Hey students! The Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement is giving away ten $10,000 scholarships again this year. Planning to pursue a career in ag? You’re eligible! The application will go live on September 29th, so to help you prepare your video, we’ve put together the following tips. Good luck!

1. Thoroughly read specifics.We cannot stress enough the importance of taking the time to thoroughly read the application requirements when applying for any scholarship. You should be aware that the guidelines for a video contest are usually very specific (for example – video file, file size restrictions, etc.). The video you create for our scholarship cannot exceed three minutes and can be put on Vimeo, Youtube, etc. If you get familiar with the specifics at the beginning, organizing your video and entire scholarship application, will be easier.
2. Brainstorm – Take your time, be creative. Begin thinking of a powerful theme that will strongly connect with the viewers. You do not want your viewer checking out halfway through the video. Have a clean, crisp and eye-catching opening. If you can captivate your audience within the first few seconds, you’re well on your way to a winning entry.
3. Location is Key. Where you decide to film your video is important. You shouldn’t film somewhere where there is a lot of extra “fluff” in the background (cars, animals, vibrant colored buildings, etc.) Choose a plain background, or a wide open space outside. Keep it interesting, but not distracting. You don’t want to steer the audience away from the real focus: yourself! Make sure the lighting is great – not too dark and not too light. If you have access to a good camera and lighting equipment, take advantage of that to ensure you will get the best quality.
4. Finalize your script – Practice, practice, practice. Do not start recording yourself until you are confident that this is exactly how you want to go about doing your video submission. If you find something flawed, fix it! Ask friends, family and teachers for suggestions or edits on your script. After your script is finalized, run through it a few times to get comfortable saying it, so when you go to do the real recording, you look confident. Record yourself a few times so you can compare and get the best video possible. Do not wait until the last minute to organize and finalize your script. Manage your time wisely.
5. Submit and good luck! Once you have selected the video that is scholarship-worthy, go back, double check, triple check, and make sure you have followed all of the rules and included everything that was required. Do not submit your work until you are 100% confident with the quality.

The Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement is here to support all who work in agriculture. Follow along with us on Facebook to learn more about the #OtherSideofAg!

Horizon Farm Credit recently announced the promotion of Matt Ritenour to regional lending manager. He is based in the association’s Winchester, Virginia office.

“Throughout my career with Farm Credit, I’ve been able to work with our customers in a variety of ways, and I’m looking forward to continuing to do so in this new position,” says Ritenour. “I strive for our employees to keep adding value to relationships with our members and the diverse rural community we serve. I look forward to the encouraging times ahead in agriculture, and the opportunities to build partnerships within our footprint.”

Prior to becoming the regional lending manager, Ritenour was a crop insurance sales representative with Farm Credit for four years, and previously worked in the association’s marketing and credit departments. In his new role, he will be overseeing the sales staff in the association’s Virginia and West Virginia offices, working with them to ensure all sales and training goals are accomplished, and each customer’s financial needs are met.

“Matt’s years of experience with Farm Credit and knowledge of Virginia and West Virginia agriculture have prepared him for the position of regional lending manager,” says Jim Aird, Farm Credit’s PennMarVa Division Vice President. “We’re happy to have him in this new role, and look forward to having him help our customers find the right financial solutions for themselves, their business, and their families.”

Ritenour, a resident of Frederick County, Virginia, began his career with Farm Credit in 2003. He graduated from Morehead State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing.

Mark Schnebly, Senior Vice President and Loan Operations Manager for Horizon Farm Credit, was honored for his completion of the Leadership Maryland program during their graduation ceremony on December 4, hosted at the Lord Baltimore Hotel. Schnebly was one of 50 selected to complete the eight-month professional development program, dedicated to building a better Maryland.

“Leadership Maryland allowed myself and the class of 2018 to harness the strength of our diverse skill sets and work together to build our local businesses and communities,” says Schnebly. “We learned about our state, the critical issues it faces, and above all, about ourselves during the eight-month program.”

The Leadership Maryland program is open to senior-level executives with significant achievements in either their careers and/or their communities. Ideal Leadership Maryland members have a desire to learn more about Maryland’s most critical issues and a personal commitment to be a force for positive change in their organizations, their communities, and their state.

“We are very proud to have another Farm Credit employee complete the prestigious Leadership Maryland program,” says Tom Truitt, CEO of Horizon Farm Credit and a graduate of the 2012 Leadership Maryland class. “It is a unique opportunity to dive deeper into the issues the state is facing, and we are excited Mark was able to take part in the program this year.”

Horizon Farm Credit announced the hiring of Hannah Masser as a loan officer trainee. She will be based out of the association’s Lancaster, Pennsylvania office.

As a loan officer trainee, Masser will report directly to Bill Kitsch, sales manager for Horizon Farm Credit, and will focus on working with existing customers while expanding the company’s footprint in the Lancaster region. “Hannah will bring a lot to this position and we are excited to have her join the team,” says Kitsch.

“I feel Farm Credit will be a natural fit for me because it combines my passion for agriculture and my interest in business,” says Masser. “I’m looking forward to working with the customers and applying the skills I have learned through school and other experiences to my career.”

Masser recently graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with a degree in agricultural business management. During college, she served as a chair for the collegiate Future Farmers of America (FFA) organization and worked with Big Brother, Big Sisters. When she can, Masser works on her family’s produce farm in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.

*THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 2018 AND HAS BEEN UPDATED FOR 2020 TO REFLECT THE CHANGE FROM DAIRY LIVESTOCK GROSS MARGIN TO DAIRY REVENUE PROTECTION.*

No two farm operations are the same. That’s why we customize your loan to suit your needs. We also understand that each operation also comes with its own risks and rewards, and we respect that, which is why we offer crop insurance. Managing your risk today means taking control of your future, because when it comes to crop damage, no one likes surprises.

Before we can discuss the different kinds of crop insurance policies, let’s start with the basics, and answer some frequently asked questions about crop insurance coverage.

WHAT IS CROP INSURANCE AND WHAT DOES CROP INSURANCE COVER?

Crop insurance is a risk management tool that is federally supported and regulated. It is serviced by private-sector crop insurance companies and crop insurance agents.

Crop insurance protects against the loss of crops due to natural disasters, like drought, freezes, floods, fire, insects, disease and wildlife, or the loss of revenue due to a decline in price.

In other words, crop insurance minimizes risk from elements outside of your control.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR CROP INSURANCE?

If you produce an agricultural commodity such as corn or soybeans, you are eligible to purchase crop insurance.  Some insurable crops may not have a specific policy available in your area, but it may be possible that coverage can be obtained through a Written Agreement or under another type of policy, such as the Whole Farm Revenue Policy (WFRP).  If you are unsure whether a crop is insurable in your area, contact a crop insurance agent.  The Farm Service Agency also offers some limited coverage for non-insurable crops through the NAP program.

WHAT TYPES OF CROP INSURANCE ARE AVAILABLE?

YIELD PROTECTION (YP)

Yield protection crop insurance provides comprehensive protection against weather-related causes of loss and certain other unavoidable perils. YP provides late planting, prevented planting and replant protection.  Basic CAT (Catastrophic) policies do not provide coverage for replant.

REVENUE PROTECTION (RP)

Revenue protection crop insurance provides comprehensive protection that covers weather-related losses, other certain unavoidable causes of loss and price fluctuations. RP is similar to YP, except it provides the addition of price protection.

ADDITIONAL CROP INSURANCE COVERAGES AVAILABLE

• Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP)
• Livestock Risk Protection (LRP)
• Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP)
• Pasture, Rangeland & Forage (PRF)
• Hail/Fire Policies
• Coverage for field crops such as corn, soybeans and milo, organic crops, orchards, nurseries, processing and/or fresh market vegetables, tobacco, grapes, wheat/barley, etc.

IMPORTANT CROP INSURANCE TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Sales Closing Date – This is a specified date on file in your agent’s office. Sales closing dates are intended to be early enough that neither party to the insurance contract has knowledge of the crop’s production prospects for that year.

For policies continuing from last year, the sales closing date is the last opportunity to make changes (like coverage level or price election) to your contract for the upcoming year.

Production Reporting – To keep your actual production history (APH) up to date, you must certify each year your total production harvested. Production reports are due 45 days after the sales closing date for the crops insured on your policy.

Final Planting Date – This is the latest date a crop can be planted in the area and qualify for the full insurance guarantee. Acreage planted after this date may still be insurable, but at a guarantee that has been reduced to reflect the shorter expected growing season.

Acreage Reporting – After the crop is planted, insured producers must file an acreage report to certify the number of acres planted, the farming practice (example: irrigated, non-irrigated, etc.) and any other information required to insure that crop in that area.

Cancellation – Crop insurance policies are continuous policies, meaning they’ll continue from year to year unless you cancel them before the sales closing dates for the crops you have insured.

Claims – A claim should be filed on your policy as soon as you feel there may be a loss to your crop. Do not destroy any acreage until you’ve spoken with your crop insurance agent.

Subsidies –

CAT = Catastrophic insurance

Premiums – They are the same for all insurance providers and are usually due around the time that the crop is harvested.

WHO PAYS FOR CROP INSURANCE?

Congress created and provides funding for the modern-day crop insurance system as a way to help farmers manage the risks of natural disasters and market fluctuations.  The Federal Crop Insurance Corp. and Risk Management Agency set program standards, approve new products, set premium rates, and discount farmer premiums.  Even though the premiums for crop insurance are subsidized, the farmer still pays a large portion of the premium out of his own pocket, along with shouldering an average deductible of about 25-30% of his crop.

WHY DO I NEED CROP INSURANCE?

Using crop insurance as a risk management tool puts a safety net under your cash income. In times of low production or damaging weather, crop insurance enables you and your operation to meet your financial obligations – both business and personal, and helps to ensure the survival of your farm business.

