Jacob Springs Farm

Andre Houssney
Proposal to Lease
February 16, 2018

Aweida Property
Jacob Springs Farm Bid

Submittal Section
Note: I have tried to make the reading load
easier by highlighting in BLUE the sections
of repeated material from the main (Kolb)
bid, to save you time.
1.Please submit your name, email
address, mailing address, and phone
number.
Andre S. Houssney,

ahoussney@gmail.com, 7602 Arapahoe

Road, Boulder, CO 80303,
720-201-5725

2. Please describe the operation you propose for this property, with as much detail as
possible.

Overview
Jacob Springs Farm proposes to the Aweida property primarily to cut hay in support of our
ongoing grass-based, dairy program.

Less than 700 yards from our current base of operations, the Aweida property would give us
the opportunity to cut high quality, organically managed legume hay. Dairy quality hay is much
needed in our operation (we frequently feed dry legume hay to animals already on pasture as
well as during the winter months, dairy quality hay is very important to us).

This property, along with the Kolb and Swartz properties, fit very well into our overall strategy.

Each property fulfills a need for the farm - our desire would be to operate all three properties
and to set ourselves up for future growth.

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“In the loss of skill,
we lose
stewardship; in
losing stewardship
we lose fellowship;
we become
outcasts from the
great neighborhood
of Creation.
- Wendell Berry

Flexibility
We are very flexible to work with OSMP staff to devise a system that best helps to meet City of
Boulder land use goals. We are willing to cut out any program or aspect of this proposal that
staff does not prefer and add to it anything that would be beneficial.

We are committed to the highest possible standard of environmental stewardship and see ourselves as
determined to be an example in the community and to other farmers that meeting environmental goals
while succeeding at agriculture is not only possible, but preferable.

As a farm, we define a successful operation to be one that allows us to cover our costs and meet our
financial needs while resulting in a net increase of biodiversity and soil fertility on land that we manage.

3. Please include practices that conserve soil, water, and other resources.
We are committed to a “Beyond Organic” standard, our feeling is that the organic standard is
primarily concerned with prohibiting the worst practices of modern agriculture, where we would
like to focus on best practices. To that end we are open to staff suggestions and
experimentation around developing the highest possible standard. We do this because it’s an
important value that we have, but it’s also good business when marketing to our local
community, where Organic food and environmental conservation are high priorities for our
customers.

Although we are not opposed to the use of Organic approved, mined minerals such as Rock
phosphate, Potassium sulfate, Gypsum and the like, we generally prefer to use manure to gain
these nutrients in hay fields.

We do like to use beneficial insects and early cutting for dealing with insects such as alfalfa
weevil. Early cutting also contributes to higher quality hay (at the cost of quantity) and we
prefer that for our dairy cows anyway.

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4. Please describe your proposed Crop Production; e.g., crops raised, tillage, irrigation.

We propose to operate the Aweida property as a basic, organic dryland haying operation. With
our need for dairy-quality hay we would focusing on quality over quantity and controlling pests
by early cutting. Spreading our own organic manure for fertility.

Since the Alfalfa stand is fairly young, we would be watching carefully to ensure the health of
the stand, especially in drier periods and later cuttings.

Although we have planted Sainfoin in the past as a part of a mix, we do not have much
experience feeding a primarily Sainfoin hay to our cows, from our reading on the subject of it’s
palatability and nutrition as well as it’s beneficial properties for pollinators, we are excited to try
it. We observe that it seems to do well in this environment and it seems to be a good option for
a no-spray operation that favors quality over quantity. Since we are obsessive about the flavor
of our milk, we are looking forward to trying it for milking cows.

5. Please describe how and where you will market the products grown on the property.

Using and Marketing the Crops:

The majority of the high-quality alfalfa and sainfoin produced on this parcels would be used to
feed our own dairy cattle, who need quality hay such as this.

We have also had a number of positive interest from other people, such as Wimo Farm in
Berthoud and Golden Hoof about buying dairy-quality hay from us. If we have extra, we would
try to sell it to them.

6. Please describe any kind(s) of infrastructure improvement(s) that you envision for the 

property.

We do not anticipate needing any infrastructure improvements on this property.

7. Please submit other details of your management not included above.


None for this property

8. If you are currently involved in other agricultural enterprises, briefly describe the 

operation(s). Include general locations.

Zambia
My wife Vanee and I started a co-op of farmers in Zambia in 2004, Currently with 1,194 farmer
members we produce mainly certified Organic Honey and Beeswax as well as essential oil
crops for import to the USA. I also own two large farms in Zambia that were given to me by
local tribal kings. These farms are entirely managed by local staff and I am part owner in a third
commercial farm in Zambia. I typically visit the farms there once per year and the operations do
not require much of my attention because, after 14 years, their management is doing an
excellent job and I simply serve as a strategic consultant. I am very proud of our work there as

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our farmer’s co-op members have gone from an average household income of $75 per year to
nearly $2,000 (and out of poverty) and drastically reducing the damage to the forests (clear
cutting of the sensitive Miombo forest is nearly eliminated in our areas), proving that profitable,
environmentally sustainable organic farming models can work even in developing countries.

