Country Folks West February 11, 2013

The Kuhn Family Farm
by Tamara Scully
Grazing Beefalo and pastured pigs
roam the range on The Kuhn Family
Farm, in Pennsylvania’s northern tier,
not far below Elmira, NY. The 15 acres
of intensively grazed rotational pastures, along with the non-GMO alfalfa
and mixed-grass hay grown on much
of the remainder of the farm’s 110
acres, provide all the nutrition needed
for the Beefalo.
“Our pastures and hay fields are
sown with the same mix of grasses and
legumes that we have custom blended
ourselves,” Randy Kuhn said. “That
way, in the winter when the pastures
are no longer growing, our Beefalo are
getting the same feed intake in the
form of dry hay — that we produce —
as when they are on pasture during
the normal growing/grazing season.”
That grazing season runs from late
May through late October here, but the
Beefalo are outdoors, year-round, with
access to the barn, which is used for
shelter during extremes of cold or heat,
or other inclement conditions.
Raising Beefalo
The Kuhns started their Beefalo
breeding herd with full-blooded Red
Angus cows, and a purebred Red
Beefalo bull. Kuhn selected Red Angus
as he feels they have a good frame for
breeding, and a diverse genetic makeup. The Kuhn’s maintain a herd of 15
breeding cows, and rotate their bull
every three seasons. This prevents a
shallow gene pool, Kuhn said. They
also have purebred Charlois Beefalo,
which they purchased from another
farm.
Beefalo, by definition, are a cross
between cattle and Bison. The animal’s
Bison genetics must be between 17.5 37.5 percent. The upper limit is considered purebred Beefalo. It is the
Bison genetics which make Beefalo
prime grazers, with extreme winterhardiness, and easier birthing with
lower birth weights, Kuhn said.
“They eat everything. They also
reach market weight faster on grass
than standard bred cattle,” Kuhn said.
“So they are more efficient in the conversion of forages to meat.”
The Kuhns breed the Beefalo for a
late summer calving season. This
insures that the animals are weaned
as the spring growing season commences. At six months, their rumens
are capable of utilizing forages, Kuhn
said, so weaning coincides with the
availability of lush forage. The herd is
not dehorned, and bull calves are
banded, not razor castrated, for
humane reasons.
Pasture management
Pastures are perimeter-fenced with
four strands of high tensile wire. Cross
fencing, which separates the pasture
into paddocks, consists of two strands
of high tensile wire. Metal gates are
utilized to direct the cattle between
paddocks, with cattle lanes between
four and eight feet wide.
“Pastures are never fallow, and
rarely do we have any weed pressure,”
Kuhn said. “This is due to our intensive rotational schedule when forages
are growing, and the non-selective
grazing habits of our Beefalo.”
The Beefalo, who will eat any forage
in the paddock, are moved regularly,
typically every four to five days, when
the forage is grazed down to three
inches. The Kuhn’s paddocks are four
acres in size, and their herd of about
15 cow/calf pairs are rotated together
through the paddocks. Each paddock
rests for about 25 days before the herd
moves through again, depending on
the rate of regrowth of the forage,
Kuhn said. The Beefalo are 100 percent grass-fed and finished.
The water for each paddock is piped
from the main well. The water feeds
into the pump house, where it is filtered. Above ground pipes then carry
the water to the paddocks in the
warmer weather, while frost-free
hydrants are used at each trough in
the winter.
If pastures need a thorough renovation, Kuhn uses the pastured pigs,
which — if allowed — will root through
and plow up the fields, and move the
rocks to the perimeters, too.
Normally, however, the pigs do not
damage their pastures. The pig’s pastures are seeded with the same custom
mix as that of the Beefalo, but with a
little extra white clover, Kuhn said. The
Randy Kuhn poses with Beefalo Bull ‘StudMuffin’ meandering behind him.
