today reflection

Today was a very interesting day. I don't typically discuss my daily activities that are outside of the CSA activities but I feel like it today. Will you put up with me?

A part of the rest of my world is participating in the Kings County Federation of Agriculture. Today there were three people who work for the Federal Department of Agriculture visiting Kings County. These people work at establishing Ag Profiles that contain information that can be helpful to regions in understanding what is going on with agriculture from a statistical perspective (it is more than that). I agreed to set up meetings with farmers today to help this team gain a perspective of what is happening here in Kings County.

I feel like sharing my thoughts on this day.

First off, when people report in the news and when you hear in passing that farms are in trouble, it is true. Even farms that look like they are doing really well in terms of investing in new technologies and things, they too are feeling the effects of a "cheap food policy". Overall, the amount that farms have to reinvest in their businesses is getting smaller and smaller.

Second off, when people are concerned about new young farmers coming on and positioning to be the "next generation" of farmers - that concern too is valid. It is extremely difficult to get loans to purchase farms. And extremely hard to have security in the first bunch of years in terms of cash flow. I believe in the power of the small farm, that is more accessible to new farmers, but I also know that the reality of maintaining our larger scale agricultural activity here in Kings County depends on young farmers farming some of the larger volume producing farms, the cost of this is restrictive.

Thirdly, regardless, there is optimism and there is tremendous potential here.

I rack my brain nearly every day a trying to sort out how we can create a change in the system so that farms are more viable. It is so dependent on the global market place and the policies. All of which seem impossible to change. Of course this leads me to doing what I can to maintain a viable farm business ourselves here, doing the CSA. And that of course is because of all of you.

What the CSA means for us (in terms of finances) is that we are able to farm with less financial risk and financial cost of borrow during the growing season. This is a big deal. Last year we planted, tended and harvested lots of things that never sold. The farm markets didn't need the products or we grew things that were just not mainstream enough to get a sale. We did very well with tomatoes, but still not enough to pay for everything. Now with the CSA it will still be tight each year until our mortgage is paid down, but now we have the security of having sold our products which makes each day very rewarding. We will have less harvested compost this year.

As a young farmer I feel very optimistic and I have my family and husband to thank for that. Optimism does not mean that I do not have a realistic way to thinking about all this. The reality is that we have a tremendous amount of support. We have Izaak, Lily and Frank and along with them we have sisters, mothers, fathers, and very close friends who all come and help all of the time in various ways. It is because we have so much support that we are able to do it all. Also, because we operate a few farms, the cost to utilize equipment is shared and not such a burden on one operation. These types of supports are critical in how we are able to manage.

As I have said before, I am very grateful to how supportive everyone is. It has been a surprise how much people are looking to build community and connections to their food. Thank you for that and I only hope that we can grow this energy to support other farmers in the same.

I suppose that these are enough comments for tonight. Thanks!