Beginning Farmer Spotlight

Sep 17

Hi! I’m Rebecca Corazzin-McMahan, co-founder of MC2 Farm in Perry, Kansas, established in 2019. We are a working farm on 40 acres. I was raised on this land more than 30 years ago. After life took me to the East Coast for nearly 10 years, I wanted nothing more than to come home and start a farm. I wanted to offer farm experience to people who might not have the space or means to do it all alone. I wanted a space where a person could get dirt under their nails and fresh air on their face. I wasn’t allowed to have horses or cows on this land growing up. I wasn’t a 4H kid and we didn’t have the FFA at school.

I have a habit of doing things the hard way first and that’s just what we did. We are a blended family that decided we wanted to provide healthy, affordable food to our community and be more self-sustaining. However, we made this decision later in life and the learning curve is steep. Fast forward a few years and we made this dream a reality or at least a good work in process.

As a first-generation farmer, I had a LOT to learn. Thank goodness for the power of Google, some amazing farm friends on Facebook, K-State’s educational resources and vet on-call line, Heroes to Hives (Michigan State University), and S.A.V.E! My husband retired from the Army, so I searched for military-friendly agricultural information, that’s where the last two resources come in.

We currently care for 49 chickens, 11 head of cattle, 12 honeybee hives across 3 counties in northeast Kansas, 4 dogs, 3 horses, 3 pigs, a garden, and day jobs. We offer hands-on beekeeping experiences, farm tours, and educational presentation, we rent our chicken plucker, and sell seasoned manure, wildflower bouquets, seasonal vegetables, jams, jellies, salsa, honey, eggs, sides of beef. Our current project is with Natural Resources Conservation Servies as part of the USDA for a high tunnel. Our new garden space will more than triple with this 30x48 structure. Most importantly, I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I can’t express how fulfilled and tired we are most days in the summer. From sunkissed tans to sore backs, every moment working the land makes it worth it. My very favorite part is animal husbandry.

This year we had 5 cows pregnant and were blessed with twins. We didn’t have any supplies for the one twin that was orphaned by the mother. Nobody anticipates a seasoned cow to walk away from a baby, but nature has a way of knowing things we don’t. I called a neighbor for a bottle and colostrum while my husband ran to the farm store for milk replacer and more bottles. I lugged this 50-pound baby covered in flies and afterbirth up the hill while the Calvary was coming with the UTV. I looked like a nervous new mom; all wide-eyed, smiling ear to ear, and giving off nervous vibes but we did it. She made it. The baby is a thriving heifer calf 3 months later and being shown for 4H by our grandkids.

My best advice is to work your way up to your dreams. Start where you are: plan where you want to go. Talk to someone who already has a homestead, the animals, or the garden you think you’d like to have. Budget for the time the farm needs; it will always need more time than you expect. It’s difficult not to want to rush headlong into doing everything all at once. I get it because I wanted to as well, but that’s the best way to burnout and feel like a failure. I often get calls to help rehome animals that didn’t have the infrastructure to be housed properly.

We started with an unkept parcel of land that hadn’t been touched by a diligent hand in over 40 years. We needed fencing, infrastructure, a tractor, and lots of time to work on our plan. We started with building our home while raising chickens, horses, and cows. We are still adding every year. We plan to add sheep in 2025 to start our rotation grazing plan.

Connect to Rebeccca and follow Mc2 Farm at Facebook.com/Mc2Farm