The early morning sunlight was just beginning to dry the dew off the field grass when Julie Slezak stepped onto the front porch of her Clarksville home to begin her day.

With her one-year-old son Carl tucked safely into a play pen, she slipped on a pair of knee-high green rubber boots and trekked into her front yard to tend to the goats, cows, sheep, chickens and puppies that constitute her family's farm.

For the next hour, Slezak roamed through muck and weeds with puppies chasing her heels as she completed just a few of her daily chores: refreshing the animals' hay, putting the sheep out to pasture, collecting the speckled-brown eggs laid by her chickens. She completed each task with ease, as though she had spent her life on a farm.

But she and her husband never fathomed the idea of being farmers until recently.

"Our first year touching an animal was two years ago," she said. "We learned this all from a book."

Just a few years ago, Slezak and her husband, Scott Slezak, were pursuing master's degrees at The University of Chicago to be research scientists. They spent five years in the shadow of Chicago, living in the city and the suburbs and had planned on spending at least a few more years there.

But when Julie began to have health problems and was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, the Slezaks rethought their plans for the future.

"We had to carefully control her diet for her to be healthy, so we started hunting out suppliers of high-quality food," Scott Slezak said. "As we started doing that, we thought 'Oh, wouldn't it be fun to grow that ourselves?'"

After exploring their options for farming and running a small business, the Slezaks bought a 33-acre plot in western Michigan and within two years were making a name for themselves selling their beef, pork, chicken and free-range eggs, which are laid by chickens that are not kept in a coop.

"We just jumped in and said, 'Let's do it,'" Scott Slezak said. "So, here we are."

But the Slezaks aren't the only ones putting stock in the idea of small-scale farms. MSU experts in agricultural economics said although the number of mid-sized farms in Michigan has decreased during the past five years, the amount of small farms such as the Slezaks' are on the rise.

"Statistically, around the state, small farms have been steady to growing for some time," said Bill Steenwyk, Ionia County Extension Director for MSU Extension. "Likewise, much larger family farms have also been growing. It is that midsize enterprise that has been on the decline."

Steenwyk said many people who try their hand at small-scale farming are successful by carving out a market niche. He said it's not an easy task, but some farmers can develop a loyal customer base by catering to their specific dietary needs or lifestyles - often by focusing on a few specialized products or by offering organic or natural food alternatives.

"They've found someone who will buy their (product) and they're not dependent solely on the summertime farmer's market or hoping that one of the major chains will buy their product," he said. "It's no cake walk."

According to a report by Michigan Agricultural Statistics, the number of small-sized farms with annual product values between $1,000 and $9,999 increased statewide by 2,700 farms between 1999 and 2003. Large-scale farms valued at $500,000 or more increased by 100 farms.

But during that same period, the number of mid-sized farms, categorized with annual product values between $10,000 and $499,999, decreased by a total of 2,300 farms.

State agricultural experts said much of this data is still being analyzed to determine the causes behind the decline in such farms. Some cited the growing expenses of labor and land, while others said age is a factor.

"We have fewer younger people going into farming," said Dave Kleweno, director of Michigan Agricultural Statistics. "There's fewer of them going in compared to the older people that are probably retiring."

The average age of Michigan farmers increased from 52.8 to 54.2 years old between 1997 and 2002. About 14 percent of farmers in the state are older than 70, while farmers that are 35 and under only encompass 6 percent of the state's farming population.

At 28 and 30 respectively, Scott and Julie Slezak are part of this minority.

The Slezaks were aware when they started their farm that they would have some competition from other niche farmers, but it didn't deter them from pursuing their enterprise.

"I do consider us a part of that trend," Scott Slezak said. "There's a big market for this stuff. It's not being served."

The Slezaks consider their niche to be grass-based agriculture. They allow their livestock to graze in large, grassy fields, claiming that the lack of grain from the animals' diet makes for better tasting, healthier meat. Although they don't label their products as "organic," the Slezaks adhere to raising their livestock naturally, without hormones or antibiotics and without using pesticides in their fields.

In addition to boarding goats and producing wool, meat, eggs and honey, they plan to grow organic fruit and eventually develop a cidery, a winery and a meadery - where honey is made into alcoholic drinks.

"We're trying to find ways to stack enterprises on the same land rather than buy more," Scott Slezak said.

But success for small farmers doesn't just come from diversifying projects and appealing to niche markets. According to the Slezaks and agricultural experts, smart marketing is just as important.

"One thing that is not to be underestimated is word of mouth," Scott Slezak said. "People who like that type of food tend to know people who also like that food."

The Slezaks leave business cards at local health-food stores, are liberal with free samples at farmer's' markets and make sure to consume their own products. But they said their best-selling point, next to the quality of their products, is their excitement to produce them.

"I can't sell something I'm not passionate about," Scott Slezak said. "As time goes by and I see more and more demand for our products, I feel more confident that we're going to succeed."

Emily Bingham is The State News projects reporter. She can be reached at binghame@msu.edu