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By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union Traditionally, Lakotas don’t have a background in farming or ranching, but they do have a strong heritage of cowboying and rodeo, explains Elsie Meeks. Meeks, 62, ranches on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation with her husband, Jim, 71. “The Lakotas were a horse nation. Horses were essential to … Read More

Are you a fruit or vegetable producer? LiveWell Colorado and UpRoot are conducting a survey on gleaning, and they need your help. Gleaning is the act of gathering leftover produce after a harvest. “Leftover” produce includes seconds, imperfects, or produce that will not be sold or distributed for any reason – in other words, produce that … Read More

Are you a fruit or vegetable producer? LiveWell Colorado and UpRoot are conducting a survey on gleaning, and they need your help. Gleaning is the act of gathering leftover produce after a harvest. “Leftover” produce includes seconds, imperfects, or produce that will not be sold or distributed for any reason – in other words, produce that … Read More

By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern For the past several months, we have been talking about how you, as a farmer, can access markets through technology, value-added goods, institutions, and more. Today, we’re going to flip the tables and talk about how markets can access you. Farmers feed people, a fact at the core of who we are … Read More

By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union Middle of Nowhere might be the best way to describe the location of Pat and Barb Clark’s ranch, which is located on native rangeland 40 miles southeast of Lemmon and 30 miles east of Meadow. Homesteaded in 1915 by his grandfather, Avery Clark, and great-uncle, Harry, the Clarks, … Read More

By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union Middle of Nowhere might be the best way to describe the location of Pat and Barb Clark’s ranch, which is located on native rangeland 40 miles southeast of Lemmon and 30 miles east of Meadow. Homesteaded in 1915 by his grandfather, Avery Clark, and great-uncle, Harry, the Clarks, … Read More

By Kriss Marion, Owner and Operator of Circle M Market Farm In America, children are fond of computer games. When my children were young, they played games called Age of Empires and Rise of Nations for hours. These games, still popular today, are strategy-based storylines for which each scenario begins with collecting resources – sheep, coal, … Read More

By Kriss Marion, Owner and Operator of Circle M Market Farm In America, children are fond of computer games. When my children were young, they played games called Age of Empires and Rise of Nations for hours. These games, still popular today, are strategy-based storylines for which each scenario begins with collecting resources – sheep, coal, … Read More

By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern Diversity may be the hottest buzz word for agriculture, both large and small. Relying on one product or commodity to support the entire farm can be a gamble, putting the operation at higher risk. As farmers, we need to expand our approach to diversifying farm revenue to access as many potential markets as possible. We have … Read More

By John Hendrickson, Stone Circle Farm and Small Farm Works Tools and equipment appropriate for small-scale, highly diversified vegetable farms have been a passion of mine for a long time. I discovered one of my favorite tools about 12 years ago while living in Japan. I was abroad with my wife, who was doing international … Read More

By Thomas Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and NFU Foundation Whether growing grain and hauling it to the same elevator your grandparents did, raising vegetables to sell to your neighbors, managing a small herd or a big one, beginning producers seek greater efficiencies for their farms and ranches. Running an operation efficiently is critical for … Read More

By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union While some ranchers are nervous about what will happen to their operation when they are ready to retire, David and Brenda Reis are not too worried. “All of our kids want to take over the ranch. That would not be sustainable, but the one thing about having a … Read More

By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union While some ranchers are nervous about what will happen to their operation when they are ready to retire, David and Brenda Reis are not too worried. “All of our kids want to take over the ranch. That would not be sustainable, but the one thing about having a … Read More

By Del Ficke, Owner and Operator of Ficke Cattle Company This letter was originally published in The Future of Family Farms: Practical Farmers’ Legacy Letter Project To my future generations: In 1860, Johann Ficke made the trip from Germany to settle in the United States. Just nine years later, after first arriving in Wisconsin, he found a … Read More

By Teresa Opheim, Editor of The Future of Family Farms: Practical Farmers’ Legacy Letter Project About five years ago, a farmer stopped during a farm tour and confided that he worried that his son would not be able to continue farming. The farmer’s land-owning mother had just died, and her farmland was being divided among her children. … Read More

By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union Shadowing an engineer for a few days his sophomore year of college was all the exposure Scott Kolousek needed to realize he would be happier building a career on his family’s Wessington Springs cattle and crop farm. “That experience saved me a lot of time pursuing the wrong … Read More

By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union Shadowing an engineer for a few days his sophomore year of college was all the exposure Scott Kolousek needed to realize he would be happier building a career on his family’s Wessington Springs cattle and crop farm. “That experience saved me a lot of time pursuing the wrong … Read More

By Karyn Williams, owner of Red Dog Farm I didn’t grow up in a farming family. In fact, I grew up in the suburbs of Seattle. My great-grandparents were farmers, back in Missouri, during the Dust Bowl years. When they moved out west with my then-6-year-old grandmother, I suspect they wished for a non-farming life for their … Read More

By Karyn Williams, owner of Red Dog Farm I didn’t grow up in a farming family. In fact, I grew up in the suburbs of Seattle. My great-grandparents were farmers, back in Missouri, during the Dust Bowl years. When they moved out west with my then-6-year-old grandmother, I suspect they wished for a non-farming life for their … Read More

By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern In previous weeks, the Beginning Farm Forum’s has presented several ways that beginning farmers and ranchers can access capital, including  the Farm Service Agency and crowdfunding. Today, we’re examining Farm Credit, a national organization made up of over 70, member-owned cooperative associations that provide financial services to farmers, ranchers and rural business across the U.S. Farm Credit … Read More