Honey Creek Farms

Hey guys, I was talking with a friend this past week, and she is gearing up to start a small organic farm in Oregon. There are areas of Oregon that have been farming for hundreds of years, and it continues to grow. Smaller farms in the area have disappeared over the years as big development has pushed in to build houses. Her small boutique farm will have an emphasis on organic products, herbs, and vegetables mostly. As she begins this venture, she’s learning a lot about what it takes to get into the farming business. While she is definitely on the right track, there were some things that stood out during our conversation that led me to write this article.

• Know What Product You Want To Take To Market

If you are going to be growing and selling produce, you need to know a few things first. What is your product? Is there a local market for it? What is the barrier to entry? Knowing the answers to these questions will help prepare you to bring your product to market successfully.

•  Know The Seasons

Know the weather in your region and prepare to adjust your game. Climates in the North West are typically cold and wet. The summer months are short-lived, but beautiful for the few months they last. Having a greenhouse as an option to bring your produce indoors will give you a chance to keep your crops growing during the poor weather.

• Know Your Tools

Have the tools necessary to prepare your soil and plant your seeds properly. You will need gardening tools to care for your garden and trim your crops. Depending on what you grow, there are tools and gardening supplies that are specific to what you produce. Know your product, know what tools you need to grow, and enjoy the rewards.

• Treat It Like A Business

The farming business can tough, if you have a large crop and the seasons are erratic, you can find yourself without a product at the end of the season. Knowing the business side of this will help you to get through those tough times if the seasons bring drought or extreme heat. Any of these things could kill your crops and leave you empty-handed. Keeping your accounting in order, money set aside for employees, and a year’s worth of hard costs will keep your business running even when times are slow. Investing in accounting software that offers payroll for you to automate will keep the business running smoothly while you are focusing on what is essential.

• Get Your Distribution Network In Place

Once you grow a large enough crop of produce, you have a few options for distribution. It would be best if you thought about how you want to get your product out to the world. A local farm might distribute products locally at farmer’s markets and local restaurants. If you are growing more abundant crops with larger yields, you will need a distribution outlet like U.S. Foods or Sysco to get your product out to restaurants and grocery stores.

• Stay The Course

Keep your eyes on the prize! This goes for any business owner, but knowing how important focus is in business will help you make the right decisions when times get tough. You can even invest in a business coach if needed, as they will provide you with the necessary foundation required to handle your operations, market your business, and build a distribution network.

Of course, there are other important factors to consider when building your business, but these are some of the first things that came to mind when I was asked how to proceed with starting a farming business. This will be much different for larger farms, but for all your boutique farms, this is a great starting point for new farm startups.

H2S, or hydrogen sulfide, is usually found in natural gas, and it’s highly corrosive. When not cared for properly, there’s a risk of H2S causing corrosion not only in gas transmission lines but in turbines and gas engines when employed as a fuel. When gas is sent to the pipeline or when it’s used as fuel, all H2S needs to be removed with traps in order to eliminate these risks.

H2S Dangers

Before we look at a couple of removal methods employed in this area, why should we be so concerned about removing H2S? In small quantities, hydrogen sulfide isn’t too dangerous, and we know this because it’s found in our bodies. If you’ve ever smelled the egg-like smell that comes when organic materials decay, this is H2S. As a result of the digestion process, we experience small amounts of H2S in the body.

With this in mind, the body can deal with tiny amounts. With the amount generated from industrial and manufacturing processes, this is a different story altogether. For example, numerous health problems result from inhalation, skin contact, and consumption. In severe cases, it also has the potential to cause death.

Unfortunately, exposure to hydrogen sulfide is much higher for those who work in paper mills, natural gas drilling operations, mining facilities, and similar environments. These industries are heavily regulated, and staff must be trained while adhering to the safety procedures laid out by the responsible party. What’s more, companies also need to provide the highest quality of equipment.

Removal Techniques

Currently, perhaps the safest solution for H2S removal is called the chemical injection system. Not only does this technique avoid emissions and the use of amine plants, but companies can also get started for a much smaller investment than the next method we will discuss.

Essentially, the idea with the chemical injection system is to clean the gas and rid it of all harmful components by injecting an H2S scavenger. In terms of other harmful components, this technique will remove the following problems; paraffin, hydrates, foaming, high salt content, corrosion, and scale.

As the second technique we want to discuss today, some companies will choose the gas sweetening system. As well as removing H2S, this system will remove CO2. Why is this important? Because carbon dioxide and water combined will create carbonic acid. By eliminating both components, we can remove the risk of a potential catastrophe. The gas sweetening system (GSS) is also often referred to as amine gas treating.

