Restock Dates: Please see our Farm Blog where we post our weekly newsletter for the latest updates

Egg Update | Farm Storm

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

September 9, 2024

Good morning from your Farmer(s),

Contents:

  1. 1. Egg Update
  2. 2. Farm Storm Aug. 16, 2024
  3. 3. Your Upcoming Order Deadline | Pickup Date
  4. 4. Product Availability Update


EGG UPDATE: We never really know just how much our customers appreciate our eggs until they are in short supply! Thursday, a young lady from Columbia called because our eggs were out of stock at Corner Market. Every week she drives to Hattiesburg to buy our eggs for her Grandmother who only eats our eggs. WOW.

Yep! Our eggs are in short supply right now. Most of the issue is caused by the July & August heat (especially at night where they did not get much relief). The heat has caused them to either stop laying or not lay as often. Basically, we are getting about 40% of the eggs we should. The size of the eggs have also shrunk.

In one day we lost about 150 hens from the heat. Even with plenty of shade and fresh water.

Our priority is to give preference to our farm store customers. We have determined the average sales in eggs (not considering size) and will have stockpile to meet that demand. Any extra will go to our wholesale customers.

Good news is the heat wave has broken and cooler temperatures are in store – does not mean we have seen the last of some 90 degree days, but hopefully the 100+ days are over for 2024.

Additionally, we have ordered and will take delivery of new pullets on September 14th. They typically need 6 weeks before they start laying. So, supply should improve soon.

We have also decided to change the day eggs are added to our store FROM Wednesday TO Tuesday because too many folks miss getting their eggs when the window is only Wednesday evening. Hopefully, this will help.

FARM STORM: Excessive heat can also cause powerful storms. That was the case at the farm Friday evening, August 16th. The radar showed a small band of storms over our area. With it came straight-line winds from the West, a lot of lightning, and some rain (we received about 1.5 inches).

Lightning caused our biggest lost as two calves from our WY cows were lying under an oak tree when lightning struck the tree and also killed both calves.

We also lost a number of trees with the high winds. The largest one was 45 inches in diameter. This is in addition to the dozen or so lost last year from the drought.

Here is a picture of this tree:

Oak-Tree.jpg


The last item destroyed was Beth’s greenhouse. The wind caught it just right to pick it up (mostly) and move it near to where my truck is parked. This picture was taken Saturday morning after the storm and as we were getting ready to load for our Jackson Metro Route.

Green-House.jpg


Otherwise, the broiler chickens, hens, pigs, and cows are all doing great.

** Product Availability Update **

NOTE: Restocks are made about 6 PM on the dates indicated below!

Chicken -Restocked August 28th. Next Restock is September 11th
.
Turkey - Sold Out! New poults arrived, but will be months before ready. Demand popped and I dropped the ball on this one.

Eggs - Restock each (NOW) TUESDAY PRIOR to YOUR delivery date. With the extended heat, eggs have become VERY tight again.

Beef -Next Restock September 20th. Half Beef shares have been added to our store for orders. Planning for a September 17th harvest.

Pork - Next Restock fresh cuts September 11th. Cured items about September 23rd. Restocked Sausages late last week.

Lamb - Restocked Wednesday July 31st.

More from the blog

Half/Whole Beef Orders | Part 2 w/ Dr. Casey Means

Half/Whole Beef Orders: Beef sales this year have been outstanding. Especially our half/whole custom beef orders. Frankly, we have had to outsource the processing to Homestead because at this time we don’t have the capacity to handle the increased volume. This has also let us increase the quantity of cuts that we sell through our website. We are planning ONE more harvest of seven beef (14 halves) for 2024. The harvest date will be November 5th. That will give the processor time to complete your order where you can pickup before your Thanksgiving holiday. If you are interested then you need to email me ASAP as we already have folks on the wait list. Here is a link to helpful Ordering Tips.

Farm Updates | Hurricane Francine

Hurricane Francine: After much hype, Hurricane Francine turned out to be mostly a non-event here at the farm. In fact, the storm I wrote about last week was much worse than Francine. We mostly had limbs to pick up and clear from fences. We were very thankful for the 3.5 inches of rain as well as the number of folks who checked in on us. FARM UPDATES: 1. Our new pullets we have ordered are on schedule for delivery on September 14th. They typically need 6 weeks before they start laying. So, supply should improve soon. 2. Last week 71% of the people receiving our Newsletter clicked to open.