Photos courtesy of The Kuhn Family Farm
custom forage mix includes warm and from their free-range layers. Maple
cool weather grasses and multiple syrup, honey, molasses and cheese
legumes. This insures consistency of from nearby farms is also featured.
pasture throughout the grazing seaThe store is their main outlet for
sales. “We have found that our cusson.
The pigs provide pasture grub con- tomers prefer us to be readily available
trol, keeping the forage healthy. Kuhn at our on-farm store,” rather than
frost seeds each March, and the pas- focusing sales at farmers’ markets,
tures are ready for the pigs come May. Kuhn said. “We have a sign in our front
The pigs pasture on four acres, yard that shows what we have availdivided into one acre paddocks, which able.”
Word-of-mouth sales, plus web site
will support approximately 12 pigs,
aged two to seven months. The pigs advertising, also bring in customer
have a sprinkler system for hot, dry traffic. They sell USDA-inspected retail
weather, which keeps them cool by cuts of their meat year-round, and
allowing them to wallow, and prevent- also take orders for whole, quarters or
ing sunburn. The pigs are Duroc and halves. Their slaughter season is
Tamworths, and the Kuhns are selec- June-October, when the animals are
tively cross-breeding for pigs which are on pasture, which promotes optimal
able to meet most of their nutritional meat taste, Kuhn said. About ten
needs via foraging, needing little sup- Beefalo per year are harvested, as well
as 30 finished pigs.
plementation.
They strive to serve their customers
Any grain supplement for the pigs
are grown for the farm by a single with honesty and integrity, and DNA
farmer, providing transparency of the testing of their meats is one extra step
food chain, and insuring quality. No they take “for our customers’ piece of
slop is ever given, only the occasional mind,” Kuhn said.
The Kuhn Family Farm is all about
fresh vegetable scraps. Ears are not
notched, and piglets don’t receive iron quality meat, raised as naturally and
shots, as they are able to meet their humanely as possible. The Kuhns conneeds via foraging and rooting. “Wolf” sider themselves stewards of the land
and the animals, and do their utmost
teeth are not cut off, either.
to be respectful of the needs of both.
Farm store
The Kuhn’s on-farm store is filled It’s all in a day’s work on their tradiwith their own meats, as well as eggs tional small, family farm.
Correction: New York State Dairy
Princess Pageant date noted
“Stud-Muffin” is the farm’s currently used Beefalo bull.
The date of the upcoming New York
State Dairy Princess Pageant was
incorrectly listed in a story on page A5 in the Feb. 4 issue of Country Folks,
due to an error in a press release
issued by the American Dairy
Association and Dairy Council, Inc.
The New York State Dairy Princess
Pageant will actually be on Tuesday,
Feb. 19.
If you would like to attend the pageant at the Holiday Inn, Liverpool
please contact American Dairy
Association and Dairy Council, Inc. at
315-472-9143. Tickets are $25 and
includes dinner.
Piping gas to the market
by Stephen Wagner
“I don’t think people realize how
many
pipelines
exist
in
the
Commonwealth,” said Rikardo J. Hull,
Counsel to PUC Chairman Robert
Powelson. He finished that thought by
telling the 2013 Pennsylvania Ag
Forum audience that over 64,000
miles of pipeline exist in Pennsylvania.
How much is that, exactly? “If you add
up all the interstate road systems (and
Pennsylvania is one of the bigger states
for this) there are 1856 miles of interstate roads, which means there are 34
times more pipelines than there are
interstate roads in Pennsylvania.” He
was referencing natural gas pipelines,
the relatively new economic wunderkind of the energy world. Marcellus
shale and its first cousin “the Utica”
may well be the much foretold savior
that will wean us off foreign energy.
“Cheap energy equals jobs,” Hull continued, “and it’s our way of competing
with everyone else in the global marketplace. And it is literally impossible
to develop gas without pipelines.” He
likened the situation to the farmer who
can’t get his goods to market. If you
can’t do that, your product has
absolutely no value.
