We have started to build on-site housing for Grain Place Foundation interns, researchers, and volunteers. The 900 square foot housing and research facility will include two bedrooms, utility/bathrooms, and a common area that includes a kitchen. Built on a full basement that will immediately serve as a storm shelter, our longer-term plans include expanding the Intern House to include two more bedrooms as the basement is finished. We are grateful that this housing will enable us to expand our research, internship and short-term volunteer opportunities in organic and regenerative farming.
With assistance from a concrete pump, we poured the basement and foundation in early December 2022.
The Intern House initiative began with a $100,000 gift from Linda and Greg Harrison, which gets us more than 2/3 of the way toward the first phase of construction. As much as possible, we will build an environmentally friendly structure. We will utilize volunteers as we complete the interior and provide furnishings. The basement walls have been poured – weather will dictate when decking and framing gets done. A list of unfunded items can be found here.
You may make a financial contribution online or mail a check to Grain Place Foundation, 1904 N Highway 14, Marquette, NE 68854. Be sure to let us know what part of project you want to fund. For more information about how to volunteer, contact Jay Vetter (jay@grainplacefoundation.org).
One of the hopeful signs in the present age is the number of young people who are concerned about the health of our planet. There seems to be a growing awareness of the relationships between healthy natural environments and healthy physical, social, and spiritual human community. We believe that what we have learned and practiced at The Grain Place for over 60 years as a pioneering organic farm can be shared in ways that help inspire younger folks. I am writing to invite you to join us by investing in younger folks through our foundation.
First, I want to thank you for the ways you are already doing this where you live, work, serve, and play.
Second, I want to share what we are doing and invite you to invest with us in encouraging younger folks. We are pleased to announce that Robert Wattermann is joining us as a beginning resident farmer. He moves onto the farm this week and will farm and learn under the guidance of our farm management team. Robert’s work on the farm will be funded by the farm’s operations budget and his involvements beyond farming are supported by Grain Place Foundation. Your encouragement of him is greatly appreciated.We are making a major commitment to our internship program with two investments:We have started construction of an Intern House to provide housing for interns and researchers while they are engaged at the farm. We have enough funding to put up the building. We need additional funding to finish the interior and furnish the rooms.We have established the “Jeannie Taylor Vetter Memorial Endowment” to provide financial support for interns. It has been initially funded by over $20,000 from her family and friends.Please consider making a year-end financial contribution on line or by sending a check to Grain Place Foundation, 1904 N Highway 14, Marquette, NE 68854.
Follow us on Facebook or check our website to keep up on our progress. Contact me for more information.
This is a great opportunity for someone to learn organic farming and acquire a variety of skills while helping operate a well-established organic farm that continues to build on decades of experience and commitment to regenerative and organic practices. The resident farmer will live on the farm and assist with all aspects of farm operations.
David Vetter
The resident farmer will be supervised by our farm manager and mentored by Grain Place founder, David Vetter, both of whom live on the farm.
As organic farming is complex and a variety of skills are needed, we ask for a two to five-year commitment. Compensation package includes rent-free housing on the farm, salary commensurate with experience and length of commitment, health insurance, employer match for personal retirement investment, share of beef and pork for family, and opportunity to develop compatible enterprise on the farm.
Inquire to Glenda Vetter: gvcp@charter.net (308 383-1716) or Jay Vetter: jay@grainplacefoundation.org (308 850-3020)
The Grain Place Foundation is pleased to announce two new initiatives to deepen our ability to work for the sustainable future of the Grain Place, as we live out our commitment to farming for the future of our soil and our communities:
INTERN HOUSE AT GRAIN PLACE FARM
We have begun laying plans to construct on-site housing for Grain Place Foundation interns, researchers, and volunteers. A new 900 square foot housing and research facility will include two bedrooms, utility/bathrooms, and a common area that includes a kitchen. Built on a full basement that will immediately serve as a storm shelter, our longer-term plans include expanding the Intern House to include two more bedrooms as the basement is finished. We are grateful that this housing will enable us to expand our research, internship and short-term volunteer opportunities in organic and regenerative farming.
The Intern House initiative began with a $100,000 gift from Linda and Greg Harrison, which gets us more than 2/3 of the way toward the first phase of construction. As much as possible, we will build an environmentally friendly structure. We will utilize volunteers as we complete the interior and provide furnishings; as the project develops, we will share a more specific list of opportunities to participate in support of this project. We welcome financial donations.
Currently, we are finalizing plans and searching for contractors who can construct the basement and enclose the building; we hope to start this fall.
