Kansas Rural Center Welcome to our virtual bus tour! We launched our tour on August 30, 2006 and visited six farms in Welcome northeast to Kansas our virtual and northwest bus tour! We Missouri. launched Our our purpose tour on was August to 30, learn 2006 about and different visited six value-added farms in northeast farm enterprises. Kansas We and also northwest wanted Missouri. to learn Our how purpose families was planned to learn about successful different businesses. value-added Sponsors farm enterprises. for this bus We tour wanted include to learn the how Helping different Farm farm Families families Manage planned successful Successful businesses. Businesses Sponsors Project, for Kansas this Rural bus Center tour include and Kansas the Helping State University. Farm Families Support Manage for this Successful tour includes Businesses a partnership Project, with Kansas USDA s Rural Risk Center Management and Kansas State Agency. University. Support for this tour includes a partnership with USDA s As you Risk turn Management the following Agency. pages, you will join us at each of the As farm you stops turn on the our following bus tour. pages, you will join us at each of the farm stops on our bus tour. Jerry Jost 2002 East 1600 Road Lawrence, KS 66044 785.766.0428 jjost@myvine.com www.kansasruralcenter.org
Pine Family Farms Roger, Sue, and Brian Pine, Shawn Bay Lawrence, Kansas The Pine family farms over 3,000 acres of corn and soybeans working with 35 landlords. Currently they hire ten non-family employees. To diversify their revenue stream, this farm harvests 350 acres of fescue and bluegrass sod for lawns. Sue Pine, and her daughter, Shawn Bay, shared how their family has worked to improved family communications and shared decision-making. When Brian and Shawn, siblings in the Pine family, decided to come back to the farm, the family worked with outside professional advisors to facilitate communication and set long term goals. To improve communication and management, the Pine family has breakfast family meetings three times a week to coordinate their daily operations. Currently the family meets for day-long sessions three times each year with their account and a trained mediator. Together at these family retreats they make key decisions and plan changes within their business. The Pines consider their investment to hire skilled professionals to help the whole family set goals talk through strategic decisions for their farm as the best investment they have made. Sue Pine tells their family farm story.
MJ Ranch Mel & Joyce Williams Lawrence, Kansas The Williams manage 520 acres of rolling hills in brome, prairie, fescue, alfalfa, clover and hairy vetch pasture. This ranch utilizes rotational grazing. Their farm goal is to direct market all their natural grassfed beef. Currently the Williams sell their beef directly to customers and the Community Mercantile Coop in Lawrence. Mel and Joyce Williams tall about grass-fed beef. whole farm planning tool, The River Friendly Farm Assessment, to improve their pastures, water supply to their cattle, and the water quality downstream. They have received cost share through KRC s Clean Water Project to fence off a pond and install a frost free waterer. Also working with KRC, the Williams has used K-State s forage grazing planning tool to The Williams have used KRC s extend their grazing season. A mentoring service has connected the Williams with Judy Decker as a thinking partner as they develop their grass fed beef operation. The Williams also have cooperated with USDA s SARE program to conduct pasture legume trials to eliminate fertilizer costs and improve forage quality.
Wildhorse Orchard Perry and Laurie Walters McLouth, Kansas Perry Walters described the history of Wildhorse Orchard. The Walter s farm has been in the family for four generations since the early 1870 s. It consists of virgin timber, row cropland, ponds, and 9 acres of apples and peaches. Perry, living in Tonganoxie then, visited his grandparent s farm as a child. Perry and Laurie, wanting to involve their own children in farming, began planting a peach and apple orchard in 1980. At first it was a pickyour-own orchard until the liability insurance became too expensive. Customers also didn t understand the different narrow harvest seasons for different varieties. One management decision they would do differently now is plant dwarf varieties to ensure easier harvest. Placement of irrigation systems was a trial and error process until they worked out various problems. A pressure compensating system was key to getting even irrigation across their farm. A significant investment was the purchase of a ultraviolet treatment system in making apple cider. The Walters mix tart and sweet apple varieties to create a cider that has won many awards in Kansas-Missouri cider competitions. A bushel of apples will generate around four gallons of delicious cider. With the addition of signage educating farm visitors through a program with the Kansas Department of Commerce, Wild Horse Orchard has received new liability protection allowing them to reopen their farm to pick-your-own visitors. Topeka s Channel 27 News covered this farm visit and you can view it at http://www.ksnt.com/ news/3781687.html.
Apples are being sorted and bagged at Wildhorse Orchard.
Perry Walters explains the cider making process at Wildhorse Orchards.
