Bob Quinn - Big Sandy,
Montana
Soon after Bob Quinn took over the fourth-generation,
2,400-acre family ranch in 1978, he established
a wheat buying/brokering company to increase
his earnings through direct marketing. With
a partner in California, Quinn began marketing
the farm's high-quality, high-protein wheat
to whole-grain bakeries in the early 1980s.
When the demand was greater than they could
supply, Quinn began buying and marketing
wheat from his neighbors.
As Quinn became more deeply involved in
the grain aspect of his business, he decided
to sell his cattle and rent out the 700 acres
of pastureland. In 1985, Quinn built a flour
mill 50 miles from the farm and called the
new company Montana Flour & Grains (MFG).
"I started getting requests at my flour
mill for organic grain," Quinn recalls. "I
was always interested in growing my own fertilizer
and reducing herbicides and fertilizers."
He experimented with growing legumes like
alfalfa, peas, clover, and black medic to
meet his soil nitrogen needs and, with successful
results, moved the whole farm to organic
production by 1989. Now he remains reliant
on those "green manure" crops to
provide the fertility for two or three subsequent
cash crops in his 4- to 5-year rotation.
Profitability
Quinn sells all his grain through MFG,
which he recently sold to one of the
employees. About half of the farm's production
goes to Europe, including most of the
khorasan wheat (marketed under the brand
name of Kamut), all of the buckwheat
and lentils, and some of the hard red
winter and spring wheat. Quinn travels
annually to food shows throughout the
nation as well as in Europe and Japan
to promote the Kamut brand wheat and
organic agriculture.
Quinn receives premium prices, which average
about 50 percent more than conventional prices,
for his grain. Even with the organic certification,
however, Quinn needs to raise top-quality
products to receive the premium price.
Environmental Strategies
Quinn's well-managed rotation disrupts
insect, disease, and weed cycles and builds
soil quality—while producing a high-quality organic crop. He regularly
scouts the fields, looking for insects, diseases, and weeds—each of which
he manages strategically.
Quinn focuses on increasing the nutrient
quality of the soil, following the adage, "Feed
the soil, not the plant." He addresses
the root causes of disease and plant problems,
rather than waiting and treating the symptoms
that show up in the fields. Quinn's efforts
reap an environmental benefit, resulting
in more fertile soil with less water and
wind erosion, as well as a financial benefit.
"What we're really trying to do is
focus on understanding the whole system and
have a rotation that provides weed and pest
management and quality crop production," Quinn
says.
Community, Outreach, Quality of Life
In an effort to contribute to the revitalization of rural America in 1996,
Quinn rented a neighboring farm and took on a partner, bringing a new farm
family back to the land.
"Organic farming has certainly been
more fun and more profitable than conventional
farming," he says. "It's made me
a better farmer because I'm forced to really
study and learn what's going on with my fields,
my crops, and weeds and diseases."
Back to Sustainable Agriculture Home Page |
