OFI 1946: There's Room For Everyone In A Growing Direct Farm Marketing Economy | Steve Horton | N&P Farm And Dairy | Best Of Episode

How would you like to start your farming endeavor, come up with a business model and then find out that the demand for what you were producing was way bigger than you ever expected?  Well, that is exactly what happened to Steve Horton and his wife, Lyn.

Steve's wife Lyn has always wanted to have a farm where they sold raw milk.  After about 20 years of waiting, she and Steve decided to put in a modern, milking barn on their small farm north of Dallas, Texas. They went through the entire process of getting certified and inspected, and they reached a point in which they were legally able to sell raw milk.

Soon, they had a big customer base wanting to purchase raw milk from both their goats and cattle.  Then they started getting requests for other products, so they began selling grass fed meat that they purchased from other farms in their area.  They also started making and selling cheese, yogurt and other products.

Steve and Lyn live in a rapidly expanding rural interface to the north of Dallas, and in this area people are passionate about purchasing food raised the way they want it raised.  Steve states that in this segment of agriculture there is room for a lot of farmers.  Instead of competing with each other, farmers can work in collaboration with each other for the betterment of everyone.