What type of business is best for our farm…

Mark and Denise Wetzel Published: Categories: Uncategorized

What does Mark want for Easter dinner?

Farm Business Research

I have been thinking a lot about what type of business our farm should operate as.  I watched this webinar about different farm businesses.  If you click on the picture, you should go to the page that has the recorded webinar.

At one point, I was thinking about setting up the farm as a nonprofit.  Mostly because I have worked in nonprofits so I am familiar with the infrastructure.  However, to be a nonprofit, there are certain criteria you have to meet.  For example, you have to have an educational component to your nonprofit.  I like the idea of having people coming to the farm and learning about growing fruits or vegetables and health eating.  However, I realize that this is not our main reason for having our farm. The main reason is to provide a business for Mark and I to run.  Luckily, other skills that I have learned while directing a nonprofit will be useful in our farm business (like accounting, marketing, and communication).  So, after viewing this webinar, it looks like setting up a Limited Liability Company (LLC) will probably be the way to go.  The next thing I want to research are the “rules” for selling produce and farm products.

Another question that has entered my mind is, “When are we considered “farmers?”  I heard this definition of a farmer from the USDA on a podcast that I was listening to:

The U.S. Agriculture Department defines it (a farm) as “any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the year.”

So, I guess I have here a good goal when we do get into production.  I have linked this definition to an article entitled, “USDA Definition of Farmer Twisted”.

Garden Update:

I planted carrots and radish into the garden.  Everything is coming along nicely.  It has gotten cool again at nights so I have been covering my garden if it is getting closer to freezing.  The spinach was slow to germinate but has really taken off now…
Baby Spinach

 

Garlic

Find a Local Farm Update:

I ran into a good friend last week and she told me about Link’d Hearts Ranch.  They have pastured poultry.  You can click on this picture to visit their ranch.  I put in an order for some pastured poultry for the summer.  I am familiar with the farm because last summer, I was doing a lot of cycling and I went past their farm a few times on my long rides.  Also, there was a nice article in the local newspaper about their farm a couple of months ago.

My youngest said, “Well, I like chicken from the store so I bet I will like chicken from the farm.”

In The Kitchen:

I picked up a “Rooted” magazine, a quarterly publication featuring articles about food systems, healthy eating, sustainability, and more!  The Moscow Coop prints this publication.  You can view the publication and the recipe I mention below by clicking on this picture: 
There was an article about pickling asparagus.  I LOVE anything pickled but have only made refrigerator pickles.  So, I decided to give this a try.  I just made them yesterday and it says to wait 48 hours before opening so I will let you know how they taste next week.

Happy Easter!