Last week I woke up much earlier than the sun and headed all the way to northwest Iowa to visit Seven W Farm and try to consume as much farming knowledge as possible in such a short time. It's not that the Wilson family didn't have much to teach, but rather that there was so much that I wanted to take in! In fact I'm not sure if I was even intelligent enough to soak in all the great farming experiences and knowledge that live on that farm. I first became aware of this farm back in 2009 when I watched the Niche Pork Webinar Series (you can find Dan Wilson's presentation in the link). The chance to visit the farm was a can't miss opportunity.
There were quite a few things that I took away from the day, but some of the coolest things were checking out their laying chicken design, learning about their organic dairy, and of course seeing the pigs and their pasture farrowing set-up. Sometimes I get insulated in my own little "farming world" down here where the only things I think about are my farm and the farm that I work at from time to time. Being on another farm that had similar operations to mine, and even things I would be interested in looking at for the future, really helped open my eyes to what was possible for my farm.
Even though their farm had similar operations and similar values and methods of raising their livestock there was still quite a few things that I took away and would like to add to my farm. I hope that you look for chances to get on other farms in your area for learning experiences, because honestly they can't be beat. And ... if you live in Iowa or the surrounding states you should probably check out Practical Farmers of Iowa.
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