Items Tagged With Interviews

 

Bill Donald is a lifelong, 3^rd generation Montana Rancher who owns and operates a family ranch near Melville, Montana. The family has owned the ranch for almost 100 years, purchasing their first plot of land  in 1909.   The ranch is now shared by Bill, his sister, and their families.

 Bill has a long history of advocacy, serving on the boards of major livestock trade associations on state and national levels.  Currently, Bill serves on the board of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) as Chairman of the Policy Division.  He also has worked as a Voluntary Leader with Undaunted Stewardship, a program co-created by the Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana State University, and the BLM in 2004 to help Montana ranchers preserve historic sites on their land and develop sustainable range management plans.  In 2006, Bill served as president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA), an association whose mission is to champion Montana ranching.

 I had the opportunity to talk with Bill recently about these associations and their work, as well as his observations on how ranching has adapted over the last decades.

 

Your family has been in the ranching business on the same land for nearly a hundred years.  How have you seen ranchers adapt to the large changes in property value and fuel prices?

Ranches that have been in business for many years have faced challenges during every generation. Successful ranches have faced those challenges head on by identifying them, formulating and implementing plans that deal with the challenge in such a way that the most successful possible outcome is reached.

The challenges of skyrocketing property values manifest themselves in different ways. The increase in property values make it more difficult to not only expand, because there is no way to pay today’s prices for land with the production from that land, but also makes it more difficult to pass the ranch on to the next generations. Expansion of existing ranches today requires either some land be sold to afford the purchase of more or some sort of lease. Successful multigenerational ranch families utilize every possible tool to accomplish the generational transfer; trusts, wills, gifting, insurance, and purchase by the incoming generation. First and foremost it requires effective communication, coupled with a solid plan formulated with the advice of accountants and lawyers. The inheritance tax is a hurdle that many ranch families cannot clear. In many instances paying that tax requires the sale of some or the entire ranch, ending the ranch legacy.

A ranch is not like a chain of stores. In many cases it is not possible to sell a portion and end up with a viable unit. Ranches are all about balance. It is important for a ranch to have a good balance of summer and winter range as well as a solid hay base to be sustainable. Selling off a portion can disrupt the balance and result in a ranch that is no longer sustainable.  The elimination of the inheritance tax would be one giant step for protecting the family ranching heritage of the United States. Another adverse impact of high land values is when some siblings who have ownership in a ranch live off the ranch they may well be disinterested in selling when land is a few hundred dollars an acre, but multiply that times ten and they are more tempted to want to be bought out, forcing the sale of some or all of the land.

The return on investment for a ranch is very low. Ranching is a land rich, cash poor enterprise. High fuel prices are causing challenges by making the ranching operation even less profitable. Moving commodities such as cattle and feed require the use of large trucks. The sharp increase in fuel has forced some changes in the way ranchers operate; sometimes it means reducing production, which in turn lows income. It can cause a very difficult downward spiral. Successful ranchers are finding ways to reduce fuel use without cutting production.

 

 

How did Undaunted Stewardship come together?

The impetus for Undaunted Stewardship came in April of 2001 the afternoon of the day on which the front page of the Great Falls Tribune reported on a press conference Bruce Babbit had had the previous day with Max Baucus and Stephen Ambrose.  They had just floated through the wild-and-scenic stretch of the Missouri, and Babbit announced his goal to create a national monument.  The basic idea was to find a way, no matter how the Missouri Breaks Monument issue would need to unfold, to piggyback on the Lewis & Clark imagery and upcoming bicentennial, to further amplify in a much bigger way the message that ranching keeps Montana what it is.  It stemmed from the thought that Babbit wouldn't regard the Breaks as worth "saving" if ranchers in effect hadn't already saved it just by being who they are.

 

The partnership of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, the Bureau of Land Management, and Montana State University in Undaunted Stewardship is a unique alliance between agencies. What successes have you seen come from his partnership?

Over one million acres of private rangeland on scores of ranches in 18 counties have been certified for their stewardship.  We've got 10 interpretive displays about history/ranching across the state, the only significant such displays on private land in the U.S., most with a preserved historic site or resource in view.  The video we produced on the program won both an international and a national award.

 

What is the focus of the educational component of Undaunted Stewardship?

