal with that kind of barrier? How can they better understand these employees and communicate with them?

Sonia Aranza:

So first and foremost, check in with your own unconscious biases regarding people who don't speak English. So when we talk about language, when we talk about accent, these are some of the dimensions of difference. Meaning, I talk about how diversity, all these things that make us unique and complex. Well, the language is one of them. And so the reason why I say check in first with your unconscious biases is because the research tells us, we do have biases again, languages. So for example, there's a body of research that tells us that there are certain accents and we prefer, so they had this research where people who spoke with a British accent were perceived to be brighter. And in that particular instance, the person who spoke with a British accent did not know the answer, but just sounded like he did.

And then there are all these other types of accents and languages. And if you can just think about for yourself, what are some of the accents that you like? Don't like, what are some of the narratives you create about people who don't speak English the way you do, because it's really where you start, okay. Because if you don't get to the root first and foremost of your biases, it's really going to impact how you communicate. It will impact the attitude that you bring, it will impact the way you interact with the person. So just check in with yourself first. Second, I think empathy is really critical. So for example, have you ever had to adopt a second language as though your life depended on it? Just try to imagine that put yourself in the other person's shoes, imagine if you were taken away from where you are and you had to go make a living and fend for your family and you were living in a modern world that did not speak English, you had to like adopt this new language, whatever the new language might be.

Just try to put yourself in that situation and just imagine how you would want others to treat you, right. If you were there eager, willing to do a job, and you're trying to communicate as best as you can in a language that you don't know. So that's important, right? And then third, let me just put it this way. There's more than one way of communication. If you just think of times when you've had to travel to another part of the world where you did not know how to speak that language. And let's say, for example, got a little lost and you're trying to find your way back to your hotel. Or even if let's say, for example, you're doing your tourist activity and all of a sudden you're not with your group. So you have to find a way at that point to engage, even though you don't know the language so that you can get back to your hotel or get back to your group. Well, I share that because there's more than one way of communicating. And so a person that you're trying to interact with, they don't necessarily speak your language. But if you have taken care of points one and two, which is number one, take care of check in with your bias, number two, heighten your empathy. By the time we get to communicate, it does become easier and they can see your integrity, your heart. And just like in the example, I'm giving you, they'll be able to communicate with you above and beyond language, above and beyond words.

 Now, I've also worked with companies where things that are used a lot in their line of work, like let's say, for example, in your farm, if there are certain tools or certain jobs, certain things that you think you'll be using on a regular basis, you could even kind of put that on a chart. You can even try to get sort of like a working knowledge of words so that it works both ways.

Meaghan Malinowski:

And I think that shows empathy too, when you make the effort to learn some of that language as well, some of that working vocabulary, it's like extending your hand for a handshake. You're trying to put in some of that work to really be able to bridge that gap. And I do think a lot of our members do that. A lot of our farmers are already thinking about that and trying to get to that point. But I do think you're absolutely right about being empathetic. I don't think I ever thought about it that way before, but thinking about what that must feel like to come from your home, where you are comfortable and having to start working somewhere new to support your family, it could be kind of scary for somebody. So I love these steps because they're all things that we can do very easily. And it might take some time, but I don't think it takes much more than that. And just being open to really connecting with somebody and making that effort. So thank you for, for those steps. That's very helpful.

So one other point that I wanted to kind of touch on too, because many of our customers and farmers, they may work alone. They may work with that select group of people, like we talked about. And many times it's family members or, a partner. But it can be hard to visualize the difference that diversity and inclusion can take when you're working kind of as an individual. And I guess I wanted to kind of pick your brain on what the importance is of making sure that you look for diversity in the perspectives and maybe some of the people that we contact for other services.

Sometimes our farmers they'll sign up for crop insurance. So they have a crop insurance agent, or maybe they have an accountant that they've worked with for a long time. And there's nothing wrong with that, but we want to make sure that we're thinking about what diversity and inclusion looks like for people that kind of have that small group network that they've always had.

Sonia Aranza:

So as an individual, just think of the power of diversity and inclusion. So as an individual, diversity of thought, diversity of perspective, diversity of solutions, diversity of technology. Diversity is very powerful. Even if you're by yourself, diversity means going above and beyond what you already think. So at some point we feel like we have progress, like whatever we learned in elementary school, we added on top of that high school. And then as we live our life, we acquire information here and there, just think of it as your own evolution, as a human being, like you're working solo as a farmer. Wouldn't you want to explore above and beyond what you already know.

Einstein, I think who says that, uh, if you keep on doing what you're doing and expecting different results, that's insanity. So just on a very personal level, you want to be able to value diversity, right? Read books that you normally don't read; talk people, you normally don't talk to; watch documentaries you normally don't watch; expand your thinking as a farmer; and explore the unimaginable, because things are always changing.