HOW DO I SIGN UP FOR CROP INSURANCE?

In addition to being full-time crop insurance agents, our staff members are trained to act as advisors on your team. Give us a call and ask to speak to a crop insurance agent today – they’ll review the ins and outs of your operation, educate you on the products that are available in your area, and help you choose the level of coverage that fits your needs. Once you sign up, they’ll even keep you on track with sales closing dates, reporting needs and other deadlines.

You can find other resources on crop insurance through the USDA Risk Management Agency, including policies, registered agents, and more!

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

On this episode of the Farm Credit AgVocates Podcast, we interview Darlene Livingston, Executive Director for Pennsylvania Farm Link about farm succession planning. Darlene will share with us her own farm transition story and her experience as a Certified Succession Coordinator with the International Farm Transition Network.

In this episode you’ll learn why farm transition planning is important, lessons learned from farm transition mistakes and useful tools to start your farm transition.

Johanna Rohrer:

Welcome to the Farm Credit AgVocates podcast. I'm your host Johanna Rohrer, Marketing Specialist at Horizon Farm Credit. Today’s guest Is Darlene Livingston, Executive Director with Pennsylvania Farm Link. She is responsible for the daily management of the nonprofit organization, where they have reached over a thousand participants with hands-on farm succession workshops. She serves as an expert in farm transition planning resources and is a Certified Succession Coordinator with the International Farm Transition Network. Darlene isn't a stranger to Pennsylvania agriculture. She also is a fourth generation family farm partner at Mahoning Creek Farm, where they operate a diversified livestock and crop farm in Indiana County. One of their goals is to include the fifth generation in the future of their family farm. I'm pleased to welcome Darlene to the podcast.

Hi Darlene.

Darlene Livingston:

Hi, Johanna. Glad to be here.

Johanna Rohrer:

Thanks for joining us.

I WANT TO JUST START OUT JUST WITH AN INTRODUCTORY QUESTION TO ASK YOU ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL AND YOUR PROFESSIONAL CONNECTION TO AGRICULTURE.

Darlene Livingston:

Sure. As you said, I was born and raised on a livestock and crops farm. I worked beside my parents and grandparents on that farm. I graduated from Penn State with a degree in Horticulture that I'm still waiting to use more of it. My husband Bob, our children and I spent 20 years on South Branch Angus Farms in York County, where my husband managed the farm. We were active in forage programs and owned our own farmette in York County. Then, in 2013, we transitioned back to my family's farm in Indiana County when my dad was 80. So I like to say we did it wrong, but we did it.

The farm should have been transitioned earlier, but we did talk with our children. They were interested in being the next generation on the farm. And therefore, I felt we became the bridge between my father's generation and our next generation, and came back to the farm.

I currently serve as the President of the Indiana County Farmer's Market. And I'm also involved in the Indiana County Sustainability Task Force, which is important to me to be involved in local activities. I began working for Farm Link in 2009 and quickly became involved in succession and transition planning work, as I realized how important that was to all farms, not only those in Pennsylvania. That's where our next generation gets an opportunity to farm, is when the farm lands are transitioned and provide that opportunity, whether they're family members or outside the family, that's where our opportunities come from.

And I've been active in the International Farm Transition at work. We had held two farm succession coordinator trainings in Pennsylvania, which I coordinated.  I currently serve on the board of directors and through this process, I've been able to work side by side with Ag professionals from across the United States and learn from them about farm transition techniques. So I have a great opportunity to work with Ag.

Johanna Rohrer:

I think what's so unique about your experiences that you're not only helping other farm families to go through farm transitions, you're also definitely an expert in helping to facilitate with some resources through that process. Also, you’re living that transition as well in your own life with your family, I think kind of takes the experience to the next level. It makes it more real and more authentic. I know I've had the privilege of meeting your children through 4-H and various events and experiences in the agricultural industry over the years. It’s definitely neat to see how your family operation has evolved, because it's definitely been a journey like you were sharing with us earlier.

FOR THOSE LISTENING, WHO AREN'T FAMILIAR WITH PENNSYLVANIA FARM LINK, COULD YOU HELP DEFINE THE ROLE THE ORGANIZATION PLAYS IN SUPPORTING THE TRANSITION OF FARM OPERATIONS FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT?

Darlene Livingston:

Sure, I always feel that we have three facets that we work within and the first one is farm transition education and facilitation. We carry out educational programs, utilizing high quality Ag professionals sharing their expertise, and we also facilitate individual farm family meetings. If families need that, we direct them to the correct professionals to assist them. One of our other areas is the database we have of entering farmers seeking land and also land owners seeking to lease or sell their farm land, and those opportunities are there and we work to connect the people. And I will say for beginning farmers, one of the biggest challenges in the database is if they're willing to move or relocate, because many times there may be an opportunity, but it might not be right where they're currently at. So that makes a difference, it just depends where the people are at. And then also consulting. We often find ourselves talking to someone about next steps, if they are a beginning farmer or those looking to get into farming, we often get calls from people like that and also some senior generation farmers. And what we try to do is discern where they're at and then give them the appropriate next steps and direct them to organizations or resources that can help them in their journey.

Johanna Rohrer:

It's neat that you're talking about helping to make connections. It could be connections with particular resources for your farm transition and succession planning, or it could be bridging the gap with “hey, this is a really great industry expert that could help you from a technical standpoint to make that transition.”  Also, just from the facilitation standpoint, when I think about my experience with farm families, a lot of times the emotion is a big component for a farm family and sometimes the emotion, and the transfer of business plans or business decisions, can be sometimes really difficult to go through. So I can see why it's so important to have that kind of third-party perspective of bringing not only a connection of resources, but also that expertise to kind of just help that process move along.

HOW MANY FARM TRANSITION OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU THINK PENNSYLVANIA FARM LINK HAS HELPED TRANSFER IN THE LIFETIME OF THE PROGRAM?

Darlene Livingston:

Ones that I can count, I would say there are about 20. Now those that would have developed a succession plan, the others, I would say we have had about 1,200 people now through our succession workshops. And I'm sure just from speaking to them outside of meetings that many of those have moved forward on their own and with other Ag professionals, and that's great. Our goal is just to see the plans take place, whether we're helping them or whether we are the conductor that started the process and they then move forward on their own.

Johanna Rohrer:

I think that's a good point to bring up because everybody navigates from succession planning a little bit differently, and every operation has its unique opportunity to transition from one generation to the next. Every family is different. So there's different dynamics that play into those spaces and there's a variety of resources, like you said, that folks can look for and it is very helpful to help make some of those connections from a resource standpoint.

Over your time working in the program, what has been the biggest lesson you've taken away from your experience assisting as a farm transition facilitator? I'm just thinking, what do you wish farmers would be considering during that beginning stage process of farm transitioning?

Darlene Livingston:

The one thing that I would like everyone to keep in mind, and I think it's important to keep in mind is you cannot start too early, but you can start too late. The next generation cannot wait until you are ready normally to transition. Most farmers when they're ready to transition to the current generation on the farm is when they can't move anymore. It really happened to us when they can no longer do it on their own, then they're ready to start talking transition, but that's not good for the next generation. That's not an appropriate timing. The next generation needs to be working on this ahead of that. This all needs to be started, the earlier the better. In many times I will even advise young families, if your family will not talk about this, if you don't see room for yourself there, you need to look at other opportunities outside of your family farm, because it's not fair to ask a young family or young individuals to wait till I'm ready, when I'm 70 or 80 to turn over the farm. That's not fair because then they've lived half their life just waiting on an opportunity and we can't ask them to do that. And I have seen that mistake made and have people ask me when it's time to start. My heart would break because the answer is, well, you lost your opportunity. Your family member has moved across the country or whatever. They're not going to come back now. They were here to do that and they didn't see the opportunity. It’s a tough thing for the operating generation to do, but it's very important to start early.

Johanna Rohrer:

It is, and I think sometimes the older generation might not always see the perspective of the younger generation and vice versa. So it’s one of those conversations that I think evolves with time, but I tend to agree with you. It's a tough conversation sometimes to have, but when young people in agriculture see opportunity, it's important that they're able to capitalize on that experience and move forward with some of their goals.

SO AS FARM FAMILIES ARE GOING THROUGH TRANSITION, ARE THERE ANY SPECIFIC TOOLS THAT YOU WOULD ENCOURAGE THEM TO CONSIDER DURING THIS TIME OF TRANSITION?

Darlene Livingston:

Yes, as far as tools, we actually have a workbook called “Planning the Future of Your Farm.”  It's available on our website and we have hard copies. But what I found is that to be a good tool because farmers use it. There's worksheets in it for families to work through together and it often can help lead the conversation. And also “Farm Family Communications,” a workbook and online resource. There’s various quizzes in there that I've found very useful. We've used them in our own family and proved them to be a benefit. And also the other item I think is so important is to have qualified Ag professionals to assist them in whoever they are that “H” farm will have a different set of people. As you've mentioned, each farm transition is different and has its own unique entity, but make sure you have your qualified Ag professionals who understand agriculture.

Johanna Rohrer:

That I think is one of the key takeaways. As we are building networks around farm families and seeing those resource networks be created, it is really important to keep in the back of your mind when you are a farmer to reach out to people that have specific agricultural experience. That becomes very useful, whether it's from a legal standpoint or an accounting standpoint or a finance standpoint, there's all of these buckets of people that can help you bring resources or perspective that maybe you're not thinking about yourself. And then also to make sure you're reaching out to mentors or maybe other farm families that have gone through the transition to see and to hear their stories of what's worked for them.  I know that I've seen a lot of younger farm families reach out to neighboring farm families that are going through transition, and it's just a conversation of being able to learn from each other. And I think sometimes just that common takeaway is an important reminder for us not to overlook.

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS A COMMON MISTAKE OR SOMETHING THAT YOU SEE PEOPLE KIND OF DO WRONG THROUGH FARM TRANSITIONS?