The public education tries to work in several directions at once: to help ranchers improve their stewardship and their bottom lines; to build awareness/support among urbanites of ranching's inherent environmental significance to Montana's quality of life and culture; to provide documentation that allows heightened pressure on public land decision-makers to improve their public land management; and to bust myths about ranching and increase consensus re: ranchers/non-ranchers.

 

What advice to do have for a young person who wants to get into the ranching business?

There are two areas where young people interested in getting into ranching should focus, education and experience. Today’s ranch manager needs to be knowledgeable of animal science, plant and range science, political science, economics, marketing, communication, and psychology. While all of these things can be learned by experience, it takes a lifetime. A focused education from a good Ag school will jump start a young person by giving the tools needed to get started. There are also seminars and specialty schools that focus on specific aspects. While the school education is very helpful, it needs to be coupled with experience. Getting actual work experience on ranches is imperative to becoming a successful ranch manager. Schools do a good job of teaching the theories but there is no other way to learn the practical than getting ones hand dirty. If a person is not from a ranching background, this can be accomplished by summer jobs or internships.

 

Tell me about the mission of the National Cattleman’s Beef Association?

 The National Cattlemen's Beef Association’s mission is to work to increase profit opportunities for cattle and beef producers by enhancing the business climate and building consumer demand.  The NCBA is comprised of two divisions. One division is the Federation of State Beef Councils. The state beef councils collect the mandatory $1 per head check-off. Of each dollar they collect, they send $ .50 to the Cattlemen's Beef Board (CBB), which is a 104-member board, appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. The CBB contracts with different groups to fulfill its obligations under the Beef Promotion Act of 1985, which are to promote, educate and fund research to enhance the beef industry by increasing demand. The NCBA is the CBB's largest contracting association.  The other NCBA division is the Policy Division. I am currently serving as the Chairman of the Policy Division. The Policy Division is funded by membership dues and its role is to enhance the business climate by lobbying Congress and working with regulatory agencies.

 

The Montana Stockgrowers Association is about to reach their 125^th Anniversary. How has their role in the state’s activities evolved?

 The Montana Stockgrowers Association was founded in 1884 by some legendary ranching icons including Granville Stewart. The issues of the day were predators, both human and wild, and a lack of infrastructure. Predators, drought and harsh winters have always been and will always be a challenge for ranchers. The next generation was faced with a world war, the depression. The following generation had to deal with another world war, rapid increase in technologies, massive exodus from farms and ranches to cities. The current generation is facing the challenges of skyrocketing input costs and land values. We are also challenged by the fact that constituting less than two percent of the population we are a very small minority. Because the 98 percent of the country that is not involved in agriculture has slight or no knowledge of our lives and challenges, we must educate them about the importance of the food and wealth we produce for the nation and the world.  That was one of the founding principles behind the Undaunted Stewardship Program and it is why MSGA has an extensive communications program.

 

Is there anything that you have seen in your activities with Undaunted Stewardship or the Stockgrowers Association that has made you particularly proud?

I am very proud to have served on the board and as an officer of the Montana Stockgrowers Association because of integrity exhibited by the membership. They are passionate about this industry, resolute in their convictions and dedicated to insuring Montana ranching is sustainable. While MSGA policies may not always be popular, they are well reasoned, well debated and well executed. I am proud of the policy development mechanism of MSGA. It allows all members to have input and gives enough time to insure all angles are considered. While there are times it is necessary for an outfit like MSGA to react to various incidents, Undaunted Stewardship is a great example of how MSGA can also be proactive. I believe that has been the key to the outfit’s 125 years of success.

 

 

 

 Bureau of Land Management Wins Chairman’s Award for 

Federal Achievement in Historic Preservation

 

 

Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana State University, Senator Conrad Burns Also Honored For ‘Undaunted Stewardship’ Effort that Opens Private Lands to Heritage Travelers

 

 

 

ANNAPOLIS, MD—Undaunted Stewardship, a Montana program created by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana State University, and U.S. Senator Conrad Burns, today received the Chairman’s Award for Federal Achievement in Historic Preservation.

 The announcement and award presentation took place today in the Maryland State House during the spring business meeting of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP).

