On a frigid Sunday afternoon in January, Matt Vermeersch’s phone rang. He pulled the phone from his pocket as the wind howled outside.
The call was from Dallas.
“Another spam call,” he sighed, shoving his phone back into his pocket.
But the mysterious caller left a voicemail.
“My name is Maggie McQuown, and I have 175 acres in Red Oak, Iowa, that I'm transitioning from cropland to pasture. I have no heirs and am looking to bring a young farm family on as tenants to steward my land into the future. Give me a call back if you’d be interested in something like that,” the voicemail said.
Vermeersch shot his wife, Jocelyn, an intrigued — but skeptical — glance.
“You’re not going to believe this,” Vermeersch laughed. “Either the spammers are getting really good, or we just won the lottery.”
Hope and Highlands
Today, about two-thirds of Iowa farmland owners are 65 or older.
“The next 20 years of farm transitions will really define the culture of rural Iowa and rural America,” said Martha McFarland, farmland transition manager at Practical Farmers of Iowa. “All farmers are feeling pressure to farm more acres to stay competitive, inevitably leading to fewer families per square mile.”
McFarland has played a role in dozens of farm transitions to both family and nonfamily heirs. She said many of the beginning farmers she advises are interested in growing local food.
“Finding 10 acres to grow vegetables or 50 acres to graze livestock is a much more reasonable proposition than buying 1,000 acres and a half-million-dollar combine,” McFarland said. “It’s still challenging, but doable with Iowa land prices.”
At the time of McQuown’s call, the Vermeersch family was living in Council Bluffs with a 5-acre farm and a small goat herd. Expansion seemed impossible with neighboring land selling for $25,000 per acre.
So, Vermeersch got crafty.
He became a Goats on the Go affiliate, renting his goats to neighbors, municipalities and organizations in need of clearing inaccessible patches of land. In exchange, he had space to graze and an alternate income source, multiplying his goat herd from 10 to 200 head.
Soon, he got the itch to add more livestock to the farm. Vermeersch thought buying cattle to directly market beef would offer the best return.
He opted for Scottish Highlands because they thrive on the less-than-optimal forages he had access to, such as smaller patches of grass, brush, forbs and small trees.
Highlands also provided the marketing advantage Vermeersch was looking for to break into the health foods market.
“There’s undoubtedly a movement of people caring about the land and about where their food comes from,” he said. “Highlands help us stand out as a heritage breed with a dense nutrient profile and low fat content.”
Vermeersch secured contracts selling beef cuts, hides and horns through two health food markets in the Omaha, Neb., area.
But his life changed when he got involved in Practical Farmers of Iowa.
Vermeersch started attending PFI events, where he had a realization: For him, growth may look different than he initially thought.
The road to Red Oak
Halfway across the country and over two decades prior, McQuown had a realization of her own. Life had taken her far beyond the borders of her family’s farm in Red Oak, Iowa, and she spent years participating in high-profile marketing and consulting gigs in New York, Chicago and Dallas.
“I was going over an interstate interchange and thought, ‘If I just drove over the edge of this, what difference would I have made in the world?’” McQuown said. “At that moment, I knew I needed to get out of corporate America.”
Her mother had passed away in 2008, and the family Century Farm had been divided among McQuown and her three siblings. Around the same time, McQuown was diagnosed with facial and cervical dystonia, resulting in painful, involuntary muscle spasms exacerbated by stress.
Something needed to change, and soon. McQuown and her husband, Steve Turman, decided that a quaint retirement to the rolling hills of Red Oak was just what the doctor ordered.
But the farm was different now, with bigger machines, more chemicals, fewer crops and not an animal in sight.
“The farm looked nothing like it did when I grew up here,” McQuown said. “I knew the farm was in trouble.”
Frustrated with the limitations and lack of diversity of conventional corn and soybean production, McQuown and Turman set their sights on regenerative practices and soil health. The pair began growing and selling produce; installing a riparian buffer along the farm’s creek; and planting cover crops, pollinator plots and prairie strips. They also added solar panels and built an energy-efficient Passivhaus to reduce the farm’s carbon footprint.
But in 2022, at age 70, McQuown and Turman knew it was time for an even greater change. This one was more sentimental — and more permanent.
“We realized that while we still had some energy, good health and ability, we needed to start the farm transition,” McQuown said.
Succession decisions needed to be made. Like any good business owner, McQuown considered all options: bringing on relatives, donating the farm to charity, turning it into a regenerative ag learning farm and seeking a long-term nonfamily farm steward.
One thing was certain: McQuown didn’t want the farm sold to just anyone.