I know we talked about starting a little bit too late in the process, but is there anything in particular that you feel like you've seen in your role of this as something that has really gone wrong in a process in the farm transition process?

Darlene Livingston:

Yes, there's a few things. One thing I will mention here is that the farm is not a pie. It's not something that can often be divided equally. Those are probably the most challenging calls I get and usually it happens in an estate plan. Those are the most challenging ones because it's very hard to keep that farm as an operating farm often when that happens. So don't be afraid to make the tough decisions, but make time to complete the necessary tasks. It's awfully easy on a farm to think about the everyday work that needs done on the farm, but not take time for transition planning. Communicating about the transition is always a challenge in farms. I don't think anyone can ever communicate too much, willingness to be honest and make the tough decisions. And those would be include the fair versus equal and things like that. So those would be some of the challenges that I see, some of the larger ones.

Johanna Rohrer:

Again, to kind of go back to what we talked about a little bit earlier. Farm transition planning is emotional because it involves family and business. And sometimes when you tie those two pieces together, you're exactly right, communication is just key to start the conversation and then making sure you're taking enough time to walk through that journey in that process.  I think also having the understanding that it's going to be a journey. It's not a fast process.

SO DARLENE, WHAT MISCONCEPTIONS DO YOU COMMONLY SEE WITH FARM TRANSITIONS?

Darlene Livingston:

I think one of the biggest misconceptions is when farmers presume they know what someone else thinks or anyone presume they know what the other thinks or once, and often this happens when it's presumed, they want a cash payout from the farm. They want an equal inheritance when that's not always what they want. They still have a passion for the farm, so they would like to see it continue and to be carried on by that sibling who is farming or wants to farm it. Lots of times they are easier to work with than one might think. They have a whole different goal than what we presume they have. I think it's important to ensure that everybody verbalizes what their desire is. It's important to have everyone's input and not presume that we know. So have them all involved, have them all around the table, have them on a zoom call, whatever it takes to have the conversation, I think is an easy way to help work through that.

Johanna Rohrer:

Taking your advice from common mistakes of not having the conversation, not asking the right questions, but then also, if you assume that you think someone wants X, Y, and Z to happen with the farm transition, it is important to bring that all together and remind yourself, this is an opportunity to have a conversation to talk about the future of the farm, what it means for the family, what it means for the business. Commonly, I find that farm families are incredibly connected to the land. There is an emotional connection to that space. There’s great memories, most likely of growing up on your family farm operation.  I think those are really great suggestions for our listeners to remember.

I want to kind of shift gears a little bit and talk about something that we commonly hear a lot about with the younger generation wanting to get into farming, and that's the topic of land accessibility. That's a big challenge for beginning farmers. I know we briefly talked about in the introduction the tools that Pennsylvania Farm Link offers to help identify land accessibility in the state of Pennsylvania. 

COULD YOU EMPHASIZE A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT YOUR ONLINE FARM LISTING DATABASE AND JUST BRING OUR LISTENERS UP TO SPEED ON THOSE RESOURCES?

Darlene Livingston:

Sure, we have an online database and anyone who wants to enter are welcomed to enter that database. There is a one-time fee for doing that. We also provide other opportunities that they can have a one-time listing on Facebook or something like that without being a member of the database to look for opportunities. So there's a couple ways that we try to help them. And when they're a member of the database, it is listed online, it's listed through a number. You have a reference number that people can peruse the database online and seek to learn more about you by contacting us. And we will make the connection, but it is a confidential connection to ensure everybody's privacy and to prevent issues. It's a great opportunity for beginning farmers who are seeking land to have their information out there and look to find an opportunity. We have landowners who look at our database, they may have land available or thinking what they're going to do with their land and we’ll search our database and look for some of the beginning farmers listed there as potential matches for them. And we will seek to provide that information to the land owner. There will be a cover letter or a business plan, whichever the beginning farmer has about what they would like to do in regards to their farming operation that they're looking to have land for, and then that starts the conversation between them and a potential landowner.

One other important thing I would like to say for beginning farmers, is the importance of their financial stability. They need to take that seriously and think about that as they're planning for their future, minimizing their debt and trying to have some savings there to help them with assets they'll need to purchase, whether it's equipment or whatever, as they obtain land. They do need to have that financial stability to make that move. I know there's also lots of programs and Farm Credit has programs to help them as well. That's often one of the stumbling blocks, I think for beginning farmers. And they also probably should recognize too, that about 70% of today's farmers also have an off-farm job that assists them financially and help some with some of the benefits such as health insurance and so on. We do have that database, but that's just another little pointer that's important.

And one other thing I did want to mention, I ask our next generation, so our beginning farmers and our family, what their advice for next generation farmers would be before I got on this podcast today, and I want to share those. One was to over-communicate with the operating farmers. The other one was to find their own role within the operation. Another one was trying to think about the perspective of the other generation you're communicating with, which I think is always important. My other next gen farmer, he's a little on the funnier side and he sent some funny comments. I translate those to say that essentially the senior gen may not understand all the hip lingo or the hashtags and all that, but we all have to remember that's what the next gen brings to the table, or it is a learning opportunity for the senior gen too. But we all need to remember that each generation has assets that they're bringing to the table and whether they're looking for land, what they're bringing to me, if I have land and a land opportunity is available, I need to be open to that.

Johanna Rohrer:

What a good reminder to reach out to both the senior generation and the junior generation to get some perspective. I love that advice from the senior generation, and to stay enhanced with your communication skills and help define your role and what that's going to look like for the future. And to try to understand that there is perspective for both parties as you're going through that transition. That's a great reminder, but then also to think about it from the junior generation, there's so many things that you have to think about when you get started and there's a lot of steps to go through. A good reminder to keep your business plan in the back of your mind and make sure you're working on that or taking a finance course to brush up on your financial skills, or just helping to surround yourself with a network of other young farmers that are going through the process as well. I always find it helpful to learn through my peers to remind people in the agricultural community as well. That's just such a wealth of knowledge to start those conversations and create those learning experiences. So with that, there's so many farm transitions that will happen.

AND I'M JUST CURIOUS IF, DARLENE, YOU HAVE ONE PIECE OF ADVICE IN PARTICULAR THAT YOU WOULD WANT TO PASS ALONG TO THOSE FARM FAMILIES?

Darlene Livingston:

I think the one piece of advice I would pass on, which probably leads into a little bit more explanation, but that would be not to meet at the kitchen table. That’s one thing I learned early on and it seems a little bit odd. It seems a little bit like what's the big deal, but what happens when a farm family meets at the kitchen table is everyone takes on their family roles. When you go to sit down, their dad sits at his place, mom sits at hers and the kids all follow in line at their normal positions. And therefore you're setting up that family dynamic and what you need to remember when you're working with the farm, transition or any type of farm meeting with family members is you want to be in a business mindset. You want to have that business hat on, not the family setting hat.

It's important to meet somewhere else other than the kitchen table. I would challenge our Ag professionals to do the same when they go in and meet with someone to sit at a different place, or if they find out where dad's seat is then sit in it yourself. Change it up, even if it's a table made out of saw horses and a sheet of plywood in a machine shop or something on the farm. In normal times, churches or extension offices or local coffee shops and other organizations allow farm families to meet there. I know we're in unprecedented times right now. So you might have to think creatively, you may need to meet in the living room or somewhere, but if you do, and dad has a special chair, do him a favor and sit in it for him.

What you're doing is you're setting up the business mindset again. It’s just taking some of the family dynamic out of it in a subconscious way and setting that into a business aspect, and that is very important. And right now, even with using video conferencing to include those other family members that are outside of the area. They can be joined in from anywhere. These things will help you make the business decisions, which helps to set aside the emotional ones. It's really very important that when making business decisions that you're interacting as business partners, not as father and son or father and daughter. It’s very important to be interacting on a professional basis with those family members that you may have raised them, but it's important to treat them as equals in the family business. It’s just a small thing, but yet it's a huge thing when you look at that perspective.

Johanna Rohrer:

I think that's a great takeaway, to define a space for those business decisions. Whether right now that's looking at some sort of technology platform to connect family members, or it's a space in a farm office or maybe in the community. I think that's a good reminder for all of us to make sure you define that time and what you want to accomplish in terms of your business objectives, when you're sitting down to have those conversations, that's a great piece of advice.

So before we sign off today, I just want to wrap up with a final question.

WHAT DO YOU ADVOCATE FOR IN AGRICULTURE?

Darlene Livingston:

In case you can't tell, I have a passion for farm transition and succession. I really do have a passion to see farms move to the next generation and play a role in that positive impact because I see that it's the future of farming, which also impacts the rural economy of Pennsylvania and across the nation. I also have a passion in my local area. I believe we were brought back here for a reason, and that is to see agriculture move forward here. To me, that includes educating our local consumers and public officials about Ag and its needs. And also developing more markets in Western PA and our rural area, trying to advocate for that and more Ag businesses moving into the region and providing some of the opportunities that are available in some of the other regions of Pennsylvania that we're a little further behind here. And just seeing agriculture move forward here would be a great thing to me and something I hope that we can play a role in and I can play a role in.

Johanna Rohrer:

That’s a fantastic reminder for all of our agricultural listeners today. We have such a great opportunity to connect with our community and help bridge that gap between our on-farm production and our community family members, being able to help share with them the story of how we produce the agricultural goods that so many of us have grown to enjoy. There's always a story behind that and there's always great opportunity to help make those connections in our community. So that's awesome to hear about your advocating efforts. And it's also fantastic to have someone like you who is able to bring together that expertise in farm succession planning, and also to have such an authentic view of going through this process yourself. And I think that that just brings so much more credibility to the conversation and definitely builds your level of experience. I really thank you so much for joining us today. For more information about Pennsylvania Farm Link visit PAfarmlink.org.

