Prairie Hoof Farm
Donation protected
(You can also send a donation to our home address so we avoid website fees: Kevin and Mary Ford, 8320 SW 160 Ave. Nashville, KS 67112)
Our Story
In spring of 2010, I quit my teaching job to become a full-time sustainable farmer. I desperately wanted to be home with my wife and children, and to teach them the goodness of life on the land to live out our faith together in the nursery of the rural setting. I also wanted to inspire other families to follow our example. Thus I founded a non-profit called the New Catholic Land Movement dedicated to helping families return to the land. For four years we successfully ran a vegetable CSA while encountering some extreme hardships beyond our control. In 2011 and 2012 we faced the incredible droughts that struck the plains states so hard. In 2012 we went 82 days near or over 100 degrees with no rain. Despite this, we pulled through for a time. In 2013 and 2014 our nemesis became the grasshopper!
(A photo from our first year; we had some great crops, initially!)
Grasshoppers
In 2013 we sustained a 50% loss of our vegetable crops due to a hailstorm followed by a seemingly biblical plague of grasshoppers. We barely weathered this setback. However, 2014 proved devastating to our farm. In June of that year, following a bad spring of massively fluctuating temperatures and little rainfall, another swarm of grasshoppers descended on our crops. We are opposed to the use of synthetic chemicals on our crops, and thus had nothing with which to fight the grasshoppers, despite trying everything "organically" that we could (chickens, guineas, etc.). A few weeks later, all that was left were some stems. We had nothing to offer our 150 member CSA that had paid for shares of the season's produce up front (CSAs give the farmer the investment they need to begin the season up front, but this doesn't work so well if the season is a complete failure). Many of them stood to lose all of their CSA investment.
(This is an actual photo from our farm.)
The Demands of Justice
I couldn't handle the thought of all those good people losing their investments due to our misfortune, even though they knew of the risks involved when they signed up for the CSA. Therefore, I gave away four years worth of work and infrastructure to a farmer in a better area that was willing to take on the CSA accounts. This loss was crippling and heartbreaking for us. The only things we kept were one greenhouse that we couldn't give away due to grant requirements, and our beloved herd of heritage swine. We sat for a long time wondering whether we should just throw in the towel.
Opportunity Knocks
For sometime now we have been considering various options to continue farming. After making some inquiries around the state, I found out that a creamery near my wife's hometown of Topeka, KS, is dumping 4,500 gallons of whey in the dump every two weeks. Opportunity knocks and we want to snag it.
Whey Fed Pork
We are going to raise our pigs on whey, which is a waste product that would otherwise be dumped in a waste facility...wasted. Whey produces fabulous flavored artisanal pork for almost nothing. We already have access to a semi and tanker trailer to haul the whey, as well as land on which to raise the pigs. We simply need a way to get moved to Topeka, and to purchase the necessary livestock and infrastructure to get our farm up to the appropriate scale to accomodate the use of so much whey.
(Our current dairy herd; it's small, but they're good goats!)
Mary's Farm Dream
My wife, Mary, has long dreamed of starting a dairy, and we have finally begun that process. We have long raised dairy goats and would like to expand to the point of being able to make artisanal cheeses. To do this we need additional goats and equipment.
Chickens and Eggs
In order to diversify our farm offerings, and for good cash flow purposes, we would also like to add laying hens and broilers to our operation. We already own a flock of 100 laying hens, and we would like to add the broilers in the coming year.
Helping Families be Families
A great hope we have for our farm is to make it a place where families can come to live, work, and pray together. Our culture so fragments life today that we feel an experience like this on a farm could really help families to be what they are meant to be. Making our business successful will help us to be able to fulfill this ministry. We would like our farm to one day be a base for the New Catholic Land Movement to use to train families in homesteading and farming-related skills.
Business Plans
We are going to be moving our entire farm more than 250 miles from its current location. We are looking for members to join a buyer's club. We will also be selling to restaurants and through farmer's markets. We have also made contact with a pork cooperative which has shown interest in marketing our whey-fed pork.
