(bright upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to "Farm Connections".

I'm your host, Dan Hoffman.

On today's episode, we visit the Gardner Family Farm in Spring Grove.

Gary Wertisch, President of the Minnesota Farmers Union, breaks down the numbers for us as he explains the dairy crisis.

All here today on "Farm Connections".

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- Welcome to "Farm Connections".

We're on the Gardner Family Farm near Spring Grove, Minnesota.

And with me is Ellen Gardner to tell us all about this beautiful place.

Ellen, welcome to "Farm Connections".

- Thanks for being here.

- Ellen, our audience wants to know more about this farm and what you're doing.

This is amazing.

What are you doing here?

- Well, we are raising pasture raised chickens.

We do chickens, turkeys, eggs, and lamb, although the lamb is still on its way up so it's not quite ready yet.

But we raise the birds on pasture, both to help the land but also to give better food to our customers and give them more of a connection to where their food comes from.

- Does it taste different?

- It does, yes.

So if you think about, I don't know like, it's chicken the way your grandma used to make it.

I mean, it's how it used to taste.

It's got a richer flavor, the diet of having the pasture and the insects that they get on pasture changes the flavor profile of the meat.

It changes the nutrient content and what you'll notice is when you have a pasture raised chicken, the flavor is deeper, it's a little more rich, it's also leaner, the color is a little different, it's got a more of a texture to it.

So it doesn't just like break apart in your mouth, it just like there's something there to enjoy and it's delicious.

- We certainly need delicious and we certainly need nutritious food.

Before the farm, you've got a little bit of history with food and agriculture.

Can you tell us about that?

- Yeah, so I used to live in the Twin Cities and I worked at a restaurant in Minneapolis called Spoon River and that was actually a farm to table restaurant.

So they did a lot of bringing in local ingredients and highlighting them on their menu.

I got to do a little cooking there and it was a lot of fun and that's really played into what we're doing here on the farm because part of what we're trying to do is both like give people a connection to where their food comes from but then show them how to use it 'cause there's these skills that we've kinda lost, like the skills of processing and cooking and- - And don't forget pushing microwave buttons, right?

- Exactly, yeah.

No microwave meals here.

- So you actually are taking that restaurant experience and passion and turning it into something here?

- Yeah, so we offer something called a CSA, it's a community supported agriculture model of farming where people can sign up and get a share of our farm, a delivery of our meat once a month.

And then as part of that CSA I try to send out recipes and tutorials on how to use that.

So if you've never cut up a whole chicken before, I've got a tutorial on this is how you do it because it takes a few knife skills and you won't be great at it at first but like give it a try and it's actually easier than you probably think.

And so, we try to teach people this is how you use the raw ingredients and there's some really high quality raw ingredients to work with.

- And of course, if you're actually doing the whole bird, it's going to be fresher when you slice it than if you just buy components at the store, right?

- Well, yeah, I mean, and it's more rewarding because you did it yourself and it looks beautiful and you understand all the pieces to the chicken but then you also can use more of it 'cause you can take that carcass and you can boil it down and make chicken stock you can use later.

And yeah.

- Community supported ag, CSA, so how do we find more out about that?

- Well, I mean, we are at farmer's markets, so we're at the Winona Farmer's Market and the Northeast Minneapolis Farmer's market.

But then we also have our website where you can order online and pick up at the farmer's market or our pickup locations.

Our website is gfamilyfarm.com - I hope our audience goes and takes a look at that.

It's pretty neat.

You also had some brochures because you actually sometimes invite people to the farm.

- Yeah, we do.

We love, we love having people out to the farm because we love showing people exactly where their food comes from and how it's produced and how the animals are cared for.

And so, we usually do a couple farm tours during the year, we're gonna be doing our summer farm tour soon.

And then in October, we'll do another one and we do some processing classes and really try to get people out here to experience the animals for themselves.

- Where did you grow up?

- I grew up in southwest Minnesota, Springfield area, right on Highway 14 and right out on the open prairie.

It's a beautiful area.

- Well, at the University of Minnesota you studied some things about agriculture and food, correct?

- [Ellen] Hm-mm.

- What was that?

- I studied plant science with a focus on like sustainable agriculture and yeah, learned a lot about just like the ecology of the land and how the plants and the animals work together and that's really what got us started on this journey.

- Well, if you came from Springfield and I heard you earlier mention prairie, you must have some stories and some passion to share about that.

- Oh yeah, I mean, the prairies are a huge reason, I don't know, they play into my excitement over sustainable agriculture because Minnesota soils, a lot of people don't realize just how beautiful they are because they were formed under a tall grass prairie which means that they were root systems that went down meters.

And every year those roots would have this cycle of growth and then they would die off.

And as they died off, they left organic matter that basically created this soil that's incredibly rich but it's also able to hold water and nutrients better than most soils.