Remember to rate, review, subscribe, and share this podcast with a friend, get notes and subscribe to our email alerts at mafc.com/podcast. And remember, send any topics or guest suggestions to podcast@mafc.com.

Looking for more information about farm succession planning tools? Join Farm Credit, and Pennsylvania Farm Link this winter for a virtual education experience on how to create a Farm Transition Plan Webinars series from 11 to noon on January 11th, January 25th, February 8th and February 22nd. We hope to see you soon.

We are excited to announce the hiring of Jessica Clarke as a crop insurance agent in our Denton, Maryland office. Learn more about Jessica and how she fits into the Farm Credit family:

She grew up on her family's farm in Frederick County, MD,

where they raised Angus cattle and quarter horses. Jessica loved growing up on the farm because it never allowed her a chance to be bored. "Living on the farm is how I instilled a good work ethic and grew my love for agriculture. I love to be outdoors and I love animals, so it was the perfect combination for me," she says.

Jessica participated in 4-H and FFA,

which caused her to pursue an education in the agriculture field. She was a member of the Rocky Ridge 4-H Club, Maryland Junior Angus Association, and Catoctin FFA Chapter, serving as President, Vice President and Secretary.

She currently raises Angus cattle

alongside her boyfriend at WF Angus in Queenstown, Maryland, where they sell and show cattle all over the country. “My favorite part of raising Angus cattle is breaking the calves each year and helping get them in the hands of customers who fall in love with their purchase and go on to succeed and learn with that animal, the same way that I did growing up,” she adds.

Jessica volunteers a lot of time in the local ag community:

• Livestock Sale Chairman at the Queen Anne's County Fair
• Volunteers with Queen Anne’s County 4-H Livestock Programs
• Serves on the Maryland Angus Association Board of Directors
• Co-Chair of the annual Queen Anne’s County Agriculture Awareness Day

She has valuable experience in the industry, 

working for the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) as a Program Technician prior to joining Farm Credit. In this role, Jessica handled the operations and applications for all FSA Assistance Programs to Queen Anne’s County farmers, and served as the Maryland State FSA Communications and Outreach Specialist.

Jessica is a graduate of West Virginia University,

where she earned a degree in Agriculture Extension Education with a minor in Agriculture Business.

We look forward to introducing Jessica to our members and sharing her knowledge and experience with the community.

Listen to Trevor's episode here!

Welcome to the Farm Credit AgVocates Podcast. I'm your host, Meaghan Malinowski content and digital strategist at Horizon Farm Credit. Today's guest is one of my favorite stories. Trevor Hoff owns and operates Local Homestead Product's farm market in New Windsor, Maryland with his wife, Victoria. I could spend a couple hours telling you about their hydroponic greenhouses, fresh produce, homegrown lines of meats, or even the countless number of events that they host on their farm each year. But it really just wouldn't do their story justice, not to mention Trevor is much funnier than I am, so he’s much better at telling the story. But this year in 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic started back in March, they ramped up their operation to be ready to serve their customers, even in the most unexpected of ways. This interview is going to talk about some of the changes they made, some of the innovations they had and where those ideas came from. Without further ado, here's my interview with Trevor Hoff.

Let's go ahead and jump right in. Welcome to the Farm Credit AgVocates Podcast.

TREVOR, COULD YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR OPERATION AND EVEN WHERE YOU GOT STARTED?

Trevor:

We come from New Windsor, Maryland right here in Carroll County. We're kind of the heart of Maryland here. We have a little bit of everything and we're definitely the rolling hills here. We own and have two farms here totaling, just over 200 acres where we grow, produce and raise beef cattle, chickens and pigs. But the main focus of our farm is our on-farm market. Now, we didn't start with an on-farm market, I actually started selling beef jerky in high school to some of my teachers and other students from cattle we raised here on the farm. So that morphed into the thought of having a store once I graduated high school. And then that turned into a bigger thought of, well, we can't just have beef jerky, we need to have other items. And now we sell for, my gosh, it must be 50, 60, 70 different farms, just right now up and down the coast. Also having a greenhouse with all kinds of flowers and vegetable plants. We also grow hydroponically. My wife grows hydroponic lettuce there, so we do a little bit of everything and that's what makes our farm kinda neat.

Meaghan:

 I've had a blast watching you guys on Facebook and social media. You guys look like you're pretty busy with everything going on.

Trevor:

We are extremely busy with everything going on. You know, we were not expecting this. Victoria and I sat down and talked right when this started, when it started to happen. And I said, yeah, I think it's going to be busy for a little bit. Then I think the real slow down is going to happen. And the first week we were very busy and we thought, now it's going to slow down. Then the second week it was busier. The third weekend was busier. About the fifth or six week after me telling my employees that it's going to slow down, they told me to stop saying that because every time I said it would slow down, it got busier. And I think a lot of that is just because we reacted the way people wanted us to react. We got ahead of the game before the grocery stores did and we were able to keep things pretty well stocked.

I contribute that to being able to work with small farms, local farms, local butcher shops, sending our animals out to these butcher shops to get processed, you know, that smaller food chain didn't get interrupted as much as the big one did. And so that kind of helped us. And really, I think our company has grown and our farm has grown due to the fact that we were able to keep things stocked. So I think a lot of customers that have kind of lost faith in the grocery stores to have things stocked are going to rely more on that small farm market in the local community. And I'm hearing this across the board from a lot of my friends in the industry, a lot of the people around that we know are saying the same thing that the farms are really busy.

Meaghan:

Well, you took my first question away from me and you knocked it out of the park. That was really what I wanted to touch on first was what some of your thoughts were when it came to running the market during the pandemic.

Were you guys nervous? Were you scared at first?

I think it's a true blessing that that it's been so busy and you've been able to kind of look back on that and say, you know, I have been wrong for the last five weeks saying it's going to slow down.

WHAT WAS THAT INITIAL THOUGHT WHEN THE PANDEMIC KIND OF STARTED AND YOU GUYS WERE THINKING ABOUT THE MARKET? WHAT WERE THOSE FIRST CONVERSATIONS LOOKING LIKE?

Trevor:

Well, the first week before the governor really started touching base, we started seeing a couple of weeks where it was like, huh, it seems like it's getting a little busier and nobody was really talking about it. But the moment that it started becoming national news, we started seeing that really big uptick. And the first week that we really noticed something going on, was we had a line in the store that wrapped around the whole store and nobody could shop because nobody could get through our store because our store is very small. You see our Facebook posts and you see some of the pictures of the greenhouse and outside, and it seems like, wow, they must have a really big place. And Meaghan you've been there. It's not a big place at all. We just are a little farm with that moves a lot of product.

And so to get that working, we made the decision when they said, “hey, we shouldn't have more than 10 people in groups,” we were like, okay, that's what we'll do. We started limiting right then and there probably about three or four weeks before the grocery store limited people, to 10 people in our store at any given time. And we are still what's it been eight or 12 weeks from doing that, and we're still limiting and still having lines. And I really appreciate the customer base that we have for understanding that we have a small store. We're not a big grocery store that can accept 250 people at any given time. And they just stand out in a line. And, you know, what's funny is sometimes, it’s not weather dependent on whether they're going to stand in line or not.

Mother's day weekend, our Friday, Saturday were the days where the weather wasn't that great. Friday was wind, cold and rainy and that was our busiest day. And we had 150 people waiting in line when we opened the doors. Sunday mother's day was beautiful. The sun was shining and there weren't any lines at all. And I think a lot of that has to do with the mentality of we're staying away from that place when it's really nice out, because it's going to be so busy. Well, when everybody thinks that and goes to the other days, well, then it makes the nice day actually nice to come out.

Meaghan:

Yeah, 100%. I know  I remember coming out and shooting that testimonial video with you guys. And I think if I remember correctly, 10 seems like almost full capacity for the market. And I'm, I was shocked that you guys are able to offer such a wide variety of stuff in such a small place, but like you said, you guys offer a lot of different things. And I think it's, it's been cool for me to see from even just from on Facebook. Cause you know, I'm, I'm a couple of hours away from you, but seeing the response by your community has been so inspiring. And that kind of brings me to my next question and feel free to deflect if you don't want to give me all the juicy details, but you know, everybody has started operating differently from grocery stores to other farm markets and it's really just to keep their heads above water.

HOW HAS THAT AFFECTED YOUR OPERATION? ARE YOU SEEING AN INCREASE IN SALES FROM LAST YEAR?

Trevor:

We are definitely seeing an increase in sales. And I think, like I said before, a lot of that has to do with the fact that we responded so quickly and we were on top of it. I think if you got behind the eight ball here on this, people were really looking for somewhere to shop right away. Somewhere where they felt safe, somewhere where they felt wanted. And if you didn't offer that right away, offer a safe place for them to shop, they kind of looked past you. And I think a lot of these people opening back up will still be very busy, but I think they missed that first wave of panic buying.

 I mean, we had people buying loads of stuff to the point where we had to start limiting how much we were allowing go out of our store. I am never been one to want to limit anything. I'm always the one that says, Hey, come buy more. And I was having to limit how many eggs people could buy and how many pounds of ground beef people could buy, because we just couldn't keep up. And I would tell customers that it's not that I wanted to limit things. It's the fact that if we limit to this amount, we can supply everybody that wants to come in the doors. But if we have people that come in and buy 50 or a hundred pounds of ground beef to throw in their freezer, well, then we start having issues keeping up with supply. So for us, yes, business is good. And I can tell you that I didn't think it was going to be that way when this all started. I thought we were going to be busy and then I thought it would taper off very quickly and it just has not done that.

