LSP in the News: Making her dream come true

Making her dream come true

Thursday, April 24, 2003

By Janet Kubat Willette

Agri News staff writer

ST. CHARLES, Minn.-Aimee Finley has taken a step toward making her dream a reality.

Finley, 21, of St. Charles, milks cows with her partner, Mark Mueller, 22, on a farm owned by her grandparents, Bob and Pat Finley.

"I've always liked cows since I was little," Finley said. "I've never been a house person."

She bought her first Holstein calf a dozen years ago and added six registered Ayrshires to her herd when she was in eighth grade.

"She has a 4-H project that's pretty well out of control," joked her father, Joe Finley, who says he's a volunteer on their farm, doing what they ask of him.

Finley and Mueller consulted with an adult farm business management instructor before jumping into dairy farming. She was in college and he had a job, but the pull of the cows was strong.

"Aimee wanted to find out 'this is my dream, is it doable?'" Joe said.

Their farm business management instructor crunched the numbers and asked them tough questions. In the end, Mueller decided to quit his off-farm job to focus full time on milking cows. Aimee plans to finish her degree and is student teaching agricultural education at Dover-Eyota. She also works at another farm on weekends to bring in extra cash.

"I still think there's room to make it," Aimee said.

The couple has pursued several educational opportunities, hoping to strengthen their farm and improve profitability.

They enrolled in Farm Beginnings, a program started six years ago in southeastern Minnesota geared to exploring opportunities in farming.

They became involved with a dairy profitability and enhancement team, a statewide initiative funded through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. They continue to work with their farm business management instructor.

They would like to take advantage of other educational opportunities, but they can't make many of them because of their busy schedules. They'd also like to join a grazing group because they hope to graze their 62 cows.

"You've got to get out once in a while," Joe said.

They try to attend as many field days as possible, which gives them the chance to ask questions of more experienced producers. They may also bump into a Farm Beginnings classmate.

"It's encouraging to be around people like the Farm Beginnings (class)," Joe said. "We need to encourage people that are even thinking about (farming)."

Beginning farmers find support

Thursday, April 24, 2003

By Janet Kubat Willette

Agri News staff writer

ST. CHARLES, Minn. -A farmer can't be the Lone Ranger.

Farmers need to partner with others to be successful, be it other farmers or family members, said Joe Finley of St. Charles, who is supporting his daughter, Aimee, and her partner, Mark Mueller, as they start farming.

Joe and Aimee attended the Land Stewardship Project's Farm Beginnings program together, hoping to pick up information they could use to make Aimee's venture into farming a success.

They listened to bankers, business planners and other farmers. They graduated in August, but said LSP field days are continuing education.

The class also introduced them to others who have like goals, Aimee said. They keep in touch with classmates, sharing challenges and disappointments.

Aimee and Mark milk 62 cows-20 Ayrshires and crossbreds, 40 Holsteins and two Jerseys-and have 30 head of young stock. They have 200 acres where they intend to graze the cows.

"I hate machinery," Aimee said. "Let the cows do the work."

They plan to supplement the diets of the grazing cattle by purchasing feed from Aimee's grandparents.

Joe wants the couple to keep up the registration on the Ayrshire herd, but at this point Aimee is doubtful it would pay or that she could find the time to complete the paperwork.

They support the regional food concept being advanced by many sustainable organizations and may consider adding on-farm processing to bring in additional income rather than increasing their herd size past 80, their goal.

The couple is thankful for the support they've found in the agricultural community. A farmer gave them an extended line of credit so they could buy feed while waiting for their loan to be approved. A retiring couple sold them cows as they freshened, allowing them to spread out the investment.

"People have helped young people get going," Joe said.

This spring and summer, Mark and Aimee hope to seed down some pasture while improving herd health, lowering the somatic cell count and increasing production.

Aimee and Mark applied for a loan through the Farm Service Agency, which offers several types of loans.

FSA offers loans to farmers who are unable to obtain credit through other sources. Borrowers may be beginning farmers with insufficient equity to qualify for conventional loans, immigrants with several barriers or youth who want to start their own enterprise.

People are trying to get into farming, said Gregg Bongard, an FSA farm loan manager based in Faribault. Last year he did $5 million in loans in the five counties he works in. This year, he's completed work on $6 million in loans in six months and may reach $10 million.

"It's amazing what the volume is," Bongard said.

The volume is high not only because farm values and loan amounts are increasing, but also because there's a strong demand for FSA loan programs.

He's had a few people qualify for direct farm ownership loans to start farming. These loans allow people to purchase farmland, construct or repair buildings or improve soil and water conservation. The maximum loan amount is $200,000. The regular interest rate is 3.5 percent. The limited resource rate is 5 percent.

Interest rates are at the lowest levels Bongard has seen since he started with FSA in 1983.

The beginning farmer down payment farm ownership program allows for the purchase of a farm, and direct operating loans can be used to purchase livestock, poultry, equipment, feed, seed, farm chemicals or supplies.