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What Would You Tell Politicians About MAHA?

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

April 14, 2025

Contents:

  1. 1. What would I tell politicians about MAHA
  2. 2. Product Availability Update

What would I tell politicians about MAHA– This week Joel Salatin’s lunatic farmer musing was titled Organic Dependency.

The gist of the article was about all of the organic | sustainable | regenerative | ecological farming organizations screaming that Trump’s budget cuts through the USDA will hurt their business….no more free hoop houses and such.

I understand the solution may not be as simple as I make it out to be, but my number ONE position is that any law, regulation, funding, education, academic studies, etc. should be equal regardless if you farm conventionally | organic | sustainable | regenerative | or, ecological.

For example: If the USDA says a small farm can raise and sell 20,000 broilers per year into commerce, then states should not be able to limit that to anything less. The same with Sunn Hemp – a great soil builder and forage for livestock.

The USDA says Sunn Hemp is great, but MS law (probably due to control of the Seed Growers Association & proxies) says it is a noxious weed.

I am all for initial support for new farmers. America and especially Mississippi desperately need more younger folks who want to farm.

But, there should be a dollar and time limit and if they quit then they should repay taxpayer's money.

Consumers should get used to higher food quality and prices. Today, a conventional farmer earns about $0.09 of every food dollar spent in America. In America we spend the least per capita on food and the most on healthcare.

Subsidies are a crutch and crop insurance props up reckless risk! Wow, did I really say that?

Frankly, our farmers should be among our finest and brightest – and be compensated accordingly. Not like Ed Bruce’s song title “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys…make ‘em be doctors and lawyers and such.

Another example would be raw milk. Raw milk was made illegal initially because of poor farm and processing practices – I.E. not raising the cows out on pasture where they could graze, manure, etc. onto the land vs. locked inside a barn that bred rodents, bacteria, viruses, etc. that then infected their milk.

If a farm wants to sell via herdshare, Great. If another farm prefers to sell into commerce, Great. Basically, we should encourage folks to farm vs. legalizing them out of business.

We should be encouraging thousands more small farms vs. propping up large conventional farms that puts our food supply chain at risk when things happen – and things do and will happen. If a small farm goes out of business then there are others nearby to take up the slack. But let a major farm go out of business, and then there are shortages and higher prices.

Bottom line – level the playing field for farmers and let the consumer choose!

Lastly, Joel writes: “The first restaurant I supplied with eggs in the early 1970s when I was a teenager was owned and operated by a Greek family with a wonderful sense of humor. They had a big sign hanging behind the cash register: A GOOD MONKEY IS A MONKEY THAT DOESN'T MONKEY WITH OTHER MONKEYS' MONKEY. Now that, folks, is as succinct an adaptation of the Golden Rule as any I've seen.”

What would YOU tell politicians about MAHA!

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** Product Availability Update **

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

Chicken - Restocked April 9th. Next Restock will be April 23rd

Turkey - Hatchery cannot provide this year. Developing a new plan.


Eggs - Restock each (NOW) TUESDAY PRIOR to YOUR delivery date. PLEASE NOTE- Egg surcharge has been cancelled


Beef - Restocked March 25th. Next Restock will be April 20th. IF you are interested in a Half or Whole beef, please place your order at this link. We are planning for May 7th harvest.

Pork – Restocked April 9th. Cured items April 23rd. Next Restock will be May 14th. IF you are interested in a Half or Whole pig, please place your order at this link. We are planning for May 7th harvest.

Lamb - Restocked March 14th and March 27th, just in time for Easter. Next Restock will be September 2025.

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.