Heather Ainsley
news@greenepublishing.com
For Josie and Cole Bridges, farming has always been a part of life. As they both come from farming family backgrounds, it seemed only natural for this husband and wife duo to take on the family business and start a farm of their own. Cole's family has a background in row crop farming, cattle raising and vegetables. Josie's family was well-known in Monticello in the pecan business, and they also produced farm-fresh meats, selling their wares out of the historic Monticello Opera House building in a downstairs storefront. Although the Bridges have been privately farming for several years, they decided to make their farm an official business in October of 2020. Together, the Bridges manage an impressive 360 acre farm.
Josie's parents and grandparents grew up in the pecan business, and it is that same pecan farm that fuels one of the three main products the CB Family Farm currently produces: pecans. A little over 300 acres of the family farm is utilized as a pecan orchard, and when the season is right, the Bridges harvest, package and sell the buttery nuts to local buyers by the pound, in bulk or even in the form of candied or chocolate-covered delicacies. What they don't sell to local buyers in the community they sell to buyers online via their website, Cbfamilyfarms.com. After the pecans come back from the sheller, all orders are processed in-house by means of a specialty workshop that Josie maintains herself, filling orders and creating the nutty confections personally, ensuring that nothing but the top quality nuts are processed, packaged and sold.
Also produced on the CB Family Farm is hay. Since the orchards are only utilized for pecans during the pecan harvest season, the rest of the year they, in addition to several other fields, are used to grow hay. The grass is harvested, baled and either sold to local cattlemen and other farmers, or used right there on the farm to feed their herds of cattle. In addition to dry hay bales, the farm also produces something called “haylage.”
Haylage is hay that has been cut and wrapped while it is still wet, and has been carefully allowed to ferment. While both hay and haylage begin as the same forage, the storing process results in two very distinct products. Some may describe the difference as synonymous to sauerkraut to shredded cabbage, where both begin as the same thing, but due to the process of storage, the end results are very different.
Josie says during the summer, when the pecan trees are full of foliage, the fields do not get quite enough sunlight to allow the rye grass to dry enough to become regular hay. But, rather than let all that good forage go to waste, they cut it and store it wet to make haylage, which can be used to help keep their herd well-fed in the off-harvest seasons.
Haylage is considered to have a high feed value for hay-foraging livestock, and offers a great alternative to harvesting dry hay if harvesting conditions are less than ideal. Additionally, because grasses cut for haylage are often harvested earlier than they are for hay, the grass is often in a younger state of growth. This, coupled with the lack of nutrients lost in the drying process, results in haylage having greater nutrition than regular dry hay. While it should be fed in slightly higher quantities than hay (weight wise), to adjust for moisture content, good haylage is often more palatable for livestock, and is more digestible than hay, resulting in less waste at feed-out. The Bridges estimate that they bale approximately 7,500 bales of hay and haylage each year, using approximately 700 of those bales for their own herd.
In addition to harvesting and baling their own hay, the Bridges offer custom baling services to other local farmers, who may not have the equipment or ability to bale their hay fields themselves.
This service, along with Cole's custom fencing service, helps to cover the increasing expenses associated with running a farm. Even so, Cole admits, paying the bills is not always easy.
“One of the challenges of being a farmer,” says Cole, “is that you don't get paid enough. If I had to rely on just the cows and pecans to pay the bills, it wouldn't be possible, with the increase of fuel prices and the cost of fertilizer these past few years. Our custom hay and my job putting up fences has enabled us to keep up and stay in business. Even the pecans; it used to be you could make some money with them, but these days, it almost costs more to grow than you can sell them for.”
Aside from the difficulties in adjusting to the increasing cost of supplies and fuel, the Bridges are farmers at heart, and enjoy doing what they love.
“It's nice to be your own boss,” admits Josie. “You've got the freedom to choose when and how hard to work each day. You don't have someone calling you up and telling you to get out there in the fields at 8 a.m.” At this, the couple looked at one another and laughed heartily, joking about how they are out in the fields at 8 a.m. anyway.
Indeed, hard work comes in handy for the Bridges, who also produce a third product on their farm: beef. The CB Family Farm is home to over 150 cows, and takes great pride in maintaining the health and quality of their animals. Male cattle that are born on the farm are sold as either beef shares or retail, and female cattle that are born on the farm remain on the farm until they are old enough to be bred and become mothers themselves. All of the beef produced by the farm is sold whole, halved, quartered or as retail cuts.
“When you see your hard work come full circle, that's a great feeling,” says Josie, “We keep all the females, so to see a calf born as a female, and watch it grow to eventually become a mother itself, that's the best. Sort of seeing it all come together, from start to finish.”
As the Bridges offered a tour around their expansive farm, a surprise discovery was made in the calving pen. Any first-time expectant mothers are kept in a special field that enables the Bridges to keep a close eye on the birthing process. This allows them to step in swiftly in the event of a cow struggling with her pregnancy. As the UTV approached the field of new mothers and their calves, a small, black lump was spotted beside a cow, a brand new baby. Excitement rose between Cole and Josie, as they got closer to inspect their new addition.
“It's a girl!” Josie exclaimed happily. “This is what makes it all worth it, we love to see this! The mama was able to give birth on her own, unassisted, and this little calf will stay with us on the farm for her whole life, eventually becoming a mother herself.”
The calf was swiftly given an ear tag by Josie, and Cole offered comforting pats to the young cow as the mother looked on anxiously a few feet away. In no time at all, the wobbly baby was returned to her mother, who continued grooming her.
While raising their cows, the Bridges practice silviculture, which is a method of maintaining forested areas to increase the quality of the land. To do this, they allow their cows to graze in the rye grass fields that house the pecan orchards during the off-season. This maintains the health of the orchards and utilizes as much of the acreage as possible for multi-purpose farming.
The cows on the farm are well-socialized, and eagerly approach the sound of the UTV. Although the CB Family Farm does not currently offer farm tours or other agritourism activities, Josie says if any clients wanted to come out and see the farm, they were more than welcome to request a visit.
“Maybe we will do stuff like that in the future,” muses Josie, when asked about petting zoos and other agritourism activities. “We don't do the local Farm Tour or anything yet, but maybe down the road. It's kind of a rough time of the year for us, October. There's a lot to get done around that time. But, if anyone, especially clients, wanted to come and see the place and hear me rattle on about my cows, they are more than welcome!”
The Bridges also care for some animals recreationally, and keep several animals as pets. Their animal companions include two English Cocker Spaniels named Molly and Remi, two piglets named Pixie and Dixie, a cat named Belle, three goats named Pearl, August and Roxy, three donkeys, and a turkey named Jack. They live on the farm with their two children, four-years old Case and eight-years old Bailey Kate, both of whom are about to have birthdays. Josie and Cole have been married for 10 years, and are proud of their farm, which brings true meaning to the phrase “farm-to-table.” Whether it is through custom hay services, family-raised beef, or hand-packaged pecans, they are happy to uphold their motto at CB Family Farms: “From our fields to your plate,” providing top-notch, quality products to happy clients everywhere.
For more information or to view their catalog, visit Cbfamilyfarms.com or follow them on Facebook at CB Family farms LLC.