Reference no: EM133039408

At the age of 37, Jesse Kuhn is one of the younger farmers in the celebrated Marin Organic association of farmers and ranchers in Marin County, California. Today, Kuhn's local organic lettuce, carrots, turnips, and garlic are sought after by the premier restaurants throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. But when starting out in the early 2000s, Kuhn struggled to balance his passion for growing produce using sustainable agriculture practices with the need to survive economically. While still a student at Humboldt State University in Northern California, Kuhn had rediscovered a childhood passion for growing things-a passion he'd gotten from his grandmother in Nebraska. By volunteering at the Arcata Educational Farm, a small garden run by Humboldt State in conjunction with a local elementary school, he realized this was his career of choice. "I started working there and taking agriculture classes, and became really interested," he said. Soon he was reading garden books and making compost piles in his backyard. Eventually, he became manager of the Arcata farm, responsible for overseeing its subscription-based community-supported agriculture model. A CSA farm sells subscriptions to local families, which then receive delivery of a weekly share of what the farm currently grows; this has proved to be a viable business model for many small farms throughout the country. After graduating with a BA degree, Kuhn volunteered or worked part-time at various local farms for nearly seven years to learn at the feet (and green thumbs) of local farming legends.

After a few years, he wanted his own farm. "So I started networking and found a oneacre parcel near Point Reyes Station, and used the farming model I learned in college to get started," he said. Right away he ran into challenges. "I tried to do it on my own and began hand-digging the field, but soon realized I needed farm equipment." This required capital. He began offering to do landscaping services to pull the money together, and got a part-time job working construction. When he felt ready, he took the next pivotal step in achieving his vision. Kuhn created Marin Roots Farm in 2003 after placing an ad in the local newspaper that simply read: "Organic farmer seeks five to 10 acres. Must have water." A local goat-dairy rancher offered him 15 acres, which he grabbed to start Marin Root Farm. But before then, he'd paid his dues.

Later, as he grew, he decided to farm year-round, a decision driven largely by his need to provide his highly valued employees with work all year. "Probably the biggest reason I go year-round and don't close is to ensure that my employees have a steady income through the winter months. They're number one. They're the backbone of the farm, and without a good crew I wouldn't be able to have my farm," he said. The growing local farmers' market movement has been the foundation of Kuhn's success. "For a lot of local farms, that's their primary way of selling what they grow. And for others it's a great way of advertising, and getting the name out about your product," he said. "For me, it's more and more what pays the bills. Right now I'm doing three farmers' markets."

"Keeping track of the business side of things was the part I wasn't prepared for-especially the record-keeping involved," he said. "And that's as important as growing the product. If you need to pay bills, then you need to keep track of how much you sold and to whom and be able to create a record...Keeping track of records, managing the business and marketing, and finding new customers and clientele is certainly a big part of running a farm."

Amazingly, Marin Root Farm has been profitable since halfway through its second year of operation. "My parents weren't as encouraging of me starting a farm in the beginning, because they were worried that I would get into too much debt and not be able to get myself out," Kuhn remarked. "That certainly could have happened, and it started to, but then it worked out and, yeah, I was able to grow and sell enough." "I think that a lot of people are looking for 'organic' as a label, because it really does have assurances of the growing practices behind it-that it was grown in a way that was free of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or any kind of residues," Kuhn told the Marin History Museum, in an interview recorded in January 2009. "But at the same time, I think that a fresh product has got a lot of superior qualities. Something that's locally grown that can be delivered that fresh will have a lot of draw to it for local clientele and to local restaurants." Kuhn now farms 45 acres at his current site, and leases 20 additional acres from neighboring organic producers. He firmly believes that small, local farms are the future of agriculture in America, especially near urban areas. "There's so much opportunity and demand for products grown locally."

Questions

1. Besides working day jobs, how else could Jesse Kuhn have raised the money to start his farm?

2. How could Kuhn have been better prepared to understand the costs involved in running a farm?

3. What other ways could he sell his local, organic produce, in addition to farmers' markets?

4. Do you think a lack of money when he first saw the opportunity in local produce actually contributed to his eventual success?

5. Is farming still a viable business opportunity?