We made it through the winter without any big disasters, and are gearing up for another season. Calving and kidding started March 1, so the farm is happy with young calves and young goats. We haven’t had problems in either herd.
Most of the spring seed is ordered, some is delivered, the fields are limed, the hay fields renovated. On the negative side of the ledger, the compost hasn’t cooked as well as we’d like and the cover crops are just coming on, as there was an early frost November 4. I’m worried about the fruit trees tonight, as the temperature was in the low 70s yesterday, but is forecast to be 24 degrees tomorrow morning, April 1. (Not fooling!) Every year is different, which makes farming so challenging, organic farming doubly so.
In addition to the usual winter months spent planning, we are part of a hemp industry which is in toddler stage. The day after hemp was legalized in the December, 2018 Farm Bill, Pay Pal shut down our account, and Google and Facebook continue their policy of disallowing advertising and promotion. We can’t even boost our farm page!
I am on the policy committee of the Organic Farmer’s Association, and so in March went to Washington for our annual meeting and a day of lobbying congress. The “ask” that rang truest with Kentucky’s delegation was for better USDA policing of the organic supply chain. We farmers just ask for a level playing field!