We are definitely up from last year. And I'm hoping for a solid season the rest of the year, because that is a concern that everybody is sharing and all this is that if we are so busy now, does that mean we're going to have a really sharp turn come summertime? Because usually there is that summer slowdown for us when everybody else kind of opens back up with their farm markets and their town or their towns have farm markets or their gardens start producing. And it usually slows up a little bit in the summertime for us. And we're thinking that that's not going to be as much this year, that hopefully it continues to stay steady. And hopefully that means good things for the farm.

Meaghan:

Absolutely, I mean sitting here talking to you, I didn't really think about it much before, but I don't have many markets that are in my immediate area. And I think that a lot of people are looking for an excuse to get out of the house right now. I have done my fair share of garden center shopping and things like that. And there's something about going and buying a ton of plants and bringing them home and then just waiting to be able to put them in the ground. But that's kind of been like my silver lining for this. And I think for a lot of people being able to go somewhere where they feel comfortable and people are friendly and nice, I think that's probably part of the reason why you guys have been so successful too. I think people probably feel good about coming to see you.

Trevor:

And I, I think you, you bring up a great point about the plants and all that because people are having to stay home. People want their house to look good. And here's the strange reality is the fact that they don't have that vacation that they are going to be spending the money on so, or they might not. And their thought is that they might not that vacation, and they're not going out to eat as much. And they're not spending as much as the gas pump because gas prices are cheap and because they're not driving as much. So all those things add up to a little bit more money in their pocket, even though some of them might be laid off work right at the moment. So all they're saying is make it so that, you know, our worries about having a full greenhouse and knowing where to go with the plants in the beginning of all, this have really changed.

And we were really concerned about how many hanging baskets we had because we grow hanging baskets ourselves. And we also sell for a couple other farms that grow, that don't have retail establishments. And I was calling those guys in the beginning, kind of telling them, we're going to try our best to move your product, but we might have to cut back and I don't know what we're going to do with all of it. And then we actually sold it out quicker than we ever have. And we're having to bring on more farms to try to have more flowers, have more veggie plants. Most of the garden centers in our area or are out of vegetable plants, and we still had tomatoes and peppers left and they were actually sending them to us because we were the only ones with them anymore. So it's really been a boom in that.

And I think a lot of that is also for the small guys that are in my kind of business that a lot of customers didn't know we were there. In the life that we have now in 2020 you get so used to driving to work, shopping at the same places that you shop in and just going with the routine. And this has really made you get out of your routine, check around your surrounding area and buy stuff. I mean, I usually would never take notice of the license plates that are in my farm market parking lot. But the past couple of weeks I've been looking around and I've noticed Virginia license plates, West Virginia license plates, Pennsylvania license plates. And, you know, I got to talking to some of these people and I had people that were two and a half hours away from their home. But like you said, they just wanted something to do.

Meaghan:

That’s amazing!

Trevor:

So they drove two and a half hours to a farm market that they saw on Facebook and came up and bought some plants and some produce.

Meaghan:

And then took them home like a little plant road trip.

Trevor:

Exactly, So, you know, it amazes me how far people will travel for this. And I think we take it for granted the way, the way we think people should be treated because they're not in the big box stores. You know, for us treating people the way we treat them is because that's the way we were raised. This is the way we treat people, because that's how we would want to be treated. And in the box stores, that's not the case. They're looking to get you in and get you out. And that I think is another selling point of why you want to shop local, why you want to know your farmer. And I have people that come in that I know their kids. I know what sports they play. I know the kids that have gotten married and who are going to have babies. You know, we have multi-generations shopping in our store. So those are the kinds of things that Safeway or all these other grocery stores don't know. And the thing is, if you don't shop at that grocery store chain that week, they most likely won't notice it, but a small farm market like ours or any of these other guys, you know, we notice when you shop with us or when you don't. And it definitely helps when you shop local and shop small with the small farm.

Meaghan:

I know we talked a little bit about when everything first started coming out and all of the different stay at home orders and the limitations on how many people could be here, there, or whatever that looks like.

Outside of putting that limit on how many people are in the store or waiting in the line around the outside of the market:

HAVE YOU GUYS STARTED ANY NEW PROCESSES TO HELP KEEP THINGS RUNNING?  DO YOU FORESEE ANY OF THEM STICKING AROUND ONCE WE GET INTO OUR NEW NORMAL?

Trevor:

The simple answer to that is yes, we are looking at some things that we had sworn we would never do because we didn't want to lose that touch with the customer. And this has really opened up our eyes to think, well, maybe this is what we need to do. We had decided that, we didn't want to do online sales as much. That was not our thing. We wanted people to come experience the farm. Well, this has kind of pushed us in the direction of some online sales. Now we are not a farm that has everything online. And I don't think we ever will with probably 500 to a thousand different items in our store, you know, that's not where we're headed.

Meaghan:

It would be hard to manage that inventory level.

Trevor:

Exactly. But what we are seeing is people wanted a curbside option and we said, no, that's not something we can do. But then we got to thinking outside the box a little bit, and we came up with what we call our essential farm pack. And it's a hundred dollars. Every week you can sign up on Monday and pick it up the following Monday. And what it is, is our farm is actually closed on Mondays and Thursdays to clean and get shipments in and that kind of thing. So we had this day on Monday that we were able to bring people out to the farm, keep them in their cars, put the stuff in their cars for them, and it already be paid for, and a whole lot less touching, a whole lot less interaction. And folks have really been loving that. It really ramped up during the first month and a half. Now we're starting to see it plateau a little bit, but this is something that I don't think we're going to get away from anytime soon. I think people like the fact that they're able to come with in their car, especially families with kids, as we try to say, hey, just send your essential shopper in. Well, if you have young kids, you might not be able to let them sit in the car or maybe somebody is working and you have to take the kids with you. We get that right. And that's why this has really taken off. And, you know, it's, it's got a glass bottle milk in there, usually a dozen eggs, loaf of bread, all kinds of produce, all kinds of meats, some different baked goods from our bakery or from a couple bakeries that we work with. So it's a little bit of a different concept, but it really, really works.

And I think that's really helped us out. The other thing is that a lot of these farms started doing what we call a produce bundle, and we have always sold produce bundles. We, we don't want to say we started them, but we had them a long time before they became cool during the COVID-19 issue. But we've had produced bundles for four or five years now. And we do a $25 produce bundle every week of the year, where we work with farms all up and down the East coast and put together this value pack for $25. And that has really taken off to, as people were worried about their income trying to make sure they were spending their money wisely, that really helped them with that. And I think that that side of the business has just increased because of all this. And I don't think it's going to back off and have that summer slump, like we've always felt.

Meaghan:

Well. You know, what I really like hearing from you is that, I think obviously you guys have to do what you need to do to stay in business and keep making those sales. But for you guys, it seems like it always comes back to what does the customer need? What do they want and how can we give it to them in a way that makes them happy? And I think you guys are, I mean, you've got to be excelling at it every time I see another post, you guys are selling out of your produce bundles and really just, you look like you're blowing it out of the water. You guys were the OG produce bundle.

Trevor:

Well, you know, we just try to do what we would want done to us. And I think that's, that's the big thing. And for us these other folks that don't want to do what the customer wants, it amazes me that they're still in business because I see that sometimes where it's, they just want to make it harder for people to shop with them. And we have to make it easier to shop with us. I mean, you've been to our store, you've seen how out in the middle of nowhere we are, and we have to make it easy to shop. We have to make it a convenience buy for them to come out to the farm and buy everything that they need on their list so that they're not going here, there, and everywhere. They want to come to the farm and buy everything. And you can do that.

You can get your glass bottled milk from South Mountain Creamery at our farm. You can get our eggs, you can get produce from a bunch of different local farms. You can get chips that are made in Pennsylvania fried in true lard, ice cream, mean everything under the sun, you can get right there at that little farm market. And the comment that I always hear from people is I've driven past this place a hundred times, and I would have never thought you carried this much in this little building. And that's the true story. I mean, we really jam pack it in there.

Meaghan:

You do! And my other question for you, was so you guys have always, collaborated with other growers and different producers and stuff like that.

SO HOW DOES [GROWER COLLABORATION] WORK? DO YOU REACH OUT TO THEM? DO THEY CALL YOU? HOW DID THAT KIND OF CHANGE WITH LIKE COVID-19?

Trevor:

So it's a little bit of both. If we see a product that we just fall head over heels with, well, then we know that our customers will too, and we reach out. But sometimes we have farms that just call us and say, hey, we are starting to grow this, we'd really like to sell it at your store. And we're always open to that conversation because as we grow, we need more farms growing for us. We can't grow enough and to touch base on that side of the business. You know, I never wanted to be the person that grew everything because I don't believe you can and do it well. I believe that you can do one, two or three things really well. And then if you start doing a hundred different things, it starts to suffer. And I find that there are a couple of things that we grow really, really well.

And there's a couple of things that I just lack luster in growing. But I usually know the person that grows the best of it, and that's, that's the person we want to get from. So I really think that's the way we head with things is a more specialized kind of deal where you can have a better product that way.

 Now back to the COVID thing, is the thing that I noticed the most with going into quarantine and all that was just the supply could not keep up with the demand. And that's the plain and simple fact of it. And you started seeing it the first couple of weeks, as they, as shelves got bare at grocery stores. They started to feel bare at our store, but we were able to call these different local farms and say, hey, we need more of this or more of that.

And we were able to talk to our butcher shops and get more appointments lined up and get this really working right ahead of the schedule here. But still with all this and everybody working behind the scenes we still had some bare shelves every once in a while. We still had some things sell out quicker than what we thought and weren't able to get them picked quick enough, or weren't able to fill the shelf back up as quick on ground beef or something like that. And I always tell people that come into our store to shop is that you kind of have to come with a fluid list, a list of the stuff that you want, but be fluid in the fact that you might not be able to get that porterhouse steak, but there might be a T bone there. And you might not get the exact Apple variety you want, but usually we'll have some kind of Apple there.

