Four Winds Farm
Land stewardship through grass fed meat
River Falls, WI
While Prescott Bergh and Juliet Tomkins may own and manage Four Winds
Farm, they're quick to give credit to their source of inspiration for
ideas and diversification approaches to running their business:
the soil, nature and the landscape of their 107 acre farm near River
Falls, Wisconsin.
Located about fifty miles east of the Twin Cities, Prescott and Juliet
moved to and started Four Winds Farm in 1987. While both came
with years of academic and business experience in agriculture and the
organic industry -- such as Prescott's decade of work as an organic
inspector and Juliet's work in agricultural law -- Four Winds Farm is
their first hands-on farming endeavor. The rolling hills of the
farm provide wildlife habitat Prescott and Juliet holistically manage
in concert with their farm operations. About sixty acres of
pasture are used to raise grass-fed beef while the remaining property
is left in its natural habitat of ponds, marsh shrubs, hedge rows,
woods and eleven acres of native prairie plants.
Today, Four Winds Farm focuses on pasture raised, grass-fed beef sold
directly to customers on-site and at two area farmers' markets.
This decision to focus on beef came after experimenting with different
business ideas, including raising and managing 800 chickens for one
years and as many as 150 hogs for five years. "The decision to
have a beef operation was a quality of life issue for us and we
realized that this land was both suited for and benefited from
pasture-raised beef cattle," explains Prescott.
He and Juliet draw inspiration from Wes Jackson's work, "Meeting the
Expectations of the Land," which emphasizes the importance of taking
the time and effort to understand and work with the capacity and needs
of one's land. "For us to keep up with the chickens or hogs, we
would have to heavily invest in outbuildings, equipment and feed.
Cows require less infrastucture and the herd's presence on the field
helps the land slowly regenerate," adds Juliet.
A herd of sixty Red and Black Angus cows rotate through fifteen
different paddocks formed by moveable electric fencing, typically
staying in one field for one to three days (depending on the season and
rainfall) after which the grass rests for up to a month. This
intense, short grazing pattern keeps parasites down and optimizes grass
regrowth. The animals stay out on the pastures year-round, with
locally-grown hay bales set out for supplemental feed during the winter
months. "Processing takes place in the late spring and early
summer. This is when the cattle are on a full diet of grass,
which adds to both the flavor and health value of the meat. When
the cattle eat a high grass diet, the meat is high in omega three fatty
acids, the same beneficial fats found in wild salmon," Prescott
explains. Meat is processed at a local sate inspected facility
and stored in a commercial cold storage freezer.
Most of Four Winds Farm's meat sells through shares with families
buying a fraction of all the retail cuts of the beef animal. "At
the Farmers' Markets we sell meat a la carte as individual retail
cuts. We also have sausage and jerky for sale. We have
twenty cubic feet of portable freezer space, run on a battery and
inverter allowing us to sell directly from the back of our truck at
market," Juliet explains. "We attract customers by offering
samples of our meat. Who, once they try it, relish the wonderful
flavor of the meat. They often comment, 'This is how I remember
meat tasting on Grandma's farm as a kid.' Knowing the farmer and
buying local is also important to the people who buy our meats," Juliet
adds. Prescott and Juliet have not felt the need to go through
the organic certification process, given their personal, trusting
relationship with their customers and in keeping things local (i.e.,
buying local conventional hay versus shipping in organically-grown hay).
Prescott and Juliet foster this farm connection by hosting a number of
educational events at Four Winds Farm, including a Prairie Festival in
the spring when the prairie is in peak bloom and a Harvest Festival in
the fall. "We'll host 350 people for these bigger farm events and give
farm tours, pasture and prairie walks and then everyone stays for a big
potluck," Prescott explains. "Folks are amazed at the diversity
of wildlife and habitat. A professional ornithologist identified
125 bird species and a botanist, over fifty indigenous prairie plants."
Prescott and Juliet balance the work of Four Winds Farm with parenting
their two sons, ages twelve and sixteen, along with other forms of
income generation. Prescott works full time as director of sales
and marketing for an organic ingredient company. Juliet handles
the majority of the farm business as well as serving as part-time
adjunct faculty at the University of Wisconsin River Falls, teaching
courses in agriculture law and cooperatives. "We're aiming to
design our farm enterprise to fit our lifestyle, balance with our
family, replenish the soil and habitat while serving as a source of
income diversification," sums up Prescott.
Prescott Bergh & Juliet Tomkins
Regions:
WisconsinOrganization type:
Business - family


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