Working Farms Capital

I had the pleasure of attending the annual Ecological Farming (ACRES) conference in Ohio last week. Of the many speakers, one particularly stood out on the topic of GMO foods. It’s becoming challenging for farmers to obtain non-GMO seeds. It’s notable that the major producer of GMO seeds is able to patent the technology on the basis of it’s unique traits. However, when it comes to labeling GMO foods for the consumer, our government considers GMO foods to be “substantially equivalent” to naturally produced foods. Therefore, genetically modified foods in this country go unlabeled. What can you do? Go to JustLabelIt.org and register your vote with hundreds of thousands other consumers to require a label on what we eat.

Last week I traveled to western Iowa and Missouri to get a view of grassland farms that graze livestock on permanent pastures. I visited the farm of Tim Kelley in Elmo, Missouri. Tim is selling his 200 acre farm (Valley View Farm) that is currently home to grazing herds of sheep and black angus cattle. The angus are the property of Clinton Ohnmacht, a young farmer looking to get his start with sustainable agriculture. Clinton’s family farm is nearby and grows conventional row crops and grain fed beef. He is interested in changing to a grass fed operation and Valley View Farm fits nicely with this plan. We would like to diversify operations and are currently researching the possibility of this acquisition.

Dave M. (Farmland Forager)