CRAFT Farm Profile: Sweet Land Farm

Owners: Paul Martin & Evangeline Sarat

Address: 9732 State Route 96, Trumansburg, NY 14886

Phone: 387-3702

Email: evangelinesarat@gmail.com

Website: www.sweetlandfarm.org

THE FARMERS

• Who owns, who manages what? Technically Evangeline owns the farm. We are fairly fluid with management. However with small children we divide along traditional sex roles fairly frequently.

• Other workers? Interns? We have 3 employees that work from about April 1st -Thanksgiving. 40 hours/week.

• When did you start farming? Paul did his first internship in 1997, and Evangeline in 1997.

• How did you gain the skills for farming? We both interned, and then managed for about 8 years each before we started at our own farm.

• Main products, including value-added: Vegetables! Most all of them except corn, and brussel sprouts. We also grow strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, and apples.

• Acres in crops, cover crops, pasture, forest, etc.: We have 34 total acres in cultivation - roughly half in cover crops and half in cash crops.

• Facilities: We have 230 x 96 foot passive solar tunnels and one 20 x 96. We put up a 30 x 40 pole barn last year for distributions, washing, and storage. We also have a 3 sided pole shed for storage.  (old and small). We have a little greenhouse on skids for our chickens.

• Mechanization: We have 2 70-horse power tractors, 2 super As, and an Allis Chalmer G.

• Production system highlights: We produce on raised beds. All fields are on a one year rotation, with a year in cover crops, and then a year in cash crops, etc. The cover crop year includes a summer bare fallow.

MARKETS

• Marketing channels used: We are CSA only. We have a summer and winter CSA, as well as an egg CSA in the summer.

• Approximate percent through each channel: The summer CSA is about 375 members, the winter about 140, and we have about 150 chickens.

FINANCIAL ASPECTS

• Approximately how much capital have you invested in the farm at start-up and along the way? In terms of loans and saved cash, about 350,000. Then there is the amount that we put into the farm each year - probably about 250,000 total since we started (3 years of production).

• How have you used debt financing, if at all? We used several FSA loans, several personal loans, and credit cards.

• How many years did it take you to break even? What's that?! We have certainly not paid off the farm yet, but we do cash flow each year.

• How many people are currently supported by this farm? Paul and I, our 2 young kids, and about 3 seasonal employees a year.

• What kind of lifestyle does the farm support for you and your family? It seems fine, but maybe it's on borrowed money!

• Does your family have/need significant off farm income? No. However, the first year Paul had a full time off-farm job as a vineyard manager.

• What about health insurance? We are still able to get medicaid at this point, so it is very good.

WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE BEGINNING FARMER?

Seeds don't germinate in the packet, they do that in the ground.