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Hen's Arrived

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

April 16, 2017

Sales Update –

FRESH CHICKEN - our first batch of broilers will be processed this Friday and available for pickup Saturday morning in Hattiesburg. Any not sold as fresh will be added to our website. If you have not reserved your chicken now is the time. Simply email me at sales@naturesgourmetfarm.com with how many you want. You can pickup at the farm Friday afternoon or at the Forrest County Multi-Purpose Center Saturday morning from 8:30 - 10:00.

BEEF - we have a good bit of steaks and roast but not the ground needed to make our typical bundles. So, for A LIMITED TIME we will sell individual steaks and roast from our website. We will deliver to pickup locations or you can pickup at the farm BY APPOINTMENT - just let us know. Price will be by the pound.

Maybe you have been wanting to try our beef or skeptical about our new processor. This would be an excellent opportunity to see for yourself.

I should have items added by Tuesday.

We are out of ground beef. More should be available by the end of May.

Farm Activities – as you know, we are adding eggs to our farm. When you listen to the folks who are farming successfully several key points are brought out. First, diversity in forages regenerates soil health and second is diversity in animals. Two basics for regenerative agriculture. This was a strong factor in choosing to add hens.

After 4-months of research, planning, and preparing our hens arrived Thursday afternoon. We were very pleased with how well they made the trip and how easy going they are. Lauren is preparing a short video of the process that should be available this next week.

I've started planting our summer annuals into the pastures and will continue early next week. I really like to bring the cows in and graze the forage down and then plant the next seasons pasture crop.

More from the blog

Farm & Market Updates

Market Update – Our farm objective is to raise nutrient dense meats without all the chemicals, vaccines, hormones, and etc. And be able to provide them to a community of families at a reasonable price. We measure success based on pounds sold verses dollars earned. Current beef prices are making that harder to accomplish as families seek options to reduce their food bills. I know we have not passed along the full impact of higher prices to our customers which means we are not making as much as before nor are we selling as much beef.

Beef Pricing Update & Sausage

Beef Pricing Update – Beef prices continue to increase and hit a new All-Time high AGAIN last week. This week, the Chief Production Officer (CPO) for JBS Meats (one of the four largest beef packers) stated that prices will remain high for at least the next two years. His rationale was the low cow herd numbers, little to no indication farmers/ranchers are retaining females to grow their herds (at these high prices they are taking the money now while it is there); when females are being retained it will take over 2.5 years before a calf will be ready for harvest (9-month gestation + about 24 months old at harvest). Lastly, consumer demand remains strong.

Taste Test

Greetings Ben and Beth, I'm really looking forward to my next order pick up. I'm trying to improve my cholesterol numbers, thus eating more chicken, and ran out of your chicken products. I ended up buying some industrially produced chicken, and man was that a mistake! It smelled terrible raw, also while it was being sauteed, and also later when I reheated it to put into an otherwise healthy salad. I have enough of this subpar stuff to last until I pick my order, but I don't think I can ever buy this CAFO stuff again.