On the idyllic rolling hills of south-central Virginia, David and Janet Benson are in the second act of their farming career, having ceased running a 110-cow dairy five years ago.
Now they focus all their attention on 600 acres of row crops and hay while maintaining a 65-head cattle herd from which they are increasingly selling high-quality beef direct to customers.
“You don’t understand until you’ve been through it,” says David of the actual sale of the dairy herd they’d been tending for 26 years. “It’s like you empty yourself out, and that’s a hard thing to grab hold of. We both wanted to make the move, but it was not easy.”
Janet weighed in. “Both our kids got married that summer (2017) and after that I was tired. The dairy was all I knew all day, every day. In town, literally nobody knew me.”
Don’t think the Bensons weren’t worried about the loss of the regular cash flow that a dairy supplies.
“It’s scary,” David says. “It still is and we’re five years removed. We’re making it okay but there are so many variables out of our control.”
Conservation: the key to their evolution
Big believers in the use of cover crops and conservation, all 600 acres of the Benson’s farm feature either cover crops or crop residue year-round, and they’ve been named, among other things, a Conservation Friendly Farmer by the Piedmont Soil & Water Conservation District. All waterways on their land feature generous buffers into which cattle can’t venture.
Of the 600 acres they farm, they own nearly 350 acres, and most of that is in a conservation easement with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. The easement means those acres can never be developed for anything beyond agriculture. Additionally, the donors can take a tax deduction up to 50% of their annual income. Qualifying farmers and ranchers, though, can deduct up to 100% of their income and the tax deduction can be carried forward up to 15 years.
The value of their easement was helped by the fact that three neighbors with adjoining land were also using conservation easements.
“The easement is even more desirable to the groups protecting land if the farms are touching,” Janet says. “Our two kids were excited about our easement as it protects the land for the future and allows for splitting the land for heirs.” As it is, son Rick Benson operates Buckrub Taxidermy from a shop located on the farm. Daughter Rebecca Carr works in the office at their New Holland dealer, Crewe Tractor.
Farm to fork
The Bensons recently greeted their first grandchildren. The additional mouths to feed will likely benefit from the Benson’s burgeoning business selling freezer beef, whole or half cows, direct to consumers.
Originally the business, Mountain View Farm, focused on having beef butchered and cuts USDA certified that could then be sold from their farm.
The COVID-19 pandemic, according to David, changed that practice. While the pandemic was generally a boon to businesses selling products like beef direct to consumers, the problem was that many people tried getting into the act. The quality of the meat from hobbyists wasn’t always good.
Now, the Bensons rely mostly on repeat customers chomping at the bit to get their pasture-raised animals.
“As soon as Janet posts any availability online, we have callbacks,” says David. “Now we are selling whole and half animals while they are still on the hoof.” The Bensons deliver the animal to the processor where customers can then pick up their beef.
“Customers can even come to the farm and pick out which animal they want when the time comes,” says David. In 2021, they sold 16 head this way and sold more than 20 in 2022. So instead of selling fed calves at a traditional market for about $1,200, they are now getting $2,200.
“It costs us more for the processing but the decision to sell this way is a no-brainer.”
During a tour of their farm, one sees the fruits of David and Janet’s labor including numerous trees planted along with shelter and buffer strips. Upland water stations for cattle. Wheat stubble fills in between the rows of growing soybeans. Water lovers, the Bensons built a pond on their land complete with a picnic shelter and a 100-foot water slide. They host an annual community picnic there.
At the 10-acre pond, one can only imagine fishing for brim and bass off the pier or sliding down the almost unsettlingly steep water slide.
Learning new tricks
David Benson was initially hesitant to buy a tractor featuring a suite of new technologies to which he and Janet would have to adjust. Such was the case with the New Holland T5.140.
“I was excited but reluctant,” says Benson, who already owned several New Holland tractors. Then they purchased the T5.
“Now I wish all my tractors had Auto Command™ continuously variaable transmission (CVT),” David says. “Everything about it is so smooth and gradual. Just use the Sidewinder™ console to push the speed up or down. This transmission makes the tractor. Our land is rolling and hilly, and you can stop, slow down and reverse with¬out any slippage. You never touch the clutch and brake. It is just phenomenal.”
When David started farming in 1997, he inherited nothing but equipment of a certain green color from his father-in-law and was perfectly happy to do so. A color shift began, though, in 2009 when a mower broke down while cut¬ting hay on the weekend. Their regular dealership was closed with no hope of service until Monday.
On an off-chance, Benson called the New Holland dealer in nearby Crewe, Virginia.
“I had a new mower on the farm within two hours,” he says.
Within a couple of years the Bensons purchased more New Holland equipment. Eventually, the Bensons needed a new tractor and priced a New Holland T5 Series model. Turns out the quote was considerably less than at the “other” dealer. “The relationship took off at that point,” David says.