Hull’s
fellow
panelist,
David
Callahan,
Vice
President
for
Government Affairs, Markwest Energy
Partners, referred to the natural gas
boom as “a tremendous multi-generational opportunity, one that is benefitting many rural areas of the
Commonwealth. The shale play itself,
not only the Marcellus but the Utica as
well, is multi-state in nature. We [the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania] are
constantly in competition with these
other states for resources in the development of the play.”
According to Callahan, location of
the pipelines is always rearing its head
in public settings. The locations of
gathering lines in Pennsylvania are
subject to negotiation between private
owners and companies like Markwest.
The property owner is literally in the
driver’s seat. When asked about using
a property for right-of-way, the owner
has the right to say yes, no, maybe,
and where they want to have it. This
makes the pipeline companies and
those involved in natural gas gathering
engaged in an elaborate game of
Connect the Dots. However, some of
the dots keep moving, and the path
along the way also tends to move.
Thusly, Connect the Dots takes on the
aspect of a maze as well because the
principals are dealing with private
negotiations. Such right-of-way agreements are legal agreements between
the property owner and the pipeline
company, and are generally recorded
in the county. Rights-of-way can contain multiple pipelines and go from 50to-75 feet in width, each company having its own standard width. And when
it comes to regular pipeline right-ofway, the companies will ask for and be
granted an additional width for the
right-of-way during construction
schedules for movement of construction vehicles and such.
In terms of environmental regulation, there are a number of state laws
that come into play. For example, there
are sediment and erosion control permits, stream crossing permits, and
dealing with critical habitats for
endangered and threatened species.
Clearances need to be obtained on a
variety of permits provided by the
Department
of
Environmental
Protection to ensure that companies
are not infringing upon those species.
“Our primary goal in citing pipelines
and dealing with these matters,” said
Callahan, “is avoidance. If avoidance
doesn’t get us the whole way, it’s a
matter of mitigation. We want to maintain Pennsylvania’s habitat.”
Karl Brown, Executive Secretary of
the Pennsylvania State Conservation
Commission works closely with the
Department
of
Environmental
Protection. Reflecting upon some of the
things said before Brown took the
lectern, he cited one particular phrase:
‘doing it right.’ “I grew up in the
Lackawanna Valley in the 1960s and
‘70s, and watched remnants of the coal
industry evolve and devolve. Having
just been back there for a funeral, I
saw remnants of an industry that did
not do it right. We had the opportunity
to do it right,” but didn’t. “While we
may not be the fastest moving of the
states to do certain things, I think taking the time to do it right is absolutely
important.”
Brown confessed his amazement
upon hearing the statistic about there
being 34 times the miles of pipelines as
we have interstate roads. Regarding
the environmental aspect of this and
the issue of balance, Brown said that
“when we think about well pads, every
one of them needs to be connected.
Every one of those pipelines activities
is talking about a right-of-way of anywhere from 50 to 100 feet, even more
during construction. There is a significant impact in Pennsylvania in the
area of developing pipelines.” The good
news is that if done right, we can see
an industry that grows and develops,
leaving minimal impacts; mitigating
those impacts is very important,
according to Brown. With such a staggering
pipeline
framework
in
Pennsylvania, Brown opines that it has
a significant potential for environmental impact, but he adds, “there are also
Forum panelists (L-R): Karl Brown, David Callahan, and Rikardo Hull.
Photos by Stephen Wagner
significant opportunities for doing it
right the first time.”
Brown, whose commission is housed
in the Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture building, a regulatory
agency, offers a caveat: “When we talk
about regulatory aspects, it is very
easy
to
make
it
confusing.”
