Ruesgegger Farms: Area farm family uses CSA to recover from drought

Contact: Ken Ruegsegger
Phone: 608-845-FOOD (3663)
Email: Info@paolicafe.com

Author: Bill Lubing
Author Phone: 608-235-5522
Paoli Café
6895 Paoli Road

Café Web: http://www.paolicafe.com
Farm web: http://www.naturalmeats.org

“We’ve basically moved our inventory off of the pasture and into the freezer,” says Blanchardville farmer Ken Ruegsegger. He’s describing one aspect of the continuing fight to survive last year’s hot, dry summer.

“The drought continues, even though it’s winter and the fields are resting,” Ruegsegger explains. With wife Sherrie, he operates the Ruesgegger Farms along with Paoli Café & Grocery, in Paoli, where they sell and serve products from their farm and other local producers.

“This past summer and fall we sent to slaughter basically two years’ worth of cattle,” Ken explains. “When you could find it, the cost of hay was so expensive that we couldn’t afford to purchase it.

Removing the expense of purchased hay is one of several strategies the Ruegseggers are using to survive the drought. “We’ve got to fund winter operations and expenditures for feed, seed, and repair,” Ruegsegger continues. “And then there are taxes,” he says with a roll of his eyes.

With ample stock in the freezer, he says, “We’re going to be pushing the Ruegsegger CSAs really aggressively.”

Selling shares (or memberships) in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a vital method of consumer direct selling for many local farmers. Basically a farm offers a certain number of “shares” to the public.

While most farms offer shares that include fruits and vegetables, some also offer meats, and canned goods. The consumer purchases the shares, usually before the beginning of the season. At regular intervals the farm supplies product to the consumer, the quantity and variety depending upon production levels.

“We handle our CSA a little differently,” says Ruegsegger. “Not only can we offer fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats from our farm, we can offer products from other farms through Paoli Café & Grocery. We also offer fish, canned and packaged goods, and organic laundry products through our CSA.”

Unlike most CSAs, which deliver a box containing products preselected by the farm on a preset schedule, “Our CSAs allow customers to purchase what they want, when they want it, delivered where they’d like. It really operates more like a discount club rather than a traditional CSA.”

The Ruegseggers offer several options when it comes to their CSAs. Discounts on products range from five to eight percent and can be purchased for six or 12 month periods.

“We always like to give our customers options,” says Ruegsegger. “More options for them mean a better cash flow for us, which is what we need to recover from this drought.”

For more information call 608-845-FOOD (3663), email krfarms@tds.net, or web at http://www.naturalmeats.org.