Once the removal of oil, water, and condensates has taken place, this process can begin. When companies use this technique, they must adhere to the safety measures provided by the NSC (National Safety Council) and the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). In addition to this, there are specific regulations and specifications relating to the products used in the technique; these are governed by NACE International (National Agency of Corrosion Engineers).

These days, there are various solutions on the market that promise to remove H2S and CO2 from natural gases. Typically, any harmful gases left behind will be removed in the next cycle, so the danger is always removed.

In terms of other removal techniques, we’ve assessed the most common two, but some will use an absorption tower with water. Ultimately, the choice of method will all depend on the task at hand, company budget, regulations, and more.

My husband came in this morning from doing some work on one of our Oklahoma properties, he was grouchy as a gremlin in the water! The screen door swung open, and he hollered out, “babe, I locked the keys in the Ford pickup truck. I was making breakfast and didn’t care much about what he was saying, but as he continued blabbering about his keys, I realized we didn’t have another way to get around the property without our F-150.

He settled, and we ate some bacon and farm fresh eggs, some comfort food to ease the tension always seems to work with him. We wrapped up eating, then had a cup of coffee, and by that time, he was ready to defeat this nagging inconvenience that had arisen. We walked about a half-mile down to where he was setting up some fencing, and sure enough, there were the keys inside the truck. Now, this old bucket of bolts doesn’t have any fancy auto-locking system, so not sure how the doors locked unless he manually pushed the driver side door one down. He refused to admit he did that and insisted that it somehow auto-locked, which wasn’t even a feature in that old bucket of bolts.

Time to Call a Locksmith

We tinkered for about an hour with a bent hanger and a slim Jim and couldn’t get the lock to pop. We walked back to the house and opened up the Yellowpages to look for a lock smith. That old book had been collecting dust for the past few years. I scrolled back to the “L” section like it was 1980 again, and I was searching for local service providers. I found a locksmith in Oklahoma City that was very responsive and polite on the phone. He said it was only going to take him forty-five minutes to be there and that he would have the door unlocked in a matter of minutes. Sure enough, he arrived and opened our door without any issues. Those older model Ford trucks don’t have fancy locking mechanisms, so the old school tools still work on them. Not sure why my husband couldn’t get it done, seems easy enough to me.

https://youtu.be/S465J17p1kw

Making Spare Keys

Well, the truck was unlocked, and we are back in business. Trucking hay bales around the farm property is an absolute must if you want to keep the grazing horses and free-roaming animals like deer fed. Farm maintenance is a busy job, and having your keys locked in your truck or tractor can be a significant setback. Our solution for preventing this in the future is simple; we had the locksmith create a spare set of keys for the tuck and the tractor. This is something that should have been done a long time ago.

I wanted to get this written up shared with our community. It’s an easy lesson learned. If you have farm vehicles that you use regularly, make sure you keep a spare set of keys, or you will be calling a locksmith to your property too!

When your animals get sick, the symptoms they show will usually tell the story of their illness. We know because we’re farm-folk that have been doing this farm-living thing for many years. After dealing with a sick horse, cow, and other large farm animals, we decided to write up this quick post for our farm-family out there dealing with sick animals. Identifying and understanding what these symptoms indicate can save the lives of your farm animals and get them back to being healthy quickly. In the case of one of our horses, we were unable to identify the health issues ourselves, so we hired a large animal vet in Arizona near our Gilbert farm. They were able to bring her back to her old self, but we know that mobile equine vets aren’t always available when you need them. So here are some things to look out for when you find one of your farm animals sick.

Many illnesses can affect farm animals. Here are some of the most common illnesses for large farm animals that you will likely encounter at some point if you find yourself get’n dirty on some farm turf.

Milk Fever

Another name for milk fever is hypocalcemia. This is a condition that results in there being a low level of calcium in the blood. You will usually notice milk fever in recently calved cows. It is also, albeit less frequently, possible at any stage of lactation. Some of the common symptoms of milk fever include:

• Weakness
• Increased heart rate
• Irregularities in the heartbeat
• Low body temperature
• Cold ears
• Mental dullness
• Large bladder
• Shivering
• Bloating

Ketosis

Also known as acetonemia, ketosis is a common condition affecting dairy cattle. This illness occurs when the amount of energy a cow is receiving is less than the amount of energy they are exerting. A cow producing a large amount of milk will potentially fall into ketosis. Fat from tissue stores gets sent to the liver to be converted into usable energy. The liver can fail if a cow is in ketosis for too long. Some of the symptoms of ketosis are:

