WELCOME TO ROOTED IN LOCAL AGRICULTURE 2022
Table of Contents Murdock goat farmers develop plans for on-the-farm creamery......................... 4 Regenerative agricultural practices can be used at any latitude.............................. 11 Minnesota hog producers market ‘the Black Angus of pork’...................................... 14 Wanted: Young farmers seeking farmland to rent....................................................... 20 Some Minn. rural co-ops embrace renewable energy, keep rates flat.................24 Lazy J Bar Ranch offers colorful boer goat genetics...................................................28 Former Faribault dairy farm finds a new purpose................................................................ 30 Moorhead cricket farm pivots to selling live insects............................................................... 35 PUBLISHER: Steve Ammermann EDITOR: Kelly Boldan MAGAZINE EDITOR: Kit Grode AD MANAGER: Christie Steffel MAGAZINE DESIGNER: Jamie Holte
A publication of West Central Tribune, March 2022 2208 Trott Ave SW, Willmar MN | www.wctrib.com 320.235.1150 Content from West Central Tribune staff and Forum News Service.
Page 4 – March 2022 – West Central Tribune
MURDOCK GOAT FARMERS DEVELOP PLANS FOR ON-THE-FARM CREAMERY By Carolyn Lange | West Central Tribune
C
armen Maus had no intention of having a goat on her rural Murdock farm. And yet, when she and her good friend Theresa Smith went to a livestock auction in 2017 in Benson, there she was, buying a goat. “He was so stinking cute, so I bid on it,” said Maus, of rural Murdock. “I hugged him and I loved him and I named him George.” It was her “gateway” goat, she said. Now, Maus, her husband, Ryan, and Smith have about 100 dairy goats in their limited liability partnership — and that was at the beginning of this year’s kidding season that could bring the total number of goats to nearly 300. For the last couple of years, the three-person team began using the milk from their goats to make handcrafted soap and lotion that they then sell at farmers markets and craft shows. As the herd quickly grows, the partnership, which operates under the name C-R Farm, is preparing to take the business to the next level. If everything in its business plan falls into place, by this time next year, C-R Farm will be operating an on-the-farm micro-creamery to bottle its own goat milk and make goat cheese that will be sold in retail outlets in a region stretching from Murdock to St. Cloud to Marshall. The partners used time during the pandemic to research creamery requirements — including licensing with state and federal agencies — and have sought construction bids and financing. They further tested cheese-making recipes and courted markets to sell their goat milk and cheese.
