Singing Pastures used to be a one farmer operation.  We have grown to be a business filled with farmers, ranchers, graphic designers, accountants, data analysts, supply chain managers and marketers.    We are driven by our desire to heal the ecosystem we live in, create the most nutrient dense pork in the country and maintain our target margin. 

Singing Pastures in its current form was founded by John and Holly Arbuckle in 2010.  John was a 9th generation family farmer and Holly was an acupuncturist.  Our goals proved an elusive target to achieve until Holly stepped into the CEO and Marketing position at Singing Pastures.  With Hollys leadership, our sales went up. With that increase in margin, we found the spaciousness to move toward the other goals more effectively. Singing Pastures manufacturers smoked sausages and salami which we most sell in the “online wholesale” channel.  

They say that a smart person learns from their mistakes and a wise person learns from someone else’s!  Come listen to some of our mistakes and how we overcame them so that hopefully you can avoid them in your journey.

Plenary Speaker

Turning Your Passion into a Paycheck: Farm to Food Production and Financial Literacy

Grazing management isn’t the only thing you need proficient at to succeed in today’s world. The planning process that allows you to document Cost of Goods Sold is part of the platform that we as farmers move forward from.  Let’s talk about a way of showing COGS that allows us to optimize the decision making process that leads to higher margins.  

Luka´s story began in Münster, Germany, where she started working in the organic food and beverage sector early on in her life. She much appreciated the tight-knit community of people that cared about the quality of their products and their practices. After receiving a B.S. in Animal Science from Montana State University in Bozeman and a M.S. from the University of Göttingen in Germany, she worked in the Research and Development Department of a rancher and farmer cooperation where she managed projects that had the ultimate intention of making animal agriculture more sustainable. In 2018, Luka came back to Montana and worked at the Bozeman Agricultural Research and Teaching Farm where she really enjoyed working with students who were eager to learn and were motivated to become the next generation of ranchers and farmers. Her experiences with agriculture in Montana also include feedlot work, seed potato farming, stockyard work and ranching. She enjoys helping nurture relationships with the livestock and agriculture community. When not on a horse, Luka enjoys learning new languages, gardening, exploring the backcountry, and searching for Yogo Sapphires. As the New Agrarian Northern Plains Manager for Quivira, Luka loves to work with apprentices and ranchers and farmers in Montana to help everybody get the most out of the New Agrarian Program.

Roundtable Facilitator

Apart From to A Part Of: Creating Connection in Rural Ag Communities

Rural communities often benefit from enthusiastic newcomers arriving to help out on farms and ranches, thus revitalizing land and society. Yet newcomers often feel unwelcome or unsure of how to become part of their new place. Beginning agrarians often relocate frequently for years; what helps build community in spite of transiency? Locals usually want to see a person stick around a few years before investing in them, while newcomers want to share their ideas and skills right away. Join us as we explore what NAP alumni and apprentices have tried in their various communities, share your own ideas, and consider what locals could do to better support new agrarians eager to become part of, and contribute to, their new home town. Facilitated by Quivira’s NAP staff Julie Sullivan and Luka Samson. Contributors include New Agrarian Program Apprentices and Alumni.

Chad Reznicek is the Lead Behavioral Health Specialist with the Colorado AgrAbility Project and committed to helping expand and improve behavioral health support and resources in rural communities. Prior to joining the AgrAbility Team, Chad spent 20 years as a licensed therapist, providing behavioral health services in diverse settings with special focus areas in suicide prevention, trauma, mood disorders, adolescent issues, and substance abuse. Chad grew up in a small town in central Nebraska with a deep respect for agriculture as the heart of our rural communities.

Roundtable Facilitator

Stronger Together, Supporting Emotional Wellness in Regenerative Agriculture

The agricultural profession is among the most stressful careers in the US. With constant pressure, often from factors outside of their control, America’s agricultural community is suffering from skyrocketing rates of suicide, substance abuse, and other behavioral health struggles. Join us in a round table discussion on the stressors facing today’s farmers and ranchers, as well as a collaborative conversation around strategies on stress management and how to best build grassroots networks of support for this important population.