If you want to make a financial contribution for the Intern House, you may do so on our website www.grainplacefoundation.org or mail a check to Grain Place Foundation, 1904 N Highway 14, Marquette, NE 68854. For more information about how to volunteer, contact Jay Vetter (jay@grainplacefoundation.org).
GRAIN PLACE FOUNDATION ENDOWMENT ESTABLISHED
As a part of our commitment to the long-term sustainability of our educational and scientific work in organic and regenerative farming at the Grain Place Farm, the Grain Place Foundation has established an Endowment Fund. Our goal is to raise endowed funds to match the value of the farm itself, which is currently the primary asset of the Foundation; to date, members of the Vetter family have contributed a value of $1.4M by donating their ownership shares in the Grain Place Farm.
The endowment will ensure that we are able to provide staff for the Grain Place Farm, as well as the research, experimentation, advocacy and educational activities that David Vetter and other Grain Place leaders have engaged in for over 45 years. This support is critical to enable a transition to the next phases of the Grain Place Foundation’s future, when members of the Vetter family will no longer able to provide as much volunteer leadership and labor. It will also provide staffing support toward future projects in continuation of the legacy of the Grain Place.
Funds in the Grain Place Foundation Endowment are managed by an Endowment Committee, directed to green, sustainable, and socially responsible investments for both growth and income. A generous unrestricted gift from Linda and Greg Harrison provided funds for us to open the Endowment in early 2022.
The Jeannie Taylor Vetter Fund was established in her memory, to support internships at The Grain Place. This endowed fund began with a minimum initial investment of $20,000 contributed by her family and friends.
At our annual Grain Place Foundation Field Day on July 17, guest speaker David R. Montgomery shared about his work on soils and civilization (and why he’s hopeful!) as our keynote speaker. His presentation gave a big-picture frame to the importance of our work, and underlined the importance of making farming decisions that promote the health of our soil.
Grain Place Farm founder David Vetter offered this year’s farm tour, with a description of our 9-year crop rotation system, as well as some history about rotations we tried over the decades of organic farming on this land.
Our Grain Place Farm Tour gives you an introduction to our 9-year crop rotation
Grain Place Foods President Christian Evans led our tour of Grain Place Foods, focusing on the community of people who work at our organic food and feed processing plant; these are some of the people who make it possible to live out our motto: How your food is produced does matter.
Our tour of Grain Place Foods features the people who make it happen
Grain Place Foundation Board Member Dr. Charles Francis (University of Nebraska) gave a quick overview of some of the research we’ve been working on, including long-term comparisons of crop yields on conventional and organic farms.
Dr. Charles Francis shares about some of our research on organic farming
We were inspired by the conversation we shared–we talked about the farm with current Grain Place farmers Raymond Hain and Jason Smith. We also reflected on David Montgomery’s presentation with a panel discussion that featured Grain Place Foundation board member Dr. Kathleen Delate (Iowa State), and Mad Agriculture’s Rebecca Baldwin-Kordick.
The Grain Place is current seeking a Farm Hand/Farm Trainee, to assist the Resident Farmer/Farm Manager in performing all tasks associated with the design, establishment, and subsequent upkeep of the farm to ensure a certified organic, sustainable and profitable model is maintained and the health of both animals and crops are kept at the highest level of current certified organic and Regenerative standards.
This person would help operate and develop the farm on behalf of the Foundation and family shareholders consistent with the philosophy and systems historically practiced (rotation plans, field layouts, etc.) and the vision and purpose of the Foundation to advance management of life forms in symbiotic relationships for the production of food, feed, and fiber through operations in cooperation with the local ecology and by providing educational programs.
The Farm Trainee would help develop innovative/non-conventional ideas and practices with a willingness to learn from failures as well as successes, a process requiring flexibility, adaptability, and capacity to document activities and results using available technology (pc, tablets, etc.)
This is an entry level position with opportunity for the right person to grow with the job. This could be a full or part-time position.
More information, including who to contact regarding this position, is available on our Job Opportunity page.
Our 2020 Grain Place Foundation Field Day is now available to watch from wherever you are! You can see our Farm Tour, make a visit to Grain Place Foods, hear our keynote from Brise Tencer of the Organic Farming Research Foundation, or watch the panel discussion the followed the keynote.
