Chad Crowley firmly believes that for those who want to get into dairy or farming in general, grazing is the way to go.
That route has certainly gone well for him. He was told many times that he couldn’t find success in farming because he didn’t grow up on one, but today he and his wife Melissa farm in southeast Minnesota as part of Enchanted Meadows Farms.
Enchanted Meadows is an organic, pasture-based dairy in La Crescent. The Crowleys were hired by owners Art and Jean Thicke in the early 2000’s. After prior experience working at a high-production dairy, the grazing dairy model allowed for the lifestyle that Chad and Melissa were looking for. They stayed on for several years, and the Thickes began gifting them calves to “build sweat equity” in the farm business. If they ever left Enchanted Meadows, their growing herd could move on with them.
Twelve years in, the Thickes concretely initiated a farm transition, selling the Crowleys one of the farms and splitting ownership of the herd. “Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it,” says Chad. The four continue farming together, and good communication and planning has helped the partners through inevitable times of disagreements.
Listen in as Chad Crowley offers a candid conversation on getting into farming and non-family farm transitions in this episode with Jared Luhman.
Chad Crowley, Enchanted Meadows Farms
Jared Luhman, Soil Health Lead, SFA
If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, please consider supporting Dirt Rich and SFA's work by donating or becoming a member at www.sfa-mn.org.
The viewpoints of the speakers expressed within or outside of this episode do not necessarily reflect the goals and mission of SFA.
Dirt Rich is produced by the Sustainable Farming Association.
72: Farm Marketing & Mindset with Charlotte Smith
71: Shifting Agriculture with Dan Kittredge
70: Building Your Dream Team and Farm with Derek Schmitz
69: Grazing Management, Drought, & the NRCS
68: Dealing with Drought Roundtable
67: What is Farm Profitability?
66: From Farm to SFA and Back
65: The Emerging Farmers Office
64: Grazing Tech - PaddockTrac
63: Business Management at Cedar Crate Farm
62: From Planting to Pack Shed at Cedar Crate Farm
61: What’s on your mind?
60: Consults & Conferences
Revisited: Wintering Cattle Roundtable
58: Old Farm, New Visions
Revisited: AMPed for Grazing
57: Fundamentals of Adaptive Grazing
56: Get to Know Jonathan Kilpatrick
Revisited: Planting Minnesota Garlic
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
Summarize | رادیو سامرایز
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast