Photos : wib middleton
A wide variety of market selections are carefully curated from local producers and farms to keep customers coming back for more .
never increased enough to keep up with ever increasing operational costs . “ No parity ,” laments Rob and quotes John F . Kennedy who said “ a farmer is the only one that buys everything at retail , sells everything at wholesale and pays freight both ways .” Ever nimble and used to pivoting , the Bakers transitioned to a grain and hay operation in 1972 . Today that operation covers 2,000 acres , some on the Deere Valley parcel and home of the former dairy barn behind the Market , and the other leased land in three counties . The passing of the family patriarch and matriarch is always significant — with a farm family even more so . The next generation either continues farming or moves on . When Rob ’ s grandfather died , the dairy operation ended and the once bustling dairy barn stood still for a long time . Years later , and at the passing of his grandmother , the dairy barn and acreage went to Rob ’ s parents . It wasn ’ t until the early 1990s that the family went headlong into revitalizing the somewhat spooky and gnarly structure . It required all hands on deck and was much more than a facelift . By 2005 the next generation decided to add cattle farming to their
stable crop business . That was the beginning of a cow-calf operation , or breeding calves for sale .
“ We started with 15 cows . At the time we had some old hay we couldn ’ t sell that the cows could eat . The thinking was we could butcher the animals and have beef for the family . When the kids were of age to start 4H , it all came together ,” recalls Rob . Joining the Frederick 4H because of proximity allowed for the Baker boys to breed two , not one animal for competition . Selling the additional animal made sense . And so they expanded the breeding operation and eventually the cowcalf operation grew to 225 head .
“ Historically dairy farmers have had to diversify , selling ice cream , or cheeses retail to survive . Or you sold out . You have
Photo : christina hopkins that or you change direction ,” says Samantha . And crop farming with unpredictable weather and market fluctuations has its own set of challenges . ( Quick aside , this summer the Bakers lost 500 acres of corn due to the drought .)
Raising beef cattle offered something different . “ So our goal was not just to raise something to diversify , but to provide a product that was not really going to fluctuate . People who like meat are always going to want to buy it . Our other products ( in the market ) may change but the meat that we raise is what we will always offer .”
It was after painstaking research that Rob and Samantha came up with the idea to build out a farm retail market . Their business model was to sell meat products , soft ice cream and locally crafted food items . And they wanted control of every phase of the meat production , not just selling calves to the next finisher .
Samantha recalls the enormous transition that had to take place . With the refurbished dairy barn , new infrastructure had to be built and other physical facilities upgraded . After all that there were the necessary USDA certifications !
44 plenty I autumn harvest 2024