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.