Green Fire Farm, by the numbers per year
About 200 head of grass-fed beef cattle
About 60 hogs
28 sheep that are grass-fed and pasture rotated
400 laying hens
400 meat chickens
About 50 turkeys
MONTICELLO - For five generations, the Marty family has run the farm now known as Green Fire Farm on Ringhand Road south of Monticello as a crop and dairy operation. But when 24-year-old Jacob Marty returned home from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2015, the now-six-generation farm started making changes based on his vision for it.
"We're in season three of me coming back and we've done a lot of new things," said Jacob, who is now the third "Jacob Marty" to farm the land his family has called home since the 1850s.
At a Field Day open house Wednesday at Green Fire Farm, hosted by the nonprofit organization Savanna Institute, other farmers, interested people from the public and representatives from agencies and business partners came to see what the farm is all about.
The Savanna Institute aims to support and encourage the incorporation of trees in agriculture. Since Jacob and his father, Jim, created Green Fire Farm, it has achieved a level of diversity that "is extremely rare in modern agriculture and is an important component to healing damaged soils," according to a statement from the organization.
Different generations don't always see eye-to-eye on every detail of farming, Jacob noted.
"Coming back to the farm and working with my father has its ups and downs, as with any type of relationship," he said.
Jim echoed that sentiment.
"It's been interesting. Some things you like, some things you don't," Jim said. "Jacob needs to learn more about some things, like fencing. But all in all, it's going well."
In 2011, a fire destroyed the barn. According to Jim, the last barn fire was in 1954.
"It's a bump in the road. You can't let it get you down," Jim said.
No people or animals were hurt in the 2011 fire, but physical loss of the barn took its toll. A year later, Jim sold all his dairy cows.
Neither Jacob nor his three brothers were interested in farming at the time.
"I went to college not for anything agriculture or really related to farming," Jacob said. "I wanted to be in Africa or Alaska or South America saving endangered species. That's what I wanted to do. My professors would talk about sustainability of ecosystems but never talked about farms and their land.
"I was told 'Farmers are stubborn and won't change.' But I'm a farmer, so I became stubborn and did not listen to them. I decided to be that change," Jacob said.
He earned a degree in wildlife ecology, and when he returned to the farm in 2015 it was with a shifting paradigm in mind.
"I saw a totally different world (in collegiate studies) and then was able to bring what I learned there (UW-Stevens Point) and apply it," Jacob said. "Green Fire represents a burning ideology for fostering strong communities through robust and resilient farms, families and small businesses. While not currently completely defined, my father and I, and our farm as an entity, have goals to build a functioning and fascinating agro-ecosystem that provides for our family, our animals, our land and our community. We believe that 'sustainable' is not enough."
In 2015, the Martys took 50 acres of corn and made the switch to pasture. The next year, another 40 acres made the switch, and in 2017, 160 acres went from corn to pasture.
The family has also planted over 1,000 trees and shrubs - everything from pecans and oaks to chestnuts, redbuds and fruit trees. Jacob's vision was to take fields of corn, an annual plant, and make them perennial by using alfalfa and other plants. The grazing cattle, hogs and sheep would be able to eat regenerative food that keeps the soil strong and helps stave off erosion of dirt and nutrients.
On the Green Fire Farm website, greenfirefarmllc.com, Jacob posted, "We are transitioning our farm to a system that seeks to establish long-term food-producing practices that will grow, mature and feed the community for six more generations. That requires protecting and building the soil by preventing erosion, promoting microbial life and cycling nutrients. It also requires safe and clean water. Without water, animals, humans included, can't thrive."
Visitors to the farm Wednesday toured the perennial silvopasture, which is a combination of trees and animals, saw freshly dug samples of dirt between the different fields - new alfalfa soil and multi-season alfalfa soil - and saw a display from the United States Department of Agriculture on various types of soil erosion.
For lunch, guests had fresh beef from the farm and local Green County produce.
"The day was geared towards producers of grass-based systems, pasture-based systems. They are seeing what we've done over these past three years," Jacob said. "Also, consumers that buy (from us) and have a relationship with me, they've come to see what we do here on the farm as well."
Jim said he was quite pleased with the turnout.
"It was fantastic. Almost 100 people came, which was great because that means people are interested in what we're doing here and what Jacob's plans are," Jim said.
As for the new name of the farm, Jacob posits on the farm website that he felt a connection to a quote from Aldo Leopold, the famed Wisconsin conservationist, from his 1949 book "A Sand County Almanac," about his time living in a shack in central Wisconsin and observing the land.
In one section of the book, Leopold recalls the moments after he shot a wolf as a young man working in Arizona. It shifted his world view, and in reading it, Jacob's as well.
"We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes," Leopold writes. "I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes -something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
Jacob said he hopes that with the sustainability of a regenerative farm, the Marty family farm will have not only a seventh or maybe even eighth generation one day, but upwards of 12.
