The Crop Report: Week 6 | Investing In the Dream

Like most families and businesses, we spend the beginning of the year assessing our goals and budget. This year, we are biting the bullet and making some big farm purchases.

In pictures, it might look like we are running a huge operation with all the tools needed to do so. In reality, yeah, we’re pretty big, but we have spent our time farming using the tools we have on hand (reads: manual, very basic stuff.) Over the years, we prioritized our investments by what would allow us to grow more, not necessarily what would be the most efficient. Things like high tunnels trumped tractors and wagons. 

So, this year, we’ve decided to focus less on how to produce the most stems and more on what will be the most efficient. We have moved every seedling flat, every bucket of flowers, and heck, even flower frogs, in one little lawn tractor and jankety wagon since the beginning of time. 

We know what you’re thinking - what about Big Red, or the John Deere? Truth be told, both of these are actually dad’s tractors that he parks over here. He keeps the only set of keys and I've never been allowed to drive it - only my husband on occasion. So when the Lady Monarch said, "what would your dream tractor look like?" I went shopping, blacked out, and pulled the trigger on a new tool for the farm, assuming mom’s question was permission to purchase.  

We are now the proud owners of a BCS tractor. Our rep was great, and after looking at all of our options, we are the proud owners of a BCS 749 PS! The tractor itself is pretty expensive, but in the spirit of being “extra”, I couldn’t resist a bunch of fancy attachments. The complete order total made us a little nauseous, but now I can do everything Big Red and the John Deere does in the fields in the small tunnel spaces! We have never been able to do this before, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about a piece of equipment. Being a predominantly female-run farm, it's nice to have tools geared toward us, meaning I won't have to call in my daddy or husband unless I WANT to. 

Is this new *very* pricey investment necessary? Well no, we've done just fine with our seven field acres and seven tunnels with little more than what you find on the shelf at Lowe's. However, this is an investment in the future of the farm and will help our team maximize their workdays without feeling like they got hit by a truck at the end of the day. It may not be necessary for farming, but for us, it’s necessary for better growth.

The timing of my purchase isn't without planning. As we await a dump truckload of compost and thousands of lisianthus babies, I’m crossing my fingers our new tractor arrives in time. I can't wait to test out the deep tine tiller, bed smoother, compost spreader, and all the other fun attachments I couldn’t live without. One of my favorite parts about working with BCS is they only work with local dealers. This means that my order gets handed right back to my community where I will pick up our new tractor, be provided on-hand instruction for use and maintenance, and see the faces behind my ongoing support team. When they told me this, I said "STOP. You had me at local". Finding good tools is awesome, finding the local support is even better. 

This is the first of a few major upgrades we are making this year, and I can’t wait to tell you more about what we have up our sleeves. While we make improvements it's important to never forget we made it just fine starting with what we had, even if it was a lawnmower that I called a tractor.

xoxo Jess