'Students study my business model': how an immigrant from Russia created a successful farm in the USA

Oksana Bocharova is a professional agronomist and American farmer. In the USA, she realized her dream and started produce organic products in the state of Maryland. Oksana plans to open a restaurant on her farm for outgoing dinners. She told her story Voice of America.

Photo: video frame VOA

Our farm is located in Maryland, our small town is called Chestertown. Farming in the USA is a way of life for a person. Besides, this is also a business. When we have a farm, we not only grow something: we sell it, advertise it, that is, practically, it is the same business as any other.

Farming is very hard work. Being a farmer on a small farm like mine, where you are physically involved, is difficult, especially in our temperature and humidity. Thinking through and planning time is the key to my success.

Photo: video frame VOA

The entire territory is 6,5 acres (2,6 hectares). I produce environmentally friendly products, we do not use any chemical fertilizers, only biological ones. Our greenhouses are not glass, but film, they are not heated. The purpose of such structures is to extend the season. In our state, I will have vegetables growing in a greenhouse in the winter: I can harvest something and have an income.

Photo: video frame VOA

None of us ever dreamed of emigrating and that we would end up here and land. Everything was a matter of chance and circumstances, I didn’t think or dream then. I was born in the Belgorod region, in the village of Tomarovka - the former Soviet Union, now the Russian Federation. The love for agriculture, I think and feel, was instilled in me by my father. Dad worked in agriculture all his life and often took me with him in the evenings when he went to look at the crops. It seemed to me that he was doing something important and interesting. And I always wanted to do the same. When I grew up a little, the question of choosing a profession did not exist for me.

When I announced that I would go to study at the agricultural institute, which has always been unprestigious and still remains, my parents were shocked. Especially when I said that I would study to be an agronomist - this was considered a male profession. But I wanted it - and I did it.

Photo: video frame VOA

My husband and I came to America in 1999. Reason: We needed to improve our financial situation at home a little. After college, we decided that we knew and could do everything, and decided to start individual farming. We tried for 7 years and nothing worked, we got to the point where we had nothing to live on. We came under the International Dairy Farming Program - under this program, people were placed on dairy farms, we had to work and thus gain experience in how milk production was carried out. We were paid $700 a month: at that time it was just a lot of money. By that time we already had two children, we had no time for jokes and had to think about how to raise them, how to feed them.

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We were first placed on a dairy farm in Wisconsin for 8 months, then transferred to Minnesota. We understood, of course, that we wouldn’t work there all our lives - because I’m not a livestock breeder and I never wanted that. Plus, it's very cold in Minnesota; you had to go outside at 3 o'clock in the morning when there was knee-deep snow, and before you got to the calf, you had to clear the snow before you could go and feed it. We started thinking about what else to do.

Photo: video frame VOA

We found work here in Maryland, not far from where I have my farm now. My husband Peter was hired to work as a general manager, he worked for two years and decided to go to Russia and stayed there. And the children and I stayed here. With a program that is developed by the US government that helps people like me buy land: socially disadvantaged people, women, beginning farmers - people who don't have the means to get money from a regular bank. This had to be proven: bring a document from the bank, which would say that I would not receive a loan there, so I could qualify for this program.

The maximum that could be taken was 300 thousand dollars. It was necessary to have more money to show in your business plan that there are funds for the purchase of a tractor, a car for transportation and trips to the market, and so on. 3-4 of the year, I saved money before everything came true. In 2013, I was able to buy a piece of land.

Photo: video frame VOA

To be successful, you need to have your own markets - sales channels. For me, it's farmers markets, it's a CSA (community support program for farming). This program was simply created by some Americans who decided that they wanted to give money to the farmer directly, supporting him. So during the winter people pay me for the season, but my responsibility is to provide them with a box of fresh vegetables every week. Our program lasts 24 weeks, from May to October. We don't deliver vegetables to everyone's home. I find some points where we deliver several boxes at once, and people just come and pick them up.

Photo: video frame VOA

What matters to me is what I produce. Quality products are the first thing we do here. When I first started, all the work was on me. Naturally, there were no such volumes. Now I have 5 seasonal assistants.

That year, when I bought the farm, I started souring cabbage and exporting it to the market. It began to give me some kind of income. The people liked it. I started with ordinary Russian cabbage, then I started adding spices, making kimchi. Now I have in the production of 9 different dairy products and 4-5 just pickled with vinegar.

Photo: video frame VOA

In order to be licensed to sell pickled foods, in Maryland you must rent a commercial kitchen with a license to serve people. At first, it was just me who was doing it, then my friends began to help, then sales went on, I started hiring people and it became easier. Almost everything we produce is sold within a week. We pack up what we produced last week, and produce what we pack up next.

One day I was sitting, looking at my house and thinking: there are 4 bedrooms here, I live here alone. Is it possible to make this house also generate income? Immediately I met a friend who said that she had started Airbnb. At first I thought that no one would come to our zone. She advised me to try it, suggesting that I would be pleasantly surprised. I posted an ad for one bedroom - and the first year I was booked for the entire season on weekends. This was another way to earn extra income.

Photo: video frame VOA

We have chickens - this is only the second year we've had them, and this year there are 142 of them. Last year we bought 50 to try. Eggs started to sell well. There are few good quality eggs on the market, they are always in short supply and there is a great demand.

Photo: video frame VOA

My son comes to help with the markets - we have two big market days on Saturday and Sunday. We bring our products to Annapolis, where they already know us and have their own customers. This market is created only for producers: here you are not allowed to sell anything that you have not produced yourself. There is a commission that goes and checks this. Before I was allowed here, they came to see me and see if I really did this myself.

Photo: video frame VOA

From time to time I receive requests from young farmers to show me how and what I do - my business model. For example, today a group from a local college is visiting. Their manager finds my production a suitable model to show them. I am always happy to meet them and tell them what I do. We farmers must be open to them, we must tell and teach. I had a case when a girl saw that we were digging potatoes and asked in amazement: “Does it really grow in the ground?” So I always try to show and tell so that people understand where what they eat comes from.

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Photo: video frame VOA

I think my farm is special. This is a small farm that generates income. This is a profitable farm. It is very important for me to show that a family who wants to live on a small plot and raise their children can be successful and make money. But not everything in life is measured by money; there are other benefits to living on a farm.

Children help me physically and mentally. I have a dream that, I hope, we will realize already with my children.

Photo: video frame VOA

The dream is to create catering dinners on our farm, a small seasonal restaurant that will be different from others. What’s in the garden today will be on the menu. Everything will be very simple: a set lunch from what we collected today.

Photo: video frame VOA

I was lucky in life: I never doubted which profession I wanted to choose, and never in my life I was disappointed in it, I did not look for myself in other industries. I understood that it was mine, I want it and will continue to do it.

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