Click photo to enlarge
From left, Gabriel Bratcher and Robert Hammet display a pair of chickens from their growing flock.

Happiness is a satisfied stomach.

That's paraphrasing, but it's essentially the gist of a 1943 theory by psychologist Abraham Maslow, who proposed a hierarchy of needs in his paper, "A Theory of Human Motivation."

Maslow created five categories in a pyramidal assembly towards happiness. At the top was self-actualization, encompassing morality, creativity and acceptance of facts. Below it was self-esteem, love, security and finally, food and other basic necessities.

Without the basics, the fundamental level of happiness, humans would not progress as a society, Maslow proposed.

Nowadays, it seems that too many people aren't as happy as they should be.

There are an estimated 20,454 people in Lincoln County, according to the 2011 U.S. Census. Of those, 12.4 percent are reported at being below the poverty level - more than 200 people. That means they have to save on gas, which seems to cost more every month, ease off on the utilities and cut down on the grocery bills, also affected by the increasingly uncertain economy.

For a pair of Lincoln County residents, it means now's a good time to think about helping out your neighbors.

Specifically, they mean to start a co-op farming and ranching program.

But Gabriel Bratcher and Robert Hammet don't plan on just giving out food. They'll provide the land, the facilities, the water and all the help you need to get going, but this is a program about self-reliance and empowerment.


"It's started by one person, but if people are willing to get into this, put forth time, equipment, anything and expand this, it will get to the point where it's decided by the public how it goes, because they're making it work," Hammet said. "It's not about making a check, it's about the actual food itself, where they can share the food or get involved to get cheaper, healthier food. It's being facilitated by us, but we are willing to do this - that's what Public Farms is about, expanding this into a public, sustainable food source instead of just our food source."

Love of the land

Hammet's ranch, the A Bar D, which is about 160 acres in the Capitan Gap, has been in the family since 1902. He was raised there. His grandfather died there in the middle of a day of work, happy until the last. He wants to raise his children there.

And a ranch is meant to be used, he said.

"I came back from Colorado and the land was a bit neglected," he said, understating some of the difficulties he faced in cleaning and restoring the facilities. But he kept at it, and has been working it ever since.

"When you're a younger kid, a teenager, you wander," he said. "But the commitment came back to me."

Then Bratcher pitched his idea - Public Farms.

"Public Farms is a concept we believe should be a part of the state, or at the city level, where the public owns their own food source or has the option of buying organic food - you know where it's grown, rather than going to Walmart or somewhere, you really don't know where it comes from," Bratcher said. "I observe government, I observe politics, and I see a lot of the faults and the failings of our people and our government. If we don't sustain ourselves, nobody's going to do it for us. What we intend to do is use (Hammet's) land as a grounds for reproduction - renewable food sources such as chickens, rabbits, fish, cows or any type of plants."

Co-op participants would purchase their own livestock or seeds for planting on the land, and ideally, all participants would help each other reach harvest season - maybe swapping a weekend of weeding for a few days of feeding their chickens. Extra product that goes above and beyond the first goal of feeding the families could go towards one of the local farmers markets, providing additional revenues, he said.

"We have a little bit, but it's just us two," Hammet said. "It's doable - the food source is there, it will expand, as in livestock, and the water's there. That's probably the most crucial part - we have clean water."

The duo envision, at max capacity, between 40-60 acres as prime agricultural land, hosting a mixture of open fields, hydroponic greenhouses and room for flocks of chickens and warrens of rabbits. The remaining acres could be used to run about 100 head of cattle, about 60 more than what Hammet's currently running, Bratcher said.

"Say somebody had some cows and they're losing their land, just to have the renewable food source, I would keep their cattle for them," Hammet said. "That goes for everything. That's the actual idea behind it - helping people sustain their own food."

Planting a seed

But for now, the idea is still in its infancy. They've put in about $5,000 of their own money, along with countless hours under the sun, to get it started, but they want to see if the interest is there before moving further and looking for monetary donations, Bratcher said.

But they have gotten donations that are "worth more than money," Hammet said. "We've had donations from a few of our friends in man hours, just donate them to us to work. It's very few, but it means a lot. When somebody's offering their time, it means a lot more than money."

Common Ground, a non-profit organization based in Ruidoso, already had lined up to help provide volunteers to maintain the farms, Bratcher added.

Anyone willing to pitch in at the ground floor, particularly those with some tools or equipment to lend for a day (particularly an ATV to help with leveling the fields), would be ideal, he said.

Bratcher added that if the interest was there, if area residents wanted to get on board and use this free land to farm for themselves, he would be looking at establishing the group as an official 501-C3 non-profit group. That would mean they could more easily receive financial donations or seek grants to grow the program - something he was eager to see.

"The biggest thing is for us, ourselves, to set an example," he said. "This is not going to be free, but it will compensate your food needs. In the long run, it will be free, but first people have to put forth their time, their money and their space. We need a public response to see if it will even be able to happen here."

If another landowner wanted to get involved, or even if they were only looking to grow some crops for themselves, Bratcher said he and Hammet would be happy to help, donating time, labor and knowledge to their neighbors.

"I don't want to control it after it gets big, it's for the public," he said.

They'll provide the forum for communication and mutual aid, along with the place to start - "you'll make it work," he said.

Bratcher said they aim to be ready by the early summer and, hopefully, help the first co-op farmers get going. In the next month the chicken coops will expand, more fencing will go up, rabbits will arrive and the first greenhouse will be raised.

For it to go any further, they need help.

But actions speak louder than words, he said. "If you have any doubts about us, or just want to see what we're about, come out and work a day with us."

For those interested in participating, volunteering, donating or learning, Bratcher and Hammet can be reached at P.O. Box 1313 in Capitan, 88316, or on Facebook. Just look for 'public farms' or type it out longhand -!/pages/Public-farms/495938870430579?fref=ts