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?
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.
Family Bible– This is about a personal story I would like to share this Easter (Jesus’ Resurrection). My dad’s oldest sister is 102 years old and not as sharp as she once was even though she has the most content personality of anyone I’ve ever known in her limited condition. Recently her middle son, my 1st cousin, asked me if I would be interested in two Simmons Family Bibles – well of course, I replied. The oldest Bible goes back four generations and includes names, dates, etc. for birthdays, marriages, deaths. And the penmanship is amazing! The second Family Bible is two generations old and belonged to my dad’s parents.
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.
PLEASE NOTE- The market situation with eggs has softened and the $4 surcharge has been cancelled. Additionally, our new pullets have just started laying so we will soon have plenty of eggs. Many thanks for your understanding and support – we have the best customers!!! How We Bring Nutrient Density To Our Beef – Harry, a relatively new customer, picked up his first order at the Hattiesburg location March 1st. He had watched the new Joel Salatin documentary published by Angel Studios and was fascinated. Frankly, I think it is the best documentary of Polyface Farm I have seen as it filled in blanks from before Joel first started farming till now and HOW regenerative farming completely changed a once very degraded farm. Learn more here. Then, Harry visited me March 28th.
Brand New Services– About six weeks ago Dixie Electric Power installed a brand new electric line with poles down my road. They replaced the old copper lines with aluminum and the poles are much better quality and taller. I asked the district manager when was the old copper line installed and he said since electric service was available for us… so, maybe since the mid 1940’s? Then, this week our complete road was blacktopped!!! If you have visited our farm you know it was long overdue. For years it has been patched to the point where the patches had patches. Hahaha
New Calves On Our Farm– Sometime in April we call our vet and schedule a breeding soundness exam for our bulls. This is before we add our bulls to our cow herd May 1st each year. Our oldest bull, affectionately named “Ole Man” by the guys here, was born on our farm the Spring of 2016.
Pullets arrived March 1st– every 6 months we receive a fresh batch of pullets. This year we were not sure if our late February to early March batch would be available…even though we ordered them last September. However, mostly since we have done business with the same farmer since the Spring of 2017, he prioritized our order and delivered them March 1st. While the price was higher, I was braced for a much higher price. Our pullets are typically 17 weeks old when delivered. They will start laying at about 24 weeks. That means we should start seeing medium eggs by our May delivery dates. YEAH!
Interesting Egg Article– the price and availability of eggs is a hot topic as well as a solution. Industry and regulators (maybe also include media) would have you believe it is because of bird flu. But, is it bird flu OR some other agenda? Beth received a link to an article from Farm Action out of Mexico, MO who have sent a letter to the FTC and DOJ urging them to investigate and take action to restore competition and lower eggs prices. Key facts Farm Action quoted are: Key Pricing Facts:
NEW Egg Ordering Process – As you know, eggs are not only expensive, but are now being rationed by grocery stores. We have had our share of extra folks contacting us because our prices are lower than grocery stores. This reminds us of March 2020 when our freezer went from FULL to EMPTY before we knew what was happening. I would say 95% or more of those who first bought during Covid left when store shelves filled back up. We are NOT interested in customers shopping price, but only customers interested in our quality products.
This week the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association (APPPA) shared the USDA weekly disease update for Feb 4-10, 2025, a 4-day activity of exterminated chickens that is unnerving. During this timeframe 4.1 million chickens were exterminated. Most were egg layers and Ohio was the hardest hit. Here is the link that APPPA shared that tracks the outbreaks from the beginning - February 8th, 2022.
Compelling Purpose – "What gets you out of bed in the morning?" The answer is your purpose, and if you don't have a compelling reason or purpose, you're likely to burn out and or fail. A brief testimony- folks who knew me in high school or even while on active duty Air Force in Plattsburg, NY would not have thought I would have ever amounted to much in life. Additionally, I was one of those who had to really study to make decent grades - even in college. (I was always jealous of folks like the dietian student in Statistics class who never studied, but made straight "A's"). Thus, I found myself in the help labs often. What I did have was persistence and perserverence! Spend the time, do the work to understand and succeed.
Veteran Owned & Operated
