What do you get when you mix a 27-year-old who loves to cook and was educated in philosophy with a love of the outdoors ? You get a fulltime young farmer with some big plans that , with the help of the Natural Resources Conservation Service ( NRCS ), are coming to life .
Making the Most of It
What do you get when you mix a 27-year-old who loves to cook and was educated in philosophy with a love of the outdoors ? You get a fulltime young farmer with some big plans that , with the help of the Natural Resources Conservation Service ( NRCS ), are coming to life .
Tabby Bennett
Mike Kwasniewski , along with his family , farms 480 acres in Randolph County , where you ’ ll see cattle , field crops , poultry , produce , honeybees , and a breathtaking view that is picture-book worthy .
How did a young farmer like Mike become so involved in only four complete growing seasons ? Multiple conservation programs through the NRCS helped fund and design the programs on the Kwasniewski ’ s farm , and made Mike ’ s goals a quick reality .
When the Kwasniewskis bought one of their two farms , the barns on the property were in dire need of repair . The roofs were on the verge of collapse , and needed to be addressed quickly , along with other structural and aesthetic issues . “ We needed to fix the barns , or we would have lost them ,” said Pam Kwasniewski . By using NRCS funds to pay for conservation improvements on the farm , the family concentrated their own funds on the barn repairs .
Currently , the Kwasniewskis are involved in three types of NRCS programs : Environmental
16 West Virginia Farm Bureau News