Unexpected Farmers from The Timberjay Newspaper August 23rd, 2008

     Shannon and Mary Ann Wycoff weren't planning to become farmers when they bought the old Saranpaa farm, located south of Tower, four years ago. The 167-acre plot had last been tilled in the 1980s and many of the old fields were growing back to brush.

     The land offered the family a home in the country, a place Shannon
says he was eager to return to after nine years living in Silver Bay,
where he worked at Northshore Mining. While the family had thoughts
of raising a few animals for their own needs, they quickly found that
friends and neighbors had other ideas.

     They started with four pigs, figuring they'd eat two themselves and
sell a couple to help cover their expenses. The two extra pigs sold
right away. "Then people started asking for chickens, too," recalls
Mary Ann.

     The family, which includes 16 year-old Taylor, 14 year-old Jack and
12-year old Maggie, took small steps at a time as they entered the
business, but each time they'd buy a new batch of livestock, the
animals would sell almost immediately. So 100 chickens became 200
chickens, and this year will become 900 chickens. Four pigs became 60
pigs. "And then people started asking for beef," said Mary Ann.
     So was created Bear Creek Acres, the Wycoffs' burgeoning home-based business that has tapped a powerful desire by a growing number of area residents for safer foods that are locally-grown. "The whole
shop-local movement is really taking off," said Mary Ann. "And
concerns about E. coli, growth hormones and antibiotics in
industrially-raised meat is another big issue for people."

     While the Wycoffs' animals don't meet the definition of "organic,"
because the Wycoffs use conventionally-raised feed, they only
purchase feed that is free of antibiotics and animal byproducts. And
unlike conventionally-raised meat animals, the Wycoffs' animals rely
heavily on their own natural instincts for much of their food, and
that fact is doing wonders to improve the farm's overall productivity.
     The chickens, for example, spend most of their day outside, where
they feed in a small, grassy pasture. The chickens' pens, known as
"chicken tractors" are easily portable and the Wycoffs move them each
day to keep the birds in fresh grass and to help spread their
valuable manure evenly around the pasture.

     It's an approach that was popularized by Joel Salatin, a Virginia
state meat grower who has become a leading critic of the
industrialization of agriculture in the U.S. In permanent,
highly-concentrated animal feeding operations, animal waste has
become a major disposal problem for meat growers around the country.
By returning to sustainable practices, Salatin has argued, animal
waste again becomes a valuable commodity that is crucial to
maintaining farm productivity.

     The Wycoffs say they've already seen the improvement in their own
pasture and they're using their animals to restore pastures that had
filled in with brush as well. Their pigs are especially good at
clearing brush, said Shannon, who points to areas of recovering
pasture that were once choked with alder and willow, but have since
returned to grass after the relentless rooting of the pigs killed off
the brush. "They do a heck of a job for us," he said.

     For the farm's dozen or so head of cattle, grain is usually just an
occasional treat. For most of their lives, they feed as cows have
done for centuries- on grass. The Wycoffs do supplement the grass
with grain for a few months before slaughter to improve the flavor.
While the couple is considering experimenting with grass-finished
beef, they said most Americans haven't yet acquired the taste for it
and probably wouldn't like it.

     But local residents are clearly clamoring for the taste of the meat
the Wycoffs are producing. "It's fabulous," said Mickey White, of
Embarrass, who has been buying pork and chickens from the Wycoffs for two years. "I like that it doesn't have any hormones or antibiotics.
It's also very tasty," she said.

     "People who've eaten it say it's fantastic," said Ann Carter, with
the Natural Harvest Food Co-op in Virginia, which began carrying the
Wycoffs' meat this past winter. "The main thing for us is we know how
they're raising their meat and how the animals are being treated. And
with all the meat scares in the past year, just knowing where your
meat is coming from helps," she said.

     The Wycoffs' meat has also been a hit at the weekly farmer's market
in Ely, where Mary Ann said she's been regularly selling out each
time. "It's just worked out great," she said.
     And the couple's plans continue to be geared towards growth.
According to Shannon, they plan to increase their production of pork
and chickens next year, and will be able to offer individual cuts of
beef by then as well.

     So far, the couple says that they've poured their profits back into
the farm. Shannon continues to work at Northshore, which means
farming is his second job, at least for now.
     But he said the farm has the potential to raise far more livestock in
the future and they're hoping that the time and money invested
rejuvenating the land will pay off in the long run.
     It's hard not to be optimistic, considering the response they've
received so far. "People tell us our meat reminds them of what
chicken and pork used to taste like," she said, noting that
industrially-raised meat often lacks the flavor and texture that
older people, or people who grew up on farms, still remember.
     While their small scale production means their meat costs a bit more,
Mary Ann said price is often not as important as people think. "I
think it gives people a sense of well-being, and that's worth a lot."