Terry Folton – Small time organic farmer in Nebraska

Terry Folton – Small time organic farmer in Nebraska 402-430-1551 cell

1^st Phone Interview with Lee Redden

****Key Insight*****

Terry brought up a good point about organic farming. It can be done with old equipment that has been in the shed/weeds for 30 years. When he started he bought a tractor for $2500, cultivator for $500, and disker for $500 so a small farmer can get into organic farming, with its lower yields but higher prices for corn. There is a tradeoff between more labor and less land is key.

I think there is a large group of people who want to have a small family farm but can’t because farming has become a big business. Organic might open up the possibility that they can farm with smaller plots of land.

Also, all farming was organic farming at one point 80 years ago.

Figure 1 Images of modern farming

Called Terry Folton for initial Interview to hear about how he operates his organic row crop farm in Nebraska. His “cash crops” are soybeans and corn that he rotates every other year and sometimes plants

1. Oats

2. Alfalfa

3. Clover

After planting alfalfa he then plows it under for fertilizer. He has a 40 acre farm (really small).

He got into organic because of his wife (influencer). He will probably switch back to conventional because he is having another kid and it is too much work to keep up with. It took 3 years of growing just wheat on the field to become certified organic. His neighbors often look at his field as weird because weeds grow in it. Modern farming uses herbicides and no weeds grow and the corn looks really healthy. Organic crops look weaker and receive criticism from peers. (neighbors are influencers)

When Terry got into it the government gave a $50/acre subsidy for switching to row crop.

$$$$$

Organic corn is ~2x the price of normal corn.

Normal Acre yield is 125 bushels -> organic is 95-100 bushels / acre

Fertilizer is a big let down in organic farming. He paid $150/acre for fertilizer (specially nuggeted chicken poop) and then had to scrape it across the ground.

Technology

Currently he has tried the flame burner to burn off the weeds. The tills the field a few times before planting and then cultivates in-between the rows after that. He uses normal farm equipment in his operation but it requires power-washing after used on modern farming.

He hires a team from his construction company to use corn knives to cut weeds in beans and corn.

The weeds are typically taller than the 30-36” rows.

Terry will send me names of a few people he does business with that led him into farming like Martin Kleinschmidt (just e-mailed)