 “Montana’s landscape today vividly recalls the pristine country traversed by the Lewis and Clark expedition 200 years ago, in large measure because of wise stewardship on both private and public lands,” said John L. Nau, III, chairman of the ACHP. “Just as public land stewards protect and provide reasonable access to sites important to our heritage, private landowners in Montana are encouraging appropriate heritage travel to historic sites on their property through the Undaunted Stewardship program while preserving and enhancing cultural and natural resources. This is a wonderful model for similar partnerships across the nation.”

 Undaunted Stewardship was originated by Montana’s ranching and agricultural community and officially began in April 2001. It is experiencing steady growth as more landowners join the program, which recognizes and encourages stewardship of natural and cultural resources by private landowners. Undaunted Stewardship spurs development of management plans. It also assists landowners in creating information kiosks and other interpretive resources for public visitation and education on private lands containing historic sites, and other associated efforts.

 For more information on the Undaunted Stewardship program, visit www.undauntedstewardship.com.

 

ABOUT THE ACHP: The ACHP, an independent federal agency, promotes the preservation, enhancement, and productive use of the nation’s historic resources and advises the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy. It also provides a forum for influencing federal activities, programs, and policies that impact historic properties. In addition, the ACHP has a key role in carrying out the Administration’s Preserve America program. Visit www.achp.gov for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mobile Processing Unit (MPU) was developed by the Lopez Community Land Trust on Lopez Island in Washington State.  The MPU is a 26 ft-long trailer that carries a state of the art processing facility for slaughtering livestock on the farm. The mobile facility is inspected by a USDA representative, allowing the meat to legally be sold to consumers, restaurants, and stores directly from the farmer.  The unit is operated by the Island Grown Farmers Co-op, and rented out by Lopez Island farmers. In the absence of local slaughter facilities, most farmers and ranchers must ship their cattle hundreds of miles, often across state lines, to have their cattle processed.  The transport is costly, often stressful for the animals, and prevents many farmers from being able to sell their meat locally.  The MPU offers a localized solution.

 

The Lopez Island Community Land Trust (LCLT) operates a program for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) under which the MPU was developed.  I had the opportunity to interview Henning Sehmsdorf, owner of S&S Homestead Farm on Lopez Island.  Sehmsdorf served as director of the Lopez Island Community Land Trust and chair of the SARD committee when the concept for the MPU was initially developed.

 

What kind of options did farmers on Lopez Island have for selling beef locally before the MPU? Were citizens of the island able to eat grass-fed beef raised on the island?

 As far as I know, the only option people on the island had to eat grass-fed beef, was to buy a live animal and have a local butcher slaughter it for them. The usual procedure was for farmers to sell quarters of more of a beef animal to customers and then hire a state registered (not USDA-inspected) butcher who would come to the farm and slaughter the designated animal there. With the USDA-inspected mobile unit, the farmer has the additional option of selling to restaurants, local food stores, institutions such as the local school, at farmers' markets, as well as by the piece off the farm.

 

Do you think, with the cooperation of the USDA, that the MPU has the potential to revolutionize beef production and distribution in America?

 With the cooperation of USDA, the MPU could indeed revolutionize beef production and distribution in the U.S. by making it possible for small farmers to supply the food needs of their own communities. Today the bulk of beef production, processing and distribution is in the hands of some five giant corporations, to the detriment of food safety and of the quality and nutritional wholeness of meat products. Huge feed lots create largely unregulated bio-hazards (ground and air pollution), and they waste non-renewable energy. Large-scale food production produces cheap food but not good food, and it strips local communities of their own resources, while laying waste to the environment. If the USDA would prioritize small-scale, local food production, it would revolutionize how meat is produced and distributed in America, namely by making the type of small-scale infrastructure exemplified by the MPU generally available in rural communities throughout the land.

 

How is the MPU another step in reducing agricultural dependence on non-renewable energy in this country?

Use of he MPU by itself does, of course, not guarantee that the animals slaughtered have been grass-fed. The unit is available to organic as well as non-organic producers, who may raise and finish their cattle on grass or on grain, as they see fit. As a biodynamic producer who raises cattle entirely on farm-produced feeds, meaning grass-based forages, and uses only fertilizers produced from the manures of the animals, I am convinced that such methods also are the most energy-efficient and least dependent upon non-renewable energy since grass is grown using the inexhaustibly renewable energies of the sun. So the question whether the MPU could be "another step in reducing agricultural dependence on non-renewable energy" needs to be answered in the context of how individual farmers produce the animal to be slaughtered.

