Seven Seeds Farm sells organic, grassfed beef, as well as pastured pork and organic, pastured chickens and turkeys. They also grow food-grade grains. “We definitely don’t make the most money, so it isn’t about money,” Dolan said. “It’s mainly about raising my family on the land and treating the land right.”

That’s why they choose a managed grazing model. It’s a way to make sure their animals thrive, and their soil remains healthy. It also takes a lot of work.

Managed grazing requires frequent, labor-intensive movement of livestock on pasture. “Right now, my wife and I are managing the turkeys on pasture, and then she helps with moving the steers at the home farm here,” Dolan said. “We probably have five different groups of cattle out on pasture, between rented pastures and such, so it gets to be driving around quite a bit right now, just to check on everything.”

The Dolans are using federal conservation funding through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to expand managed grazing on 65 acres with new fencing. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) allocated almost $20 billion for conservation projects like this on farms across the nation.

“I was sick of the chemicals that were being sprayed on the land, literally right across from my house, and having no control over it,” Dolan said. “So now that we control the land, we can farm it the way we want to, with no chemicals, and preserve the soil nutrients. It’s kind of been a passion project, obviously, and having seven generations behind me doesn’t hurt one bit.”

The first generation of the family on this farm came from Norway to the Driftless Area of southwest Wisconsin. Glaciers never flattened this land, but for millennia, water has scoured deep valleys and left high ridges like the one where the Dolans farm, near Gov. Dodge State Park between Dodgeville and Spring Green.

Michael and Frank’s mother Lea Dolan-Stroncek and stepfather Greg Stroncek fostered the farm’s “regeneration” after grandmother Louise Erpenbach quit dairy and leased the land out for conventional crops. Lea and Greg moved from the Madison area and bought 14 Murray Grey cattle, a herd that has grown to 300 under the care of Frank, Michael, and Michael’s wife Chloe Dolan.

 Grandma Louise also contributes to Seven Seeds’ success. “We have sort of a community living situation, where we all have dinner together,” said Dolan. “My parents, my grandma and my two kids, and my wife all live on the farm currently, so we work together as a community to get stuff done.” 

Since graduating college in May, brother Frank can usually be found feeding or managing stock. “He’s usually on an implement,” Dolan said. “And he has tremendous fence-building skills.”

The Dolans sell wholesale to restaurants and other Wisconsin outlets. They deliver and have an on-farm store in the converted dairy barn. Much of the business is selling wholes, halves, and quarters of an animal to thrifty consumers who want to know where their meat is coming from. “A lot of our customers aren’t the wealthiest,” Michael said. “A lot of people who care about food often are budgeting for this.”

Seven Seeds is continuing to grow. As beginning farmers, Michael and Chloe were able to use a Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan to attain good financing rates for the purchase of 65 acres that will be converted to organic hay and feed for their pigs and poultry. They’ve also applied for NRCS funding to transition an additional 100 acres adjacent to the Savanna Institute Demonstration Farm.

The Dolans’ reputation for land stewardship has helped their farm’s growth, as they find farm landowners who share their values. “When I first started, I had a really hard time gaining access to land,” Michael said. “Landowners have seen how we treat the land and what we do differently to the land. That’s how we’ve been able to grow.”

The Dolans are rooted in a region that Michael believes is well-situated for the climate fluctuations of the future. “Everybody needs food in the future, and we’re seeing people being displaced by climate change right now,” he said. “They need somewhere to go, and they need people to feed them.”

Michael and Chloe’s kids are now three years and eight months old. As the eighth generation on this farm, they’ll inherit a long legacy of stewardship, as well as the business savvy to navigate a shifting agricultural landscape in the Driftless Area. “That’s always been our goal. To feed our family, our extended family, and the community.” Perhaps one day, they’ll be putting up a new sign: Eight Seeds Farm.