Poultry Your Way - Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems ...

FARM PROFILE • Organic
Sleeping Cat Organic Farm
The Desenses were interviewed in the spring/summer of 2004. Tragically, Ron died unexpectedly
in the fall of 2004. His wife, Mindy, and sons, Arthur and Derek, graciously agreed to include the
profile about their farm.
Background
“My family moved to this farm in 1924,” said Ron Desens, a tall, slender man who spoke as quickly as he worked.
Ron said they farmed “the old-fashioned way” until the 1950s when they switched to chemical agriculture. He
moved away after high school, but when his father retired from farming in 1980, Ron and his wife, Mindy, returned.
“When we came back to the farm, we noticed that conventional farming was creating an enormous amount of
soil erosion,” Ron said. The Desenses live in a region with rolling hills and silt-loam soil, a landscape susceptible
to soil loss. They decided they would either farm in a manner good for their land or get out of farming altogether.
In 1983, they converted to organic farming. Ron said that since
converting the farm to organic production, he has noticed an
improvement in the quality of the soil. “There’s no more erosion,”
he states. He has a few minor problems with cattle paths, “but it’s
nothing that can’t be solved.”
Ron, Mindy, and their sons, Arthur, age 24, and Derek, age 22, all
contribute to the farm. Ron and Arthur handle farm operations,
with Derek, a senior at the University of Minnesota-Morris, helping
on weekends when he’s available. Mindy also runs a travel agency,
and both Ron and Mindy work night shifts at homes for the
developmentally disabled. Ron figures that about a third of their
income comes from the farm with the remainder coming from
their off-farm jobs. Their off-farm jobs also provide important
health insurance benefits.
Cornish Cross broilers on pasture.
Ron, Mindy, Arthur and Derrick Desens, Sleeping Cat Organic Farm
Litchfield, Minnesota
Ron and Arthur Desens.
Organic production
Although they began with mostly laying hens, for the past few years, they have
slowly been building up broiler production. The Desenses use a standard breed
of broiler, the Cornish Cross, but Arthur feels their broilers are “somewhat unique
in that we don’t butcher until 13 weeks of age. The result is chicken that is
leaner with more texture. It’s a roaster, not a fryer.” One might assume these
chickens would be huge after this much time, but “they’re only about three to
five pounds. If you give them room and restrict their feed, they will grow slower
and remain much more active,” Arthur said. The Desens have had good results
from this method of raising chickens. Arthur states, “No leg problems and no
instant heart attacks. If you give this breed unlimited access to feed, they’ll eat
continuously, become lethargic, and some percentage of them will drop over
dead.”
The Desenses use a day-range pasture production model for both their broilers
and laying hens. The layers are in a shelter on skids that gets pulled with a
tractor every three to five days; the broiler pens are moved daily. “We don’t go
through the hassle of constructing a fence around the coop—we let them run
completely free,” Arthur said. The broilers cover a smaller radius around
the coop than layers. Arthur said, “The bulk of the chickens range from 50 to
100 feet from the coop. There are some that range 500 or more feet from the
coop, which is pretty remarkable!”
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MANAGEMENT
ALTERNATIVES