Crop and Soil Management at Essex Farm
Mark and Kristin Kimball, Essex Farm, Essex, NY
Based on the presentation by these farmers at the 2013 Virginia Biological Farming Conference
I was drawn to this session by the prospect of learning some of the fascinating details of crop
and soil management in a climate much colder and soils higher in organic matter than what we
typically see in Virginia. The actual talk was a bit spare on these topics, but offered an inspiring
model for a sustainable farm and food system.
Kristin and Mark Kimball have developed their Essex Farm into a year-round, free-choice,
full-diet food source for their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership of 235
people. The farm’s three priorities are profitability, social capital, and local and global
environmental impact. Nine draft horses and one pony do most of the field work and some hay
making; the farm uses a limited amount of tractor power. Mark returned to farming in 1992
after college, and Kristin has farmed for the past 10 years, after a career as a writer and editor in
New York City. They have two children, age 2 and 5 at the time of their presentation. Starting
Essex Farm with a $18,000 investment, they began by growing their own vegetables, then added
dairy. Inspired by Roxbury Farm, a large CSA providing vegetables to 3,000 members who paid
in advance and developed a strong loyalty to the farm, the Kimballs gradually developed their
own unique CSA program. “Our goal is to make the grocery store obsolete for our customers.
We want to decouple the price of food from consumption, and allow our members to take what
they need and want,” the Kimballs explained in their presentation. “Without assigned values to
specific products, we enjoy more freedom in farming.”
Located near the northeast corner of New York between Adirondack State Park and Lake
Champlain, the farm still manages to provide a year round food supply. How do they do it so far
north? “It is not so hard,” Mark noted. “We provide cabbage, potatoes, and protein foods from
winter through April. Potatoes are a good way to produce calories for winter.”
Members sign a contract for January 1 through December 31, and pick up their food every
Friday between 3 and 7 pm. Families pay $3,700 a year for the first adult share, $3,300 for the
second adult, and gradually decreasing amounts for additional adults. For children, members pay
$120 per year of age. Some members contribute a bit more so that others on limited income can
pay a little less for their shares. The farmers cultivate an attitude of abundance by showing
members how to prepare and eat “low value” cuts of meat, and by growing more vegetables than
projected need so that members can freeze or can surplus. Amounts of different crops are
adjusted year to year based on what is left over.
Members own the livestock and poultry before slaughter, which takes place on the farm.
“We have cultivated a positive relationship with the USDA inspectors,” they noted.
The farm’s annual budget is about $430,000, and they pay six to seven full time, year round
employees, with the labor force growing to 10 to 15 in summer. Employees receive a CSA share
and $7 per hour. About 50% of farm income goes to payroll and related expenses, 15-20% for
capital improvements, and the rest to small tools, supplies, and grain purchases if and when
needed (which is getting less over time).
The farm is located in one of the least populated parts of New York, about two hours north of
Albany. Yet, “we have no problem getting customers, through word-of-mouth advertising
only,” Kristin said. “Farmland is abundant here, and we don’t have to try to maximize production
per acre.” They have about 500 to 600 acres in crops and pasture, another 400 in woodlot, but
they actually own only 80 acres, and lease the rest at minimal expense.
As of June 2012, Essex Farm had about 80 head of beef cattle of mixed breeds, including
some Highland. They rotate the cattle through 1 to 2 acre paddocks from May through
November. About 1,000 broilers are raised in Salatin style mobile houses, in addition to 400
laying hens in pasture. The Kimballs also raise 50 to 100 hogs per year. “We still haven’t
figured out pork,” they admintted. “Hogs need shade, make huge wallows in pasture, and we are
looking at moving them to woodland.”
They are now milking 15 head of Jersey cattle, and are using annual oats and peas to provide
good forage during gaps in perennial pasturage. Milking is now mechanized, and solar-powered.
Sheep are the newest venture, beginning in 2012. “We use them as weed whackers near the
barnyard, and to provide occasional special meals of lamb.”
