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Robin Way, shown with daughter, Melissa,
attracts an enthusiastic crew of youth volunteers to help with the
farm's popular annual Farm Day. Photo by Mandy Rodrigues. |
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Robin
Way
Conowingo, Maryland
New in 2005
Summary of Operation
Pasture-raised chickens, turkeys, ducks, beef cattle, goats and
rabbits on 62 acres
On-site poultry processing and farm store
Problem Addressed
Creating efficient, sustainable poultry
production. Over several years, the Ways experimented with
raising different combinations of animals, at one point ramping
up rabbit production before deciding to focus mainly on poultry.
Poultry proved to be the most profitable, hands-on enterprise,
partly because the Ways, their older children and volunteers could
handle and process all the chickens, turkeys and ducks on site.
While they operate a diversified livestock farm, the Ways began
to concentrate on how best to grow out the birds, process them and
market their meat.
Time management became crucial. With three kids, Robin Way farmed
as close to full time as she could, while husband, Mark, worked
on the farm when he wasn’t at his off-farm, full-time job.
“We’re busy, but it’s workable,” Robin says.
Background
Robin and Mark Way didn’t ever think they’d raise chickens.
They had a small herd of cows and a hay operation on their northern
Maryland farm in 1997 when a county extension agent approached them
for help with what seemed a novel idea. He was doing research on
poultry that grew in movable, outdoor pens and needed a farmer cooperator.
Ever open-minded and eager to participate in a scientific experiment,
the Ways started with 25 chicks. When the birds were slaughtered,
the Ways hand-plucked and eviscerated them because they didn’t
have any equipment. “It took 10 people all day,” Robin
recalls with a chuckle.
They have come a very long way. The second year, the Ways increased
to 100 chickens. By year three, they were hooked and, today, they
raise about 2,000 chickens, 275 turkeys and 100 ducks annually.
Their efficient processing methods today allow them to slaughter
75 birds in a few hours.
Focal Point of Operation –
Pastured poultry
Robin and Mark Way have overseen an evolution that has taken their
farm to a diverse enterprise that combines livestock production,
marketing and community development. While they happened into poultry
production, everything they have done since their first flock of
pastured chickens — from building a licensed, state-of-the
art processing area and commercial kitchen to hosting the community
at an annual farm day and seasonal dinners — has brought them
closer to their goals of economic well-being and environmental sustainability
on the farm.
Robin is the farm manager, although she and Mark work as a balanced
team. He rises early to feed the livestock, then leaves for his
off-farm job at the Department of the Army. After work and on weekends,
Mark produces hay and tackles various building projects, from a
livestock enclosure to general upkeep.
Robin handles most of the day-to-day production details. Much of
that entails moving and monitoring their chicken flocks, which come
to the farm in the mail as day-old chicks. Their mix of structures
accommodate chickens from this tender age through slaughter at about
nine weeks.
The chicken growing season begins in March and continues until
October, during which Way will raise about 300 a month. After
they grow about one month inside, Robin, Mark and the kids move
the whole flock to a “free-range house” surrounded by
portable pasture netting. Also called “day ranging,”
the practice provides chickens with more room and farmers with fewer
coop-moving chores. At night, the chickens go into the house for
safety. About once a week, the Ways move the house with a tractor
to lessen the impact on the pasture.
When the chickens are nine weeks old and five or six pounds, they
are ready for slaughter. The Ways process about 300 chickens a month
using killing cones, a scalder and an automated plucker. After processing,
the birds are iced and eviscerated, then packaged in the Ways’
USDA-inspected commercial kitchen. In keeping with USDA regulations,
the Ways have an inspector present during the entire processing.
The Ways decided to hatch heirloom turkeys rather than buy them.
In 2003, they purchased a small hatchery, with a 100-degree incubator
that gets the chicks off to a warm, sheltered start. After
the hatchery, Way moves the turkey chicks to a small house, where
they roam together on a floor of wood shavings. Turkey breeds include
Blue Slate, Black Spanish, Naraganset, Royal Palm and Bourbon Red.
Way purchases a specially prepared feed of alfalfa, ground soybean
meal, oats, ground corn, fish meal, calcium and a few other nutrients.
She credits the mix with greatly reducing pullet mortality.
Turkeys live in a pasture shelter that can hold about 40 birds until
they are large enough to be moved to a free-range system at 12 to
14 weeks. The heritage breeds mimic wild turkeys, having small breasts
and the ability to fly. The Ways also raise the more common broad-breasted
white turkeys, which arrive by mail at one day old along with the
chickens. In their shelters, the turkeys can stand, sit and peck
— and are protected from predators. The turkeys grow from
mid-summer until Thanksgiving, a lucrative, busy time on the farm.
The Ways also raise about 100 ducks a year, which roam freely about
the farm in a low-maintenance bunch.
Starting with five beef cattle in the mid-1990s, the Ways now raise
about 15 to 20 steers annually. They graze on pasture grasses and
receive supplemental alfalfa hay and ground corn meal. Mark breeds
them once a year to their bull, and calves are born each spring.
