Bow View Farm
Family Farm Rooted in Diversity
Crofton, Nebraska
Nestled in the rolling countryside of northeast Nebraska, farmer Curt
Arens along with his wife, Donna, continues earning his livelihood from
the family land first purchased by his great grandfather in 1914,
sprinkling sunflower seeds, Christmas trees
and other diversification
into the growing mix. Even
though his young daughters are just
four and two years old, Curt's strategic plans for the farm are
motivated by a desire to continue to keep Bow View Farm profitable,
manageable as a family-run business and not needing to join the
mega-farm trend of more acres, equipment, resources and employees. "My
goal is to create income opportunities for our kids to remain on the
farm," adds Curt.
Bow View Farm consists of 600 total acres, raising 450 in traditional
annual crops of 150 acres of corn, 100 acres of soybeans, 75 acres of
alfalfa and 25 acres of oats. Curt also raises some hogs and
manages a 50 head cow-calf operation which rotationally grazes on small
grassy paddocks to conserve grass and maximize land use while
minimizing wind or soil erosion. These crops and livestock
business still brings in the majority of income for Bow View Farm;
however, diversifying into alternative crops remains the long-term
vision Curt has for the farm.
Bow View Farm's first diversification venture came in the late 1980s
when Curt briefly worked as an assistant for the County Extension.
after graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a BS in
agriculture. "At the time, about eighty percent of the questions I was
asked were tree related. I realized I enjoyed working with trees,
and started thinking what could we grow that would not take up too much
land and generate reliable income, so we first planted 1,000 on one
acre."
The first Christmas trees were harvested and sold in 1993 and this
seasonal business continues to grow, still off one acre of trees with a
variety of five to ten foot Scotch and Austrian Pines and some Colorado
Blue and Black Hills Spruce trees. Loyal customers now make
annual Christmas tree outings to Bow View Farm part of their holiday
tradition to either cut their own tree or pick from pre-cut trees,
resulting in sales of approximately 50 trees annually, totally $1,700
in sales, at a retail price of around $5 per foot with a minimum price
of $25, including a free disposal bag and information on selecting and
keeping a Christmas tree fresh. Curt, along with his wife, Donna,
create a festive, fun mood around the holiday season, opening up their
on-farm store with an open house the Saturday after Thanksgiving and
free coloring books for the kids.
The falling hog market in 1994 motivated further diversification at Bow
View Farm into bird seed. "Hogs were about a third of our income,
so we had to do something to replace this income. We
knew
sunflowers grew well in this area because twenty years ago we tried
them successfully when the soybean crop hailed out," explains
Curt. Today, Curt raises 25 acres of sunflowers which are
harvested in late summer, resulting in 30,000 to 35,000 pounds of
cleaned and bagged seeds, bringing in a rough average of 40 cents gross
per pound. As animal feed, birdseed is not subject to processing
regulations that otherwise accompany human food products, making it a
simpler, less costly product to get to market.
With the addition of birdseed to the business mix, Bow View Farm taps
into the hot and growing birding market trend. According to the
American Birding Association, over 63 million Americans feed wild birds
at home, resulting in $2.5 billion spent on bird seed, feeders, baths
and nesting boxes, (US Dept. Interior 1993 survey). Curt admits
he didn't know much about birding when he started with birdseed, but
has expanded his own knowledge base as the business grew, including
building a birding trail on the farm for visitors, hosting birding
workshops and selling various birdfeeders, nesting boxes and birding
books in addition to the seed through the on-farm store, strong sellers
during the Christmas tree season. Curt also sells the sunflower
seeds at the on-farm store and a growing list of over eight local
wholesale retail accounts.
Curt's income diversification now also includes photography and
freelance writing, projects he tries to focus more time on during the
off-season winter months. Producing rural Nebraska postcards
evolved from local market need. "Folks were saying there weren't any
local postcards to sell to visitors and we saw that as a niche we could
fill, both selling postcards through the farm store and our website and
wholesale area accounts," comments Curt. In addition to the
photography, forty year old Curt writes for a variety of publications
focusing on sustainable land issues and rural living, including Farm
Journal, Farm and Ranch Living and Nebraska Life. Curt also
founded the Northern Plains Family Farmer, a quarterly on-line magazine
providing sustainable agriculture information and stories, receiving
over five hundred website hits a day. Donna supplements the farm
income as a teacher at St. Rose Elementary school in nearby Crofton,
resulting in half their household living costs and providing insurance
benefits.
Curt gives full credit for Bow View Farm's vibrancy and his family's
good life on the farm to his parents, Harold and Margaret Arens,
who
purchased the farm from Harold's father and spent their working years
on the farm. "The support and openness of my parents about the future
of the farm is a very big part of what we have here today. There
is unfortunately often resistance from parents to hand down a farm and
let go control, but my folks started talking about transition plans
when we were teenagers," explains Curt. Harold and Margaret now
live close by in Crofton, pitch in during busy times of year on the
farm, and Curt calls on them for mentoring advice and feedback.
In addition to his parents, Curt finds ideas and inspiration from a
variety of sources, including the Knox County Extension, Grow Nebraska
and the Center for Rural Affairs. He is also a Food & Policy
Fellow with the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (IATP) and
the Thomas Jefferson Agriculture Institute.
"It is an on-going challenge to find the time to manage a broad range
of interests. Add two young kids into the mix and it is
particularly challenging," comments Curt. "Making the time to
focus on marketing and thereby grow the business could always use more
attention, especially making on-site visits to existing and potential
wholesale bird seed accounts," Curt adds.
Sustainable agriculture and a long-term commitment to the health of the
land fuel Curt's big picture vision and inspiration for the farm, his
family and livelihood. "Growing sustainably is a different
mindset, a quality of life issue," explains Curt. "We might give
up a new car or other material things to make this lifestyle work, but
Donna and I are committed to this livelihood and raising our family on
this farm."
Curt & Donna Arens
Regions:
NebraskaOrganization type:
Business - family


Stories 