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Farming with a Face August 1, 2008, Texas Agriculture Magazine/Texas Farm Bureau By Mike Barnett, Editor Brad Stufflebeam admits it took a little getting used to. It seemed a bit silly to this agricultural entrepreneur when his customers started calling him "Farmer Brad." Not any more. A pioneer of the local food movement in the Lone Star State, Farmer Brad now wears his nickname as a badge of honor. What was traditional a century ago—growing food locally and selling it to your community—is untraditional in agriculture today. But this niche market is expanding. And a generation removed by three is coming back into agriculture to meet that demand, riding the crest of a new wave in growing and marketing food. Brad calls it "farming with a face." "Our farming is based more upon relationship," he says. "Our customers know us. We know them. They know who we are and that’s the ultimate accountability when you have that face on the food." Contrary to popular notions, the local food movement is not based on organic farming. Perceived health issues are important, but Brad says feeding the passion for freshness is the mainstay of the operation. The biting briskness of a vine-ripened, Brandywine tomato and the sticky sweetness of a fresh Israeli melon keep his customers coming back for more. "The number one thing they look for is the freshest food possible," Brad says, noting he grows his produce using organic methods. "Nearly everything here is picked within 12 hours of delivery. We feel like we go beyond organic by providing local, fresh food." Brad and his wife Jenny, with daughters Corena and Brook, operate Home Sweet Farm, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) endeavor based near Brenham and serving families in Brenham and Houston. In their CSA model, the Stufflebeams sell annual "subscriptions" to their farm. In return, they provide customers vegetables and herbs for a targeted 32 weeks out of the year. The cost per subscriber family rounds out at about $30 a week, Brad says. Subscribers are required to pay for the entire season upfront. One-third is required in January so Brad can buy seed and inputs. Another payment is due in April and a third is received in August. There are no quantity guarantees, however, as the customer sharing risk with the farmer is an important part of the CSA concept. "There is risk involved, just like in anything in life," Brad says of his vocation. "And farmers are definitely the biggest gamblers. We gamble everything on weather, insects. But we’re taking a lot of that risk out of farming because our customers are committed to us." "These incredible people are willing to pay for something they haven’t received," Jenny adds. "And they’re willing to accept that fact that if we promise them eggplant, and the eggplant fails, they’re not going to come to us and complain." Building that kind of trust is not easy. Brad says you have to be willing to open up your farm and let potential customers see you work and learn how the vegetables are grown. He likes to bring people to the farm in February, March and April when the spring crops are booming. "That get’s them excited and they write the check right on the spot. We noticed that the first year," Brad recalls. "They’ve come out here, they’ve seen the farm and met our family. Now they’re willing to invest in that." Subscribing to Home Sweet Farm is an adventure in eating. Families receive six to eight different types of fresh produce each week during the growing seasons. The Stufflebeams plan and work their garden to provide their CSA members an equal share of seasonal produce, available for pickup in Brenham and at drop sites in South and North Houston. "Our members generally love fresh vegetables, and love trying new things," Brad said. "A lot of what we grow is unique and not available from the grocery store." Although the Stufflebeams own 22 acres and lease an additional 110 acres, they cultivate 12 acres for the CSA. Only one quadrant of the 12 is planted for a season, and there’s always a season going in and a season going out. "So we’re feeding around 150 families on four acres," Brad said. "The big picture is 12 acres but it’s about four acres per season." The CSA is only one aspect of the Home Sweet Farm enterprise. The Stufflebeams also sell fresh vegetables and herbs to chefs in Houston and sponsor monthly market days at the farm, located off the Bluebonnet Trail in Washington County. Many chefs feature seasonal menus based on what’s available. Not only does Brad grow unusual vegetables to entice these chefs, he says it’s very unusual what these chefs will buy. Take the weed, wild amaranth, for example. "We call it pigweed," Brad says. "The chefs buy it for $8 a pound. We figured out one day we were out there making about a hundred bucks an hour weeding a bed." He also takes advantage of his cover crops, used to build nitrogen and organic matter in the soil. He’ll harvest the blossoms from Crimson clover and tendrils from field peas and market them to the chefs, who use them for garnishes. "It’s like turning lemons into lemonade some times," Brad