At one to 1 1/2 years old, they take the steers to be processed
at a local facility.
They maintain a small boer goat herd, raised mostly for a local
ethnic market. They also grow rabbits from birth to slaughter
in small shelters moved across pasture. Using a SARE grant, the
Ways determined that raising rabbits on pasture rather than raising
them in indoor cages results in meat with higher levels of Omega-3
fatty acids, which has been shown to lower cholesterol.
Mark built their on-site kitchen in 2001 after they spent close
to a year applying for and receiving a bevy of county and federal
health permits. The kitchen includes a septic system, a bathroom,
a walk-in refrigerator/freezer and gleaming stainless steel tables.
Robin stocks the walk-in with all of the meat they process. In
typical “can-do” fashion, Robin kicked off a new activity
using her culinary skills — serving group dinners on the farm
on off-season weekends.
Economics and Profitability
For about five years, starting in 1997, the Ways invested in capital
improvements on the farm. They fixed up their post-and-beam barn,
built in the 1800s. They constructed the processing shed and commercial
kitchen. With cost-share and technical help from USDA-NRCS, they
built a multi-purpose shed that serves as a cattle shelter and composting
area.
They expect the building phase will yield rewarding returns, especially
considering Robin’s many marketing strategies centering around
around bringing customers to the farm, as often as possible.
Early on, they reached a turning point. “We sold beef in
large cuts,” Robin recalls. “Our customers said they
loved the meat, but didn’t have freezers to hold that much.
We said to one another, ‘Do we want to create smaller cuts
and have people come here?’ And we said, ‘Why not?’
”
With that decision behind them, Robin went whole-hog into marketing
the farm and its meat. She became convinced that they needed to
establish Rumbleway Farm’s “brand” in the public.
She printed business cards, brochures and T-shirts, erected a sign
and launched a Web site. All products feature the farm’s signature
yellow chicken outlined in green.
Putting up a sign, including the line, “Visitors Welcome”
was costly and controversial within their family unit, but Robin
says it has really made a difference, with possibly 50 new customers
attracted while driving by. Fully half of their customers find them
online and others learn about them during their annual Farm Day.
“We’re a destination, not a happenstance,” says
Robin, referring to their out-of-the-way location. “We have
to give them a reason to come.” They also sell to two grocery
co-ops in nearby Delaware.
Turkeys are the most profitable enterprise for the Ways, selling
for up to $2.50 a pound for the heirlooms, just less for whites.
Selling a 20-pound bird at Thanksgiving brings a handy profit, considering
the Ways spend $4 to buy each chick and about $10 on labor and feed.
Chickens sell for about $2 a pound. Beef runs up to $9 a pound for
the choicest cuts.
“We’re sustainable,” Robin reports. “I’m
not going to say the farm makes hundreds of thousands of dollars,
but we don’t borrow from Peter to pay Paul.”
Environmental Benefits
Rumbleway Farm animals are raised without hormones, antibiotics
and pesticides. They spend at least half of their lives outside.
By systematically moving the animals through pastures, the Ways
minimize the impact on the ground and groundwater. Manure acts as
a fertilizer, not waste.
“On our farm, animals are allowed to live and grow in as
natural a setting as possible, outside, with fresh air and grass,”
Robin says. “We say our meat is ‘all natural,’
and our customers are happy with that.”
Community and Quality of Life Benefits
Robin and Mark have three children: Samantha, Melissa and Mathew.
The older girls help with poultry feeding, care and processing.
Their involvement assures them time with their busy parents, who
enjoy sharing their rural lifestyle with their kids.
The annual Farm Day is perhaps the most visible way the Ways reach
out to their community. It features kid games, fishing, pressing
cider, making crock sauerkraut and events like dog trials. “Our
intent is to educate the populace,” Robin says. “You
have people come and see the farm, learn where their food comes
from, and have a fun day. You always get customers out of it.”
The farm literature and Web site invites people to come by —
and come by they do. The Ways rely upon a coterie of neighbors to
keep the farm running. When a tornado touched down on the farm,
20 people arrived that week to help. Four hours later, a wayward
barn was moved back into place.
“We could not operate on this farm without all of the help
from others,” says Robin, who reciprocates with meat.
Transition Advice
Of all her marketing strategies, Robin says her farm sign was the
best investment. While she fretted that it was too big, or too tacky,
the end result was both eye-pleasing and good for business. The
impact was “huge,” she says.
A Web site is another must for small farms seeking to market themselves
to the public. At least half of their customers found the farm on
the Web.
The Future
“We want to continue to farm sustainably, successfully and
happily, and not sweat the small stuff,” Robin says. “We
want to continue to educate our friends, neighbors and visitors
about the importance of agriculture and sustaining the family farm.
We would encourage everyone to buy local and support their farm
communities.”
 Profile
written by Valerie Berton
For more information:
Robin Way
Rumbleway Farm
592 McCauley Road
Conowingo, MD 21918
(410) 658-9731
wayrg@dol.net
www.rumblewayfarm.com
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