Weston Red Barn Farm Steve and Cindy Frey Weston, Missouri www.westonredbarnfarm.com Weston Red Barn Farm is a working farmstead for families to visit baby animals in the spring, peach harvest in July and August, and a fall festival featuring a Milo Maze, Prairie Trail, Fort Hay Bale and lots of pumpkins. Weston Red Barn Farm does a great job of drawing in agritourism. Steve Frey stated that they must be very good at working with their Karen Pendleton talks with Steve and Cindy Frey. thousands of customers. We remind ourselves that we must stay true to our sense of place. We want to present what farm life used to be like, summarized Frey. To give their farm this authentic old-time experience, they recycle wood from barns and stones salvaged from a farm near Courtland. Frey said we want to create an old-timey illusion. When a bus visitor suggested their farm setting would be ideal for a bed and breakfast, Cindy Frey replied that building cabins is in their long term plan as they add value for their customers. The Freys have recently added a commercial kitchen to bake off ready to eat products for their customers. Next to the kitchen is an information booth describing all the experiences available on the farm. Steve Frey describes how they built their kitchen and information booth.
Weston Red Barn Farm also can be rented out for events such as weddings. Frey has observed they can have a thousand people on the farm while a private wedding is being held. Farm visitors respect the privacy of a wedding. Of course visitors want to catch a distant glimpse of the bride! Meeting health and safety regulations can be challenge for the Freys. They intentionally involve the local regulator as they designed and built their new commercial kitchen from the very beginning. We wanted this to become his idea, reflected Frey. Marine Corp friends park the cars during big events. The Freys have learned these friends can do almost anything they ask of them. A retail store full of gifts and seasonal products is housed in the big red barn. Frey summarized their business, agritourism is all about your relationship to your customer.
Cindy Frey explains how they integrate their farm animals into an authentic agritourism experience for their customers.
Pumpkins adorn these terraces during the fall season. A cornstalk sculpture greets visitors.
Pumpkins Etc. Bill and Kathy Wright Platte City, Missouri www.pumpkins-etc.com This farm obviously grows pumpkins but the Wrights also sell 7,000 hardy mums. When their children were young, Kathy worked at a church thrift store. To keep the children engaged, they began selling green beans from the garden out of the pickup when Kathy worked in the thrift shop. The children then wanted to doing something bigger so Bill and Kathy said they could but they need to Bill and Kathy Wright tell their farm story. select one enterprise and do it well. They chose pumpkins. Their pumpkin patch grew. The children learned there was more profit in selling retail. Eventually the Wrights purchased a neighboring farm with a barn that became their retail barn. After the children grew up the Wrights took over the pumpkin business and in 1995 added a mum business they purchased. They sell the mums in 2 gallon pots along with their pumpkins at their barn. Through experimentation, they developed a drip irrigation system which has saved labor. They also sell mums at a nursery and also to nonprofit organizations for fundraisers. Over the years the Wrights transitioned from a traditional farm with hogs, cattle and crops to their pumpkin and mum enterprises. While their gross income is down, Bill says, their net income has Bus tour participants walk through the mum field. actually increased.
Bill gives a hands-on explanation of the irrigation system. This hay trailer holds the fertilizer and irrigation pumping system. Karen Pendleton and Kathy Wright hold up pictures to tell the Pumpkins Etc. story.
Holy-Field Vineyard and Winery Les and Michelle Meyer Basehor, KS 66007 www.holyfieldwinery.com This winery offers a warm and friendly atmosphere to enjoy fine wines and select specialty gifts. The Vineyard Room and Wine Deck overlooking the vineyard are available for large parties, receptions and meetings. The Holy- Field Vineyard provides a scenic view of 12,000 vines located on 14 acres adjacent to the winery. Michelle Meyer describes how Holy-Field plants, manages and harvests their grapes. The Meyers planted the first vines in 1986. Placing a priority on making high quality wines, Holy-Field wines have won 400 awards. All the Holy-Field wines are made from grapes grown at the vineyard. After developing their wines and markets, Michelle was able in 1998 to transition to full employment at the vineyard and winery. Their newsletter, published three times per year, has become an important connection to their customers. Holy-Field customers harvest the grapes. Over a period of six weeks, 150 customers come each Sunday to harvest grapes. The Meyers turn this into a festive event serving a meal to all their harvest hands. For some it has become a family tradition including parents, children and grandparents. Michelle finds her customers want to know where their food and wine comes from. Even a church has joined in the harvest using wine from their hand picked grapes for their communion service. Les Meyers points out different equipment as they turn grapes into wine. The Meyers expect to make 7,000 gallons of wine this year which appears to be their best harvest year ever. Les has found it takes about 16 pounds of grapes to make a white wine and 13 pounds of grapes to make a red wine.
Bus tour visitors sample Holy-Field wines. Holy-Field wines have won 400 awards.
Karen Pendleton facilitates introductions among bus tour participants. In addition to all the farm visits, another valuable benefit of our bus tour was meeting each other. Each bus visitor introduced themselves and told about their farm or interest in sustainable agriculture. We again want to thank USDA s Risk Management Agency for sponsoring this bus tour. For more information, please contact Jerry Jost at jjost@myvine.com.