Contagious Enthusiasm
In these turbulent times people ponder what ag will look like in 20 years. Meet some young farmers who will be leading the way
Compiled by staff
Published: May 20, 2009
We have seen the future. Agriculture will be a vibrant and enriching activity populated with producers focused on not only feeding America, but also providing an ever-expanding volume and variety of food and fiber products grown in ways that consumers' desire.
That's the kind of vision being touted by some of the nation's best young farmers. That passion and enthusiasm was on display at the year's Beginning Farmers Conference held in Ames, Iowa. Students, beginning and established farmers and experts were anxious to soak up much valuable knowledge from one another at the conference.
Looking for Opportunities
Correy Rahn and his siblings embrace the long-term vision described above. An Iowa State University senior from Mt. Carroll, Ill., Corey co-chaired the event and is the second of five Rahn children. Older brother Justin is at home farming with his parents and grandparents while Darrin, a freshman at Iowa State University, studies Agricultural Business and Marketing with a minor in Entrepreneurial Studies. Rachel and Mitchel are active participate in the family farm back in Illinois and currently attending high school as a senior and freshman, respectively.
"I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity to go back home and be involved on the family farm," Correy says. "We're always trying to find new ways to extract more return from a given resource base, while expanding the base we will continue to progress towards the future.•bCrLf
Looking for a niche
"We continually look for niche markets," younger brother Darrin explains. "Fourteen years ago my brothers and sister saw an opportunity to provide high quality alfalfa hay to horse owners in our local area. Through this entrepreneurial business we created with the guidance of our parents, each of us has been able to gain experience with customer relations, sales and marketing of our product. Plus we are able to fund our own secondary education with earnings from the business.•bCrLf
With the five siblings, the Rahn family farm has had ample labor for their enterprise. "In the past several years, we have baled a lot of small square bales of hay marketing it mostly to horse owners," says Justin. "We've shipped hay across the Midwest and South regions of the U.S., and as far as Georgia. By marketing our hay as a high quality product we have been fortunate to capture the premium in the marketplace for these past few years."
Unfortunately, Northwestern Illinois weather doesn't always cooperate.
"When the weather is less than ideal for high quality horse hay, we bale the hay into round bales and feed it to our beef cattle," says Justin. "This not only gives us flexibility, but allows us to produce and market only the highest quality of hay to our consumers. Which is what our business statement reinforces "High Quality Horse Hay — 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed!"
Framing the Big Picture
Some entrepreneurs have created solid businesses by molding Christmas tree production into "cut your own tree" agrotourism. The Rahns are contemplating a similar type of •direct marketing, only using beef, vegetables and other products direct from the farm. Direct marketing involves a higher level of work and management, but the potential payoff from capturing middleman margins is tremendous.
"Certainly you have to keep the operation appealing to customers at all times,•bCrLf Correy states.
Complexity requires more management, and that's where involving more people in the operation who have diversified skills pays off.
"Our parents and grandparents are working extremely hard to create opportunities for us back on the family farm and within the agriculture industry," says Correy. "Their support adds a vision and guiding light for our ambitious business aspirations. They do not tell us what to do or how to do it, but provide guidance and assistance in acquiring the necessary resources.
"Most importantly, they support the key aspects of our mission statement--faith, family and farming will carry us through," says Correy. "Focusing on those components lets us envision opportunities well beyond commercial corn, soybean and beef production."
Rest assured the Rahns will also have fun as they face 21st century agricultural challenges.
Permalink: Click here
Tagged: farm, farming, soybean, labor
|