Hot News

01.15.2007

Meeting the needs of a growing customer base, naturally

By Tamara Jean Scully
AFP Correspondent

Branchville — Some people view DanaRay Farm as progressive. Dana and Ray Eisele see it as an old-fashioned, commonsensical farm.
Over the past 15 years, their 15-acre farmstead has grown into a profitable and self-sustaining enterprise by utilizing biodynamic farming practices.
The farm consists of roughly 25 milk goats, 100 roasting chickens, 250 laying hens, six pigs and three donkeys. Several dozen varieties of vegetables, a few fruit trees, perennials and herb gardens are also included.
A wood lot, a swamp and a natural spring complete the picture.
To the owners, DanaRay Farm isn’t just about what it grows: it’s the entire package.
“They are all contributing,” Ray Eisele said of the many different facets of his farm. They all help to maintain a balanced system, where as little off-farm input as possible is utilized, and all farm excess or waste is turned into useable product, he said.
It is this complete cycle that has helped to create their success.
Demand for the farm’s products outstrips the supply. Selling directly to the consumer at the Olde Lafayette Village Farmer’s Market, as well as on-farm, the couple has found itself with a steady customer base. Their challenge is to find new ways to serve this clientele while remaining a two-person, family farm operation.
They currently are struggling with how to maintain the optimal level of production for their operation without sacrificing quality.
They have come up with several answers that will help to keep the farm as productive as possible while maintaining the balance and integrity of the whole enterprise.
A newly-formed Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) venture has allowed the farm to supply a regular weekly food distribution to shareholders. It has given the farm the security of a guaranteed customer base for the food, but has also enabled them to better serve their target customer.
Reaching “a like-minded customer base and the desire to grow food for a group who really appreciates the quality of our food” was the main impetus behind the” Community Supported Agriculture, Dana Eisele said.
Another innovative idea taking root here is the use of a high tunnel to provide extra length to the growing season.
This season extension means that DanaRay Farm has produce available from March to January. Spinach, kale, carrots and salad greens all grow well in the tunnel during the colder months.
Other vegetables, including beets, parsnips, garlic and onions have been harvested and stored in the root cellar.
The couple also processes any excess harvest — there is no waste here — in a legal commercial kitchen off-farm. Produce that is too blemished or that didn’t sell the day of harvest is made into value-added canned goods. The canned goods they processed with this season’s harvest are already sold-out. Another specialty of the farm is homemade sauerkraut, using an old-fashioned crock and time-honored fermenting methods.
Day-range chickens are raised on pasture in protected pens. The 400 to 500 chickens processed each season, from July to November, are fed supplemental naturally-raised grain.
Eggs are available year-round. Pigs, slaughtered in the fall, are raised on pasture, farm produce and goat’s milk from the registered Alpine goats. The milk is also used to make hand-crafted soaps. The three donkeys stand guard over the other animals in the pasture.
While the couple makes every effort to use all of the farm’s products efficiently, they have encountered some difficulties with onerous state regulations that make that impossible, they said.
The goat’s milk, Dana Eisele said, should be used for human consumption, but that is prohibited without pasteurization. And having explored the possibility of building a commercial kitchen on the farm, they found that regulations prevented it from being economically viable.
If raw milk sales were to be legalized in New Jersey (raw milk is legal in several other states, including New York and Pennsylvania), that would change, Dana Eisele said. The profits from the milk sales would justify the expense of a commercial kitchen.
“Then we’ll put up a milking parlor/commercial kitchen building to do fluid milk and to make yogurt and cheese and be able to do our canned goods on the farm,” she added.
Biodynamic farming principles consist of methods that are all natural. They emphasize the balance in nature and the interconnectedness of all things.
No chemical inputs are used on the farm. Cover crops, companion plantings, floating row covers, beneficial insects, mulch, hand weeding, and the use of compost keep the soil healthy.
“We nourish the soil and we nourish the plant,” Ray Eisele said. By maintaining the optimal soil health, the plants are able to meet their nutritional needs. The food is nutrient-dense and tastes better than that grown with chemicals, he added.
Planting with the phases of the moon might sound crazy, Ray Eisele admits, but has proven to be very productive. Our ancestors did it, and their very survival was at stake if it didn’t work out well he said.
The Eisele’s know that the farm’s success is based on its reliance of and respect for the natural cycle of things.
This labor-intensive farming, where livestock is pastured, food is grown without chemical input and where wildlife areas and biodiversity rule, is simply an “old-fashioned farm,” Ray said.
It may be “old-fashioned,” but it is a profitable farming venture in today’s agricultural economy.
The customer, appreciative of the care with which the food is grown and amazed at the variety and taste, is willing to pay these attentive farmers a fair price for the crop. The farmer, dedicated to nurturing the land, is able to profitably grow food for the local community and to make a living in the business of farming.
A self-sustaining enterprise, it is both old-fashioned and ahead of its time.
For more information phone DanaRay Farm at 973-948-0906 or visit www.danarayfarm.com