• Depression
• Drop in milk production
• Yellow mucous membranes
• Sweet-smelling breath
• Manually licking everywhere

Pneumonia

Any farm animal can catch pneumonia. This lung infection is also called shipping fever. It can occur at any point in an animal’s life, although it is usually seen in younger animals, particularly after a stressful event. Pneumonia usually begins with a bacterial infection, which weakens the immune system, opening the body up to a second infection. The common symptoms of pneumonia are:

• Increased temperature
• Increased respiratory rate
• Discharge from nasal passages
• Lethargy
• Decrease in appetite
• Weight loss
• Persistent cough

Hardware Disease

Also known as traumatic reticulopericarditis, this is an illness affecting farm animals when they ingest a material such as metal. Nails, barbed wire, and electrical cables are all common. When a metal object gets to the reticulum, near the heart, bacteria can spread into the area surrounding the heart. This results in an infection that can negatively affect the heart. Some of the common symptoms of hardware disease are:

• Decreased production
• Reduction in weight gain
• Difficulty in hearing a heartbeat
• Irregular heartbeat

Here is a case study of reticulopericarditis in a goat.

Wrapping Up

Common illnesses in farm animals have tell-tale symptoms that can help you take action before it is too late. Now that you are aware of what the common diseases are, you can take preventative steps as well to ensure farm animals stay healthy. It is always better to prevent than to treat, so do what you can to ensure your farm animals avoid succumbing to these common illnesses.

Arizona Farm Resources:

Small Farming Resources:

Medium Sized Farming Resources:

Arizona Department of Agriculture:

Arizona Farm Bureau:

Arizona Department of Agriculture:

Getting into the farming business is no easy task! Depending on the type of farm you are wanting to buy, there are many expenses that will need to be taken into consideration before diving in. What type of farm are you looking for? A horse farm? Pig farm? Crops? Each and everyone of those options requires specific items to operate, all of that will need to be included in the investment of the farm property if you are getting after this for the first time. I’m writing this because a friend of our sons came to us and asked what it took to set up a farm. I didn’t have an answer for him because it’s such a broad answer that I didn’t even know where to begin. The first thing I asked him is what are you wanting to farm? We talked a bit about his passions and concluded that he wanted to be a horse and cattle rancher, have some chickens, and other livestock but didn’t have a vision for monetizing the farm. We talked further and we gave him some ideas on how to earn a living as a farmer, and then came the big questions that we all ask ourselves at some point. How in the heck do I pay for that? As we discussed lending options, he inquired about the difference between a bank and a credit union, and while I’m no expert, I came up with some notes that might help some other young folks out there searching for an answer to a similar question. So here we go!

Banks

Banks have started charging their members an unnecessary amount of fees from too many monthly transfers to not having a direct deposit in your account. Due to these increasing fees, many consumers are turning to the credit unions. When deciding between a bank and a credit union, it’s important to view the pros and cons before making a decision. Both banks and credit unions operate under similar laws and agencies such as loans, mortgages and safety, therefore the customer experience you get can be different. The overall difference is that banks are for profit institutions, while credit unions are nonprofit.

Credit Unions

Credit unions tend to have better customer service and lower fees, but higher interest rates. Credit provided average financial benefits equivalent to $85 per member and $178 per household in 12 months ending March of 2018. Banks generally have lower interest rates with higher fees. Both banks and credit unions provide similar services such as checking and savings accounts, loans and business accounts. Since credit unions are non-profits this means that they are owned by the customers.  You must qualify for a membership. There are horse farm mortgage lenders that offer competitive rates on small, medium, and large property loans. You are going to want to inquire with your local credit union about the available financing options they have for you.

In fact, a 2017 American Customer Satisfaction Report shows that customers rate credit unions with higher satisfaction than banks, scoring 82 out of 100. Additionally, banks generally have more branches, easier access, and better technological developments. This has become increasingly important for users who often depend on mobile banking services.

Credit unions have the potential to have better percentages and more members who are driven to save their money with a good interest percentage. A big concern when choosing between a bank and a credit union is safety. Credit unions are federally insured and credited by the U.S. government. It is insured that your money will be safe. Research your options and check out quotes from banks, credit unions or online lenders to ensure you get your financial needs met.

Overall, credit unions are owned by the government, meaning they are more reliable and the safer way to save your money. The customer care is more of a family environment and the interest rates are more ideal. Banks have great customer care too and good savings and checking plans for your account. Credit unions and banks have their pros and cons and it all boils down to your financial situation and what bank or credit union prefer. Many people use both as well for credit and or debit cards. Also, some may use a credit union for a business and a bank for personal finances. It all depends on your financial lifestyle.