And that soil is the reason why agriculture works in Minnesota.

That's why the corn belt exists actually in the U.S..

So the whole corn belt that produces a lot of the corn and soybeans for not just the U.S. but the world was formed under these tall grass prairies.

And so what sustainable agriculture does is it creates a way where we're farming not just to like take those nutrients out of the soil but we're actually putting them back in, replenishing them and making sure that they're there for our kids and future generations.

- Well, you've certainly made some transitions from the flat prairies of that area in southwest Minnesota to the University of Minnesota to Minneapolis all the way down to Spring Grove.

And you probably saw some topography change in that process.

- Yeah, just a little bit.

- I mean, look behind us, right?

- Yeah.

- It's beautiful.

- The bluffs are just gorgeous.

I mean, I actually grew up going on vacations down here and I can't believe that I live here now.

It's really crazy to me because the bluffs, I mean, the prairies of southwest Minnesota are beautiful in their own way but the bluffs are just stunningly gorgeous in just like the variations in topography.

But the soils here are different because there's more of a silt loam, which is more erodible, so it just like moves faster.

And that's why I'm so excited about our farm specifically here because when you do like row cropping on a silt loam, you end up losing a fair amount of the top soil and it takes 100 years to form one inch of that soil I was talking about.

And so when you lose it, you're losing a huge resource.

And so, farmers really try to incorporate things that'll retain the soil in this area.

And the pasture does that incredibly well because the roots of the grass just hold everything right in place.

And it means that when we get like a giant downpour of rain, our pastures can grab all of it at one time and the soil isn't running away and it's all staying right here where our animals can use it.

This area is so cool because you see plant and animal species here that you don't see anywhere else in the state or you will see in the state but it's like way up north in the more undisturbed forests.

- Well, this driftless area, as they call it, certainly missed that last glacier and didn't get flattened out, right?

- Exactly.

- So we get some interesting rolling of the hills, I would have to say the people downstream really appreciate you keeping the soil in place, right?

- I hope so, yeah.

- You do a good job of it.

So you've taken that resource that you've been given and you're trying to make it something that sustains your family.

How is that working?

- Well, our farm is growing.

I mean, it's working really well so far.

We've already seen improvements in our pastures because like, as the chickens go across, they're like fertilizing everything.

And as we keep it in grass and we farm it sustainably, you see the grass coming back a little bit more and becoming more robust, filling out a little bit more and providing even more nutrients for the animals that we have on it.

- So it looks like you've merged nature and a way to make a living and also family.

Can you tell us more about that?

- Yeah, the farm is, I mean, one reason we wanted to get into farming was we wanted to have a family.

We wanted to be there for our family.

I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, Jim wanted to be involved in his kids' lives.

And so we, I mean the farm is the basis for our family but also providing really great food.

And so far it's been working like really well and we've seen, it's so great to have our family here on the farm because Esther gets to go out and do chores in the morning with her dad.

And she is growing up, like all the animals know her, she's growing up with the turkeys and the llamas and she's absolutely fearless out here and she'll walk right up to them where most kids would be a little more hesitant.

Yeah, she loves getting in there, sitting with the llamas, petting everything.

And I'm excited that she gets to have that as part of her childhood and she gets to experience the farm and the land and how it all works together.

Yeah, the farm is a beautiful place to raise a family.

(soft upbeat music) - Joining me at the Gardner Family Farm is Jim Gardner.

Jim, good to see you.

- Nice to meet you.

- You got a great farm here, what's happening?

- Well, a lot of chickens is what's happening.

We have, oh, if I do my math right, just under a thousand feathered creatures.

So we've got, these are called chicken tractors, they're portable chicken shelters that are moved every day and then up the hill there we've got about 100 turkeys, one llama and one ram.

- And the farm's growing.

- [Jim] It is.

- You had an off-farm job.

- [Jim] I did.

- You left it, why?

- Well, I got a little stir crazy, cabin fever.

I love being outside mostly, I love working with my hands and office work was not what I wanted to do.

- And you turned your skills into something that's pretty awesome and including your spouse and your daughter, how does this family tie into your past and into your family?

- Well, this is a family farm, so we rent from my mom, my mom owns the farm and my mom and dad started this farm.

So when it was time for us to, you know they were done farming, my wife and I wanted to farm and we raised a 20 chickens, you know we were working off farm and then that turned into 3000 chickens.

- [Dan] Farmers grow.

- Yep.

- If everything goes as planned, right?

- Right.

- You also studied at the University of Minnesota?

- That's where I met Ellen.

- All right.

- So I'm a plant science major myself and also majored in food systems.

Actually started with food systems and changed to plant science because there's a beautiful young lady that I wanted to get to know better.

- Does she know about this?

- I've disclosed that now, it's a little creepy but- - No, it worked out fine and she seemed to- - [Jim] I think so.

