2020!!!

It is now 2020! Wow!! A new year, a new decade… We started this conversation 8 months ago, believe it or not. So, with 2020 hindsight, let’s take a look at the road to today. If space permits, we may take a little time to discuss what’s next.

I can truthfully say that I brought a lot of knowledge and skill to the table to start this adventure. That knowledge and those skills pale in comparison to the knowledge and expertise available for the asking from like-minded ranchers and farmers around the world. My thanks and respect goes out to each and every one of you working to overhaul our food production system so that it nourishes the land and us (that’s what regenerative is all about).

HFF free 2020 calendar download

Last May I could not have envisioned that today we are no longer a sole proprietorship, but a family LLC. I could not have envisioned the path we would take to get here.

Mid-summer or thereabouts my children and their spouses informed us that they thought we ought to turn this into a family business. There is no greater satisfaction I can take as a parent than for my children to willingly choose to join Cheri and me, to actively participate in the generational changeover that MUST take place. The implications of that are that this adventure needs to speed up! If the farm is going to feed us all, it has to achieve a certain mass.

Joel Salatin has stated that Polyface Farms has never set sales goals because it dehumanizes customers. We do not have sales goals at Hood Family Farms. We have determined the level at which day jobs can be abandoned, though. Our customers are special to us. One or more of the family has met every single one of our customers at some point. We cherish each of you who has trusted us for food or craft.

Last year, I thought of us as a cattle operation with the goal of providing direct-to-consumer grass-fed, grass-finished beef. We are more than that today. There is an education journey that parallels the implementation journey. The education journey led me to understand that two things will be critical to our ability to be truly regenerative and financially viable.

First, we must be multi-species.

Different species properly selected and utilized complement one another and speed soil improvements while protecting or enhancing animal health. Grazers/herbivores - cattle and sheep - prune grass from the senescence stage back to the diaper stage (thanks Joel Salatin). Flies and other pests and parasites that affect grazers lay their eggs on grass and in manure. Poultry/omnivores following the grazers by three days arrive at just the right time to harvest the pest and parasite larvae to fulfill their animal protein requirements.

And that is just one form complementarity. There are others. We added sheep to our herbivores in August. We have increased our layer hens from 16 to 54 on our way to 100+. The numbers of animals are not arbitrary. The land right now must be able to sustain them and we must have markets to sell what we produce. One measure of success is that we must add animals to consume the forage and supply what our customers ask for.

Second, there is a succession process that can’t easily be bypassed. The question comes up, “What can I do right now to create income?” It takes 27-33 months to grow a calf from conception to harvest. That is a long time with no income at startup. Sheep are similar, but not as long.

So what does “succession” look like?

For us, it meant starting with baked goods and jams. Buy the ingredients, cook it, sell it. The span between expense and income can be less than a week. Broiler chickens take 13 weeks from acquiring the chicks to income. Eggs require about 20 weeks to get a hen from chick to income. Vegetables and flowers take 6-16 weeks from seed to income, depending on what you grow.

Right now, we have calves that will be ready for harvest this fall. We have pregnant ewes that should give us lamb in late spring. We have 16 hens producing with 38 more to be producing over the next few weeks. The garden is about to be planted for spring. Flowers (bulbs) are already sprouting. I am building my first broiler pen, now (40% complete). Our succession pipeline is filling. We must now execute in each area so that the farm - the soil and forages - are made better, the animals are happy and healthy, and our customers are provided superior products.

2020 hindsight? OK. Let’s assimilate the lessons learned and make the year 2020 something special.

Have a great day, a great day, indeed.

Robin Hood

Hood Family Farms