There's a term I want to talk about very briefly. It's actually a military term and it's called VUCA-

VUCA, this term stands for: V is for volatility; U is for is uncertainty; C is for complexity; A is for ambiguity. So military term VUCA, it describes the landscape upon which military men and women have to go and engage. So what's fascinating about that term is that business analysts and all sorts of academicians are now using that term to describe the current environment that we all have to show up it, including farmers, right? Things are volatile. Things are uncertain, things are complex. Things are ambiguous. Wouldn’t diversity of thoughts and ideas, approaches innovation. Wouldn't that be of use to you in this type of environment? Yes!

Meaghan Malinowski:

That's a new term for me. I had never, I'd never heard of that one, but I've been trying to think of ways that our members and farmers can apply this. And I, I'm glad that you touched on reading new things and looking for information and new places, maybe and organizations.  I think also because in agriculture, there are huge amount of different organizations that might work with certain commodities, or maybe marketing organizations that help put together campaigns that to help some of these producers advertise for their products and things like that. So I think there are plenty of opportunities with wanting to do this, even if you are just working by yourself or with these smaller groups. And as you talk about VUCA and what some of those pieces kind of add into, I almost feel like this, making sure that we're taking care of our unconscious bias and recognizing it, really helps us grow ourselves, which I think in turn will end up growing these farms and growing these operations to a point where they're very resilient for the long run.

Sonia Aranza:

I always tell people this don't make it more complicated than it is. It's really pretty simple diversity - all the ways in which we're different, all the ways where, in which we're similar. Diversity - the unique characteristics and complexities of ourselves, right? We need that in terms of greater innovation, increased solution, greater financial success. Really. We need that, but to avail that we need to be inclusive, right? So we can just have diversity. You have to be inclusive of diversity. And then what gets in the way unconscious bias, this human condition we have, because we have this brain. So you have to confront the bias because it's very portable. Wherever you go, you take your brain with you. So it's always there. So how do you go above and beyond what you're used to, you advance your thinking, you seek those who make you see things differently. And even like for ourselves, because we're creatures of habit, we usually just keep doing the same thing or going to the same people or reading the same things, um, do something different.

Meaghan Malinowski:

Right? So then change your routine a little.

Sonia Aranza:

That's exactly right. Change your routine or read books you normally don't read. And if you don't like reading books, then watch documentaries, you normally don't watch. Or if you like, you're the type of person who likes to talk to people. Well, next time you go to a coffee shop, even virtually, or just down the street, strike a conversation with someone that you normally don't. The whole idea is to just keep advancing your knowledge in ways that disrupt your usual habits of thinking.

Meaghan Malinowski:

I think this point that you're making now is the reason why I was bringing up pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. I think for me personally, I can get very comfortable, kind of keeping to myself most days. So I think that's why I was thinking of this in terms of a comfort zone or a comfort level, because I enjoy talking to other people, but I also get very, very comfortable in my routine and doing the same things each and every day. So I think that's a great suggestion of changing up the routine a little bit, even if it feels different and maybe a little uncomfortable because we are creatures of habit, like you said.

Sonia Aranza:

Yeah. And just connect it to the WHY. Why do you want to do this? You want to do this because you want to evolve. You want to advance your thinking. I want to get out of my comfort zone. Why, not just for the heck of getting out of my comfort zone. I want to do it because as a person who's still alive, I have the opportunity to learn more.  

Meaghan Malinowski:

Exactly! So I had one other point that I wanted to touch on too. And I think we, we probably already covered it, but I want to make sure that we have all the steps. So, one of the things that you talk a lot about is how we can mitigate that unconscious bias and making sure that we're taking the time to really examine it and come away from that.

SO IF YOU HAD TO PUT SOME STEPS AROUND IT, WHAT STEPS CAN WE TAKE TO MITIGATE THAT UNCONSCIOUS BIAS IN OUR DAY TO DAY?

Sonia Aranza:

Pause is probably one of the most important, seemingly simple, but hard to do - so pause. So what we know about the brain about the amygdala, which is where the unconscious bias resides, what we know is that it takes only three seconds for that part of the brain to calm down. If it doesn't come down, it's going to just act on the bias. It's just going to go ahead and run with it. So probably one of the easiest things you can do, but as I said, hard to do, cause you have to practice it, is to pause. So 3 second.  I grew up in Hawaii, so I always counted to 3 Honolulu - 1 Honolulu; 2 Honolulu; 3 Honolulu, others they like “Mississippi.” But the point is that before you make a decision or before you say anything, because that bias is so alive, take a pause, take a pause.  And what happens when you pause is that even though the bias doesn't go away, you don't have to act on it. So the pause is so very powerful.

