Small Farm Talk

Meet Your Neighbors

Hello, I am delighted you are reading the inaugural issue of American SMALL FARM magazine. If you have a small farm or want to have a small farm, this is your magazine. My goal is to help you, your family and your farm to reach the goals you have selected. I also want to help you stretch your aspirations, expand your vision and dare to have big dreams.

We will write about the business and science of agriculture and will share the values and opportunities inherent on small farms. I believe that through this exchange, by sharing and caring, each of us will more fully realize the joy and profitability of our small farm lifestyle. Our purpose is to provide you with information that will help make your farm more efficient, more profitable, and work easier.

Another goal of American Small Farm is to raise the family's income from both farm and off-farm sources. Small farms will continue to prove to be one of the most resilient segments of American agriculture in the coming years. The combination of farm and non-farm income should help families weather periods of low prices and allow many to remain in farming who would otherwise be forced to leave.

We want you to use your magazine to share your ideas with other small farmers. We know you are going to glean many good ideas you can put to use on your own farm. We anticipate receiving two major groupings of letters: letters to the editor and letters to readers to give information and to seek information. Both kinds of letters are encouraged.

We want you to use American SMALL FARM as a place to meet your fellow small farm owners and as a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. We are also asking you to send us any good photos you have taken on and around your farm. We will give you a credit line for photos we use. We also want to hear about your ideas, gadgets, businesses or any other interesting activities. We want you to share your successes and failures -- your problems and solutions. You can help others by doing this and you will probably find help from others.

Please keep those letters coming they help us do a better job of serving you. We really want your participation. You can send the letters to American SMALL FARM, Andy Stevens, Editor, 560 Sunbury Road, Ste 6, Delaware, OH 43015. I eagerly await your letters.

This publication's beginning stems from a demand for a publication devoted exclusively to the business of small farms. The American SMALL FARM magazine believes that its readers have equal and distinct interest in both the business and lifestyle characteristics of their acreage. This magazine, by design, will serve both of these reader interests.

We plan to provide practical, "how-to" information about farming and farm management. We will give coverage to traditional crop and livestock production. In addition, we will also focus on new crops, livestock, other enterprises and marketing techniques. We will look at problems of rural communities, interpretation of national legislation related to small farms, marketing information, family living and farm events.

Because you will have the opportunity to read my comments in each issue of your magazine, please permit me to describe some of my magazine and agricultural background. I was reared on a small farm in Central Ohio. In addition to farming, my father worked at various jobs including more than 25 years as a carpenter. I am one of seven children. By the time all of us were grown and in school my mother, in addition to being a homemaker, worked as a wallpaper hanger and helped do chores around the farm. She still lives at the farm now (2007) and checks on my animals everyday. Her 90th birthday is in October and she still fits Dad’s playful description of “Rambling Rose” because she still finds time to drive to many events.

During my youth, I was active in both 4-H and FFA. I earned the State Farmer Degree in FFA. We grew corn, wheat, oats, soybeans, chickens, hogs and dairy cows on our 39-acre farm. We also grew at least 1,000 tomato plants each year. Most of the tomatoes were marketed to people who stopped at the farm. When my children were growing up, we milked cows and tried alternative crops, including tomatoes and strawberries.

I taught vocational agriculture in Central Ohio for 5 years before joining the editorial staff of The Ohio Farmer in 1963. I have two degrees in agricultural education from The Ohio State University. During my undergraduate days, I earned part of my college expenses as a DHI milk tester and construction worker. I still own a few registered Ayrshires.

I will not bore you by bragging about my limited farm successes, but some day I may tell you about some of the disasters. You soon learn that many farm undertakings do not turn out as you have planned. That is why it is so important to study new endeavors carefully -- read all the information you can find and listen to all the people you can who are willing to share their experiences with the enterprise you are considering. As you read your magazine, you will meet many different writers. You will see that they come from a variety of places and have different experiences. However, you will discover that all of us have a tie that binds us together. You will find each of us has empathy for farming and farm people.

Empathy is the capacity for participation in another's feelings or ideas. We have this empathy because of our agricultural experiences and backgrounds. We understand how farm people think, what they worry about, what they feel is important and what irritates them.

Make every day a GREAT ONE! – Andy Stevens, editor