"Barnyard Business" - A farming mentorship session

Last week, Jordan and I were lucky to attend a session called Barnyard Business: The Real Dirt on the Farm organized by the Beyond the Market.  This session was organized to start a dialogue between new, young farmers and the pros with years of experience.  There were about two dozen people there; some were students interested in Northern farming, some were new farmers like us, and some were  successful farmers from our region.

Before the session, I was a little reserved and hesitant.  We are still not exactly sure where we are going with the farm.  I have absolutely no experience with anything agricultural - I've only sort-of planted two gardens, and while we got food out of them, it wasn't much and neither were what I would call 'successful' (although we are still eating our potatoes, some of which I planted in buckets this past spring).  Jordan grew up on a farm, but it was a larger farm (a quarter section, which is 160 acres), and it was a combination of cattle and wheat, neither of which we can turn a profit on with only 40 acres.  I also generally dislike 'networking' - I don't want to be tossed in a room full of strangers and forced to talk to them.

As the session got underway, Jillian from Beyond the Market got started by reading this article about a thirteen year old in Denver, CO who has started a 'mini farm'.  It gave me a good perspective of just what goes in to running even a small farming operation and some of the challenges that farmers encounter.  Of course, one farmer's experience is in no way representative of the majority, and as the session progressed, we got more insight from a panel of five farmers from three different farms.

All the farmers were there because they want to help young farmers get started and are interested in becoming part of a mentorship program that Beyond the Market is in the process of setting up.

David and Karen Kellett from Northern Farm Products Ltd. run a conventional farm that supplies 6 local grocery stores with beef, carrots, cabbage and rutabaga, and they also have a u-pick berry operation as well.

Walter runs a cow and calf farm in Vanderhoof.

The farmers that most caught our interest were Garry and Wendy Lowe from Twin Meadows Organics.  They are growing organic heirloom veggies in nearby McBride, and selling them to the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and many citizens of Jasper.  They have apparently gotten many requests to extend their produce to the Prince George market as well, and thus they suspect that any small organic farm in our area will be very successful.  They are farming the way I would like to farm - organic heirloom veggies in beds prepared by horse-drawn implements.  Based on their discussion during the panel session and the conversation that we had afterward with Wendy, I feel that we can learn a lot from them, and I would like to head in that direction.

During the panel discussion, the farmers provided us with some insights into starting and running a successful farm.  The main points that I took away were:

• Be passionate about what you're doing.
• Understand your market, but be aware that it may change or evolve over time.
• Find out what makes your farm unique, and capitalize on it.

We were also given some tips on how to get started.  These included: leasing land and implements to avoid prohibitive start-up costs; setting up an incubation farm by partnering with an established organic farmer; and starting small, with one person working the farm and one person keeping a job in town.  As well, Beyond the Market has many resources and is willing (and hoping!) to help young farmers get their farms off the ground, including creating a business plan and becoming self-employed.

At the end of the session, I was thinking "Okay, we should be able to do this!"  I feel that the task is less daunting now, especially as Wendy and Garry are excited to mentor young farmers and help to get them started.  We have lots to think about over the winter!!

And, as a bonus, we also met a student who is interested in following our progress over the long term (hi Mike!) and another young couple who have their own 40 acres nearby (hi Tessa and Matt!).