 

What kind of difference have you seen in the lives of the farmers and consumers of your community since the MPU was developed?

I do not have statistical data to answer this question; but anecdotal evidence tells me that the majority of consumers on our island continue to prioritize price, choice and convenience over food or ecological quality in purchasing meat for their tables. There is, however, a growing awareness in the community of how important our personal food choices are in shaping not only our personal health, but the economic and social health of our communities, as well ecological health. Direct sales off the farm are strong. What is needed are more small farmers who know how to produce healthful food in an ecologically responsible manner, and more consumers who understand the importance of such food, and are willing to put their money where their mouth is.

 

How does the Lopez Community Land Trust see the development of the MPU as part of their mission?

I am no longer a member of the board of directors of the Lopez Community Land Trust, and therefore cannot speak for how the Land Trust currently thinks about the MPU in the context of its mission.  [See note below from Sandy Bishop, Executive Director of Lopez CLT]  However, I was a director of LCLT and chairman of SARD (Committee on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development) when the MPU project was proposed (in fact I brought the proposal to the land trust and pursued it for a couple of years before funding could be found). At the time, the argument for LCLT to adopt the project was that it would support local, small-scale agriculture and community-based food security, offer nutritionally superior meat to local consumers, and improve animal welfare (by making shipment of slaughter animals to feed lots and off-island slaughter facilities unnecessary).

Note from Sandy Bishop: The goal of the Lopez Community Land Trust is to build a diverse, sustainable island community, specifically through programs that primarily support low-income households with the following integrated purposes: 

a. To acquire and hold land in trust in order to provide for permanently affordable housing. Homes shall be built and lands shall be used in an environmentally sensitive and socially responsible manner.
b. To provide permanently affordable access to land for such purposes as quality housing, sustainable agriculture and forestry, cottage industries and co-operatives by forever removing the land from the speculative market.
c. To develop and exercise responsible and ecological practices, which preserve, protect and enhance the land's natural attributes.
d. To serve as a model in land stewardship and community development by providing information, resources and expertise.

The MPU serves LCLT's purpose in several ways: it helps to maintain Lopez Island’s diversity by supporting small local meat producers who care deeply about their animals and the community of people they help feed.  The MPU also models sustainable community development by providing information, resources and expertise and is a responsible and ecological response to the ever faster disintegrating state of options for humane, safe animal slaughter.   

 

 

 

 

A life-long rancher and writer, Linda Hasselstrom is the award winning author of several books of non-fiction and poetry including, Between Grass and Sky: Where I Live and Work, Feels Like Far, Land Circle: Writings Collected From the Land, Windbreak, Bison: Monarch of the Plains, Dakota Bones, and the Wrangler Award winning Bitter Creek Junction, among others. Linda was also the co-editor with Gaydel Collier and Nancy Curtis of the Wind Anthologies, a three-book collection of writing by Western women. From the intimate perspective of one who has spent most of her life working outdoors on her family ranch in South Dakota, Linda’s writing reveals a deep knowledge of what it means to make a life from the land and to be part of a third and forth generation ranching community on the High Plains. In describing her work as a writer she says, “I began studying and writing about rural and ecological problems from my own experiences in the Great Plains…. As my knowledge expanded, I encouraged ranchers and farmers to adopt better practices to help keep more rural people employed in agriculture. I wanted to help inform the American public about the ruinous costs to all of us of the kind of development we've seen in agriculture over the last fifty years.”

The Grass-fed Party Platform states a strong support for artists and storytellers “who reflect agrarian life, the history of the land, and the people who have dwelled on it,” believing that this storytelling is, in itself, an important and effective form of landscape preservation. So after reading one of Linda’s essays in Ranching West of the 100th Meridian, I contacted her for an interview, feeling that her rare wisdom would offer great insight to issues we discuss here, while her work demonstrates a form of preservation that we advocate for here. She writes: “I consider my primary responsibility to be working to preserve the territory I love, including not only the land but its inhabitants, human and otherwise, and their stories."

