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.
39: Building Relationships and Telling Your Story
Revisited: Planting Minnesota Garlic
38: Getting Water Quality Certified
37: Wisdom of the Prairie: Diversity, Connection, Community
36: Growing Grazing Dairy Farmers
35: Pastured Pork & an Incubator Farm
Revisited: Implementing Silvopasture
34: The Potential of Perennial Crops & Kernza
33: Growing a CSA from 8 to 80
32: A Chat with Gabe Brown
31: Managing Spring Grazing
30: Spring Break
29: From "Conventional" to Resilient
28: Saving Seed & Dancing Feet
27: Home on the Tree-Range
26: AMPed for Grazing!
25: Integrative Nutrition with Sara Keough
24: Restoring Oak Savanna
23: Oak Savanna Origins
22: Matchmaking for Livestock & Land
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