Grain Place Farm Tour 2020
Grain Place Foods Tour (our on-site organic grain processing facility)
Keynote address from Brise Tencer, Executive Director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation (plus a quick tour of our Foundation House on the farm)
by David Vetter, Richard Little, and Charles Francis, July 2020
The nine-year diversified,
irrigated organic rotation at the Grain Place was established in 2002 with two
replications and average plot size of 12 acres. There are five years of organic
crops, and four years of hay and pasture. We analyzed corn and soybean yields
and net returns for two cycles and compared these with conventional corn and
corn-soybean rotations using average farm data from Hamilton County.
Organic yields were 30% lower for
corn and 60% lower for soybeans than conventional monocultures; no conventional
yield data are available for comparisons with our barley or popcorn. Organic
farmgate prices are conservatively based on feed grain prices, rather than
higher food grade prices. All organic grains were processed on farm by Grain
Place Foods. Organic corn price was 101% higher than conventional, and organic
soybean was 83% higher than conventional. Due to substantially lower input
costs and even using conservative organic prices, the returns from the
diversified organic system were impressive.
Net returns for the three years
of organic corn and soybeans in the nine-year rotation (one year of corn, two
years of soybeans) were positive for all but the first year. Organic net
returns were higher than or equivalent to continuous corn or corn-soybeans for
16 of 18 years. The figure below shows the net returns after fixed and
operating costs across two cycles of the rotation at GPF compared to county
averages for conventional crops. Average net returns in the organic system were
almost $300 acre, while returns for continuous corn were about $60/acre and for
corn-soybean were about $150/acre; the difference is primarily due to lower
production costs in the organic system plus price premiums.
Annual and average net returns for irrigated conventional continuous corn and corn-soybean systems in Hamilton County, Nebraska ($/acre) compared to corn and soybeans in the diverse irrigated organic rotation at GPF.
These results have been used in classes at UNL in Spring Semester, 2020, and are posted on the GPF web site in July 2020. It is unclear why conventional farmers plant continuous corn in the county, when the county averages show a clear advantage to the two-year rotation. More important for us are the results showing that organic systems are consistently more profitable than conventional systems, and without the dangers for farmers of chemical exposure. They also reduce the pressure for even wider development of herbicide-resistant weeds, which would be an advantage for both conventional and organic farmers. Further analyses will evaluate the entire nine-year rotation to assess the value of diverse crop sequences to add resilience in yields and incomes to cropping and crop/animal systems in the Platte Valley of Central Nebraska.
Education in farming practices is most effective in the field, where hands-on activities provide new experiences for those without a farm background. One of the educational missions of the Foundation is to provide and opportunity for students to work side-by-side with experienced farmers on the long-term rotation and other projects under way at GPF. This summer we have two interns joining the farm team, and both are excited about this practical learning arena.
Jane Coghlan is an incoming junior at Arizona State University studying Sustainable Food Systems with a minor in Nutrition. She returns for a second year to join the GPF field team. Jane is from a small town in Texas called Argyle which is just north of Dallas. “I did not have any farming experience until my internship last summer at the Grain Place. I enjoyed it tremendously, so I came back again this summer to continue learning and building experience. I love farming because every day I learn something new and form a deeper connection to the land and animals. David Vetter’s way of farming with nature is a big inspiration to me. I hope to positively influence the world through organic farming like he is doing”. The resident farmers at GPF reported that Jane learned plenty in her time on the farm in 2019, and are delighted that she is returning for a second experience.
Jingyue Zeng is a senior Agronomy major at UNL and will graduate this summer. “I have devoted my passion to plants for all of my life, I have always liked to take care of plants and watch them grow when I was young. I have worked for a Chinese company in my hometown last summer, measuring, recording and reporting the growth of pineapple for 32-acre pineapple field, and helped to do weed management and prepare fertilizer mixtures. Organic farming has a special interest for me. I have also learned about the agricultural industry here by attending a meeting of the Nebraska Wheat Board”. Jinghue was a student in both the Agroecology and the Organic Farming classes at UNL this past spring, and is a volunteer intern at GPF this summer.
We look forward to welcoming additional interns to work with the farm staff at GPF, and can provide housing and a modest stipend when grant funds are found to support this important educational activity. In the near future, we’ll share interviews with these two interns here, in hopes that we can attract more students interested in learning about organic farming and livestock integration as well as value adding on the farm. If you have questions, please contact GPF board member Glenda Vetter for details on opportunities.
We are glad to have received a grant from the North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). Their Farmer Rancher Grant Program is a competitive grants program for farmers and ranchers who want to explore sustainable solutions to problems through on-farm research, demonstration, and education projects. We were awarded $9,000 for the project, “Sustainable Silvopasture Hog Production Compared to Drylot System.”