Highlighting his own observation, he
showed a power-point slide which he
described as “very confusing for land
owners, for industry, for folks working
in this industry. I have worked quite a
bit for farmers or with farmers. Why
county conservation districts have that
regulatory aspect of what they do is
because districts in Pennsylvania cut
their teeth on providing assistance to
land owners, and primarily to agriculture and forest land owners.” Brown
concluded by giving producers a few
things to think about:
1. Be informed. Do not be a low
information person. Know the leasing,
regulatory and permit review approval
processes, and know what they can
and cannot protect you from.
2. Be proactive in what you do as a
land owner.
3. You need to negotiate a good lease
with protective provisions; if you do
not do that, nobody else is going to do
it on your behalf.
4. You need to belong. That is, join
with neighbors and land owners for
education and negotiating; working
through land owner organizations,
cooperatives and farmer organizations
is absolutely vital. Being out there and
thinking that you know it all is a disservice.
5. Be engaged. No matter who you
work with and who you cooperate with
or who you talk to, ultimately you as a
land owner need to look out for your
own resources and your own interests
because the other parties in this have
vested interests. They will work with
you, but as a land owner, it is your
vital responsibility to take ownership
of that, and protect the resource that
you have.
Getting action from landing pages
by Katie Navarra
It is no secret that websites play an
important role in a company’s marketing strategy. A website provides
prospective customers with general
information, encourages customers to
provide feedback, to purchase a product or to sign-up for e-newsletters.
The landing page is the section of the
website visitors first experience.
Individuals reach a company’s landing
page in one of two ways. “One is using
a search engine,” Jay Jenkins,
University of Nebraska Extension representative said during the webinar
Getting Action From Landing Pages,
“the other is when a visitor is ‘chauffeured’ or driven there by marking
efforts such as pay-per-click, social
media, URL’s on labels, etc.”
A landing page is the first section of
the website a visitor sees upon arrival.
A landing page should motivate the
visitor to perform a desired action.
Experienced web-designers strive to
develop sites that encourage visitors to
take one or more of five actions.
“Clicking to go to another page, buying, giving permission for follow-up,
telling a friend and commenting/providing feedback,” Jenkins said.
Before designing or re-designing the
website for your business, first decide
what you want to accomplish with your
landing page. Whatever the desired
outcome, the goal should be to “convert” as many one-time visitors into
active users of the website.
Conversion rates increase when the
landing page follows basic rules for
design and text creation. Jenkins recommends the “Anatomy of A Perfect
Landing Page” posted on blog.kissmetrics. This article highlights 10 key
design tips for a website.
1. Use the same words in the main
heading used on the landing page
should match the wording used in the
advertisement used to attract the user
to the website.
2. Write headlines that are clear and
concise while also motivating the visitor to take a desired action.
3. Use impeccable grammar. Text
should be simple, clear and well written.
4. Include testimonials, press coverage and trusted 3rd party security certifications like the Better Business
Getting action A4
NY Corn & Soybean Growers
Winter Expo focuses on farm
financial and succession planning
In late January, the New York Corn
& Soybean Growers Association (NYCSGA) hosted its annual winter Corn &
Soybean Expo at the Holiday Inn in
Liverpool, and this year’s event was the
organization’s most successful yet,
with over 250 attendees and a new,
second half-day session.
This
year’s
meeting,
titled
“Succeeding at Succession”, focused
on financial and risk management and
family farm succession planning. The
keynote speakers were Moe Russell, a
farm financial and risk management
consultant and hog farmer from Iowa,
and Dick Wittman, a farm succession
planning expert and beef/ crop farmer
from Idaho.
“What really struck me about me
about the presentations that both Dick
and Moe made was that many of our
farms are multi-million dollar businesses, yet they are run by family, with
all the personalities and dynamics that
come with families, and without CFOs,
Boards of Directors, CEOs, etc. It
became apparent to me that in order
for us to succeed as our farms contin-
ue to grow, we have to start looking at
our farms as businesses with multimillion dollar assets and balance
sheets,” Julia Robbins, Executive
Director for NYCSGA said.
