Powering up with Pasture (Strongman Kevin Fulton)
Powering up with Pasture
By
Troy Bishopp
Canastota, N.Y.---A cold, sunny day overlooking Oneida Lake with 4 foot snow banks, 85 farmers and a homemade lunch featuring grass-fed beef and homemade ice-cream greeted Nebraska cattleman Kevin Fulton into Madison County. The former collegiate strength coach turned virgin prairie grass farmer was the featured guest in the 2nd installment of the “Conversations in Grazing” series put on by the Madison County Graziers Group.
Upon arriving at Ingallside Meadows Farm, Daniel Kline gave the Midwesterner a farm tour and promised a buggy ride by the end of the day. As farmers started to arrive and fill up the barn/school, folks were wondering were this infamous Dinnie Stone lifter was. Johanna pointed towards the window. There was Mr. Power-lifter with a firm grasp on a pint of Chuck’s famous chocolate milk and munching on a slice of London Broil heading out to play with the youngsters in the snow. Who was the kid anyway? Upon finishing the first course he must have gotten inspiration from the children to prove his sustainable strength. As if on a ESPN weightlifting showdown, he preceded to lift the buggy on to two wheels and just to have a little fun he added the children for good measure. Those grown-up kids do the darnedest things!
When playtime was over and another pint of chocolate milk thrown down, the group settled in for Kevin’s thoughts and opinions on the state of sustainable agriculture and some of the inconvenient truths around sound science. He compared his grass-based operation to that of his neighbors growing corn, “feeding no one” but ethanol plants. He shared statistics on how dependent we are on fossil fuel to run modern agriculture and that it just wasn’t as glorious moving polywire compared to running a tractor to feed cows. “I am happy to make an investment in a 40 dollar reel instead of a 50,000 dollar piece of harvesting equipment. And it’s safer for my children too,” he said. He cited many examples of how grass-based meats and dairy products are gaining a foothold with consumers. “Never underestimate the power of marketing to these environmentally sensitive and health conscious constituents,” he added.
He also shared with the audience about being a naïve Nebraskan farm boy. When your naïve you don’t know your limitations or the word can’t. This message resonated well with members of the group that may not farm according to accepted scientific practices.
He used this inspiration to win competitions and kept him focused on keeping his 2800 acres in sod, when others were plowing fence row to fence row. “I never liked being told I couldn’t do something. I guess I’m funny like that,” he commented.
After his presentation, attendees enjoyed a homemade lunch featuring the Kline’s grass-fed beef, deviled eggs, noodles, Organic Valley dairy products and hand churned ice-cream topped with a decedent chocolate sauce.
Following lunch, Mr. Fulton was joined by Phillip Metzger of the CNY RC&D Council in a discussion of holistic decision making and grazing planning. The group then participated in a question and answer conversation about various topics related to grazing, marketing, animal welfare and opportunities to work with the next generation of farmers. As promised the day ended with a buggy ride coupled with (I think) the eighth pint of chocolate milk and a great time among a new extended family of friends embracing the strength of sustainable agriculture for the future.
This program was supported by the Madison Co. Graziers Group, The Madison Co. Soil and Water Conservation District, NYS Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, The Upper Susquehanna Coalition, Environmental Defense, The Finger Lakes-Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Association, The GrazeNY Program, CNY RC&D Council, Cropp Cooperative(Organic Valley Family of Farms), Rocky Top Farm, Ingallside Meadows Farm and the Peterboro Amish Community. Published in Lancaster Farming and Country Folks