Wyoming
In 2014 we bought a small homestead farm in Wyoming which is currently being farmed by
tenants, they raise goats, chickens and pigs which are marketed there as well as here in
Boulder. This farm also serves as our US warehouse and distribution facility for the Zambian
agricultural products.

Consulting
As someone with a unique model of success in the difficult field of development agriculture, I’m
in demand as a consultant for agricultural projects in developing countries, I have kept my
travel limited, but do visit these types of projects from time to time. In the last year I’ve been
involved with livestock and concentrated fruit juice projects in Togo, and with Coconut oil and
essential oil production in Haiti.

9. How will the City of Boulder agricultural

land you are proposing to lease, fit in with
the rest of your operation?
We are desperate for more land. As a small
farm, marketing our grass-based dairy
products locally, we have been able to
survive on the small land base that we have
for 8 years. It’s impossible for us to grow to a
sustainable level, however, without more hay
fields and pastures.

Although we have all the equipment needed

to put up hay, we are bleeding money buying
hay from far away. Additionally, it’s difficult to find organic legume hay, something that we
would be able to grow ourselves. Our current business selling grass hay could be considerably
expanded, and would help to defray the costs of haying equipment and give us additional
income. The proximity of the Aweida property, as well as the Kolb and Swartz properties we are
bidding on, to our farmstead fits in very well with our operation. Our 6.5 acre farm headquarters
essentially has all the infrastructure to run a much larger farm (since it was once much larger
before fields were parceled off and sold) We are able to store equipment and a significant
amount of hay on our property, and we won’t tie up the roads much driving our equipment -
(entrance to entrance it’s less than 100 yards between our driveways & all three properties are
within 700 yards from our farm)

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As we anticipate increasing the scale of our haying operation, we are prepared to make some
major investments in haying equipment. In order to justify the purchase of this equipment, it’s
highly desirable for us to have access to as much hay ground as we can responsibly manage.
A winning bid for the Aweida property will help us to make a reasonable return on investment
for this equipment.

11. Please describe your agricultural background.

Background
I am a first-generation immigrant born during the civil war in Beirut, Lebanon. My family
immigrated to the Boulder area in the early 80’s when I was in grade school.

Coming from a war-torn country at first I did not adjust well to life in the United States, I found
a refuge in working on the Niebur farm (West of 75th and west of Dry Creek between Baseline
and Arapahoe) from a young age. Jay Niebur, who was the president of the Enterprise Ditch
Co. and a capable farmer and stockman, trained me in irrigation, training horses, operating
farm machinery and other farm skills starting in grade school. I fell in love with agriculture and
threw myself into it beginning to keep bees, chickens and goats of my own starting around 5th
grade and continuing until I graduated from High School.

I went to Douglass Elementary, Nevin Platt Junior High School (now middle school) and
graduated with honors from Fairview High School in 1996. Seeking out opportunities in
agriculture I won a full scholarship to Deep Springs College - a school with a huge BLM
allotment and a cattle herd. I completed my studies as a double major in Music and Civil
Engineering (Water Resource Management) at CU Boulder.

Prior to College, I also sought out opportunities on other farms around the world spending at
least 2 months on each of the several farms (list follows)

After College my wife Vanee and I became active in agriculture in the developing country of
Zambia - building an extensive farmers co-operative called “Sambah Naturals”

In 2010 we were able to buy our property, the old Condon/DeBaker place near Jacob’s corner
which we have operated as Jacob Springs Farm for 8 years.

Haying Capacity and Experience

Although we are currently only managing a modest amount of hay ground, we are experienced hay
operators going back to 1997 when Andre managed 160 acres of dairy quality alfalfa at Deep Springs
ranch near the California - Nevada border.

For the last several years we have been cutting hay on 35 acres off of South Boulder road for the last as
well as 6 acres off South Boulder road and a few other small properties. We currently have a full
compliment of haying equipment including a backup mower, however we stand ready to make
substantial investments in improved haying equipment with a successful bid for one or more City of
Boulder properties.

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Irrigation Experience
I first learned to irrigate in 4th grade working with my mentor, Jay Neighbor, who was also the
president of the Enterprise Ditch. I was so enthralled with water that I decided to make it the
focus of my college education, studying Water Resource Engineering at CU. Since then I have
designed and build several community irrigation projects in developing countries. I have been
the president of the Cottonwood Ditch company for the past 5 years.