So, you know, we're not competing with the grocery stores on having every item there all the time. But what we try to compete with them and I know we can compete with them this way is having the best of the best there all the time. And that's where we strive. And this week we had a beautiful, local strawberries come in and what would have lasted me two weeks, any other year, we sold in one day. So it's just, that's a testament into the fact that people are coming, people are buying. I think people are maybe making some jams and that kind of stuff.

Meaghan:

Trying new things.

Trevor:

Trying new things getting on Pinterest and trying it out, you know,

Meaghan:

Letting their mind run a little wild.

Trevor:

That's right. Trying different things and just going to town with it. And that's the fun thing about this. And the fun thing about shopping at our farm is you can try different things. The produce bundle kind of allows you to do that. We had we had kohlrabi in there a couple of weeks ago and you know, not many people know what kohlrabi is. And I explained it as a German turnip almost but a really, really great vegetable. And we have it in purple and green, but not that many people know it exists, let alone know how to use it.

Meaghan:

Trevor, did you listen to my podcast episode?

Trevor:

I did not.

Meaghan:

I literally came up with that. Jenny and I were talking about producing content and I was trying to give people an idea of what kinds of content they could write for their website or for Facebook or whatever it is. And in all of my research. And I can tell you, I've never been to a grocery store where I've seen kohlrabi on the shelves, but I can't tell you how many CSA’s have it, obviously around here. And so I brought that up on our episode and I was like, I don't even know if I'm saying it right.

WHAT DOES IT TASTE LIKE THOUGH? TELL ME, HONESTLY, WHAT DOES KOHLRABI ACTUALLY TASTE LIKE?

Trevor:

Absolutely nothing. And that's, so I tell people that kohlrabi tastes like absolutely nothing and everything all at the same time, because you can make kohlrabi tastes like whatever you want it to.

Meaghan:

It’s a wonder vegetable.

Trevor:

Yes. Whatever seasoning you want to throw at it, you can make it work. So yeah, I can't say that I am a huge fan of kohlrabi. I will eat it raw every now and then, but yeah, it's something that all the CSA’s grow. Of course I don't call myself a CSA because I don't want to get into the act of you buying something from me every week without knowing what is in it. I just like the mindset that you get to choose, whether you want my produce bundle or not. And you get to look at what's in it before you have to make that choice with your money.

Meaghan:

I like that approach. I think that's unique there. I mean, there's definitely the pros and cons to each way. right. But I think you're, you're giving the customer the option to make the decision at the time rather than is it six, nine months ahead of time.

Trevor:

Yeah. And, and, you know, I will say that it does not happen overnight that you're able to do that. And it is a little scary of a concept because your numbers fluctuate so much that you have to have a pretty good store to back it up, to be able to move some of that product, if your produce bundles die off a little bit to do it. Whereas a traditional CSA, you know how much to grow every week because of how well or how many CSA shares you sell. And I personally think it's a wonderful program to start a farm and run a farm off of, because you get a set income that you know, you'll be having. And it makes total sense. But for us, I wanted to give a different option and touching back on that idea that we wanted to give customers what they want.

Meaghan:

Speaking of options, you guys just started doing are you guys doing take home meal kits or is it meal kits that you give all the ingredients to?

Trevor:

So we have we don't have a take home meal kit for produce, but we do have a take home meal from another bakery. They make it and put it in a container and you can heat it up. But the take home meal kits are definitely a big thing that are popping up in the industry that I think are going to really take off because people have not been for the last five or 10 years, people have not been eating at home and you now have a generation of people that don't know how to cook for themselves. They grab a bite to eat on the way home from work because they work till eight, nine o'clock at night in the office building, or what have you, and don't have time to cook on their way home or once they get home. So, or you have people like my, my wife and I that, you know, it's two of us, it's hard to cook a meal for two people which you probably know.

Meaghan:

It is. A lot of left overs.

Trevor:

Exactly.  So when you divvy that kind of meal out like some of these other farms are doing, it makes total sense because you're able to do that and able to compete against the meal service companies that have been shipping food to people's homes. And I think it's a great concept and it's, it's definitely taking off. And the thing that I will say, that's good, that's coming out of this is it's made some of us local guys in small farms, especially in Horizon Farm Credit area and footprint really figure out how to sell their product differently without our big farm markets thriving in the cities, without the restaurant service that takes a lot of the local products as well. We have to find a way to move them and it has made us come up with some great ideas and I've seen some great things come out of it different farms just for having to figure this out. And I think if anything, good comes out of it, hopefully it's the good thought that people know that the local farms are there and they're able to get stuff from them. And hopefully that continues after all this is done, that people don't forget the local farms that were there for them.

Meaghan:

Yeah, absolutely. I think that is definitely something that's going to come out of this. I also think that the idea on the producer side to the innovation, like you said, and how people are diversifying to make things work and find new ways to be able to sell their product, whether it's to consumer or you know, outside of that realm. And it seems like you and Victoria have really made a habit of pivoting and adding new things to the lineup. And you guys are always trying something new, which makes me think that you guys are really comfortable with change, which is not something that most people can say.

WOULD YOU SAY THAT YOU GUYS ARE PRETTY COMFORTABLE WITH CHANGE?

Trevor:

I, myself am not (laughs).

Meaghan:

No way.

Trevor:

Victoria is.  I could get stuck in a rut and Victoria sometimes says that I could figure out, what three meals, I want for the rest of my life and eat the same three meals every day for the rest of my life. And I'd probably be fine with that. And that is a hundred percent true.  I would be fine with that, but at the same point in time, it’s a little different because yes, I am not a huge fan of change, but I do get bored a little bit sometimes with doing the same thing over again on the business side of it. So, she and I have a lot of discussions and she is definitely the leading force with a lot of stuff, especially Facebook and marketing. And I know you had told me you're going to talk to her about a podcast at some point in time.

But she is, she is the one behind the scenes making this all work. And she has some phenomenal ideas on how to keep changing and how to keep pivoting because we know customers get bored with stuff. For example, we had these maple sticky buns when all this COVID-19 stuff started happening, one of our bakeries said, hey, we're coming out with this. And this was before that and it just happened to be right around the same time that this all happened. So with everything going and we were like, yes, send in a couple cases, and well those couple of cases sold.

Meaghan:

Probably immediately if I had to guess.

Trevor:

Exactly. And then, okay, send in, send in double that amount. And then at the peak of this, we were buying in a pallet a week or a pallet twice a week of maple sticky bonds from this bakery, a whole pallet of it.

Meaghan:

I'm not going to lie, if somebody showed up to my house with a palette of maple sticky buns and they said, did you order this? I would lie straight through my teeth. I would say you bet, sure did, bring it in.

Trevor:

But you know, as fast as it came on that we were selling that many people get their fill of it and people want to try something different. So you start seeing that decrease and then it starts to level out and plateau as, as the best word for it in the, where the sales of that item should be. So to keep up with everything, you have to be bringing on that next new product, that next new big thing. And sometimes it's hard to keep on doing that. I, I sometimes wake up and I'm like, we're just tired.

Meaghan:

Yeah, they're keeping you on your toes.

Trevor:

And you know, I, I think Victoria is, is better with change than I am to touch back to your original question. But you know, for me, I think change in the business or at the farm market, you know, is not that big of a deal for me, but change in my regular life, that's a whole different story.

Meaghan:

Oh, sure, sure. Absolutely. Well, coming from somebody who's not a huge fan of change,

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO AN ANOTHER OPERATOR LOOKING TO DIVERSIFY OR ADD SOMETHING NEW OR TRY SOMETHING NEW?

Trevor:

I've learned that you just have to keep trying. If I would have stopped when I should have, when all the numbers, all the people you know, I used to hear from through the grape vine, I'll call it through the grapevine, I'd hear, you know, they're never going to make it there. And, you know, they had some points in time, I thought they were right. Our little farm market probably as a business, if you ever looked at it from a business degree, you would have looked and said, you know what, this makes no sense to be open. The first couple of years it probably didn't, but we kept trying, we kept reinventing the wheel until the wheel worked. And you have to find which one works for you. And I see on Facebook and on Instagram and all these different places and through emails of farmer's markets, doing different things and I think you knew that might work at our farm.

But for me, it's more of a thing that you have to kind of pave your own path and sometimes produce bundles, like for me work really well, but in other areas they wouldn't work well. So, if I would have given up in the beginning, I wouldn't have ever been able to ride this phenomenal ride that we, we get to ride now. And even before COVID, before all this, we were doing fairly well as a farm market out in the middle of nowhere. And it's always been a whole lot of fun. And that's another point that you always have to make it fun for you. If you don't wake up in the morning and decide that it is, it is going to be fun, doing what you're doing, you got to find something else to do, because if it's not fun working the long hours that you have to work in the farm market industry or being at a farm or for any of these things, you won't want to do it long because I can tell you that I don't get paid by the hour because we'd be making pennies every hour.

So that's, that's the big thing for me is have fun with it, but also pave your own path, make it work for you. Because if I would have taken everybody's advice that they gave me, I don't think we'd be where we're at. I think we would've changed paths too many times, and sometimes you just got to keep on chugging at it until it really sticks. So it's a, it's a whole weird world when you are selling to the general public. And there are a lot of people that liked doing it, and there's a lot of people that don't like doing it. And that's one of those things where you got to love it. You got to love wanting to sell products and wanting to sell your products. I mean, the thought from this coming week, we're going to start picking sugar snap peas. And the thought that we planted those by seed and grew them all the way to this and get to watch them head out the door in pints just amazes me. And even after doing this for 10 years or having the farm market for 10 years, it still amazes me and makes me happy. And that's how I know I'm doing the right thing.

Meaghan:

Well, I think it makes a lot of your customers happy too, especially on that note of fun. I love the video series that you guys have been putting out to acknowledge the homeschooling parents and the kids trying to do schoolwork from home.

WHO CAME UP WITH THE [VIDEO] IDEA?

