Farms to Food

Jerry Marr speaks thoughtfully, plainly and with an understated, ever-present optimism. And in Jerry's business, optimism can be a precious commodity.

With his wife Nancy, the couple runs around 120 head of beef cattle in the Mineral Point, WI area. Their Marr Family Farm is all beef all the time. "It's a full time business," he says, one that Jerry has been active in all of his life. Jerry describes the cattle business as, "at the very least 'tough.'" The price of beef to the farmer versus the price that can be received for corn and soybeans is causing a number of beef farmers to switch to planting these crops.

For the Marrs, giving up their cattle for corn is not an option.

Jerry loves his animals and he loves his land. "When I'm done with this farm some day I want it to be better than when I took it over from my father," he says. This is one of the reasons Jerry describes their farm as, "basically a grass operation. We do absolutely no tillage on the hills. We have one flat field that we do till on occasion. But the rest of the time our cropping is all grass and trees."

By not disturbing the soil through tillage to plant corn or beans Jerry feels they enhance the quality of the land. "We like to keep the soil where it's at. We can do that with the grass program very efficiently, every effectively," he says. "We use no chemical sprays. We don't want to use any chemicals on our farm and can maintain a good grass base with proper fertilization management and grazing techniques. We have a beautiful grass system."

For years many people have expressed a preference for grain fed beef. While that's still true today, there's a growing demand for grass fed beef. In most instances, the term "grass fed" is a bit of a misnomer. Like Jerry, many farmers feed a certain amount of grain to their cattle while maintaining grass as their staple diet.

"For example," says Jerry, "this wintertime when it's been very cold the animals need a little energy. We feed them just a little grain at this time. We'll quit feeding them grain the first of May." So if they don't grow corn, where do the Marrs get it? Jerry explains that there is, "plenty of corn in the neighborhood. I buy my corn."

He describes his farm as being "in transition" from a grain fed to grass operation. "Farming practices have changed," he says. "When I was growing up with my family my father would elect to plant some corn, which was fine because he was a very conservation-oriented person. So very seldom did we get any erosion problems. Going to all grass farming like I've tended to do over the last 10 or 15 years I'm even more effective in holding the soil where it is."

The Marr Family Farm has been selling at the DCFM for the past nine years. There you can buy standard cuts "by the piece." Jerry notes that many of their customers buy beef by the quarter or half of an animal. Jerry says the thought of that much beef intimidates some people. "A quarter beef will fit into a freezer about 5.5 cubic feet," he explains, noting that is the size of the typical small chest freezer. "You save money by buying this way and have the convenience of going to the freezer anytime you have dinner."

Jerry speaks fondly of his time with the DCFM. "We just feel so fortunate to be able to take part in the Dane County Farmers' Market. It's been a real asset to our business and the perfect place for us to build a business."

Speaking of his customers, Jerry notes, "When we first started they were all strangers. For them to start with us took a certain amount of courage." Jerry says he's proud to show customers their farm. "Sometimes people ask to come out and see our farm, our facility, our animals. We're glad to give people that opportunity because we're proud of our farm, proud of our animals, and we want them to feel confident that they're getting quality beef from a sustainable farm operation."

Jerry's optimism about his farm shows no signs of waning. "I'm old enough to retire but I enjoy this business too much to quit," he says with a smile.

For More Information:
Marr Family Farm, LLC
608-987-2508
marrbeef@verizon.net

Photos by Bill Lubing