R&B Acres-Heirloom Produce, Small Farm
Mission Statement:
Our mission at R&B Acres LLC is to provide high quality, sustainably grown, heirloom produce, culinary herbs, and small scale meat production to the greater Madison, WI area consumers and restaurants. We seek to create and provide educational opportunities through local schools and universities, as a model of sustainable, good agricultural practices (GAP) and ethical treatment of animals meant for food production for small family and urban farmers. Our goal is to empower consumers to become conscious eaters by connecting them to the local food system.
Objectives:
1. To expand an organic sustainable, small farm which contributes to the local food movement by growing quality heirloom produce, culinary herbs and small scale meat production.
2. Generate an income stream that makes the farm self-sustaining through the production of safe and sustainable food for my family, my community as well as restaurants in the area.
3. Create several part-time jobs for people interested in working with the local food movement, during the growing season.
4. Provide a location for on-going outreach education for students of all ages, interested in sustainable agricultural practices that can be used in their own gardens by hosting workshops, guest speakers, school-to-work options for high schoolers, and more. The hope is to also work with MATC and UW-Madison culinary programs and sustainable agricultural science classes, to provide a real world connection to high quality local food.
5. Provide on-going education to the consumer about where their food comes from, how it is grown, and the real cost of healthy food.
6. To become an active member of the growing local food movement in Dane County and Southern Wisconsin. Local Food has a global impact through plantings that increase carbon sequestration, reducing the need for chemicals through integrated pest management, crop rotations and increased biodiversity by choosing to raise heirloom varieties of produce and herbs.
Keys to Success:
1. Well defined financial goals.
2. GAP defining activites.
3. On-going outreach to area chefs to stay abreast of their needs, trends in the local food movement and keep them connected to what is available in any given season.
4. Procurement of high quality, heirloom seeds, plants and animals, to meet the needs of the chefs and area consumers.
5. Development of community connections with Oregon area youth groups and university culinary students to ensure young people have access to not only fresh, high quality food, but also develop their interest in supporting or even becoming involved in the local food movement.
Company Summary:
R&B Acres LLC is based in Oregon, Wisconsin, just outside of Madison, Wisconsin, that grows heirloom produce, culinary herbs and small scale meat production. It is owned by Renee Frank and Bashir Nasserjah, who chose to form the LLC as a strategic way to shield them from personal liability. The farm is also USDA certified for the storage and sales of meat.
It was started in 2000, initially as a hobby farm and working laboratory for Renee Frank, owner, to discover which heirloom plants and herbs grew best in her conditions and to develop an integrated pest management system which makes use of her small scale meat chicken and grass fed lamb production. Over the past five years, it has grown from a single 10' x 20' garden plot to an increasingly profitable small farm through her attendance at area farmers markets and connections to specialty restaurants in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. There is now a temporary greenhouse with two small raised beds inside to extend the season, 30' x' 50' herb garden, a half acre spiral prairie garden, and three 50' x 50' vegetable garden plots. The 2014 growing season includes doubling the herb and vegetable gardens.
At 9.3 acres, R&B Acres LLC, has been able to expand gardens and rotate pastures every year, for the past three years. The growing season of 2013, started off with a cold and wet spring, but was successful enough to enlist part-time help in the gardens to meet the growing demands of Madison area restaurants, local farmers markets and area consumers. Moving forward for 2014 and beyond, Renee is seeks to obtain two grants that would allow her to purchase a small tractor to bring more acreage under production as well as put up a hoop house to extend her growing season.
Located close to Madison, Wisconsin, R&B Acres LLC is ideally situated to have easy access to specialty restaurants, culinary students and a growing public interest in the local food movement. It is two and a half hours from Chicago, which also sources much of their Midwest food needs from Southern Wisconsin. The land is mostly flat with gently rolling pastures. Due to the contributions of Renee's chickens, sheep and horses, the soil is continually refreshed with composted manure in the fall and spring, every year. The chickens are allowed seasonal access to the gardens to help with the aeration of the soil and the management of non-beneficial insects. Excess produce that is not salable for any reason, is enjoyed by the chickens and sheep or put back into the compost pile so that nothing is wasted.
Renee's husband, Bashir Nasserjah, has been instrumental in not only maintaining fences and helping in the gardens, but he also set up a large rainwater containment system connected to the barn, which is then used to water the gardens when necessary. Due to heavy mulching and selection of heat and drought tolerant varieties of produce, not much irrigation is needed.
Products:
R&B Acres LLC grows many commonly found herbs and produce from small farms in the 1800's. We try to source heirloom varieties whenever possible. Chefs and visitors will find eggplants of many different colors, tomatoes with unique coloration and intense flavor and squashes from around the world. Garlic, onions, many members of the cabbage family and hot peppers of all intensities, can also be found on site. The gardens consist of a botanical perennial herb garden, an annual herb garden and many plots of heirloom vegetables. Every year, the planting schedule is adjusted slightly to accommodate a chef's future meal plans and to moderate the negative effects Mother Nature can sometimes have on farm production.
Giant Cornish Crossbred chickens are grown in the spring and fall, in small, manageable flocks at R&B Acres LLC. They are purchased from Sunnyside Hatchery in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin as day old chicks. They are started in a well insulated brooder shed and gradually introduced to the free range lifestyle our laying hens enjoy. Due to their fragile nature and susceptibility to heat and cold, Renee does not raise these chickens during the heat of midsummer nor the cold of our long Wisconsin winters. Our laying hens provide eggs for residents at R&B Acres LLC but more importantly, they teach the meat chickens how to forage and help control parasites and other non-beneficial insects found on the grounds and in the pastures.
Shetland sheep provide wool for various hobby spinners and knitters, pasture management due to their willingness to eat plants the horses do not, and finally, grass-fed lamb for customers looking for a sustainably raised meat option. While not large meat producers, their highly flavorful, lean meat is appreciated by conscientious consumers with refined palettes. They also help to provide an income stream in the late winter when they are ready to be harvested and seeds need to be purchased and started.
Market Analysis Summary:
R&B Acres LLC has identified three main markets for their heirloom produce, culinary herbs and meat production. Each is distinctly different enough to require different targeting strategies. They would be specialty restaurants in the Madison, Lake Geneva and Chicago areas, local farmers markets in Oregon, Wisconsin and South Madison, Wisconsin areas, and individual consumers looking to source their food as locally as possible.
Market Segmentation:
R&B Acres LLC has identified three different markets to target:
1. Specialty restaurants in the Madison, Lake Geneva and Chicago areas
2. Local farmers markets in Oregon, Wisconsin and South Madison, Wisconsin
3. Individual consumers interested in supporting the local food movement and small, sustainable farmers in the area