In this interview, Linda was able to share her thoughts with us on the changing landscapes of High Plains ranching communities, language in the ethics of ranching, and the work she is doing both as a rancher and writer to aid in the preservation of the prairie.


What is lost in a rural community when a family ranch is sold into
development?

1. Intimate and long-term knowledge of the ecology of the area.

2. Knowledge of the human strengths and weaknesses that supported and
enhanced the community cooperation and allowed neighbors to work together
for mutual survival.

3. To put this another way, I'll refer to a note from a friend, Hobie
Morris, whose column "The Musings of a Simple Country Man" in the West
Winfield (N.Y.) Star of Nov. 19, 2008, concerned "How Rural People Survive
in Tough Times." Hobie lists some of the recent news in his neighborhood:
the chicken-n-biscuit bake sale benefit for Ken and Kate, the Whitaker
Benefit for FOOD King, the Annual Firemen's Dinner. Hobie says that when
tough times strike his neighbors and friends, the built-in community support
system responds immediately and generously. "Helping others is a fundamental
belief in rural New York-and America," says Hobie, adding that "It's a
historical fact that rural Americans far better survived the horrible
conditions of the Great Depression in the 1930's." In some rural areas, he
suggests, recessions are not only nothing new, they are a permanent way of
life, so rural people learn by trial and error to live within their means.
Rural people, he says, survive better because they are multi-talented,
without a college degree; they can fix a car, cut wood for heat, grow
gardens, fix broken pipes or lawn mowers. If they don't know how to do a
job, they ask a buddy, and barter for his expertise.

My observations of subdivision and ranchette clusters indicate that little
of this kind of cooperation happens there- at least so far. Perhaps a
deepening depression will remind people that clusters of homes in the
country used to be villages where everyone worked together to survive.



What positive changes have you seen in your ranching community in your
lifetime?

More women are being acknowledged as making important contributions to all
phases of the ranching life, especially our interactions with the public.
Women have always been essential, of course. The minister at my father's
funeral was a woman, which would have horrified him. She said ranching began
when God established a garden "over east in Eden," but ranching really began
when God created woman to help man.

More ranchers are speaking out in public about their work, trying to educate
urban dwellers. More ranchers are banding together in groups to work for the
political change they need. Perhaps the media is paying more attention, or
perhaps there are simply more media outlets that are connected in some way
with rural life, and part of this can be attributed to some of the changes
we deplore: people moving into the country who don't know its history. They
ask questions, and many of them are just as interested in adapting and
learning as their ancestors- like my cobbler grandfather, who became as good
a rancher as it's possible to be.



How is your work as an artist/rancher essential to the preservation of
ranching itself?

In my writing, I try to explain and show how important the prairie is, not
just to a few ranchers who make a living here, but to the country. I was
horrified to learn recently that some of my friends, faithful readers of my
books, still think grass-fed beef is "tough." I've distributed a dozen copies
of Jo Robinson's book Pasture Perfect, and will be distributing more, as
well as quoting her more often in my own writing, and referring people to
her web site and others that discuss the perfection of grass-fed meat.

Do you think the custom of "western silence" is a barrier to sustainable change in the cattle industry?

Yes. Ranchers are bundles of contradictions. We'll leap to help strangers
in trouble, but we don't share information enough. Many of my neighbors are
automatically suspicious of anything connected with the government-despite
being willing to sign up for various benefits. We insist that we believe
what we can see, but while we'll go to a Stockgrowers meeting, we won't go
near the Sierra Club. But I hear stories of exceptions to all these comments, and I know that ranchers who want their ranches to continue being part of the landscape are working hard to broaden their perspectives and learn from others. Sometimes it’s hard to find the time, and know who to trust.



What measures are you currently taking to improve or manage the ecosystems
of your land?

1. My land is leased to neighbors, and the leases impose certain
restrictions:

--limit the number of cow units that can be placed on each pasture,
depending on the condition of the grass;

--prohibit shooting coyotes or poisoning prairie dogs or other animals, and
require that hunters walk to hunt only legal game. I make sure neighbors
know it is illegal to shoot predatory birds and the herons which have a
rookery along Battle Creek.