- Okay, she seemed to embrace the idea.

So how do you work together on the farm?

Do you have certain jobs that are Ellen's and certain jobs that are yours or you work together all the time?

- A little bit of both but, well, we definitely have defined roles.

Ellen runs the company, she makes a lot of big picture decisions.

We wouldn't sell anything without Ellen, she's our chief marketer.

She does all the bookkeeping, all the administrative roles, all the stuff behind the scenes that, you see me working outside every day but she works just as long if not longer than I do.

- It's a very important part, most people don't understand but farms need income too, right?

- [Jim] Right.

- What happens if farmers don't get a fair income or a fair price for their products?

- Well, then factories feed you and big, you know- - Maybe nobody feeds us.

- Right.

- That's worse.

- It's a scary thought.

- It's a very scary thought.

You've done something different here, so what's different about the products?

What's different about the production cycles that you go through?

- The biggest difference is that these chickens are raised outside and see sunlight and grass and bugs.

Typically the chicken that you find in the store is almost guaranteed to be raised inside of a confinement barn.

They'll never see soil, they'll never see bugs, they'll never see sunlight.

And those critical ingredients is really what makes our product stand out and like our chickens' quality of life stand out too.

- In other words, very unique.

So where can we find your products and where can we find your food?

- Right now we're at two farmer's markets, the Winona Farmer's Market and the Northeast Minneapolis Farmer's Market.

And also in our sketchy delivery van, Chuck.

We have neighborhood drop sites that we will deliver to, so go to the uptown Minneapolis, Northeast Minneapolis, so we just drive around the area with our delivery van too.

- Awesome.

And I understand you might have some vision of growth.

- Oh, definitely.

No, this is just the start of it, we started with chickens but we want more animals.

We want more nutrient dense products to offer.

We want more impact on this land and we wanna keep doing what we're doing.

- Well, if you weren't here, Jim, if you were not on this ground, what would it look like and what would it be?

- Hmm, I don't know, honestly.

Maybe I'd be a teacher, maybe something outside for sure.

Because I'd be the same person just not on a farm.

Like working with my hands, being outside, hopefully.

- Yeah, and you grew up here, right?

- Right.

- So when did your family buy the farm?

- 1997.

Dan- '97.

- There was a story on why they bought here, right?

- So my dad's family is from Southeast Minnesota and my mom and dad wanted some property nearby family to pitch a 10-ton, go camping, 10, 15 acres max.

And then my mom and dad are just looking for places and a friend of a friend said, "Hey, this farm is for sale, why don't you take a look."

And "Oh, it's way too big for our needs, "it's a fully operational farm."

But before even going down the driveway, they said they'd take it.

- [Dan] Awesome.

- The best impulse decision I think that's ever been made.

- So you grew up here, you traveled to the University of Minnesota in the metro area and then came back and brought your bride with you?

- [Jim] Yep.

- Awesome story.

What's changed on the farm?

I know we talked earlier about a beautiful house that looks like it was built maybe the turn of the century.

Was it always here?

- No, it wasn't.

So the original house on the property is very rough shape.

Instead of repairing it, they said it was more expensive to repair it, it would be better off building a new house.

So parents were trying to find ideas and they heard of a house that was gonna get demolished because of eminent domain in Spring Grove.

And instead of letting this old 120-year old structure be destroyed, they were able to have it moved onto the farm.

And it just fits perfectly out here.

- It's a beautiful looking home.

- It is, very well made too.

- So you're recycler of houses, you're doing something good for the environment.

There's a theme here.

- Definitely.

Even these chicken shelters, I didn't go to Menards and buy these, put it that way.

And there's a lot of hobbling together.

Even the tin on the shelters themselves were gonna get thrown away at the lumberyard.

But I told them the chickens don't care what color the tin is.

You know, it's good in your pocketbook and it's good for the planet.

- Absolutely, what's your long range vision on this farm?

What do you hope it to be say, five to 10 years from now?

- I want this to be a place for the community.

I wanna bring people together through farming.

Farming is the common theme.

I wanna employ people.

Sustainable agriculture requires a lot of human power.

And some people say that's a bad thing but we need more farmers.

We need more people on land working viscerally with their food.

Instead of resorting to automation and machines, I want more employees.

I wanna have events, more events, more classes.

And not just production but like teach people independence through food.

- Jim, I think we have a lot of situations where mental health is a problem and the situation seems to be growing.

Does this farm and you offer any kind of help in that area?

- Absolutely, we always welcome visitors onto the farm.

People of all ages, I've seen it with school aged kids all the way to seniors, connection with animals is a huge therapy.

You know, I can say as a farmer, my job is stressful but when things are rough, I love hanging out with my turkeys and petting the guard llama, Lenny.

It's outside, is very therapeutic.

- And Jim, if you weren't here, this farm might grow to nothing but unkempt acres, not give back to the community and that would be a tragedy.