Here are some of our basic needs:
Pigs
Additional Breeding Stock
Better pastured farrowing facilities
Livestock Trailer
Goats
Electrified Netting
Weather-tight housing
Dairy Pump
Additional Goats
Chickens (Broilers)
Chicken Plucker
Chicken Scalder
Chicken Cones
Chicken Mobile Pens
Broiler chicks
Laying Hens
Mobile Chicken Coop
Electrified Netting
Additional Hens
Our Story
In spring of 2010, I quit my teaching job to become a full-time sustainable farmer. I desperately wanted to be home with my wife and children, and to teach them the goodness of life on the land to live out our faith together in the nursery of the rural setting. I also wanted to inspire other families to follow our example. Thus I founded a non-profit called the New Catholic Land Movement dedicated to helping families return to the land. For four years we successfully ran a vegetable CSA while encountering some extreme hardships beyond our control. In 2011 and 2012 we faced the incredible droughts that struck the plains states so hard. In 2012 we went 82 days near or over 100 degrees with no rain. Despite this, we pulled through for a time. In 2013 and 2014 our nemesis became the grasshopper!
(A photo from our first year; we had some great crops, initially!)Grasshoppers
In 2013 we sustained a 50% loss of our vegetable crops due to a hailstorm followed by a seemingly biblical plague of grasshoppers. We barely weathered this setback. However, 2014 proved devastating to our farm. In June of that year, following a bad spring of massively fluctuating temperatures and little rainfall, another swarm of grasshoppers descended on our crops. We are opposed to the use of synthetic chemicals on our crops, and thus had nothing with which to fight the grasshoppers, despite trying everything "organically" that we could (chickens, guineas, etc.). A few weeks later, all that was left were some stems. We had nothing to offer our 150 member CSA that had paid for shares of the season's produce up front (CSAs give the farmer the investment they need to begin the season up front, but this doesn't work so well if the season is a complete failure). Many of them stood to lose all of their CSA investment.
(This is an actual photo from our farm.)The Demands of Justice
I couldn't handle the thought of all those good people losing their investments due to our misfortune, even though they knew of the risks involved when they signed up for the CSA. Therefore, I gave away four years worth of work and infrastructure to a farmer in a better area that was willing to take on the CSA accounts. This loss was crippling and heartbreaking for us. The only things we kept were one greenhouse that we couldn't give away due to grant requirements, and our beloved herd of heritage swine. We sat for a long time wondering whether we should just throw in the towel.
Opportunity Knocks
For sometime now we have been considering various options to continue farming. After making some inquiries around the state, I found out that a creamery near my wife's hometown of Topeka, KS, is dumping 4,500 gallons of whey in the dump every two weeks. Opportunity knocks and we want to snag it.
Whey Fed Pork
We are going to raise our pigs on whey, which is a waste product that would otherwise be dumped in a waste facility...wasted. Whey produces fabulous flavored artisanal pork for almost nothing. We already have access to a semi and tanker trailer to haul the whey, as well as land on which to raise the pigs. We simply need a way to get moved to Topeka, and to purchase the necessary livestock and infrastructure to get our farm up to the appropriate scale to accomodate the use of so much whey.
(Our current dairy herd; it's small, but they're good goats!)Mary's Farm Dream
My wife, Mary, has long dreamed of starting a dairy, and we have finally begun that process. We have long raised dairy goats and would like to expand to the point of being able to make artisanal cheeses. To do this we need additional goats and equipment.
Chickens and Eggs
In order to diversify our farm offerings, and for good cash flow purposes, we would also like to add laying hens and broilers to our operation. We already own a flock of 100 laying hens, and we would like to add the broilers in the coming year.
Helping Families be Families
A great hope we have for our farm is to make it a place where families can come to live, work, and pray together. Our culture so fragments life today that we feel an experience like this on a farm could really help families to be what they are meant to be. Making our business successful will help us to be able to fulfill this ministry. We would like our farm to one day be a base for the New Catholic Land Movement to use to train families in homesteading and farming-related skills.
Business Plans
We are going to be moving our entire farm more than 250 miles from its current location. We are looking for members to join a buyer's club. We will also be selling to restaurants and through farmer's markets. We have also made contact with a pork cooperative which has shown interest in marketing our whey-fed pork.
Here are some of our basic needs:
Pigs
Additional Breeding Stock
Better pastured farrowing facilities
Livestock Trailer
Goats
Electrified Netting
Weather-tight housing
Dairy Pump
Additional Goats
Chickens (Broilers)
Chicken Plucker
Chicken Scalder
Chicken Cones
Chicken Mobile Pens
Broiler chicks
Laying Hens
Mobile Chicken Coop
Electrified Netting
Additional Hens
Organizer
Kevin Ford
Organizer
Nashville, KS