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to the Organic Broadcaster: Diversified Small Farm
Serves Local Market In late August Scotch Hill Farm outside of Broadhead WI is a lively place. Chickens and turkeys roam and cackle and goats nicker while Tony and Dela Ends, their 4 children and 2 interns race to get farm chores completed. For the past 8 years the Ends family has managed a very diversified operation on the 5 acre home farm and about 14 acres of rented land used for hay and more vegetable production. With a long- term goal of supporting the family entirely from the farm, the End's family utilizes not only diversified production but also a diversified marketing strategy. Tony and Dela moved one step closer to their dream by wining a Small Business Innovation Research Grant (SBIR) in 2002, allowing Tony to leave his position at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute to join Dela full time on the farm. Following organic practices, though not certified, in 2002 Scotch Hill Farm served 75 families through a CSA, sold chicken and eggs from 120 laying hens, and made and sold soap from the milk of several goats. The End's are very focused on the concept of 'local food for local consumers' and have a goal of selling all of their production within 70 miles of their farmstead. Though they traveled to the East Madison, Beloit and Fitchburg, WI farmers markets this past season, they have concentrated on developing the Janesville market and will continue to focus on bringing greater awareness of their products into that local working-class community only 20 miles away. Starting in 1994 with only 5 families in a vegetable CSA, Tony and Dela have never advertised to sell their products. They have relied on word of mouth and talking directly to potential consumers to grow their business. Raised on a farm, Dela notes that she had always wanted to raise vegetables organically, first for their family and then sharing the abundance with others. Purchasing their small acreage in 1992, livestock came into the equation through the children's 4-H projects. "We really appreciated how the livestock added to the fertility of the vegetable system, and knew we wanted to continue to develop that" Dela says. Dominique and Jersey Giant chickens, heirloom turkeys, LaMancha and Oberhaslis goats and meat lambs now inhabit the barnyard. Poultry are truly free ranging and have full access to the un-fenced yard 24 hours per day. Sheep and goats are contained in a pasture nearby. Predators are controlled by the dogs, who seem friendly enough to human visitors but, according to Tony, manage to destroy an amazing number of coons and skunks. Tony and Dela enjoy the work and rewards of their vegetable garden, but a few years ago realized that in order to be truly self-supporting and sustainable, they would need to develop more in the way of animal products. Though they sell the eggs and meat from the chickens, turkeys in season and a couple of dressed lambs each year, they realized that untapped opportunities existed in utilizing goat milk. Dela is very fond of making goat milk cheese for family and friends, and readily brings out very tasty samples for guests and friends. However, Wisconsin state laws covering cheese making are extremely strict, allowing only licensed cheese makers who have undertaken many hours of training to make and sell cheese. (These rules are in the process of being lessened for those making cheese from the milk of their own animals on their own farms, though they are still quite stringent. For more information, call the WI Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection division of food safety at (608) 224-4700 or go to http://datcp.state.wi.us/fs/licenses/buttr_chz_maker.pdf. Rules in other states tend to be much less strict for cheese making, contact your department of Agriculture for more information on requirements.) For several reasons, Dela is not interested in going through the process of becoming licensed, though she sees that there could be a high demand for that product in their existing markets. However, over the past few years Dela has been experimenting with producing a high quality goat milk soap, which is governed by more reasonable licensing requirements. The SBIR grant Tony and Dela received provides funding to install a certified commercial kitchen at Scotch Hill Farm, allowing them a lager space to make soap, with the possibility of moving into processed food products later on (a commercial kitchen is not required to make soap, but is required for producing any processed food products for sale.) During the summer of 2002 they have diligently been working on building the 20x13 foot kitchen that is on an old cement slab attached to their machine shed. The building project has been more complicated and gone more slowly than Tony ever had anticipated. If attempting a project like this on your farm, Tony recommends contacting both your county health officer and the state department of food safety to work with you to be sure you are compliant with all regulations. Tony mentions that the rules are interpreted differently at state and county levels, and so it is best to check with everyone involved so that you won't be found non-compliant later on. In his case the county regulations are tighter than the state rules. To make a legal processing kitchen, Tony and Dela had to install multiple stainless steel sinks, washable walls and floors and may need to install a separate septic system or grease trap because of the soap production. They were very resourceful in sourcing a used commercial stove, sinks and countertops from area businesses (including the local church) that were making equipment changes. They recommend that you put the word out in your area that you are looking for certain types of equipment before you buy anything, as even they were surprised at what people had to offer. Friends and CSA members have contributed labor and time to the project, but Tony and the family have done the majority of the construction work themselves. The new kitchen will facilitate the ultimate goal of producing and selling 20,000 bars of soap per year. The grant paid for some of the costs of constructing the kitchen, and also for Tony's marketing time and the help of a consultant (Don Schuster, an Agricultural Economist) to help with a market assessment and business projections. In this past year most of the attractively packaged, high quality soap has been sold at farmers markets and to the farm CSA subscribers. Tony and Don are working hard to explore market opportunities for larger quantities of soap. Ultimately Tony has a vision for a cooperative of goat producers working together to produce and market goat milk soap. He is using his energy right now to explore and develop markets so that the possibility of more small farms supporting families with goat milk soap becomes a reality. To purchase goat milk soap from Scotch Hill Farm, contact Tony or Dela at (608) 897-4288 or scotchhillfarm@wezk.net. Jody Padgham is Education Director for the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service.
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