--require weeds be controlled by cutting rather than spraying chemicals.

2. With the help of the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, I have fenced a
riparian area along the only flowing creek on my property, Battle Creek near
Hermosa, South Dakota. Cattle are kept out of the area to protect wildlife
habitat and the creek banks.

3. I am encouraging and paying for the replacement of invasive alfalfa with
native grasses on my hayfields.

4. I encourage grazing hayfields for pasture rather than harvesting hay
where feasible, saving fuel and damage to ground.

5. In each writing retreat I conduct at Homestead House, I furnish reference
materials about the shortgrass prairie and its flora and fauna, and talk
about how a well-conducted ranching operation can enhance and protect
wildlife habitat. I allow and encourage resident writers to hike alone or
with me through the pastures to observe conditions for themselves.



As a rancher, do you feel an intrinsic moral obligation to the well-being of
your land and animals?

Yes, but I'd never put it that way in talking with my neighbors. Sadly, I
think most of them would be embarrassed and deny "an intrinsic moral
obligation" even while they felt it. So much in our relationships regarding
the land depends on language, and of course I don't expect well-educated
people whose language includes those terms to try to adopt another language
to speak to ranchers- that would be interpreted as "talking down to them"
anyway. But some of the ranchers I know would think they were being pompous
if they used those terms.

My dad never went to church, though he made me go with my mother, and
occasionally he'd talk to us about what we got out of the experience. He
said he hoped that God understood that while we were in church, he was out
taking care of God's land and cows, and that God would count those labors
just the way He supposedly added up hours spent in prayer and other
Christian works.

 

Photo of Linda on her Land in South Dakota by Tamara Rodgers

 

I had the chance to visit Stone and Thistle Farm last week and met Tom Warren who owns the farm along with his wife Denise.  It was a cold rainy day but nothing could take away from the beauty of the farm, where chickens, turkeys, beef cattle, sheep, pigs and goats dot the pastures. Tom was kind enough to answer a few questions for the Grass-fed Party.

Can you tell us a bit about your farm Stone and Thistle, and why you became a grass-fed farmer?

[Stone & Thistle Farm] We are a diversified livestock farm and certified organic goat dairy in the Catskill Mountains of central New York State.  We raise chickens, turkeys, beef cattle, sheep, hogs and dairy goats. We have a restaurant open on Saturday nights on our farm that serves only products produced on our farm and other small farms in our county.   We have been committed grazers for many years.  We did not set out to be “grass fed farmers”, but grew into the practice because we believe it is better for our animals, and the environment.

 

Do you think that America is ready to rely more on grass-fed farming? As there ben more support and/or demand for grass-fed farming?

[Stone & Thistle Farm] Yes and No.  We market most of our products in our rural region of central New York State.  We have seen a heightened awareness of the benefits of grass fed meat and eggs by consumers, but this does not necessarily translate into widespread committed consumer purchasing. We are a nation of soft believers.  Many consumers are interested in but confused by the many different labels that are currently being bandied about.  They want organic, local, small farm, cage free, grass-fed, pasture raised, family farm products; and which is what or what is which sometimes gets lost.  The demand comes largely from a more affluent better educated; I have read Michael Pollen and Barbara Kingsolver, type crowd. Our challenge as alternative agricultural producers is to   market products at a price that is fair to us, and accessible to a larger portion of the consuming population.  We are not doing that yet.

 

 What are the biggest obstacles that face grass-fed farmer's in America?

[Stone & Thistle Farm] Consumer education

 

Do you think grass-fed change will be driven by the consumer or does it also need changes in policy?

[Stone & Thistle Farm] Agricultural policy needs to change in this country.  I would prefer to see an end to subsidies, and more focus on conservation related initiatives that could support better use of our pasture resources.  Unfortunately the USDA will have to implement practice standards for use of the term grass fed. This will probably turn out as badly as the NOP.

Stone and Thistle Farm

Pastured Pig

 

In every region, we’re seeking out people and institutions facilitating smart and fertile solutions for REAL Grass-fed change.  In our search, we were happy to find Sterling College in Vermont, which boasts a 4-year sustainable agriculture major.   Angus had already mentioned Hardwick, their self-sustaining neighbor town, so I wasn’t surprised to find out about Sterling’s unique agriculture program.  As a small liberal arts college with a little over 120 students and 26 miles to Canada, Sterling offers students an integrated and extremely hands-on education in sustainable agriculture.