Farms where I did internships:

The Thompson Dairy - Milking 250 cows near Ithaca, Upstate New York - 1 season

The Kennel Farm - 640 acres of corn, soy and cattle near Peoria Illinois - 2 months

La Ferme D’Aigrefoin - 25 acres of potatoes and cut flowers on a home for mentally
handicapped adults in Saint-Remy-Les-Chevreuse outside Paris, France - 2 months

Deep Springs farm and ranch Along with various part-time farm jobs and animal training gigs,
Andre spent 2 seasons on the Deep Springs farm and ranch with 600 head of cattle on
200,000 acres in Deep Springs California and Dyer Nevada - season one was on the general
farm crew with additional responsibility for 50 replacement heifers and 30-40 bulls. season
two Andre managed all aspects of producing 160 acres of Alfalfa, potato and onion fields and
was the student farm manager.

12. Please list the machinery and equipment needs for your planned operation on the
property and how you will meet those needs; e.g.: own, lease, borrow, hire custom, etc.

We own, (or plan to buy in the next 3 months) all the equipment we need for the basic
operation of the livestock, haying and cropland aspects of the farm. There are a few pieces that
we would like to buy in future years to enhance the operation, as well as to expand into small-
grains harvesting.

List of Jacob Springs Farm Equipment

General Equipment
• John Deere 1070 Tractor

• 2 F-350 flatbed trucks (with gooseneck hitch, 1 with 4WD)

• Clark plane loader all-terrain forklift

• Three-point mountable forklift (backup)

• 2 axle 16’ Flatbed hay trailer

• 3-point Backhoe attachment

• 3-point auger attachment with 8” and 10” augers

• Ditch Witch 36” self-propelled trencher

Hay Equipment

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• Massey-Ferguson 36 Self-propelled swather with draper heads and 14’ cutter bar

• Massey-Ferguson 7’ sickle bar mower (backup mower)

• New Holland 276 Hayliner small square baler

• 10’ side-delivery rake - brand unknown

• New Holland 1010 bale pickup/stack wagon

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Cropland Equipment
• 5’ seed drill - small grains - 7” row spacing

• Jang Clean precision seeder - 3-point mountable - 3 adjustable planting heads for seeding
veg crops.

• 5’ Tarter 3-point roto tiller

• Harrow - single point hitch

• 3-point mounted tool bar with a number of tools: deep rippers, spades, “goose foot”, beet
knives, etc

• Multiple moldboard plows

• Land leveler - single point hitch

• 2 hand-pushed small seeders

Livestock Equipment
• 18’ Gooseneck stock trailer

• approximately 20 livestock panels

• 2 Feeders

• 3 Solar electric fence energizers, thousands of feet of polytape, numerous stakes and 6
lengths of poly netting of calves and sheep/goats

• 2 220v Vacuum pump milking machines (8 cow/ time), 1 at our farm - 1 be installed at the
Hunter-Kolb

• 1 110v backup milking machine (2 cows / time) & a gas generator in case of power failure

• 8 bucket milking units, with pulsators

• 80 gallon bulk tank - refrigerated milk cooling unit

• 40 gallon milk cooling unit (backup)

• 100 lb ice making machine with generator (backup for emergency milk cooling)

We currently have a $75,000 budget to buy needed equipment and additional stock. With a
successful bid we plan to, at minimum, buy an additional tractor (large, with bale spikes and
forks), an additional swather, a manure spreader, and upgrade our small-square baler.

Also on our wishlist if the right opportunity presents itself, we will buy a round baler, a disc and
a small trial-plot combine.

We also have an agreement from two local farmers to borrow their tillage equipment when we
need it and their haying equipment as a backup in case of mechanical failure during the haying
season, both of these operations use their haying equipment only lightly and they would be
willing to lend the equipment in trade for a portion of the hay crop. This allows us to be
confident that we can get the hay put up in a timely way even under worst-case conditions.

13. Describe how you will meet the labor demands for the proposed operation. Are you
involved in your agricultural enterprises on a full-time basis? If not, what percentage of
your time is dedicated to agricultural pursuits? 

I’m full time on the farm as is Aaron. We currently also have 2, fully-paid, part-time farm interns

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This should be adequate to manage the work however we are in a position to be able to hire
labor as needed to supplement.
14. Amount bid for the property, either cash rent or per ton of hay and/or AUM 

Our bid is $40 per acre for the Aweida property. Ability to meet financial demands: The total
annual amount bid for all three properties is less than what we spent on hay last year. These
properties will provide more than enough hay to replace what we bought.
Please provide personal references that are familiar with your agricultural experience. If
you are currently leasing agricultural land, one of your references must be the owner.
Matt Carlson; Senior Pastor of Boulder Valley Christian Church - 303-895-1867
We cut hay and graze cattle on 30 acres of the church’s property off South Boulder Road
Ruthie Niebur; Landowner Boulder County - 303-358-6347 Ruthie’s late husband Jay was my mentor
Scott Ascherman; Landowner, Jefferson County - 303-818-7894
We have grazed cattle on Scott’s land in Jefferson county and co-operated on other agricultural projects

Name: Andre Houssney Date: February 16, 2018




Email address and Phone #: ahoussney@gmail.com, 720-201-5725