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The Art of Science

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

August 26, 2018

Farm Update –
Inventory control is one farm principle we use at the farm. Inventory is rotated to insure the oldest cuts are sold first (First-in First-out). Our freezer is separated by beef, pork, and chicken. And then by cut within beef, etc. Boxes from the processor are marked with the cut & date so we can easily keep this straight. After our monthly deliveries are made I organize the remaining stock and take an inventory that is then updated on my website. We want our inventory to be accurate to insure you are not shorted at delivery. Then, when you place an order, our website allocates inventory to your order and takes in out of available inventory for sale.

The Art of Science - when in school science was not a favorite subject for me and really does not come easy. At the GrassFed Exchange Conference this year we heard from a very interesting scientist named Jonathan Lundgren, Ph.D.

Dr. Lundgren is an agroecologist, Director ECDYSIS Foundation, and CEO for Blue Dasher Farm. He received his PhD in Entomology from the University of Illinois in 2004, and was a top scientist with USDA-ARS for 11 years. Lundgren received the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering by the White House. Lundgren has served as an advisor for national grant panels and regulatory agencies on pesticide and GM crop risk assessments. Lundgren has written 107 peer-reviewed journal articles, authored the book “Relationships of Natural Enemies and Non-prey Foods”, and has received more than $3.4 million in grants.

During his early years with USDA-ARS he practiced "industrial" agriculture. Then, he visited a regenerative farm that mimic's natural ecosystems and was amazed at the difference. It challenged his science! So, he started studying these natural systems and writing about them. He quickly received pressure from "Big Ag" and was eventually forced to leave USDA-ARS. One of the slides he used at the conference said:

Science is Manipulated
The Tobacco industry helped revolutionize the art of obscuring data-driven discussions

1. Obscure inconvenient studies
2. Discredit and intimidate inconvenient scientists

Bottom line is the Big Ag machine went after Dr. Lundgren because he challenged the status quo that would affect their pocket book. Note that the Big Ag machine is driven by Corporations but includes government, politicians, insurance companies, lobbyist, etc. or basically anyone that benefits from the sale of convention or industrial agriculture.

After leaving USDA-ARS Dr. Lundgrne started Blue Dasher Farms and has trained 5 post-docs and 12 graduate students from around the world. One of his priorities is to make science applicable to end-users, and he regularly interacts with the public and farmers regarding pest and farm management and insect biology. Lundgren’s research and education programs focus on assessing the ecological risk of pest management strategies and developing long-term solutions for sustainable food systems. His ecological research focuses heavily on conserving healthy biological communities within agroecosystems by reducing disturbance and increasing biodiversity within cropland.

Customer Feedback-
"I picked up our first order of beef on May 30, 2018. I have cooked two pounds of ground beef and one two-pound sirloin tip roast. This is the best beef I have ever eaten! Excellent flavor and melt in your mouth tender. My husband grew up on a cattle ranch in Kansas and he is also very impressed with your beef. We will not hesitate to purchase again and highly recommend to anyone considering purchasing from you. Looking forward to also purchasing chicken and pork.." ~Cindy

Quote Worth Re-Quoting – “Your body is equipped with powerful healing mechanisms that will typically self-correct most health problems, if you provide it with the nutrients it was designed for and requires”. Dr. Joseph Mercola

As always, thank you for supporting our regenerative, local farm.
Ben & Beth

More from the blog

Small Farm Republic

Pasture Talk With Our Cows– Tuesday morning I was out checking on our cows and took the opportunity to record a short 2-minute story about the time I saved the life of one of the “pet” cows Number 608. Click to watch here. Small Farm Republic- is a book written by John Klar. A former attorney who contracted Lyme disease, John now farms in Vermont. I spent much of last weekend reading his book. He is very pro-small farms and presented a lot of evidence to support his position. On page 77 he makes a comparison to the number of farms and farmers during the Great Depression versus today. During the Great Depression the American population was 100 million. According to USDA charts

What If Pigs Could Talk

Well, at Nature's Gourmet Farm our pigs may not speak English, but their body language sure says a lot. Notice our pigs! See how content they are napping - they would say how nice the morning is and glad to enjoy the shade in our natural environment. The soft dirt is so relaxing. We have heard that some pigs live in cramped and confined spaces on hard concrete. Why would any farmer treat their pigs like that?

Farm Happenings!

Celebrity Visitor – Tuesday afternoon I had the opportunity to meet one of the nicest guys here on our farm. CJ called me about ten days earlier to ask if he could come and see our farm. Seems his family owns a farm near Bassfield, MS and they were needing to make some changes. As you know, I’m eager to help anyone who would like to farm as Mississippi certainly needs more folks raising food to feed our communities – and since he was interested in Regenerative Pasture Raised animals that was even better.