The Future

The past few months have been filled with planning the future of LGI Farms. I am putting together a farming operation from the ground up. This is a huge task. Talk, theory, and book knowledge is a long way from having hundreds of animals’ lives depending on you to provide them with food, shelter, and water. This venture will be the culmination of nine years FFA, a B.S. Degree in agriculture, and a lifetime of on the farm work. It is literally a dream come true.

It will be a long process. One of the hardest parts of farming is the slow change. You cannot just say I want to plant a field like this and have it instantly happen. It takes a lot of planning, a lot of hard work, and a lot of luck.

Meat, specifically beef, is the base of my business, as well as most of the farms in Clay County now. Most people sell directly to the stock barns or to cattle buyers. This works well, especially since prices are high at the moment. I plan on bucking the system in some ways. I am going to try to obtain a permit to sell freezer beef and meat. If I can get this permit, I will sell meat straight off the farm. This will cut out the middle man, which will allow me to make more profit and my customers to get a higher quality product for a cheaper price.

I currently have seventeen Angus-based cows. I am probably going to cull a couple and drop my numbers down to fifteen. This will take some pressure off my farm and allow me to rebuild the soil. I am going to swap to a different bull to get hybrid vigor. I plan on weaning my calves and finishing them on grass. I would like to obtain an eight to eleven hundred pound animal.

I have a gilt I am going to breed and will buy some more pigs this fall. After they are old enough to start eating well, I will turn them in on the three acres of corn I am planting. I will take them to slaughter at around three hundred pounds.

I have a few sheep and goats. After I get some more fences up, I am going to get a few more. I will run them with my cows which will create a more efficient grazing system. It will also provide me with some prime lamb and goat meat.

I have a few laying hens I am collecting eggs from right now. I have 22 Rhode Island Reds brooding out. As spring progresses, I will expand my flock as the demand for eggs allows. I will sell farm fresh eggs from these hens. Once warm weather gets here, I am going to buy some meat chickens to run in chicken tractors. This will provide high quality chicken meat.

I have two bee hives coming, which will allow me to harvest honey. As the demand for honey rises, I will increase my hive number.

This summer I am going to plant a large garden, and whatever produce we do not use for ourselves I will sell to the public. This fall I will have a large high tunnel up and running which will begin year round produce production.

Now imagine a store where you could go buy things directly from the farm. Fresh beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and goat meat. Fresh eggs. Fresh honey. Fresh tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, and on and on. A store with fresh spices and seasonings.  You could walk in and buy a piece of meat with the confidence of knowing who raised it and that it is safe. Imagine coming to a store where you could walk outside and see your food growing. Imagine someone willing to talk you through the whole process, to share knowledge with you. That is what I am going to create.