 On the college farm, students gain experience in managing a small-scale diversified farm or homestead.  A purposeful diversity of livestock is used within pastures, gardens, permaculture area, and forest where students raise animals, grow and process food, and tend trees.  The program supports a mixed power model, using both draft horses and machinery. Grass-fed practices are utilized for the beef and dairy cows.  The dining hall kitchen has its own environmental mission, where food from the farm is eaten, composted, and shared, just as wood from the surrounding forest is used to build farm structures and tools.  Students study theory, literature, science, and applied science to complete their four-year degree, giving the students a breadth of knowledge to take with them into the world.  Sterling also offers a Sustainable Agriculture Semester course for anyone interested in exploring ecological management of plants, animals, and the land.  We invited Sterling students to join the conversation here at the Grass-fed Party, so look for upcoming student member blogs and photos from the farm.                             

 

    

I recently had the chance to interview Mitch Hunt, the sustainable agriculture farm manager (pictured above), about the program and opportunities available for students.

You mentioned that you are supporting a Homestead model on the college farm.  Can you tell us about the concept of the Homestead model and why you teach it?

 The homestead model is based on the full cycle of nutrients, energy, and water.  To be sustainable one must be very keen on these areas.  The Homestead model is a micro example of a system that tries to close as many input loops as possible.  For example, we compost approximately 10 ton (20,000) pounds of food scraps each year.  Included in this compost mix is approximately another 40-50 tons of manure and carbon.  We return the compost to our gardens and pastures.  We also use extensive rotation with our grass-fed animals.  It is our belief that through the micro example of a Homestead Cycle, we can give our students a rich education, a full vocabulary, and hands-on know-how to take with them and spread the concepts throughout the world.

 

How are grass-fed systems a part of your curriculum? 

We teach it in an array of courses.  Some of those courses are hands-on in the pasture, and others theory based.  They see and hear it a lot. Our curriculum focus is a blend of our academic program and our Federal Work Program.  The academic curriculum offers an array of grass-fed livestock systems and management courses.  We have a course called Agricultural Techniques which is offered in the fall and spring semester.  In the fall course we have an on-farm pig harvesting component.  This course allows me to talk about basic physiology, meat quality, and the homestead system of on-farm harvest.  

During the summer I teach a class called Livestock Systems Management.  In that course the students have hands-on experience managing a cornucopia of livestock on grass.  We focus on the many different trains of thought on how to effectively rotate and use the animals to their greatest capacity.  Grazing is not only an activity of eating, but also as a crucial keystone tool for forage health and land fertility.  

I also teach a course in U.S. Agriculture Policy.  This course focuses from the Reconstruction period to the present.  The most important objective in this course is to outline how agriculture shifted from small, natural livestock management to more corporate driven, high production based livestock empires. Students are also directly involved in policy making and policy makers during the Vermont State legislative session.

The second part of our curriculum is embedded in our Federal Work College Program.  I manage approximately fifteen students ranging from farm hands to chore supervisors.  Students can close the learning loops by applying directly what they learn. Students often become passionate about particular issues or management strategies they can then pursue through guided independent study or final senior project.  

What is extremely exciting is more and more of my students are researching and applying ideas in areas that are not widely researched.  Meaning, a student who says to me “I cannot find much (if any) information on this subject,” tells me that they are on the path of becoming leaders in the field of sustainable agriculture.

 

How is your Sustainable Agriculture Program unique among Ag programs?

 Sterling bases itself as an experiential based college.  Students at Sterling have opportunities abound to be connected with the farm.  It is plain hard work that closes many loops for students.  I like to say that here at Sterling, students can see first hand when romance and reality of farming connect and dance in symbiosis.  I could go on, but we focus not only on what, but how to!

 

What kind of opportunities do your students have when they graduate from Sterling's program?

 Students graduate and become farmers, cheese makers, policy workers, homesteaders, non-profit workers, and the list goes on.  It is our hope that students can at least be positive role models in the world at large, in whatever they do!  It is the rich and full environmental education that we send each graduate off with.