The Kimballs aim to produce as much of their forage and grain as possible, though the past
three seasons have been tough. In 2012, they grew 30 acres of corn, 17 acres of rye, 15 acres of
wheat, 5 acres of oats and some mangel fodder beet (which grow to 20 lb apiece!). They hire a
neighbor to combine the grain, about 10% of which is provided directly to members as whole or
cracked grain or flour; the rest is livestock feed
“We have seen the benefits of integrating the livestock and poultry into the cropping
system,” they noted, including improved soil quality, and a more vigorous flush of grass in the
spring. “We move the crops and animals around to optimize the system.” Then they shared
some specifics of the operation.
The draft horses are an important part of the farm. They have several breeds, including
Belgian, Spotted Draft Horse, and a Belgian-Suffolk cross. Although tractors are sometimes
more time-efficient, the Kimballs like the aesthetics and companionship of the horses. The
farmers’ commitment to working with draft horses attracts both employees (some staying for
several years) and customers.
A team of horses can mow 10 acres of hay in one day. Baling the hay is one job they do with
the tractor drawing a square baler. They also bought a two-horse potato planter for just $65, and
were able to plant four acres of potatoes in just six and a half hours.
CSA members receive about 50 different vegetables, beginning in June with asparagus (four
900-ft rows provides for the membership), nettles, dandelions, and cultivated greens. They came
up with a time saving way to provide strawberries. Members receive one quart of berries during
the June peak, after which the strawberry field is opened for pick your own harvest.
During the question and answer period, someone asked,” how do you harvest produce just
once a week for Friday pickup?” Answer: “Choose varieties that can hold in the field for a
while, and aim to put calories on the table, not just baby vegetables. For example, ‘Costata
Romanesca’ tastes good when large.” [Very true – that is why I like it in our garden – Mark
Schonbeck.]. “We provide table-ready produce, and do not spend time on bundling or bunching.”
My question: “What is your system for crop rotation and soil management?” Answer: “We
do not have a fixed plan. We cover crop when we can. We compost the bedding pack for
fertility, and use weedy compost on hay fields.” Vegetables are rotated with cover crops. They
found that moving the potato crop ¾ of a mile from where it had been the previous year
essentially eliminated a bad problem with Colorado potato beetle. Grain fields go through a
rotation of grass-clover hay, then corn, then small grain, then back to hay.
“We have many different soils at the farm. We grow the vegetables on sandy loams, and
leave the heavy clays in permanent pasture.”
Have there been difficulties? Hell, yes! Managing a number of employees is always
challenging. 2011 was an especially difficult year, largely because of the severe flooding from
tropical storms Irene and Lee. In the wake of the floods, one of their members, who had made
some money in the stock market, donated $50,000 in drainage infrastructure, to be installed over
the next two years.
And the big question: what are your future goals and plans? During winter meetings, the
Kimballs and their employees discuss their long term vision and plans for the coming year. “We
are expanding the definition of farming to include as many needs as possible. We see it as
brokering the relationship between our members and the sun, meeting material needs of the
membership with real-time energy.”
Climate change and the human role in it looms as today’s #1 problem in the farmers’
estimation. “The more we grow plants to enhance soil quality and meet human needs – the more
we use sunlight to the maximum, and the more carbon we keep on the farm, the better things will
grow next year.” The Kimballs admit that they still burn about 1,000 gallons of fossil fuel
annually, and are therefore just starting to address their global-environmental impact priority.
[Wow – that is just 4 gallons per person-year of food – I doubt that many of us can beat that!]
They have also found power-takeoff (PTO) technology tools that can be horse-drawn, and they
hope to make their farm fossil-fuel-free in five years.
Essex Farm meets all its electrical needs through a 25-KW solar array that cost about
$180,000 and that they expect to pay for itself in about eight years. Their next step in meeting
members’ needs without fossil fuel is to provide firewood through selective harvest on their land.
They aim to provide about 200 cords this year, for members to pick up when they get their food.
The Kimballs then talked about a larger, long-term goal – starting a school to train young
farmers in sustainable horse farming. They see a need for research in the area, as there is much
yet to be learned and developed. On the other hand, Mark and Kristin noted that their model is
scalable up or down, and that four other farms have already “spun off” and established nearby
from their system and their educational efforts.