Interview with Rich Brown
Owner & Operator of Equity Angus, Port Byron
Q1: How long have you been a producer?
A: I have been a beef producer since 1995, prior to that my family was involved with dairy
farming.
Q2: How many generations have been part of your cattle operation?
A: I was a 5th generation dairy farmer; but now I am a 1st generation beef farmer. I
renovated the family dairy farm in Northern New York into a beef farm.
Q3: What’s the most unique thing about your operation?
A: I believe the most unique aspect to my operation is location. With the proximity to the
Thruway we can do a lot with people vs. just straight agriculture, we feel that one of our
“natural resources” is people (scouts, nature groups, etc) which provides us an opportunity
to teach people while we manage our farm. We enjoy watching people have fun and learn
new things about animal agriculture and giving folks an opportunity to buy beef here on the
farm vs. a farmer’s market or supermarket.
Q4: What does being a cattle producer mean to you?
A: It means a lot of work! Seriously, producing food that is safe, healthy and nutritious
makes me feel like I am doing something worthy and necessary in the evolution of life.
Q5: As a producer, what role do you play in protecting the environment?
A: We feel we accomplish a couple of things to protect the environment. First is the
reduction of land erosion from wind or water by how we plant our crops and manage our
land. Second, we have improved the area by getting rid of scrub brush, created a pond to
attract geese; we are located near Montezuma Reserve and are in the direct flight pattern
of the migrating birds. We have increased the number of turkey, deer and fox. So, by
following good farming practices, we have improved natural habitat for local wild life.
Q6: What would you want consumers to know about how you help conserve natural
resources?
A: We are basically a tree preserve vs. selling timber to local lumber companies. We
rotational graze to utilize the land to its greatest advantage (grazing land vs. crop land).
We encourage our “people product” to witness how we take care of our natural resources
and follow our best practices for land management.
Q7: What’s the most important thing you do for the environment on your operation?
A: The most important thing we do for the environment on our operation is reduce erosion.
Q8: Have you made any changes recently to further address your operation’s
sustainability?
A: Let me first give you my definition of “sustainability”. It is the ability of a farm to
make a profit by utilizing best management practices that enable the farm to be passed
onto the next generation. We feel our biggest asset to farming is people. Our goal is to
invite the public to walk and enjoy our nature trails, we hope to recreate the “gentleman
farmer” by implementing a “farm mentoring” program or “shadow farming” program with
the general public or groups in a way to generate income to keep farming alive.
Q9: What will your legacy as a cattle producer be? What will it be to the
environment? What will it be for your family?
A: We feel our legacy to the industry would be to be an agricultural educational epicenter,
by providing an opportunity here at the farm to learn about farming and take it to the
next generation.
Q10: What should consumers know about your daily life and how you are helping
to feed America?
A: We want consumers to know that I am trying to keep up with the changes in animal
agriculture technology, education and trends to ensure a quality product that will be a
benefit to our consumers. Knowing that we are looking at a population that will double in
40 years and having to meet the food demands of this increased population, makes it
essential that we use research and technology on our farms.
Q11: How do you educate future generations about the cattle industry?
A: I work with the NY Beef Producer Junior Association, local 2 year colleges, Cornell
University and we have interns that we mentor here at the farm.
Q12: What do you do to be a good steward of the land?
A: We do a many things to be active stewards of the land. We conduct soil tests to
ensure the right nutrient combinations are being met to ensure optimal crop growth. We
practice manure management. We dug a pond that created a reservoir for 27 acres of
drainage water. We cleaned up “trash woods” (vines, briars etc) to make it easier for
animals to travel through the woods. Although we are not “certified organic”. we practice
“organic farming” and do not use chemical fertilizers on our land.
Q13: What actions do you take to ensure your animals are properly taken care of?
A: We built additional buildings for breeding, built a calving barn to ensure cows along
with their calves have a safe environment, built shade buildings for cattle to protect them
from sun/wind. We separate cows by age category and we have created a “handling
facility” for the cows/calves to ensure safety of not only the animals but us (farmer/vet)
as well.
Q14: What do you do to ensure beef safety?
A: I eat it. Again, seriously, we take great strides to handle the animals quietly, by
moving slowly, we take animals to market the same day as processed, we self transport the
animals to ensure care during transportation. We use antibiotics only when needed, we do
not use hormones and we practice BQA (Beef Quality Assurance) and participate in a herd
health program called NYSCHAP (NYS Cattle Health Assurance Program).
Q15: What are some challenges you feel are facing the beef industry?
A: We see two challenges facing the industry. The first challenge is producing more food
for a growing population while trying to maintain quality and food safety. The second
challenge would be to increase the understanding of animal agriculture. Few folks
understand animal agriculture due to a growing gap between the producer/farmer and the
consumer. At the same time, the producer/farmer doesn’t realize how little consumers
know about production agriculture and that gap is getting bigger.
Q16: What breed of cattle do you raise? Why did your family choose to raise
this breed of cattle?
A: We raise Angus. Why? Hereford owners told me to!
Q17: What type of marketing programs do you use for your cattle? (e.g., natural
organic, conventional)
A: We market conventional beef and sell it as natural. We are also a seed stock producer,
meaning we sell bulls and heifers to help cultivate the breed to improve the genetic pool
for other producers.
Rich Brown’s thoughts:
“If we continue to produce today’s quality product on yesterday’s technology we will trap
ourselves in production of product. For example, we can’t have grass fed beef as an
industry and expect to be sustainable.”