Old-fashioned farming in west-central Minnesota showcases 'root of agriculture'
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The Gatewood family farm in rural Kandiyohi County is similar to an old-fashioned farm from the last century, with from dairy cows to sheep to chickens to a set of peacocks. However the third-era farm's diversification and creativity that brings consumers nearer to the roots of agriculture, is finding your way through the fourth technology of farmers.
Just a regular old farm,” is how Gene Gatewood describes his family-owned dairy, livestock and little-bit-of-everything farm south of Kandiyohi in west-central Minnesota.
“We stay busy,” said Gatewood, with a fairly easy "aw, shucks" kind of grin.
It’s clearly a great understatement for the third-technology farmer, who milks almost 70 cows found in a tie-stall barn and raises beef, sheep and chickens for on-the-farm sales of meat and eggs found in a part venture called “Grandpa’s Granary.”
There’s also a couple goats, a donkey, a good mini-horse and a pair of peacocks thrown in to the mix, purely for fun.
“Just basically, it’s the enjoyment of experiencing the animals may be the biggest thing from it,” said Gatewod of the menagerie. “Do we are in need of many of them? No. But they’re fun.”
The family brings the farm to town by selling their beef, lamb and chickens at the seasonal Farmers Market in Willmar, and they host a range of unique activities that bring persons to the farm.
Every Memorial Day weekend, youth from Svea Lutheran Church support the Gatewoods sweep out loose hay from the significant haymow for a community sq . dance that attracts nearly 150 persons. With a specialist “caller” giving guidance for the Virginia Reel and series dances, the stomping of the dancers up above in the haymow doesn’t bother the content dairy cows in the stalls below, explained Gatewood.
“Getting the barn washed for a dance will be a lot of operate. “But it’s fun,” stated Gatewood.
Due to COVID-19, they couldn’t hold the barn dance in 2020 as a result, instead, they tried something new and cooked up 50 pounds of their homegrown brisket and offered a one-day-on-the-farm-drive-through meal with a sandwich, chips and bottle of normal water.
It was another approach to have connection with people through the quarantine and another approach to give people a farm-to-table experience.
Hosting events upon the farm helps build a sense of “community,” explained Jordan Gatewood, who performs full-time upon the farm along with his father. “It’s something we enjoy doing,” he said. “We’re always thinking. Constantly coming up with something else.”
Expanding sideways
Granted the farm’s modest size of 300 acres (200 tillable and 100 in pasture land), all of the animals they increase and their diversified sources of farm income, Gene Gatewood is appropriate in calling their family procedure a “regular old farm.”
It’s a style of spouse and children farm that was plentiful 50 to 60 years ago.
“Farms such as this are few in number today,” he said. “But there’s still tiny farms around.”
With one full-time worker and another son who helps occasionally with milking cows, the family does most of the work themselves.
“We make an effort to keep it therefore we are able to manage it about our own, versus counting on hired help,” said Gene. “My hope is that there gets to be more small farms versus greater and bigger and larger.”
Because it’s difficult to contend with large farms when it comes to purchasing terrain and expanding with additional acreage, Gatewood stated his family group has opted to get methods to expand in different ways.
“That’s as to why we started selling the meat,” he said.
Besides raising their own heifer replacements for the dairy part of the business enterprise, they raise about 20 steers for meat.
Using neighborhood processors, they butcher about a couple of steers a month to make sure they have a reliable supply of hamburger and various cuts of beef their customers like.
Roasts are popular in the winter and steaks are big sellers found in the summer.
There is a stretch when they couldn’t meet the demand for cow cheeks and tongue.
They have a flock around 20 Dorset sheep, and butcher three or four annually into different cuts of mutton, which attracts a steadily increasing customer base in the region.
Every summer they raise about 200 broiler chickens that are professionally processed and sold primarily as whole fryers.
A chicken coop with about 70 chickens that lay every shade of brown, green and blue eggs provides the farm with a reliable way to obtain fresh eggs that can be purchased, but during times of surplus they are often distributed as a bonus whenever a customer buys a few pounds of meat.
Due to “panic investing in” early found in the pandemic, the Gatewoods sold as a result much meats off the farm they didn’t head to any farmers markets.
“People like to come here,” said Gene Gatewood. “1 / 2 the fun of reselling meat is speaking with persons. That’s the neatest part.”
After persons eat the locally elevated meat for the very first time, they’re hooked.
“They come back and say, ‘Man, that was the very best stuff we’ve ever endured,’” said Jordan. “That’s the rewarding portion. You can’t receive that with these larger farms.”
Freezers in a setting up which has a “Grandpa’s Granary” signal hanging over the door, are currently stocked with a number of cuts. While there’s usually you to definitely load orders for drop-in consumers, calling ahead or inserting orders online is recommended.
Milking cows 2 times a day - in 6:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. - occupies the mass of the work day.
Keeping some the old-fashioned farm design, the Gatewoods have a lot of corn cribs filled with dried hearing corn that’s incorporated into the ground feed mix.
It’s more do the job to harvest, retail store and grind hearing corn, but Gene Gatewood said the extra work is better for the sake of his animals.
Next generation
As a third-generation farmer, Gene Gatewood expectations the farm will move onto the fourth technology.
“It’s simply a blast to work with the kids, work with Shelly,” said Gene of working with his wife and friends and family.
“I’ve caused my grandpa, I’ve caused my dad, I’ve caused Jordan and I think that’s important. I like that component of it,” he explained.
Jordan, and his wife, Kristi, go on the other area of the pasture and so are hoping to be the fourth generation to operate the farm.
“I don’t understand why not,” explained Kristi, when asked if she thinks there’s another for them on the tiny farm.
“It’s worked up to now,” said Jordan, who has a degree in dairy operations from Ridgewater College found in Willmar. “I love the farm lifestyle and I don’t see us undertaking anything else.”
The young couple, who got married in 2019, say the combination of working hard on the farm, doing what to create a feeling of community that provides consumers closer to the roots of agriculture and the satisfaction of making the food that they - and others - need helps it be worthwhile.
“This lifestyle isn’t for everybody, nonetheless it certainly is for all of us,” said Jordan.
Source: https://www.duluthnewstribune.com