Easy Bean Farm's Solar Tractor

For the last 21 seasons farmerms Mike Jacobs and Malena Handeen of Easy Bean Farm have worked to provide fresh, organically grown produce in a way that respects the soil, water, air and workers who make doing so possible.  We have attempted to use our 120 acre farm to connect a wide variety of people to the people and place from which the food they eat comes.  We have used our farm both to educate consumers of food AND young people who are interested in forging a new agri-culture that is built on a deep respect and care for our land and the rural communities that are entrusted with caring for it.   The profitability of our farm is measured as much by the quality of the water, the health of the soil, and the diversity of its ecosystems, as by the dollars it brings us.  As we farm it is our goal to produce agricultural systems that are as stable and diverse as the natural ecosystem they replace.  This has lead us to plant over 20 acres of trees, restore native prairie species, farm all of our cropland organically, and incorporate passive solar design in restoring our 125 year old house.

Each year we have tried to identify ways that we can better do what we are doing while consuming as few non-renewable resources as possible.  Our farm currently produces food on around 14 of our 120 acres and, as a result, we have mechanized some portion of the work.  Over the last 10 years we have dedicated ourselves to purchasing more modern equipment that utilizes technologies that allow us to burn less and less fossil fuel to get the job done.  We always try and use the smallest tool possible for the work to be done and, quite regularly, this is as simple as a line of people in the field pulling hoes through the soil!  This week we have been presented with a great opportunity to take our farm to the next level with the purchase of an electric tractor that can be recharged by the solar panels that we already have on our farm.  While this tractor will not be able to perform all of the tasks that we do, it will be capable of replacing some of our smaller tractors that we currently use for planting, cultivating and hilling.  At this moment is history, when the "powers that be" seem so intent on rolling back what little progress our country has made to ween ourselves from our deep dependence on petroleum, beginning to make the switch to solar electric seems like a good response.
   At this moment in the season we currently have the money to cover half of the cost of the tractor and cultivator but I would hate to miss out on this opportunity.  While we certainly could just take on more debt to cover the difference, I thought it might be interesting to try another method for raising the money for this project... we are a Community Supported fam, after all!   In exchange for every $2 donated we will commit to delivering 1# of vegetables to a food shelf in the upcoming season.  We will keep a running tally of the total food donated and will send out a report at the end of the year.  This, hopefully, will be a win-win situation;  We find some extra financing for this improvement and hungry people in Minnesota will get access to fresh Organic Produce.