Voices of Growers
The Evolution of a Tulip Farm How Vertical Integration Can Help Family Farms Weather Financial Storms by Barb Iverson, Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm Growing up on a farm is an incredible experience. You learn early to see what needs to be done and step in to help. Our work in not measured in hours but in the job that needs doing now. As a kid, our family had a lot of tight years; you think you’re living in paradise but don’t really see or understand the struggles. I remember my mother once telling me about the time there was no money in the account and the mortgage payment was due. She was sure this was the beginning of the end of the farm when a bonus payment came in expectantly for one of their crops. Now, as an adult (and throughout my farming career) this economic uncertainty continues. I have had loans called in, held my own paycheck for months so my employees got theirs, and had to sell land to pay the bills. Living on the edge of economic sustainability is a major issue for today’s farmers. As farmers, we are land rich and cash poor. One of the ways our farm has addressed this is through vertical integration. Our vertical integration started with a crop we began growing in 1974: tulips. When another farmer retired, we bought his crop but soon realized that tulip bulbs sales wasn’t very easy for a small-scale grower. From this struggle emerged Wooden Shoe Bulb Company. Several family members thought it would be great to sell direct to the home owner. Our small retail and mail-order business almost folded after attending garden shows the first two years. It wasn’t until our third year that we decided to open our tulip field to the public and Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm started to take off. Our first years of the festival focused on cut-flower and bulb sales. Admission was free and although not very prosperous, we were able to pay the bills. This changed in the late 1990’s and early
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Photo: Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm
2000’s when we witnessed a shift in our visitors; flower sales slowed and bulb sales dropped in half. There are a number of market factors for this happening, but at the end of the day, we weren’t even breaking even. At this point we made the difficult decision to start charging admission to see the tulips. I have to admit, the abuse and negative comments were difficult to hear, especially when the entire farm was struggling. But what happened after we started charging amazed us…our attendance went up! Because we were charging a fee, customers thought there must be something worth seeing. We created value. Years later we are still creating memories for thousands of visitors. Also, as an overall farm, we are on better financial footing. We have discovered that there is a desire for people to get out on a farm. They want to reconnect with the land, meet a farmer and understand what we do. Some call what we do agritourism. I call it keeping the family farm alive.
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Enterprise Spring 2020
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