“I’m the fourth generation, and I have no kids,” she said. “Realizing it's not going to a fifth generation of my family is tough. I went through a long period of detaching myself from the emotional aspect of my farm being a legacy farm.”
McQuown’s involvement in PFI finalized her decision to seek out a young farm family with similar values to gradually assume stewardship of the farm. After a year of searching and one false start, a PFI staffer suggested McQuown call the Vermeersch family.
So, on Jan. 29, 2023, Maggie McQuown left Matt Vermeersch the voicemail that would change the trajectory of his life.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Trust in transition
The next Saturday, the Vermeersches drove to Red Oak to see the farm and the town. The following week, McQuown and Turman visited the Vermeersch farm. From there, McQuown, Turman and the Vermeersch family began discussing values and business goals to gauge if it was a good match. And by December, the Vermeersches moved from their Council Bluffs home to McQuown’s family farmhouse.
“We would have been crazy to say no,” Vermeersch said. “But it still took a leap of faith to uproot life as we knew it and move 60 miles from our family, friends and support system.”
McQuown said the arrangement is far from the typical renter-landlord relationship.
“I view it as more of a work for learning or sharing collaboration,” she said. “I have more control of my legacy that way. Many transitions don't do a good job with trust, planning and communication, but we’re prioritizing all three.”
The first year, Vermeersch rented 60 acres of the 175-acre property, while the previous renter finished their grain lease.
The next year, Vermeersch rented the entire farm and converted the row crop operation into cool- and warm-season cover crops to rotationally graze their 50 Highlands, 80 sheep and 200 chickens. He’s continued to directly market beef, and he now sells whole chickens and eggs. Next year, Vermeersch hopes to add more retail partners, plus outlets to directly sell lamb.
Vermeersch’s marketing strategy is simple: Be good to the land, offer good products, tell a good story, and good people will follow.
“We don’t use fancy buzzwords like ‘sustainable’ or ‘regenerative,’” said Vermeersch, who largely uses social media to connect with consumers. “We’re just totally transparent about what we do, what we raise and who we are.”
Decisions are in the works on how to ensure a long-term stake in the farm for the Vermeersches, considering the implications of land price to buy in or stepped-up basis from inheritance tax.
“I know Matt and Jocelyn share my values, and at the end of the day, that’s most important,” McQuown said. “This is a complex, yet worthwhile, business deal. A well-planned land transition is worth its weight in gold — or in this case, irreplaceable, healthy Iowa soil.”
Making the connection
McFarland said the biggest determinant of a successful match is that the landowner and land seeker share similar values, just like McQuown and Vermeersch. She recommended these considerations for a successful land transition:
Identify a long-term vision for the land. For the landowner, what enterprises are most important to continue? For the land seeker, what does your dream farm look like?
Consider the goal of the farm transition. For the landowner, do you want to support a beginning farmer, give the next generation a comfortable inheritance or give a charitable contribution? For the land seeker, do you want to buy, rent or partner on a farm?
Recognize what income and expense is realistic. For the landowner, what is needed for a successful retirement? For the land seeker, what can you afford?
Make a business plan. For the landowner, what opportunities exist for the next generation to slowly buy in and make decisions? For the land seeker, what skill and experience do you have? How will your enterprise be successful?
Spread the word far and wide. Reach out to land navigators like McFarland, complete an Iowa land-listing profile at aglinkservices.com, tell friends and neighbors, and post intentions in a local newspaper.
“Farm transition can really be a needle in a haystack, matching the right age, geography and enterprise,” McFarland said. “Sometimes, the best match is someone right in your backyard.”
For more about PFI’s land match program, visit practicalfarmers.org/programs/landowners/land-matching.
Why there’s a direct-to-consumer conundrum
Kurt Rosentrater, Iowa State University sustainable agriculture program chair, said market access, pricing premiums, labor and risk management are all important factors when considering direct-to-consumer food production.
“It's a lifestyle, but it's also a business,” Rosentrater said. “We want what’s best for the environment, while also making enough profit to stay afloat.”
New markets mean new risk, since Iowa’s agricultural system is largely built for growing conventional corn and soybeans.
“Diversification is a vital tool to mitigate risk,” Rosentrater said. “Adding livestock to a system benefits the land far beyond manure generation. It’s diversification and synergy between animals and nature.”
Rosentrater said success in the direct-to-consumer space largely means thinking outside the box, as well as cultivating connections with consumers at farmers markets, on social media or through internet sales.
“There’s far more of a marketing element when raising sustainable, local food,” Rosentrater said. “People are eager to hear your farm’s story. What’s your history? Why don’t you use chemicals and fertilizers? What is a heritage breed?”