"My family has been here and a part of this community and the land itself. We need to take care of it all," Jacob said. "I'm lucky to be able to farm, able to work outside, feed people, have a good lifestyle and hopefully build something here and maintain something so that we can stay here for six more generations."
"We're in season three of me coming back and we've done a lot of new things," said Jacob, who is now the third "Jacob Marty" to farm the land his family has called home since the 1850s.
At a Field Day open house Wednesday at Green Fire Farm, hosted by the nonprofit organization Savanna Institute, other farmers, interested people from the public and representatives from agencies and business partners came to see what the farm is all about.
The Savanna Institute aims to support and encourage the incorporation of trees in agriculture. Since Jacob and his father, Jim, created Green Fire Farm, it has achieved a level of diversity that "is extremely rare in modern agriculture and is an important component to healing damaged soils," according to a statement from the organization.
Different generations don't always see eye-to-eye on every detail of farming, Jacob noted.
"Coming back to the farm and working with my father has its ups and downs, as with any type of relationship," he said.
Jim echoed that sentiment.
"It's been interesting. Some things you like, some things you don't," Jim said. "Jacob needs to learn more about some things, like fencing. But all in all, it's going well."
In 2011, a fire destroyed the barn. According to Jim, the last barn fire was in 1954.
"It's a bump in the road. You can't let it get you down," Jim said.
No people or animals were hurt in the 2011 fire, but physical loss of the barn took its toll. A year later, Jim sold all his dairy cows.
Neither Jacob nor his three brothers were interested in farming at the time.
"I went to college not for anything agriculture or really related to farming," Jacob said. "I wanted to be in Africa or Alaska or South America saving endangered species. That's what I wanted to do. My professors would talk about sustainability of ecosystems but never talked about farms and their land.
"I was told 'Farmers are stubborn and won't change.' But I'm a farmer, so I became stubborn and did not listen to them. I decided to be that change," Jacob said.
He earned a degree in wildlife ecology, and when he returned to the farm in 2015 it was with a shifting paradigm in mind.
"I saw a totally different world (in collegiate studies) and then was able to bring what I learned there (UW-Stevens Point) and apply it," Jacob said. "Green Fire represents a burning ideology for fostering strong communities through robust and resilient farms, families and small businesses. While not currently completely defined, my father and I, and our farm as an entity, have goals to build a functioning and fascinating agro-ecosystem that provides for our family, our animals, our land and our community. We believe that 'sustainable' is not enough."
In 2015, the Martys took 50 acres of corn and made the switch to pasture. The next year, another 40 acres made the switch, and in 2017, 160 acres went from corn to pasture.
The family has also planted over 1,000 trees and shrubs - everything from pecans and oaks to chestnuts, redbuds and fruit trees. Jacob's vision was to take fields of corn, an annual plant, and make them perennial by using alfalfa and other plants. The grazing cattle, hogs and sheep would be able to eat regenerative food that keeps the soil strong and helps stave off erosion of dirt and nutrients.
On the Green Fire Farm website, greenfirefarmllc.com, Jacob posted, "We are transitioning our farm to a system that seeks to establish long-term food-producing practices that will grow, mature and feed the community for six more generations. That requires protecting and building the soil by preventing erosion, promoting microbial life and cycling nutrients. It also requires safe and clean water. Without water, animals, humans included, can't thrive."
Visitors to the farm Wednesday toured the perennial silvopasture, which is a combination of trees and animals, saw freshly dug samples of dirt between the different fields - new alfalfa soil and multi-season alfalfa soil - and saw a display from the United States Department of Agriculture on various types of soil erosion.
For lunch, guests had fresh beef from the farm and local Green County produce.
"The day was geared towards producers of grass-based systems, pasture-based systems. They are seeing what we've done over these past three years," Jacob said. "Also, consumers that buy (from us) and have a relationship with me, they've come to see what we do here on the farm as well."
Jim said he was quite pleased with the turnout.
"It was fantastic. Almost 100 people came, which was great because that means people are interested in what we're doing here and what Jacob's plans are," Jim said.
As for the new name of the farm, Jacob posits on the farm website that he felt a connection to a quote from Aldo Leopold, the famed Wisconsin conservationist, from his 1949 book "A Sand County Almanac," about his time living in a shack in central Wisconsin and observing the land.
In one section of the book, Leopold recalls the moments after he shot a wolf as a young man working in Arizona. It shifted his world view, and in reading it, Jacob's as well.
"We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes," Leopold writes. "I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes -something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."
Jacob said he hopes that with the sustainability of a regenerative farm, the Marty family farm will have not only a seventh or maybe even eighth generation one day, but upwards of 12.
"My family has been here and a part of this community and the land itself. We need to take care of it all," Jacob said. "I'm lucky to be able to farm, able to work outside, feed people, have a good lifestyle and hopefully build something here and maintain something so that we can stay here for six more generations."