Here is the conclusion to the Marketing poultry without a processor story:
The couple quit raising turkeys after the processor closed, and in less than a year had their first seed available for sale through seed catalogues. They built a seed business, first for grain seed, and then for vegetable seed. Not only did they have a history of saving seed, they also found that raising seed for commercial sale aligned well with the grain production business.
To make the business start-up work, Theresa worked off the farm for a decade for non-profit sustainable agriculture organizations. In many cases she created her own position and was then able to learn skills related to the seed business. Theresa also earned a Master’s degree in community development, and then rejoined the business part-time in 2007.
In 2011, one of the seed companies failed to send them a signed contract, leaving a sizable hole in their market for the seed they expected to produce. At that point, they realized having a small number of large customers was not good risk management. They concluded that they needed to start packing and marketing their own seed varieties and heirloom favorites under their own label, Prairie Road Organic Seed. This approach afforded them a large number of small customers. It also enabled them to develop a diversity of small lots of production, mitigating risk both in marketing and production. By 2012, they had their own seed label and Theresa could work full time for the business.
They currently grow a variety of small grains for sale in the organic grain market. Through Prairie Road Organic Seed, they are also growing four different grains for seed and dedicate eight to ten acres to grain variety research. They offer 27 varieties of vegetable seeds adapted to the Northern Plains grown on six to eight acres. They strive to develop grain and vegetable seeds that are strong and vigorous in the Northern Plains environment. They pay special attention to developing seeds that are unlikely to cross-pollinate with GMO crops. In any given year, as much as a third of the grain cropland will be planted to green manures, while two thirds of the vegetable land will be in green manures. Since the turkeys no longer provide manure for the farm, they’ve developed a relationship with a nearby Hutterite community farm for manure.
These farmers are dedicated to a high level of diversity that is also achieved through maintaining wetlands and grasslands on their land. In their management approach, they see themselves as farming between the natural areas, not the other way around. In addition to the two couples and linked enterprises, they are now farming with some of their children. Each person brings unique skills, interests and labor to the farm so they expect the farm enterprises may change with this next generation’s vision.
The Podolls are founding members of the Northern Plains Farm Breeding Club (FBC) and work with other farmers to share breeding skills and seeds.
Acknowledgments
This project was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Organic Transitions Program under award number 2013-51106-21005.
This project was also supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program under the Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP) in the Midwest region.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.