I surfed over the The Des Moines Register this morning and read a story that really warmed my heart. A Farm is Born is a story about Ethan Book, a man who wanted to become a farmer. Ethan and his wife Becca have established a small farm in south-central Iowa where they raise grass-fed beef, free range chickens, and some hogs. It is exciting to read about a young family starting a farm. Others think so too. Ethan and Becca both have a blog and Ethan also writes as a paid blogger for Epicurious.

Why write about this on Free to Farm? This is the kind of farm operation that will suffer the most under NAIS. As the Book family is just starting out and markets their farm products directly to consumers, their farm enterprise is fragile like any other startup business. Increased regulations only serve to raise the bar of entry into business. How do you add the burden of reporting under NAIS to a young family with a new farm? Ethan has to work off the farm to make a go of it now. It is hard to get started, but the Book family seems to be doing well. The people who buy their beef from the Book family know where the beef comes from. Animal ID is not needed! I would also bet that Ethan knows all of his animals well. It’s not hard on a small farm. The government doesn’t need to know what the Book family is doing.

Ethan and Becca: I pray you all of God’s blessing for your family and farm.