Dr. Hubert Karreman graduated in 1995 from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Between getting a bachelor’s degree in soil science from the University of New Hampshire in 1984 and starting veterinary school, he worked on dairy farms for 6 years. He was introduced to homeopathy, botanicals and biologics on a biodynamic farm in 1988 and saw those work so well that he wanted to go to veterinary school to learn “the real thing”. He was in dairy practice for 20 years in Lancaster, PA working with almost 100 certified organic Amish dairy farms. He was appointed to the USDA National Organic Standards Board in 2005-2010 and has written 3 books on natural treatments for dairy cows. He enjoys sharing insights about natural treatments with veterinary colleagues in order to reduce the reliance of antibiotics and hormones in livestock. He and his wife, Suzanne, have a pasture-based, diversified livestock farm based on their herd of 80 certified grass-fed, grain-free A2A2 Jersey cows. They also raise a flock of St. Croix/Texel sheep and lambs, Delaware laying hens in egg-mobiles, and have free-range heritage pigs. Neither grew up on a farm. Through blood, sweat and tears, they’ve developed knowledge and experience with various livestock species and love to help others just starting out avoid making the same mistakes they did.

Plenary Speaker

Reverence Farms: A Diversified Livestock Farm

How should we be thinking as stewards to keep our animals healthy and to reduce reliance on conventional inputs? When should conventional inputs be used? The land, animals and people are integral to each other – what’s best to improve the land to continue supporting an expanding livestock farm? This talk will show what Reverence Farms, a diversified dairy and livestock operation in central NC, has done and is doing in terms of animals and land, as well as examples of how we make decisions and approaches to making changes as needed.

Julie Sullivan was born and raised in California. After working as an actor, arts administrator, and starting a private progressive preschool in Seattle, she earned her Master’s in Environmental Education and subsequently taught interdisciplinary environmental education at both undergraduate and graduate levels for the Audubon Expedition Institute at Lesley University. She spent those years challenging students to look beyond surface conflicts between environmentalism and agriculture, and to see the common values and goals shared by both points of view. After over a decade living outside teaching for the Expedition, Julie met and joined George Whitten at the ranch in 2001 on his certified organic, grass-finished cattle ranch. The ranch is committed to restorative practices that result in soil health, functioning grassland ecosystems, and viable small scale ranching. Julie and George and the founding mentors of the Quivira Coalition New Agrarian Program and have been mentors since its inception. Julie also serves as Mentor Support and Training for the New Agrarian Program. She is fiercely dedicated to the next generation of agrarians, fully functioning ecosystems and creative solutions to the interaction of humans with their planet.

Roundtable Facilitator

Apart From to A Part Of: Creating Connection in Rural Ag Communities

Facilitated by Quivira’s New Agrarian Program staff Julie Sullivan and Luka Samson. Contributors include New Agrarian Program Apprentices and Alumni.
Rural communities often benefit from enthusiastic newcomers arriving to help out on farms and ranches, thus revitalizing land and society. Yet newcomers often feel unwelcome or unsure of how to become part of their new place. Beginning agrarians often relocate frequently for years; what helps build community in spite of transiency? Locals usually want to see a person stick around a few years before investing in them, while newcomers want to share their ideas and skills right away. Join us as we explore what NAP alumni and apprentices have tried in their various communities, share your own ideas, and consider what locals could do to better support new agrarians eager to become part of, and contribute to, their new home town.

April Parms Jones is originally from Akron, Ohio and advocates for her community as part of the food justice, water access and the food sovereignty movement. She is passionate about community gardens, farmer markets and creating a just food system. She is a writer, public speaker, consultant, blogger, recipe developer, book reviewer, event planner and more. She contributes content to her blog Frolicking Americana, and to national and international magazines, Mother Earth, Country Lore, The Natural Farmer, Grit, Growing for Market, Ark Republic, Ecoparent Magazine, Growers and Co., Farmers Market Coalition writer, The Agrarian Trust, Cornucopia Institute and Farmer’s Market Coalition, and is an Emerging Leader in food and agriculture nominee.

Workshop Presenter

Storytelling, Marketing and Cultural Food Ways 

Join April Jones, founder of the Pinehurst Farmers Market and work group member for the “Anti-Racist Farmers Market Toolkit“. At this workshop, April will help producers and others involved in agricultural marketing ground their marketing efforts in anti-racism and equity through awareness and connection to cultural foodways and practices that honor numerous cultural traditions in food. She’ll help participants think through how they market and tell their story. Additionally, there will be chance for small-group discussions to hear from one another and how you currently market and how you hope to market in the future.