$0--&$5*7*5 r$0..6/*5: YEOMAN BEEF FARM: FROM CITY LIFE TO SUSTAINABLE FARMING
ANDREW COPPOLINO andrewcoppolino@gmail.com
Kevin Trimm bought his property 11 years ago, having moved from Montreal but didn’t start operating it as a farm until about five years ago. It was a steep learning curve for him, even though he had some familiarity with living in a rural setting. He didn’t grow up on a farm but worked on his grandparents’ farm and at dairy operations, acknowledging that “there is a big difference” between working on a farm as a teenager and actually owning and operating a farm. Trimm cites the regular chores of having a septic system to maintain, splitting wood to heat the house, cutting a lot of grass and having a very long driveway that needs to be cleared of snow. “There were shocks,” he notes. “Our septic system froze the very first winter, so we had to use camping gear to manage toilet things over several months in the first year.” 6OEBVOUFE IPXFWFS 5SJNNBOEIJTGBNJMZ persevered and adjusted and the result is UIF:FPNBO#FFG'BSNZPVTFFUPEBZmXIBU might be called “regenerative agriculture,” “sustainable farming” or “permaculture.” Drawing on a lot of research and reading mBOEVTJOHTVTUBJOBCMFGBSNJOHQJPOFFS+PFM 4BMBUJOBTIJTOPSUITUBSm5SJNNMFBSOFEUIF finer details of the farming he wanted to do. :FU IF EPFTOU DBSF UP HFU UPP NVDI caught up in jargon or the catch phrases and nomenclature of the farming he does: it’s more about what he calls “doing the right thing” and taking proper care of the land and the animals he’s raising on it. :FPNBOTGBSNJOHQSBDUJDFTGFBUVSFGFX inputs, and a lot of labour, to keep the soil whole and healthy and rich. “The soil builds up instead of depleting. We never spray anything on our fields. We don’t even add mineral amendments or fertilizer, nor manure that isn’t our own. Our goal is to create a closed system. Our
La courbe de formation pour Kevin et Sabile Trimm a été raide lorsque le couple est passé de la vie urbaine à Montréal à la création de leur petite ferme bovine à Alfred-Plantagenet, mais cinq ans plus tard, l’exploitation durable du couple continue de se porter bien. (Photo fournie)
inputs are minimal.” Getting to that point took six years of converting a conventional cash crop soy and corn farm to certified organic land. He renovated an old barn, installed a watering system and fences, equipment buil dings, planted 3,000 trees and transitioned to organic, with a caveat. “It’s pricey and a lot of paperwork to get certified, so we just do the actual land. The more things you certify, the more complex it gets. We did use to certify the animals, but it just wasn’t worth it,” he says. Key is the fact that the farm produces TVTUBJOBCMF HSBTTGFECFFG CVUJUTBMNPTU BCZQSPEVDUPGDBSJOHGPSUIFFOWJSPONFOU good animal welfare, developing food security
and engaging in the tradition and love of the “natural world,” according to Trimm. Currently, his pricing for beef is similar to the most expensive supermarket products. #VUUIFWBMVFUIFSFJOJTNVDI NVDIIJHIFS given the way it is farmed, he maintains. :FPNBO#FFG'BSNPQFSBUFTBTBGBTIJPO of “beef club:” as a “member,” you get about 10 pounds of beef each month, whatever UIFDVUTBSF:PVDPNFUPUIFGBSNUPQJDL up and that’s your monthly portion. “The retention rate is extremely high,” says Trimm. “People rarely drop out. If they do, it’s probably because they moved away.” While the commercial matters take place, the business of the animals continues stea dily. The cattle, sheep and chicken eat from the land, and Trimm says they sequester more carbon than they produce. Small cattle herds can claim that. " MPOHIPSO HSBTTGFE DBUUMF GBSNFS JO /PSGPML$PVOUZPODFUPMENF i5IFDBUUMF are the farmers and in eating the grass here they are essentially harvesting the sun.” It’s a lovely image, and I imagine that is also the TFOUJNFOUBU:FPNBO#FFG'BSN 8JUIBMJUUMFDSFFLSVOOJOHUISPVHIJU :FP man is a small but sustainable operation, IPNFUPIFBEPGDBUUMFm(BMMPXBZ 3FE "OHVTBOE)FSFGPSEmBOEBEP[FOPSTP sheep with a dozen chickens as well. The cattle pretty much keep to them TFMWFT MJWJOHPVUTJEFZFBSSPVOEXJUIBDDFTT to shelter in the wintertime and a place to eat, twice a day, and bedding. There’s what Trimm calls a “loafing area” and a “shade wagon” for them and an area for collecting manure. He operates rotational grazing where they move every other day or so into a new paddock. They have scratching devices and salt blocks. *UJTBMMQFSIBQTWFSZJEZMMJDBOECVDPMJDmB MBOETDBQFQBJOUJOHCZ+PIO$POTUBCMFmCVU UIFGBDUSFNBJOTUIJTJTBWFSZTNBMMTDBMF PQFSBUJPO5IFSFTBXBJUJOHMJTUGPS:FPNBO
QSPEVDUTCFDBVTFXIBUUIFZEPJTOUNBSLFU driven and more for personal and ecological motivations. “We want to break even in this and eat IJHIRVBMJUZGPPE BOEXIJMFXFTFMMGPPEUP a certain number of customers, the waiting list is as long as my arm for people who XPVMEMJLFUPCFDVTUPNFST#VUXFDBOPOMZ
support so many people,” he says. So why do it, it might be asked?
Part of the answer is a dedication to doing “the right thing” for the animals and the ecosystem on a local basis as well as his family, but there’s also a proselytizing motive, an intent to tell a persuasive story and educate consumers. “We do feel like we’re carrying the torch a little bit to keep this kind of farming alive because there’s no support for this kind of thing,” Trimm says, adding that getting bigger and taking on more customers isn’t an option. “I’d have to buy more land, but this is XIBUUIJTGBSNJTNFBOUUPTVTUBJO3PVHIMZ this number of animals between the chicken, sheep, and cattle is what this farm can and will produce. Otherwise, I’d be buying hay PSCSJOHJOHJOJOQVUTGSPNPGGGBSNJOPSEFS to feed the animals. I’m not interested in doing that.” What he wants interested consumers to do is to ask questions about what and IPXUIFZBSFFBUJOHmBOETFBSDIPVUGBSNT TJNJMBSUP:FPNBO “I encourage people to look for and sup QPSUQMBDFTMJLFUIJTmTNBMMTVTUBJOBCMF GBSNTmTPUIBUUIJTUZQFPGGBSNJOHDBO become more common. The number of farms that exist in this way is rapidly disappearing.” Food writer Andrew Coppolino lives in Rockland. He is the author of “Farm to Table” and co-author of “Cooking with Shakespeare.” Follow him on Instagram @ andrewcoppolino.
Yeoman Beef Farm could be classified as a sustainable farm or regenerative farming as the Trimm’s never use fertilizers or even manure that doesn’t come from their cows. Kevin Trimm said he is trying to created a closed system with minimal inputs. (Photo provided)
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