Trevor:

So I definitely have to give that idea to Victoria. While we were sitting in the store one day you start hearing from these parents that have no idea where they're or what they're going to do with their kids being home. And you know, we usually have a bunch of field trips that come out. We do interviews with different classes all the way from kindergarten, all the way up to college. So it was a weird environment for us not to have the field trips. And, you know, we started talking and said, well, why can't we? And we had a friend of ours that's in the video business. And he said, you know, let's do this. And with help from you all at Farm Credit, we were able to get this done and it's been a whole lot of fun and people love it. People were able to show it to their kids. We've had classes, we know that there's several teachers sending it to their classes. So we wanted just to make something that would help people out during this time. And that's what's happened.

Meaghan:

Almost like carrying on what normal would have been just in a different format.

Trevor:

Exactly. You know, we don't have to change everything that we've done. There's still a lot of good things that can't be done right now, but they're going to be done in the future. And one of those is field trips and the fact that we could have people in our sow barn looking at the little piglets, you know, that's not something that normally we allow during even the regular field trips, just because of a biosecurity standpoint. But with video, we were able to do that. And that's what fun about it is.

Meaghan:

Yeah. They turned out fantastically and from our point of view, obviously it's very easy for us to write a check when you guys are doing all the hard work, but it has been an awesome project to see come together. And I haven't seen very many of them come out. I think I want to say center for dairy excellence might have put together a couple of virtual tours. I know there's quite a few of the bigger names that are doing it. Cause it's not, it's not always the easiest project when it comes to video, but I love that you guys took a multi week approach. There's something new to come out each week. And I think that was a very, very nice nod to all of the parents trying to figure out that, that weird homeschooling thing that they really didn't sign up for.

Trevor:

Yup, absolutely.

Meaghan:

So two more questions for you.

SO SINCE THE MARKET HAS BEEN PACKED AND AMIDST ALL OF THIS CHAOS, HAVE YOU GUYS THOUGHT ABOUT ANY PLANS FOR EXPANSION FOR THE MARKET SIDE OF IT?

Trevor:

Yes. the, the answer to that is yes. We are hoping to do an expansion at some point in time. The farmer in me, says let's go, let’s build. Because I know that I can grow enough and get enough from enough different farms so we can fill that place. But the business side of me says, hold up, wait a second, this isn't going to last forever. And so it's a tug of war here that we know will, at some point in time lead us to building a new store or expanding the store we're in. We know that we want to stay there on the farm. That's not that's not up for discussion, really. We are staying on the farm, but how that store is built or looks is definitely being talked about. And what is included in that store is definitely being talked about. I know that when all those plans get announced, it will be a fun, fun week of showing people everything on Facebook. And I look forward to the day that we're able to open doors on a new market, but it's definitely going to take a whole lot of time and planning and a whole lot of money, which at least we know Farm Credit will back us up.

Meaghan:

Well, I'm not in any position to be handing out anything, but I do like your odds so far, so good. Right.

Trevor:

So far so good.

Meaghan:

Well, that's really good news. And we look forward to hearing that I'm going to make the trip up when you guys open your new market. Whenever that decides to be. So I will be first in line.

Trevor:

There you go.

Meaghan:

All right, Trevor. Well, my last question for you, and then I'm going to let you get back to work, I'm sure you still got plenty to do. At the end of each episode, we like to end with the same question for everyone.

WHAT DO YOU ADVOCATE FOR IN AGRICULTURE?

Trevor:

We want to see people understand where their food comes from. We want to bring people back to the farm. I feel like we are so many generations removed from the farm anymore, that we don't understand as a country where our food comes from. And I think it's very important to know your farmer and know the person raising your products and know everything that goes into that, because knowledge is a great tool. We see so many different articles on why something is bad or bad for you or that kind of thing. But if we all got to know our farmer a little bit, I think the world would be a little better place. And our little farm market is just one step in that long journey of knowing who creates your food in a bakery, who grows your produce out in a field, who raises that animal, who butchers that steak. But I think you need to know every step of the process to really understand how it gets there and why it gets there because it's an amazing system. And I think sometimes as a country, we take it for granted. But the COVID-19 issue has really put agriculture in the front of everybody's minds on that. And we are super excited to be a part of that, but we know there's a lot of learning to go ahead, but I think it's a great start into knowing where your food comes from.

Meaghan:

Well, I think you guys are serving that mission so well, and I couldn't agree with you more, it's, it's an important mission to serve, and I love seeing what you guys are doing. And I think you guys are doing that one customer at a time in person, you're doing it probably by several hundred people on Facebook each time you make a post. And we love seeing it. We love supporting you guys. And I really appreciate you talking to me today and kind of given our followers some insight on how this has affected you guys. So I really appreciate your time.

Trevor:

Hey, well, we really appreciate you all having our backs at Farm Credit. We have always enjoyed our relationships with everybody that we've come into a meeting through Horizon Farm Credit, and it's always been a pleasure. And thanks for having us with all your people.

Meaghan:

Absolutely, absolutely. Now also, please tell Victoria, I said, thank you. I know that she's the real brains behind this operation, so make sure she knows.

Trevor:

Absolutely. She is absolutely the brains behind the operation. I won't hide that one bit

Meaghan:

Behind every good man. That's how it goes, right?

Trevor:

That's right. It is exactly how it goes. And our relationship and our farm is his no different from that. I mean, she is, and I will tell you this about her. She, she did not have a real big ag background. She had a horse, but did not come from a farming family and she has jumped into this. And I don't know if I want to say this, but I will anyway, she's a better farmer than I am. And you know,  I have it running through my blood, but she is, she is the one top of it and I will I will always push her up on that, she is definitely the brains behind the operation.

Meaghan:

Oh, well, I figured as much and you're smart to say it.

Trevor:

That's right.

Meaghan:

Alright, Trevor will. Thanks again. Have a good night and let Victoria now I will be calling her soon.

Trevor:

That sounds good. See ya.

This article was originally printed in the April issue of the Plain Dirt Newsletter. Budgets might be tough to stay with at the beginning, but just think about how rewarding it will  be in the long run. We are happy to assist you with making a budget plan that fits your wants and needs. Contact us today 888.339.3334.

Do you keep a budget for your family’s living expenses? It takes time and discipline, but the benefits are enormously valuable. Not enough families take the time to budget and track their spending, and many end up paying the cost. If you don’t do it already, here are a few reasons to keep a budget and track what you spend.

1. You’ll spend less

By creating family living budget goals and then tracking your actual expenses, you tend to spend less overall. Closing your eyes and spending aimlessly without keeping track will almost always lead to greater spending. You’ll save on living costs and have more to save towards longer term financial goals.

2. You’ll worry less

You don’t have to worry about where all the money is going because you know where it’s going. At the end of each month you can look at the total amount you spent, compare it to your budget goal, and sleep soundly knowing that you’re on track. If you notice you overspent, you can come up with a plan for making up the difference next month. Having an achievable plan reduces stress.

3. It will help you plan

It’s hard to plan for your financial future if you don’t know what you spend now. By creating spending and savings goals, you can predict your yearly financial progress. If you’re struggling to make ends meet or not making as much progress as you had hoped, knowing your budget will make it easier to problem solve and to make adjustments. It will show you where you’re doing ok and also where you need to buckle down and cut costs.

If you earn a steady wage income, you can set and know how much you can expect to save in a year. If your income varies (you have your own business/ farm operation), you’ll know how much you have to make each year to cover your living costs.

I talked to a farmer who calculated the amount of money his family needs each month to cover living expenses. Each month, no matter how much money the farm operation makes, he writes a check in that amount from his farm account to his family’s personal account. Knowing the exact amount of his living draw each month helps him plan financially for his farm operation. A consistent, modest draw ensures that no more stress will be placed on the farm operation than necessary. I know another dairy farmer who set up automatic withdrawals to transfer $200 twice a month from his checking account to a savings account. Each withdrawal is set to transfer a week after his milk check is deposited. Knowing his numbers and managing his living expenses has enabled him to make that commitment to consistently saving.

4. It’s freeing

Maybe you’re afraid that having a budget will be too constricting. Actually, many find that having a budget is actually freeing. When you have a budget line for each category of expense, you can spend in each of those categories without feeling guilty, knowing that you can spend the budgeted amount and still be on track for your long term financial goals. If you don’t have a budget, each time you spend money you have to wonder if you’ve gone too far, which can actually make life more stressful.

5. Reduce family conflict

Money is often the issue that brings the most conflict between a husband and wife. A budget can be a great communication tool in this area. By tracking expenses and creating a budget, husband and wife can have a conversation together to determine an appropriate budget amount to set for each category. Then as long as each sticks to those commitments, nobody has to say to the other, “Why did you buy that? We don’t have money for that!” Rather, each has the freedom to spend up to the budget amount in each category, having already received the approval of the spouse when the budget was created.

No better time than now to start budgeting

If you don’t do this already, maybe it’s time to consider starting a family living expense budget. If you’re new to this, start by tracking your family living expenses for a few months to get an idea of what you spend in each category. Then sit down as a couple and discuss an appropriate budget amount to set for each category going forward. Continue to track your expenses in each of those categories, comparing your actual results to what you had budgeted. Below is an example list of categories. Each family, however, should customize categories specific to their situation.

• Groceries/Dry Goods
• Clothing
• House Rent or Mortgage Payment (if this is included in your farm or business rent, adjust accordingly)
• Propane/Gas
• Kerosene/Coal
• Utilities
• Taxi
• Shoeing/Carriage Repair/Hay for Driving Horses
• Medical
• Tithe/Offering/Charity
• Entertainment
• Vacation
• Miscellaneous (items that don’t fit any of the other categories – there are usually more here than you’d think!)

We thought it would be interesting to poll our readers on what their average living expenses are. If you have been tracking your living expenses and would like to help out, comment below what other expenses you feel are important to account for. Thanks for your help!