says. "There’s a lot more marketable crop in the fields than you realize." Market days are held the third Sunday of each month. The market day at Home Sweet Farm is a gathering of local food-minded producers. For a modest fee (separate from the CSA), people can pre-order anything from beef, chicken and sausage to cheese and fresh bread, with a guarantee it will be available for pickup. "It’s kind of a casual mini-farmers market," Brad says. "But we have a standard and that is all of the producers have agreed to utilize organic standards, and all of our food is coming from within 100 miles of the farm." Brad says the concept is something that naturally came together. He markets for everyone over the internet. Customers send in the orders to Brad and he forwards it to the producers. "We try to make it as easy as possible on the farmers and minimize the risk to our customers that things aren’t going to be sold out when they get there," he says. Stars light in Brad’s eyes when he speaks about the local food movement. Because of the rising price of fuel and the growing awareness of food security, he feels prospects are unlimited for this market. Although Austin has a good local food economy, Brad says markets in San Antonio, Houston and Dallas are largely untapped. "Here we are between Houston and San Antonio, two of the largest metroplexes in the state, and we’re the largest CSA serving the Houston area," Brad says in amazement, noting he has to turn people away from his business. "That’s just ridiculous. How many millions of people are in the Houston area? And we’re only serving 150 families." There’s untapped potential in every corner of the Lone Star State, Brad says. The problem is, there’s no supply which means opportunity for those wanting to enter agriculture and for those already involved. "Competition is not an issue," he says. Brad had years of greenhouse nursery experience under his belt before he started his farm, so growing was nothing new to him. Although he admits growing vegetables is different, he had a game plan when he started and produced a crop within four months of closing on the Brenham property. He suggests someone without that gardening experience start slowly and sell first at a farmers market. As they gain growing experience and make contacts, a CSA endeavor could follow. Those already involved in agriculture have a head start, know-how and in many cases the equipment. What is needed more than anything is the ability to work with people. "There’s lots of opportunity for the traditional farmer," Brad says. "It’s not necessarily the important thing if you’re a traditional or organic farmer. Basically, it’s you have to like people because you’re going to be dealing with people every day. And you’ve got to like to grow food." The work is hard and intense but the rewards are as sweet as a ripe melon picked fresh off the vine. Brad said some specialized produce farms gross anywhere from $20,000 to $28,000 an acre. "The profit margin’s going to be different for everybody because a new farm like ours, we’re rolling every- thing back into the farm," Brad says, adding that Home Sweet Farm is in its third year of operation. "But you make a good living doing that." Personally, Brad plans to remodel the old house that sits on the property into a country store to sell produce twice a week. He plans to expand marketing to chefs. He plans to build a large processing barn with cooler space, so he can take in more food from local farmers. "If I have a truck going to Houston and provide the driving, marketing and sales for these folks, and we create a whole network of bringing local food into Houston, then maybe in the future we’ll even take food into San Antonio," he says. "We can create more of a local food network and deliver it on this route to other chefs and co-ops and health food stores." Brad and Jenny’s life is no farm fantasy. The hard, physical labor is a reality each and every day. But they’re in good shape, physically and mentally. They’re healthy. It’s a life-style the whole family enjoys. And it’s very rewarding financially. They take pride in raising their children—"our most important crop," Brad says—in the sunshine and fresh air in the countryside surrounding this birthplace of Texas. The life lessons and work ethic the children learn on the farm can’t be replaced, Brad and Jenny feel. The whole family is happy with the responsibility of sharing the farming experience with 150 other families. "That’s one of the biggest benefits that we’ve found to the CSA, is that we know the people who are eating our food. We talk to them and they share with us how it’s affecting their lives. That really means a lot," Jenny says. The Stufflebeams find they have a lot in common with the Texas Farm Bureau in that the story of agriculture is told each and every day. "We provide for a lot of young families," Brad says. "They know where their food comes from now. They know it comes from the farm." So go ahead and call this new age agricultural pioneer "Farmer Brad." It may seem a bit silly, but it’s a name he wears with pride.
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