A Jump Start For Young Farmers

Article by Raylene Nickel Photos by Rick Mooney

"As a farming culture we've got to create viable paradigms for young people to enter agriculture." Dan French Since childhood, Phil Brossard has wanted to be a dairy farmer. Now, at age 30, he owns 65 cows and leases a 120-acre farm close to Nearstrand, Minnesota. But he probably would not be dairying today had it not been for the help he received from one man. Jason French held down an off-farm job for four years after completing college, all the while he also was putting in a lot of time on the farm. Today he owns 60 cows and a 145-acre farm near West Concord, Minnesota. But he probably would not be dairying today had it not been for the help he received from the same man.

Dan French, a Minnesota dairy farmer, is helping young farmers gain sufficient equity to obtain their own farms.

Jon Kaiser owns 23 cows. In another year or two, he and his wife Mindy will be looking for a farm of their own. Until then, he is building up his herd while working with the same man who helped Phil and Jason get into farming on their own.

About right now you may be getting the idea that a sound program is at work in Minnesota that gives young people an opportunity to farm on their own.

Lenders Laughed

Phil Brossard grew up on a dairy farm. After high school he attempted to get started in dairying on his own by borrowing the money to buy a farm and cows. "Lenders practically laughed at me," he recalled. "They didn't want to make a start-up loan for a heard smaller than 100 head, saying that dairy farmers can't make it with fewer cows. I never had enough money to make a down payment for that large of a loan."

That's when veteran dairy farmer Dan French came into Phil's life. French operates a 155-cow dairy and has made it a practice to open his operation to young employees who are also his partners.

Phil Brossard

The arrangement accomplishes two things; it helps the younger men build ownership in a herd of their own while at the same time giving French the reliable help he needs for his own farm. Toward Independence The prospective young dairymen work for French but take most or all of their wages in the form of forage and facilities for their own fledgling cow herds. During their tenure with French, these young dairymen retain all the income from the milk their own cows produce. They live on the farm in a mobile home provided by French and his wife, Muriel. In time, the younger men have saved some money and own enough cows to venture out on their own. It's the leg-up a young person needs today to get an independent start in farming.

And French is more than pleased with the exceptionally capable help he receives on his own farm. "The very best employees are those who want to work for themselves," he said.

Phil worked with French for three years. "During my second year of employment I bought 10 springing heifers," he said. "The next year I bought another 12 head. When I left Dan's dairy, I owned 22 cows free and clear. I was able to use these cows as collateral to buy more."

Managing Debt

Phil and his wife Dawn, an elementary teacher, expect to pay off their bank notes for cattle and machinery within six years. They also expect to save enough money in that time to make a down payment on a farm of their own. "All that we've done so far is a stepping-stone process to keep our debt load manageable," Phil said. "The only way to make it in farming is to have as little debt as possible."

French's own son was the first to benefit from his father's desire to help get young families into farming. Jason French and his wife Edee, who has a dog-grooming business, are purchasing their farm on a contract-for-deed basis. But even with help from his father in the form of labor, machinery, and some feed, Jason said his first four years of farming on his own were extremely difficult.

"Every day I questioned whether I was going to make it," he recalled. "Even though I came into my own operation with so much (financial) momentum from having worked with my father, it was still difficult. I can't imagine trying to start from scratch. That's why what my father does for young dairy farmers helps so much." Bright Future A grass-based dairy producer like his father, Jason believes the most difficult years are behind him. "I'm pretty optimistic about dairying right now," he said. The premium he receives for his organically produced milk, $18.50 per hundredweight, is also a big help.

Jason French

Jon Kaiser is in the midst of his program on Dan French's farm. He met French through the Farm Beginnings Program offered by Minnesota's Land Stewardship project. It is a 10-month course for anyone interested in farming on their own. Participants range in age from 19 to 65. Some go into the program with no ag experience at all. Some are established farmers seeking guidance for working the younger generation into the farming business. Topics covered in the course include goal setting, financial planning, and value-added and alternative marketing methods.

Participants in the program have the option to apply for a livestock loan to purchase five bred heifers. The loans are made possible through a grant from Heifer Project International, a charitable group using zero-interest livestock loans as a tool to promote prosperity among people in struggling nations around the world.

Building Equity

The loans are paid back in the form of live animals. Dairy producers who acquire 15 bred heifers, for instance, return five bred heifers to the organization in the third year after acquiring their own. In each of the fourth and fifth years, they again return five bred heifers. The Heifer Project cattle help a young farmer to build equity and increase their chances of obtaining conventional loans.

Jon Kaiser

In the course of the Farm Beginnings Program, young farmers are able to network with established ones. That's how Jon Kaiser and Dan French first met. The arrangement between French and Jon is structured so Jon earns a share of the milk check equivalent to the number of cows in the herd he owns. Jon pays for the feed his cows consume as well as for his own vet bills. In addition, he and Mindy are responsible for their own heat and electricity as long as they reside on the French farm. The arrangement simplifies bookkeeping for French because Jon is essentially self-employed and handles his own taxes.

Grass-Based Dairying

Anyone who works with Dan French also learns about the relatively unconventional practice of grass-based dairying and alternative marketing methods. French is part of a Minnesota dairy cooperative that processes and markets cheese made from milk produced by cows that feed primarily on pasture forages.

His cows are on pasture for seven to eight months of the year, eating a grass mix that is 30 to 40 percent legumes. In addition they each receive about six pounds of grain a day.

French is experimenting with various ways of harvesting forages to find the winter-feeding system most suitable to his operation. Feeding round-bale silage is one practice he is evaluating. He is able to provide his 155-head dairy herd with all of their summer grazing and most of their winter forages on just 350 acres.

Phil Brossard said the grass-based feeding practices he learned from French have already saved him $200 to $300 per cow in annual feed costs.

Best Of Programs Jason French, of course, is a strong believer in what his father is doing to help the younger farm generation. "The approach my dad takes is the best start-up alternative I see for young producers," he said. If there are any problems in the arrangement, Jason said it is only because the younger men have such a strong desire to be independent of supervision in an industry they genuinely love. "Young producers in such working relationships have to keep their eyes on the big picture, keep focusing on the dream of getting out on their own."

Jon Kaiser

"Muriel and I believe in trying to keep farmers on the land," the elder French said. "In spite of the fact that we lose excellent help each time a young producer leaves our farm, we just keep challenging and encouraging them to get out on their own. As a farming culture we've got to create viable paradigms for young people to enter agriculture."

In reply, one of French's student-dairymen commented: "I have always loved working with cows, and I wanted to teach my children the family values I myself learned from growing up on a dairy farm," said Phil Brossard. "Working with Dan was the only way I could get started."

With concern such as this shown by one generation toward another, the future of dairy farming in Minnesota appears to be in good hands and level heads.