- It'd be wilderness.

A farm is a farm only because of a farmer that changes it.

- And you're sharing with the community, you're sustaining our community, you're providing food.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- Stay tuned for more on "Farm Connections".

(bright upbeat music) (bright upbeat music) (bright upbeat music) "Farm Connections" traveled to Zumbrota, Minnesota to learn a little bit more about agriculture and the dairy industry.

With me is the president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, Gary Wertisch.

Welcome to "Farm Connections", Gary.

- Yeah, thank you Dan.

Thanks for having me.

- Well this was an interesting meeting and certainly needed.

What were your observations today?

- Oh, we're really glad to be able to host this meeting, listening session with the Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture, Tom Peterson.

Right now, the situation of the price of dairy is really unacceptable.

It's not sustainable for the average family farmer.

You know, they're looking at, we heard prices as low of today of one producer getting $9/100 and you know the average prices are only 12 to 13.

They can't survive on that.

You know the $13 price is, it's a number that farmers were receiving 40 years ago.

And look at the inputs, the costs and the cost of doing business now.

So it was a good meeting, we had a lot of good representation from elected officials.

We had staff members from Senator Klobuchar, Senator Smith, Representative Craig and Representative Finseth on a federal level.

And as I mentioned earlier, Commissioner Tom Peterson, the Department of Agriculture Commissioner, and also Representative Mary Ellen from the Minnesota Attorney Keith Ellison's office.

So there was a lot of good listening, it was important to have the meeting.

We had a good turnout of dairy farmers, dairy producers, some farm business managers, management instructors, then some nutritionists and people that work in the co-op side of it, that work on a farm We had a good broad base of people to really talk about the issues, how it's affecting the family farmer on the farm.

And you know, it's appropriate time listening session, the federal farm bill out of it, it's federal issues.

You know with the Federal Farm Bill expiring on September 30th, so it was a good time to have the discussion and allow the producers to get their words directly into some of the elected representatives here.

And then Farmers' Union, we'll be doing our fly-in in September, National Farmers' Union Fly-In and meeting with elected officials.

We stay in contact with them all the time too, we don't just do it once a year.

We're in constant contact with our elected officials but it's a good thing.

Dairy is important to the community.

We're in Zumbrota, there's you know, throughout Minnesota, you look at a lot of the small towns, at one time there was dairy, small creameries in them towns, small dairy farmers that kept those towns active and really survived and we're losing that.

We have to do what we can to try and reverse that trend.

We keep losing farmers.

The cows stay stable, number of cows but we're losing farmers.

We need more farmers on the landscape to support the rural communities.

- Great points, Gary.

You talked about milk being $9 and a few cents as was referenced at the meeting, in context, we also heard that in 2014 farmers received $20 per 100 pounds of milk.

So literally less than half the price many years later.

What's good about that?

- Well, the bad thing about or it's not good, the farmers need a stable market.

You know, 2014 some would say record prices but that followed a few years of low prices.

You don't recover your losses in one year or a year and a half or whatever it is.

And then we're now we're back in really low prices.

So the farmers need a stable market to survive.

You know you gotta deal with your lender, you gotta have line of credit, you gotta be able to pay your bills, you gotta pay for your family living.

And when it's not a stable market, when they can't depend on a stable income, it's pretty tough to survive.

- Very difficult.

And family living costs haven't gone down since 2014 either?

- No, everything has gone up and rightly so.

Whether it's food or the fertilizer, the supplies they need to run a dairy, everything has going up.

The cost of living has gone up and you know, we always have.

Right now, the inflation worldwide, we had an inflation rise and it's starting to come down.

It's starting to get back.

I think the U.S. now is somewhere around that 3% which is more manageable.

Our Fed wants to get it down to two so we're on the right track.

But at the same time, the cost to the farmer, to the dairy farmer in this example, what the supplies he's getting on the farm haven't come down and they're always slower in coming down and his milk prices crashed.

- We also heard a little bit in the meeting about infrastructure and processing facilities being short in our state, any thoughts?

- Yeah, there is.

Right now we hear that a lot, the processing capacity is full, they can't take all the milk so we do need to increase that but we also need to increase the demand 'cause even with increased processing, which will help the farming out, they have a place to go with their milk but they still gotta get a price.

Increased processing without an increased price is still a problem for the dairy farmer, they have to get more than $13/100.

I mean, that's just common economics.

You can't survive on that.

And the two have to go hand in hand.

We have to increase demand.

You know if you don't increase the demand, a better price, increase processing won't help.

Farmers will still be going out of business.

- Thanks for the work you do in agriculture to help farm families.

- Yep, thank you, Dan.

Nice talking to you.

- That will do it today from scenic Spring Grove.

See you next time.

I'm Dan Hoffman, thank you for joining us on "Farm Connections".

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