Let the Waters Flow

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posted on

December 5, 2024

"Thousands have lived without love, not one without water." - W. H. Auden

If you’ve been following us for a time, you know that we’ve been hauling water with the tractor to the cattle herd for four years. Four years of filling a huge tank on a trailer with the garden hose for 75 minutes, then hauling it to wherever the herd is grazing and filling 5 or 6 stock tanks. Then doing it again the next day. And the next day.

This is why we are SO STOKED to share that our water system is complete! CJ spent the last two months trenching in 4,500 feet of waterline, installing summer water points along the line, pouring concrete and anchoring in 4 frost-free waterers, and moving tons of gravel. After seeking several expensive quotes from contractors, CJ decided to install everything by himself. Having never done it before!

unnamed-(1)-(1).jpg — The ride-on trencher which cuts a deep trench into the ground where we lay the pipeline.

CJ fixing one of the “stab-ins” where we can plug in a garden house along the buried line.

Farming requires the right infrastructure. Livestock operations require fencing, a water system, a way to safely and humanely handle the animals, a barn or natural windbreak for them to take shelter, and more. As beginning farmers, we have spent these startup years figuring out what kind of infrastructure we need and how to fund it. This is one reason so many farms take years to support one person’s livelihood, yet alone multiple. All of the profits from our farm business have gone back into the business in the form of capital investments each year.

Luckily for us, conservation programs through the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provide cost-share support for many of the practices we aim to implement. When Molly started the farm in 2020, she reached out to NRCS and applied to one such program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, for a water system, improved fencing, and a gravel feed pad. After three years of applying, we were accepted and able to install these major pieces of infrastructure this year.

The 40x80 ft gravel feed pad where we can put the cattle herd when conditions are too muddy for them to be on pasture.

CJ pouring a concrete pad where each frost-free waterer is placed.

We are grateful to Joe Weber at our local NRCS office for supporting us in this conservation contract. Instead of burning diesel to move water around, we can now walk out into the pastures and plug a tank into the line or move the herd to a permanent waterer. This is one example of our tax dollars being put to good use — supporting farmers in implementing conservation practices that benefit us all!

unnamed-(4)-(1).jpg — The whole family came out to help us seed and mulch the line!

unnamed-(5).jpg — A happy herd drinking water on a frozen day.

Expanding to Greener Pastures

We’ve got some exciting news to share! We are transitioning into being the new owners of the Shew Family Farm. This winter, we have been discussing the possibilities of a farm transition — as Pete & Marjie sought to create a plan for retirement, in hopes that their farm could be stewarded in a similar manner, and as we sought to expand our beef operation on our current limited land base. With guidance from our Uncle Jon Sowash, we devised a land contract to purchase the farm over the next many years in installments. In December, we also purchased the Shew’s brood cows and young calves. It’s no small feat to pass a farm from one generation to the next, particularly when it’s not to children. According to the American Farmland Trust, 2,000 acres of farmland are lost to non-agricultural uses every day. This has been a full circle moment, as Pete has been a mentor to us for several years. When I first started our farm in 2020, I cold-called him to see if I could visit and learn from him. I remember visiting one day to learn about handling cattle and to “help” as Pete brought a few steers down to the barn and loaded them into the trailer for the butcher. Over lunch, Marjie shared how they weren’t sure who would take over the farm when they retired and remarked, “maybe you’ll buy this place one day!” My eyes grew wide and I laughed, thinking to myself — me?! I have no idea how to farm. What does this mean for us and the Shews? We will continue to live and farm here in Athens County where we’ll run our pastured pork operation. During the growing season, we will run the cattle at the Shew farm where we’ll have the space to increase the herd size and maintain a breeding operation for the first time. As winter approaches, we will bring the herd back to our Athens farm to graze stockpiled forages — reducing the amount of hay we need to feed and making winter chores easier. Pete & Marjie will continue living in their home. They will be raising their butcher-ready steers and selling beef at the Athens Farmers Market this season before retiring in the fall. We are grateful that they will be staying on the property and advising us, as we get to know the farm and continue to learn as first-generation farmers. How does this enable us to raise our own calves? Until now, we have been purchasing weaned calves in the spring from other grass-fed farms and raising them to butcher weight. But we are getting squeezed by the cattle market, making it difficult to run a profitable enterprise. In spring 2021, we were purchasing calves for $1.62/lb or $680 for a 420 lb animal. Right now, the average price for the same calves is $5.25/lb or $2,205. People have often asked us — why don’t we raise our own calves? But on just 50 acres of pasture that we lease from family, we don’t have the space to maintain a herd of brood cows without having to really reduce our production. After all, a mama cow needs about 2 acres of pasture to live, so we’d have to free up space by reducing the number of steers we raise for beef. Last year we tried to expand our land base by leasing smaller, noncontiguous land near us. This involved hauling cattle to a different property every month or so, trucking water, and setting up temporary fencing. This opportunity to expand to the Shew property’s 115 acres of pasture means we can now run a “birth to butcher” operation in one centralized place. Better soils mean more beef! This also means we can increase beef production, as the soils have been so improved by the Shew’s managed grazing that they can support nearly twice the number of animals per acre as our Athens pastures. Pete told us that when they moved there in 1984, the organic matter of their soils was around 2-3%. In 2024, soil samples showed organic matter ranging from 4-6%! That is incredible improvement in soil health in a short amount of time. These productive soils will allow us to sustainably meet the growing demand for our grass-fed beef. More than anything, we are excited about the opportunity to invest in soils that have been improved for 42 years by sustainable grazing practices. That’s the best farm insurance policy we could ask for. We are honored to carry on the legacy of Pete & Marjie. We’ve got big Shews to fill.

The word that best defines 2025...

is community. And our community shows up in the pages of our newly released 2025 Annual Report — from photos of our events to this year’s Customers of the Year to our families who support our farming endeavors wholeheartedly.

Welcoming quiet & new life in the New Year

We’ve been absent from your inbox lately as the December holidays brought a flurry of travel and events to many of our lives. There’s something wonderful about January’s contrast to December, when the decorations come down and the weather gets colder and the world seems to stand a little more still. We are embracing this quieter pace of life, in a literal and figurative sense.

Let the Waters Flow

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