15th National Small Farm Trade Show —
From green
eggs as art to pigs with wattles
Story by
Katie Maupin, photos by Jamie Floyd, posted Nov. 7, 2007
The
15th National Small Farm Trade Show and Conference was held
Nov. 1-3 at the Boone County Fairgrounds.
The
event was coordinated by Ron Macher of Small Farm Today magazine,
and it featured more than 80 exhibits as well as various seminars,
forums and demonstrations.
The
event catered to small farmers interested in self-sustaining
agriculture and included many rare livestock breeds displays,
such as red wattle hogs, Jacob sheep, Norwegian Fjord horses
and both Dexter and miniature Hereford cattle. More traditional
farming enterprises were also at the show.
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Art and Vera Gelder of Walk-About Acres had various honey products for sale including honey sticks, honey ice cream, and honey candles.
Antonio Lema of St. Louis displays alpaca weavings imported from his home country of Ecuador. |
From
weavings from Ecuador to honeybees from Boone County, the
15th National Small Farm Trade Show and Conference had it
all.
Among
the hordes of exhibitors, there was a man surrounded by large
green eggs, but this was not Dr. Seuss’ “Sam I
Am.” Instead, it was MU College of Agriculture, Food
and Natural Resources alumnus Chuck De Courley.
De
Courley has carved emu eggs for nearly 10 years. He got started
carving eggs after he began raising emus in 1994. Sadly, this
past summer he was forced to disperse his emus due to health
reasons. But De Courley isn’t worried because he has
more than 500 eggs stored away, which is more than enough
to keep him carving for a long time.
Each
egg can take anywhere from 10 to 40 hours just to carve, not
including preparation time.
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Chuck De Courley proudly displays a work of art in progress at the 15th National Small Farm Trade Show and Conference. |
Before
De Courley can even begin carving, he must first clean out
the inside of the egg and coat the interior of the egg with
several layers of glue to help strengthen it. Next, using
water-soluble glue, he glues his selected pattern onto the
outside of the egg and carves the basic outline into the surface.
Then,
he is free to use his imagination. The emu egg consists of
three main layers: the dark green outer layer, the middle
layer that is an aqua color and the inside pearly white layer.
By using these layers, De Courley makes the shading on his
intricate designs.
“I
just let the egg talk to me,” he said.
When
he is finished carving, he carefully coats each egg with clear
acrylic spray to protect it from the elements.
One
of De Courley’s carved eggs can cost anywhere from $150
to $350. He figures his prices by charging $10 for every hour
he spends working on the egg.
Another
interesting character in attendance at the trade show was
Marian Van Beever of Five Pond Farms. Van Beever and her husband
raise endangered breeds of livestock in Thomasville, Mo.
“I
never thought about livestock being endangered,” she
said.
But
the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy is working to protect
more than 150 livestock breeds from extinction. Of these 150
breeds, Van Beever raises four of them, including red wattle
hogs, Dexter cattle, Navajo-Churro sheep and American chinchilla
rabbits.
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Red Wattle hogs are one of the rare breeds of livestock raised by Marian and Erik Van Be ever at Five Ponds Farm in Thomasville, Mo. |
“Instead
of just raising animals, we wanted to raise animals that would
help with a cause,” she said.
While
Van Beever’s goal is to save the breed, she would like
to make some money doing it. Interestingly enough, rare breeds
of livestock have drawn much interest, creating its own niche
market. She has had inquiries about her red wattle hogs from
as far away as Oregon and Maine.
Currently,
the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy classifies rare
breeds into four categories. Critical is the most endangered
with less than 200 registered animals in the U.S. If there
are fewer than 1,000 registered animals in the U.S., the breed
is classified as threatened. Watch is the least endangered,
having less than 2,500 registered animals in the U.S., and
the final category, recovering, is set aside for breeds that
were once listed but now have greater than 2,500 registered
animals in the U.S.
