A Partnership Between Generations

In Elgin, Minnesota a partnership has begun, a partnership of two generations. Everett Koenig, a winner of the Conservation Farmer of the Year in Wabasha County award, has been farming 180 acres near Elgin since 1961. In the 1970’s Everett made a conscious choice to move away from the use of chemicals and toward a more diversified approach to farming. He and his wife Rosemary are now passing the farm on to their daughter, Lisa and her husband Eric Klein.

The Koenig family farm has now become Hidden Stream Farm. With Eric and Lisa assuming more and more of the daily labor, and Everett and Rosemary providing additional help and advice, Hidden Stream Farm now produces beef, chicken and pork. Hidden Stream Farm meat is consumed by an increasing number of customers who enjoy the quality and taste of meat products raised using a grass based system.

“The chickens, hogs and beef are raised on pasture, clean air and sunshine,” said Lisa.

Sharing Duties

Everett was a pioneer in rotational grazing, starting in 1991, one year after he sold his dairy herd. He said grazing allowed him to reap more feed off an acre of ground. The family turned to direct sales of their meat in 1994 when a passerby stopped and inquired about purchasing a butcher hog. Everett and Rosemary began selling pork and beef and were some of the first farmers to be listed in the Land Stewardship Project’s Farmer to Consumer directory for Southeastern Minnesota. The Klein’s joined Lisa’s parents in April of 1998.

Eric and Lisa now rent land from the Koenig’s where they pasture their sows and commercial Angus herd. Eric and Lisa share the farm duties and they also work together on marketing. Everett feeds the chickens and moves them to new pasture. Rosemary helps with the chicken care. Everett and Rosemary began raising chickens after people began asking for them. They also had their own reasons. As Rosemary said, “we wanted some good chicken to eat”. “That wasn’t all chemicals and drugs,” Everett added.

By using intensive rotational grazing Hidden Stream Farm is able to maintain healthy animals and healthy land. A grass-based farm is more energy conscious, saves soil from erosion, and allows the animals to harvest their own feed and fertilize the land. It also, adds Lisa, “allows us as farmers more time to enjoy with our families,” and produces a more enjoyable meat product for the consumer.

Up and Running

Hidden Stream Farm sells their meat directly to consumers. From the first sale more than five years ago to an interested passerby, the customer base has steadily expanded. In addition to selling their products to individual customers, most of whom hail from Olmsted and Wabasha counties, Hidden Stream Farm now includes restaurants among their clientele, as well as people from as far away as Detroit Lakes, the Twin Cities and Chicago. In 1999 the Klein’s began selling meat at farmers’ markets and plan to increase their visits to markets in the summer of 2000.

Hidden Stream Farm is now exploring new avenues to market their product in an effort to increase the number of animals marketed directly to consumers. One method that Hidden Stream Farm is employing is the Internet. The most difficult part of direct marketing is getting the word out and attracting new customers. But once people have tried pasture-fed animals, they keep returning, say the family. “All it usually takes is one taste,” Eric said. Hidden Stream Farm also puts out a newsletter twice a year in an effort to reach out to both new and previous customers, to relay information about their products and keep them informed and in touch.

A Different Vision

As the trend in agriculture continues toward large corporate farming, the Koening’s and the Klein’s have a different vision for Hidden Stream Farm that places them at the opposite end of the spectrum. “Through various different direct marketing efforts, Hidden Stream Farm will be an economically viable small family farm in the age of large corporate farms,” stated Lisa. In the process of doing so Everett and Rosemary may realize their wish of retiring and Lisa and Eric may fulfill their dreams of farming. And their growing base of customers may continue to eat healthy, grass-fed meat for years to come.