Much of Moe’s remarks focused on
making the right financial decisions for
a farm business, making sure to eliminate risk and “bullet-proof your balance sheet.” Moe showed attendees
creative ways that they can collaborate
with extended family and neighbors
and still run a successful, profitable
business. In his second day presentation, which was more of an unstructured Q&A among participants, Moe
talked a lot about land prices and
being patient when purchasing land,
rather than jumping at properties
every time something comes up for
sale. He also said what a farm pays
their landlord for renting farm land is
not always as important as having a
good relationship with that person.
Sometimes trust and cooperation are
more important to a landlord than the
check.
Dick Wittman’s presentation centered
Cover photo by Sanne Kure-Jensen
A bull that services an average of 25 cows per year for 5
years, typically accounts for less than 10 percent of total
cow costs.
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Moe Russell presenting to attendees of the 2013 New York Corn &
Soybean Expo.
Photo courtesy of New York Corn & Soybean Growers Association
on family dynamics and ways to deal
with multiple personalities and conflicts
that come with running a family business. He gave the example of “Cowboy
Joe”, a son who blew up at his parents
during a business meeting, yet still
remained working at the farm. Dick
showed to this family and to “Cowboy
Joe” that if he had blown up like that in
a corporate setting, he would have been
fired. Therefore, families running farms
together have to be able to separate the
family relationships from the business
relationships in order to be successful.
And everyone involved all need to
respect each other.
“One of our main goals of this year’s
meeting was for farm owners and managers to bring their younger generations to this meeting, so that everyone
can try to get on the same page when
it comes to financial and succession
planning. I think we accomplished that
goal,” Robbins said.
When asked what the most valuable
part of the meeting was, an attendee
commented on his evaluation form,
“the chance to bring family together to
listen to experts as we start to think
about succession.”
“The meeting gave the family much
to digest,” commented Kim Stokoe, a
farmer from Monroe County.
“Financial and succession planning
is such a crucial issue with today’s
growing farm operations. I’m not sure
how, with such an important topic and
knowledgeable speakers, we’re going to
top this meeting next year. But we welcome suggestions from our growers on
future topics and ways to improve the
meeting,” Robbins added.
Getting action from A3
Bureau or VeriSign to build trust.
5. Include a “Call to Action”, encourage a “Do It Now” section.
6. Emphasize buttons or “Call to
Action” links to convert visitors into
users or customers. Orange and yellow are eye-catching colors and key
words such as “free”, “buy now”,
“download now”, etc. will stand out.
7. Limit the number of links to other
pages or sites. Too many links distract
or confuse visitors.
8. Use videos and photographs that
directly relate to the text and the
desired outcome.
9. Understand how visitors see the
website. The human eye moves in an
“F” pattern from the top right of a page
to the center to the bottom left. Place
the most important information where
it will be seen.
10. Test the website and review the
conversion rates. Changing text,
images or design may improve the
desired outcomes.
How a website is read
When people read a website or a
print advertisement, they see words
and pictures in a “F” shape on the
“page”.
The eye is first drawn to the top right
corner, slides to the middle and ends at
the bottom left corner.
Placing the company’s most important information within the “F”
increases the likelihood that a visitor to
the website will find the most important information. “People skim, they
read the beginning and end and skip
the middle,” he said.
To fully utilize the power of the “F”
pattern:
• keep the body copy in a logical progression from the headline to the offer
• place the most important points at
the beginning of the paragraphs
• use bullets.
“Assume nothing and test everything, the colors, the call to action, etc.
to be sure it is achieving what you
hope,” he concluded.
To listen to the full webinar visit
www.extension.org/pages/16076/etcwebinar-archive.
Additional Resources:
Interested in learning more about
developing effective landing pages?
Visit: blogs.kissmetrics.com or copyblogger.com
Seal the Deal: 10 Tips For Writing
The Ultimate Landing Page is available
on copyblogger.com
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