 And then another one that I would suggest is, self-observation. So often we just walk around where we don't even observe ourselves because we're so focused on other people and focus on our rebuttal. And so when you observe yourself, one of the things that you'll notice, if you do it over and over again, just kind of like, Hmm, what am I thinking? You'll notice that you easily create narratives about people and about situations. So for example, say I'm working on my phone with somebody who speak English as a second language. So if I don't pause number one, I'm going to act on my bias. But then if I don't observe myself, I don't notice the narrative that I'm creating about this person. And it gets in the way of me communicating with the person.

Then I would always advise to seek those who make you see things differently because the more you see things differently, the easier it will be for you to do what I told you the first time, which is to pause. Maybe I don't know everything or maybe I am pretty curious, how this person would do it.  So those are some of the steps.

I grew up and raised by two school teachers, God blessed them, they pass away, but my parents were lifelong learners and I believe in lifelong learning. So get to know things. You normally don't know, people, places, things books, documentaries events, just go beyond what you're familiar and comfortable with.

Meaghan Malinowski:

Absolutely. Always be continuing to learn. Love that.

We usually have a sign off question that we ask for people that work pretty deeply in agriculture, but I'm going to change it up a little bit for yours, because I think it's very important to understand where you're coming from on the diversity and inclusion aspect. And you're very clearly an advocate for everyone in the room having an equal voice and taking time to understand themselves before they approach a situation. So I won't ask my usual advocacy question,

BUT WHEN YOU TRAVEL TO COMPANIES AND TEACH THEM ABOUT THIS SUBJECT, WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT YOU HOPE YOUR AUDIENCE WALKS AWAY WITH?

Sonia Aranza:

I always say when it comes to diversity inclusion, the ability to engage effectively in a diverse environment is about your leadership. So diversity and inclusion is all about your ability. It's all about your leadership, your ability to engage effectively in a diverse environment. So it always goes back to you. How effective do you want to be? How effective do you want to be in a VUCA world? That's it that's always volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. If your leader interested in being effective, then you will value diversity and inclusion because that's part of leadership. And that's part of being able to not just survive, but thrive in a VUCA environment.

Meaghan Malinowski:

I love that. I think that’s a great spot for us to end with.  I'm feeling inspired. I think I need to go and do a little bit more seeking out diverse perspectives and making sure that I am pushing myself outside of my comfort zone and getting out of my routine and to learn something new. I think that's what I am gathering from all of this. And I appreciate you unpacking this for us because I think it’s a big topic and it's not one that we could really give the most to in 45 minutes. But I think it's a great start. And I think you did an excellent job explaining this to people who are starting to explore this idea. So thank you so much. We appreciate your time.

Sonia Aranza:

I would like to offer people some free articles that they would like to read to advance their knowledge.

Meaghan Malinowski:

Absolutely. That’s one of our questions as well is where can our audience find you? And what kinds of services are you offering out to help tackle this question?

Sonia Aranza:

I would love to share some free articles that are quick reads that will help you deepen your understanding of this. And when I say quick reads, I think each one is probably like a three minute, no more than five minute read. If you go on LinkedIn, and if you put in Sonia Aranza, and if you LinkedIn with me, you can read these articles for free. I have three articles there that I think you will not only learn a lot about, but I think you'll enjoy. One is on the whole idea of non-experiences. Our one life cannot possibly contain the lives of others. Another one is on exclusion, exclusion, literally about neuroscience research about the brain. And then another one is actually a feature on HR magazine about the role of leadership in diversity. Those are free articles and free resources for you. You can also go on my website, SoniaAranza.com.

Meaghan Malinowski:

Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing these. I'm excited to go. I'm going to go on there and read them now. They weren't topics that we covered today. So I need to catch up on those

Sonia Aranza:

Meaghan, thank you so much for a wonderful interview.  

Meaghan Malinowski:

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe and share with a friend. You can get all of the podcast notes and subscribe to email alerts at MAFC.com/podcast.  Thanks again, and keep on advocating for what you believe in.

Farm Credit announced the distribution of $17 million in cash to its members this month. This is in addition to the more than $10 million that the Association distributed in February.

“During these uncertain times in our industry, I am even more proud of our cooperative structure that allows us to share our profits with our borrowers,” says Tom Truitt, CEO of Horizon Farm Credit. “This spring patronage distribution, in addition to the record-breaking $40 million distributed in 2019, is a testament to the financial strength of our Association, which is crucial to our membership as we help them navigate the various challenges they are facing as a result of this pandemic.”

Horizon Farm Credit, part of the national Farm Credit System, serves customers in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. As a cooperative, associations within the System can share a portion of their annual profits with their borrower-members.

Each association calculates its total income and expenses at the close of each year. The net income remaining, once all expenses are deducted, can then be distributed in accordance with the association’s bylaws.