Charles Beetch is a CCOF Future Organic Farmers Grantee.
Charles Beetch is a student in the Organic Vegetable Farm Manager Apprenticeship at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and FairShare CSA Coalition, where he has spent the last two seasons growing organic vegetables to feed the local community. “Supplying the people around me with fresh and nutritious produce is important and provides me with a sense of purpose,” he says. “In the future, I want to continue being a leader and driving our organic vegetable production to be of high quality.”
As Beetch works and studies, he pursues his passion of being a good steward of the land, observing the native flora and fauna, and providing habitat within a shared ecosystem. He builds soil health through organic matter amendments, crop rotations, cover cropping, and periods of fallow rest. He prides himself on adapting to a changing environment and selecting seeds that provide the best yields and disease resistances for his specific location. “Keeping in tune to the agrarian rhythm steadily keeps me moving forward.” It’s a phrase borrowed from another apprentice, Susanna.
As part of his educational program, Beetch is learning how to operate a successful organic vegetable farm. From creating a business plan and mission statements, to developing markets, record keeping, and employee management, he balances the business side of his work with learning new agrarian skills.
Looking to the future, Beetch says, “I would like to learn and practice more agroforestry to expand into nut and fruit products. I would also like to learn and practice animal husbandry to provide grazing and fertility back to the land, and also maintaining vegetation growth amongst the trees and pasture land. I want to share my experiences and teach others what I have learned and spread the knowledge to more interested people to continue growing the organic movement.”
The CCOF Foundation is proud to support producers like Charles Beetch with the Future Organic Farmers grant, which gives $5,000 scholarships to college and vocational students training for careers in organic agriculture.
If you would like to contribute to the success of Future Organic Farmers grantees like Charles Beetch, please contact the CCOF Foundation’s Donor Relations Manager Shawna Rodgers, srodgers@ccof.org to learn more.