Friday, September 16, 2011

Fresh, Organic, Sustainable

Published in Cattle Buisnesses 2011-2012 Herd Refference Guide
By: Maria Tussing


When Dominick and Trista Harmon bought some property near Wood, S.D., they weren’t entirely new to agriculture, but they approached it like they were. The two, originally from around Bemidji, Minn., bought the property near Wood because it was cheap. They moved here to get a start on a dream that Trista says was mostly Dominick’s in the beginning.

“It was my husband’s dream for a long time to do this. It was different for me. I grew up in agriculture and didn’t want to be in it anymore. I just fell in love with it. We often say we are living in heaven already. We love every minute of this life,” Trista says. Trista and Dominick have two boys, Phoenix, 5 and Forest, 3, who “help” with the chickens and garden, Trista says.

Trista and Dominick are both environmentalists and organic consumers, so Trista says it just made sense to follow those values when they were establishing their business. That business is White Thunder Organics and consumers love it, Trista says.

“When we first moved here the land was very barren and there wasn’t much wildlife. There were lots of bare spots, thistle, cheatgrass. We’ve been gradually turning it back into a lush, native prairie through rotational grazing. It’s unbelievable to see how much more life and biodiversity there is in just the few years we’ve had it. It’s very rewarding for us,” Trista says.

Before they bought the place in South Dakota, Trista says they did lots of research online. As a child she had raised Tarantaise cattle and really liked the temperament. After more research she discovered that the breed originated in Europe and thrived grazing the hills there, so Trista and Dominick thought they’d be a good fit for South Dakota. The cows had a naturally high butterfat content, which they knew would give the calves a good start. Harmons cross the Tarantaise with Angus and produce grass-finished, organic, certified humane beef. Their cattle don’t see any supplements or pesticides and Trista says they’ve never had a problem with the health in their herd. The cattle are grazed rotationally and supplemented when necessary with alfalfa hay. “We had the vet out to spay some heifers for the first time in years and he was blown away by how healthy are cattle were,” Trista says.

The Harmons also raise Berkshire pigs, another breed that Trista had some exposure to growing up. The pigs are never confined, farrowing in open huts and cooling off in wallows when the weather gets hot. The pigs are free-range and organic. The Berkshires are noted for their flavor and Trista says some restaurants pay a hefty premium for Berkshire pork.

While they are concerned with maintaining the health of their cattle and pigs, they know that neither is possible without healthy land. They worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to get many of their land improvement projects started. “We broke the land up into smaller pastures and put in a watering system. Our cows are only in each pasture for three or four days at a time, for an average of nine days per year. The average size of a pasture is about 60 acres,” Trista says.

They have also improved the land by rotating crops through that put nutrients back in the soil and using insects to control invasive weeds biologically. They have put up bat houses and birdhouses to encourage insects’ natural predators to help control the flies and mosquitoes.

The Harmons recognize the value of catering to a niche and think there’s plenty of room for expansion. “We’ve pretty much nearly every niche market you can have. We’re certified humane and organic. All the paperwork is kind of a pain, but it’s definitely worth the time it takes to do it,” Trista says.

Trista and Dominick caution anyone looking to pursue these avenues to do their homework first. “Gather knowledge. Don’t just jump into it. You have to know what you’re doing. Talk to people who have already done it. There are lots of books to read and seminars if you’re willing to take the time to go to them,” Trista says. She also emphasizes how important it is to make sure the breed of livestock is suited to the niche it is supposed to fill. “You can’t take a big-framed cow that’s been bred to be corn-finished and thrown them out on grass. They’ve got to be hardy enough for it. We’ve been able to finish our cows in 18 months on grass and hay. They never see any corn. We finish our pigs in about six to eight months. They forage and eat sprouted grains, but no corn. Eliminating the corn really cuts down on our cost and the animals we raise finish just fine without it,” Trista says.

Once the animals are finished, Harmons haul them to Sturigs Meats, which is a certified organic processor. After the processing is complete, the Harmons bring the meat back home and customers order directly from them. They also place some of their products in Whole Foods stores in Colorado, a grocery store in Pierre, and Star Family Restaurant in Murdo. “Starting out it was kind of hard. No one knew if we were any good or not. Once we found a good buyer who told everyone how good we were, the buyers came to us. Now we have a waiting list for our beef. People are asking for it constantly, begging us to expand and get more. Our pork is getting to the point where we have it all sold. I think there’s less awareness about where pork comes from than where beef comes from,” Trista says.

“We enjoy the opportunity to build up a relationship with our customers. It’s wonderful to see who’s eating our product and have that relationship with them. They like to know where their food is coming from. They want to know that they’re producing something sustainable,” Trista says.

To meet the demands of their customers, Harmons are planning to double the size of their cow herd in the near future.
-- 
Maria E. Tussing
Freelance Writer
P.O. Box 275
New Underwood, SD 57761
605-280-7184
www.writemet.com
www.writemet.tumblr.com

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