STORY BY ANDREA HAINES

Heavy clouds of steam swirl from atop of a warm coffee cup, a man stands in a barn gazing out into the lot where his animals are happily munching on hay; he sips from the cup adorned with words from Proverbs 17:17, “A friend loves at all times”. This is a scene familiar to many producers – whether it’s the quiet moments of a morning, long hours atop a tractor seat, or sitting in front of a pile of paperwork. Oftentimes, we as providers revel in the solitude. It can be peaceful and uplifting, that one-on-one time with animals or tending the earth, however, stressors and demanding times can allow pressure to creep inside, allowing fear and doubt to overtake one’s self.

SHEPHERD'S WHEY CREAMERY

“It’s important to have another [person],” according to Dr. James “Toby” Behrmann. “We need another, who invests in us.” Dr. Behrmann has a view from both sides of the fence; he has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and is licensed as a clinical psychologist in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. He and his wife Suzanne also own and operate Shepherd’s Whey Creamery, a Grade A goats’ milk processing facility in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

“I remain in full-time practice, including a part-time position as Chief of Psychology at a State of Maryland medium term residential treatment center for Dual Diagnosis Intellectually Disabled individuals,” he explains. “I work with children, adults, and families in private practice outpatient psychotherapy, with a subspecialty in family law issues such as parenting, custody, and adoption concerns.”

Dr. Behrmann’s involvement with farming is in the crop/hay area, growing mixed grass and legume hay, and repairing buildings and machinery. “I can dovetail this somewhat time-flexible dimension of our agriculture life with my private practice hours,” he shares. Suzanne has a master’s degree in physical therapy and retains a license, but for her, there was a complete shift to full-time farmer and business owner after the creamery was built. He says, “She has primary responsibility of the herd management, cheese making, and marketing.

“We formally started farming operations in 2006 on our small 2.75 acre property that remained of what had been a horse-plowed 10- acre working farm.” He chuckles, “I would describe our farming endeavor as a 4-H project starting with just two dairy goats and homemade goat cheese of various sorts that got completely out of control. You know, where one small thing leads to another logical, relatively small ‘needed’ next thing, and finally you step back and ask, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, what are we doing?’”

The Behrmanns were fortunate enough to live in an area of historically small farms that had many active and retired farmers who took interest in them and their questions. “To make a small farm financially viable, we had to have a value-added product and/or niche market, as we would not be competitive with large-scale agriculture,” he shares. “The farm’s close proximity to a large population with discretionary income was another advantage in lowered transportation-delivery time, and costs to potential target market. In a swap of services for land use from a neighbor, we had leased 20 to 30 acres of older fields we could work up for hay.” Finally, access to saved start-up funds, plus a construction loan for the creamery thanks to Farm Credit, Shepherd’s Whey Creamery was born in 2012.

FINDING ANOTHER WHO INVESTS IN YOU

“Farm Credit was the critical outside help we could not have done without in starting our farm-creamery venture,” he shares. “Farmers are, and need to be, immanently practical. They tend to view relationships with people the same as they do their own work. In moving forward in life, words only go so far; without action, nothing will actually be accomplished. Thus, it is counter-intuitive (to them) that it might be useful to go somewhere just words (talking) are used about one’s problems (counseling). This perception, long with revealing what is usually supposed to be private, can appear to be shameful, and a waste of time and money.”

Dr. Behrmann continues, “But when we are repeatedly unable to do what we know makes sense, we need interpersonal help. We can forget that most of what we’ve absorbed has come from personal instruction and support. Some of us from a parent who told us and showed us the way. Some of us from the extra time and investment of a teacher or a club leader. When we each alone are not enough despite our reading, or inherent experience, our resolve is we need another.”

He continues, “This is not a flaw. It is designed into us from the get-go. Whenever the task is overwhelming us, when we can’t get a handle on it, we need another. All our life, from infant to adulthood, whenever we are repetitively unable, we need another who invests in us. The type of help we need is in specialized information and targeted relational support. Finding and receiving that genuine investment and expertise towards us is itself the sufficient ‘action’ to accompany words.”

According to Farm Credit Loan Officer Michelle Trumpower, “The Behrmanns are very conscientious borrowers and don’t make decisions until they have had the opportunity to think about the subject which makes them such successful business entrepreneurs. They have been with Farm Credit for many years,” she shares. “After evaluating another bank, they reached out to us for purchase on a neighboring property. A positive experience coupled with many of us being ‘farmers’ ourselves, they decided to remain with Farm Credit.”

Aside from Farm Credit, there was no other lender that would consider a smaller loan, even for a credit-worthy small farmer. “They maintained a supportive accountability, not a critical accountability, throughout the project,” Dr. Behrmann shares. “Now, the new loan based on our creamery success to date not only matched other lender interest rates, but also saved us literally thousands in funding costs. Of the various lenders we explored, no one either cared about or understood our overall goals, our big picture, like Farm Credit.”

Michelle explains, “They are always looking to become educated about new and better processing methods, and want to incorporate upgrades to the creamery.” Suzanne comments, “We offer our products at farmers’ markets in West Virginia, Virginia, and Washington D.C., high-end restaurants, specialty retail stores, and on-farm.” The farm consists of 30 French Alpine dairy goats, most deriving from Munchin Hill genetics in Pennsylvania. As the cheese-making expanded, they shifted to purchasing two-thirds of the milk from Liberty View Creamery, a goat dairy in Littlestown, Pennsylvania. “This helps us meet the demands of our customers year-round,” shares Suzanne.

“Farm Credit understood us and how this next project dovetailed with what we were already doing and where we wanted to head, and why,” says Dr. Behrmann. “Farm Credit doesn’t just say ‘partner’ to us, they are ‘partner’ with us.”

CAREER ROLES CROSSING PATHS

For Dr. Behrmann, both career roles cross paths daily. “As a psychologist, I have begun to introduce the concept of short periods (two to four hours) a couple times a week of farm work/animal care to the intellectually disabled adult population. I think there is a large opportunity being missed for mutual gain for farmers within their repetitive aspect of animal care that can match to the desires and abilities of a subset of intellectually disabled responsible adults.”

Psychological research has long documented the decline in loneliness from someone living alone, who has to care for an animal. Dr. Behrmann suggests a research study from Kari Black, PhD, from 2012. Black looked at 239 rural adolescents in the U.S., and companion-animal attachment. The study’s results suggested that interventions promoting a close animal bond (which included farm animals) not only lowered loneliness, but could also help promote and elevate social bonds with others.

“Very generally speaking, mental health focuses on the quality of one’s life,” he shares. “Mental illness focuses on the type of emotional/interpersonal deficit that is interfering with the needed minimally adequate functioning of one’s life.” He continues, “We want there to be gain over time, not stagnation or decline. This improves quality of life, and we all know habits are slow to overcome or implement. It might mean something as simple as delaying an impulse purchase. It might mean remembering to take the initiative to seek out and say hello to a spouse when back on site. It might mean just not putting the coffee cup ‘there.’”

Losses can mean different things to each person. “We also don’t want significant loss to our life while we are working on this aspect of our thoughts, emotions and/or actions,” he explains. “If some aspect of our life is at risk for severe loss – loss of a relationship, loss of physical health, or significant financial behavior risk, then that risk is a much more quickly functional risk, not just a quality risk. Stronger, faster interventions need to be put in place much more quickly to prevent things from getting much worse and even more complicated in an area of one’s life that is most likely already not a personal strength. That is best handled by obtaining timely outside help on a weekly and accountable basis, be it a psychologist/mental health counselor, a pastor, a Bible study support group, a mentor, financial advisor, and so forth.” Thus, this point loops back to how farmers are practical beings, but still has depended on guidance from ‘another’ their entire lives.

“As a farmer, I personally know the time demands and struggle to make ends meet that are often an inherent part of farming,” explains Dr. Behrmann. “Cost requirements mean that we do as much work as we can alone without help. Demands mean that even with a spouse or steady farmhand we divide up the tasks between us in order to get the work completed, and so again, we are working alone. This aloneness can morph into lonely and empty feelings inside.

“Real joy comes from doing something worthwhile,” comments Dr. Behrmann. “Being about something bigger than yourself that you get to share with others.” He urges us to look inward, “Do you have a relationship group at its core that has these qualities: consistent in core group member attendance; consistent in meeting weekly; consistent in members of the group sharing vulnerably and mutually supportive; and finally, ability of members to occasionally meet with one another outside of the weekly scheduled time?” His point drives, “Without others to know us and celebrate our small victories and care about our small failures, we become more ‘pinched’ and grumpy, and more likely to enter a type of depression where all is a tasteless routine.”

Clearly, a connection is needed to form or continue a business and way of life within the agricultural industry. Dr. Behrmann states that it is important to feel valued and supported in your work. Farmers can help themselves without feeling inadequate by continuing the support paths that were instilled at a younger age until adulthood. Striving to find that mentality, whether on your own or with help, is vital for future successes.

You can find Shepherd’s Whey Creamery online at shepherdswheycreamery.com
Facebook: @ShepherdsWheyCreamery
Instagram: @shepherdswhey

Articles of interest from Dr. Behrmann:

Exploring the Role of Farm Animals in Providing Care at Care Farms by Jan Hassink, 1 Simone R. DeBruin, 2 Bente Berget, 3 and Marjolein Elings 1 with Karen Thodberg, Academic Editor; Published June 2017.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5483608/

Sources, these are people that I have listened to during other agriculture conferences that are good sources:

Dr. Michael Rosmann

http://www.agbehavioralhealth.com/Columns.html

Monica Kramer McConkey

https://www.eyesonthehorizon.org/?fbclid=IwAR1Ca2A3mfoHyC2US0bHGvvJYTdMYLipdEEA4dWJtGxc80uRXFZwYxPs0yA