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Green, green, it's green they say...	June 18, 2008
"Green, green, it's green, they say, on the far side of the hill, Green, green, I'm going away, to where the grass is greener still." I wouldn't guess that too many people have heard this folk song, let alone remember that it was re-popularized by the New Christy Minstrals in the 1960s. It's a song I find in my head often these days, with one lyrical caveat—the words "I'm going away" become "I'm staying right here" --in my cerebral version of the song. As I look at the results of the beautiful rains and sun at Prairie Horizons Farm, I find I am in love with all the shades of GREEN on all of the Horizons. Photosynthesis is in high gear in every direction I look. This miraculous process that brings sustenance to every other living creature on earth is abounding, and it has erased the insecurity of feeding our very last bale of hay this spring. For the very first time ever my husband Luverne fed our last bale of hay, and he has been part of this farm with livestock for 52 consecutive years. His parents always had a reserve. We always have a reserve. It's a vital part of farming sustainably, to have a little extra to cover the unexpected. The last two years of drought were more than unexpected. It was unprecedented, and with the cold and dry spring, the pastures stood still. Then, thankfully, it began to rain. A shower here, a few tenths of an inch there, not too much at a time, just right, really. Then more rain came, and more, and still more, until our subsoil moisture was restored. Grasslands, especially native grasslands, can take driving rains without damage to soil or plants, store a lot of water, and yet survive on very little. After almost 3 years, what a great feeling it is to once again have water "in the bank". Our beef sales are going well. Customers are knowledgeable and appreciative of our farming practices, even the locals! OK, I’m sorry, but local people are just a little slower to catch on that locally grown foods benefit us locals most, as purchasing locally contributes to our local economy. Because we feed no corn or any grain, and we use only one half gallon of fossil fuel to bring one animal from calving to market, we didn't have to raise our prices this year. That added a measure of popularity too! In all seriousness though, we aren't running a popularity contest. We think of our repeat customers as our co-producers. We wouldn't be here without you. Mid-size farms like ours are disappearing from the American landscape, too large and distant from urban areas to be market farms, rather, we are a size more often becoming an easy "add-on" to the thousands of acres commodity crop farming operations. Last night I boiled water for pasta, and added a little olive oil to prevent foaming over (a good trick if you've never used it). When I saw was the drops of oil bumping into the droplets, and swallowing them up without a trace, making them disappear into an ever bigger drop, I thought of it as a metaphor for what is happening to the midsize American farm—the demise of the hundreds of acres farms into the thousands of acres farm, gone without a trace. The statistics show that the average size of farms isn't changing much, due to the growth in numbers of small farms. Go small farms! You have brought us a measure of diversity, innovation, food security, and rural economic development when few thought it possible. It's the mid-sized farms, and rural communities, that have a treacherous road ahead. The average age of farmers is at least 55, and it’s estimated that 25% of farmland will change ownership in the next 10 years. We hope to be here, maybe starting a sixth generation of farmers in America, but will we have neighbors who farm? We will do everything we can to see that we do. I hope you will too, by knowing where your food comes from, who is growing it, and how. The solutions to the problems we face are in the connections.
posted by forbord1