People my age find it nearly impossible to get on in the field of agriculture without encountering the subject of money. Our elders tell us we need a lot to get started, we’ll never make any while we’re working, and we better get out while we still have some.

I’ve found that agriculture is not a financial entrapment as long as I’m deliberate about avoiding mental dependence on funding. Instead of looking to buy solutions, I seek creative alternatives. Imaginative farming techniques become a tool to inspire purpose for our farm in the eyes of potential customers.

Alexander Langlands defines case specific, hard won skills as craeft, a concept he outlines in a book featuring the same title. Craeft is an intimate knowledge of one’s surroundings coupled with concomitant skills to thrive without inputs or assistance from remote sources. Graziering, in its purest form, is craefty.

When I became fascinated with grassfed beef the goal was to keep my budget for fencing and stock as close to zero as it could possibly be. By constricting funding I was forced to look at what currently existed on our farm and adapt it to achieve my goals: I want to produce wholesome, 100% grassfed beef, and in the process I want to develop my own craeft.

Following is a brief history of the journey thus far.

In 2012 we built a little bit of fence around seeded cropland and bought four mongrel heifer bottle calves for $100 each. Borrowed bulls bred the cows for the first several seasons. Later, carefully planned bull purchases, plus the addition of two cows from a trusted friend, laid the groundwork to increase our herd to what it is today. Continued genetic selection is necessary, yet, with time, I will have a herd that’s perfectly adapted to my environment.

While the herd expanded I sought methods to utilize more of the landscape. I’m convinced that anyone who looks will find low cost inputs at their fingertips. A large section of fencing near our barn is hung on Locust posts harvested and cut to length on site. Most of our fence is salvaged from nearby properties; non-farming landowners are giddy to have someone haul away old posts. Dad and I pulled some, and others were stacked in heaps waiting for the burn pile when I found them. I stay on the lookout for stagnant properties with fence posts, especially in the fall and early spring when cool weather and dormant vegetation aid removal efforts. Temporary fencing is used extensively.

Ponds, temporary piping, and gravity are utilized to provide water in every location possible. Some of our pastures don’t yet feature water reservoirs, so livestock hydration is hauled on repurposed trailers that were given to me by people looking to clean out their back yard. I’m still working on better systems to move water uphill. My intent is to add water features that capture and store surface runoff as quickly as possible.

Arbitrary boundaries established by rigid fencelines are restrictive; they hold the farmer in with the same effectiveness as they retain cattle. Conversely, I was able to include two adjacent properties in our grazing rotation when the opportunity arose thanks to my more fluid approach to graziering.

A fully mobile water system on an adjoining property. (2017?)

Neighboring landowners love watching the cattle. Nothing I bring to their property is extraneous, which is what makes the whole system possible; each element serves a purpose. When the herd leaves, everything leaves with them.

The herd grazes a neighboring property, Fall 2019. No heavy infrastructure!

Of course, there are challenges associated with minimal infrastructure. Deer are a constant menace to my polywire framework, once freeing the herd to peek through the windows of an unsuspecting neighbor’s dwelling. Fireworks incited a late night roundup last summer (my parents were hosting a businessman from Uganda at the time and he proved to be a fine herdsman when conscripted into action). Hauling water is a time consuming chore. Constructing massive lengths of temporary fence is labor intensive and severely impacts social and family life. I’d rather be busy doing something than busy doing nothing, though.

We cannot discuss low-input agriculture without mentioning consumers. People need to see purpose in supporting graziers via food purchases. Marketing efforts must resemble the physical work of managing animals: abundant creativity is required.

I have to be interesting to attract attention to my otherwise invisible system. One of the best ways to be interesting is to leverage the skills and talents of friends and family, both free resources (I hope). My artistic friends, photographer friends, chef friends, and mechanical friends are all included in our farm story via free media outlets. Their contributions increase our farm’s exposure to the public. Once people are looking at our media outlets I have the opportunity to disclose the value of real, honest, low input agriculture to their community. We gain customers for life. Some even get married on our farm. How cool is that?

Visitors tour our farm to take a look at the grazing system.

Agriculture is only a financial snare if we allow it to be. My best advice to any agricultural entrepreneur who feels overwhelmed is to step back and look around. More often than not, everything we need we already have: ideas, friends, creativity, and potential customers are free. The effort is significant, yes, but freedom and flexibility outweigh the cost of physical and mental exertion. Get out there and get craefty!

Money