As you know, we had a glitch in our email service a few weeks ago that prevented our weekly newsletter from delivering to your inbox. Based on results from last weeks mailing, it appears the issue has been corrected as the open rate was back in the mid-60% range. Just so you know, our newsletter is also posted to our website's Farm Blog each weekend. Last Saturday Ocean Springs received the rain we need here on the farm. As a farmer,
Good Morning and hello from your farmer, First, let me give a BIG Shout Out to our Madison pickup location. Our Madison customers set a new record for the number of orders this month at 34 families served and also led the month with the most orders per pickup location. Many thanks to ALL customers for your faithful business & support of our farm. So, what could have been devastating? Saturday, as we rounded the last curve before arriving back at the farm I looked back to the North and saw smoke!
A few weeks ago our farm newsletter was titled "What Is Too Big"? The basic theme is my belief that food security and farmer profitability, service, etc. is found in many, many small family-size farms than in a few mega farms. For the farmer and consumer, the cost of production is also less. To explain, let me use meat chickens as an example. White Oak Pastures for years have said they lose money on chickens. They have an on-farm USDA processing plant
Many customers have asked how the animals are doing in this heat! Really, I think they do better than humans. After all, they are outside in the elements regardless what the conditions happen to be. We work in the heat, but live in the air conditioning.... makes a difference. That said, we certainly take the heat affects seriously. Some of the extra things we are doing include:
Last week I updated our use of compost extract on our forages and the positive impact we are starting to see. Compost Extract improves soil health by balancing the biology (living organisms) in the soil that are responsible for nutrient transfer from the soil to plants - among many other things. Compost extract is used in place of chemical fertilizers. Healthy soil is responsible for healthy plants. That was last week's story!
As you know, our cows, pigs, chickens, and hens all live on pasture where they receive nutrition from the plants, Vitamin D from sunshine, and plenty of fresh air. So, that being the case, it is critical that our pastures provide quality nutrition to grow healthy animals - that means NO chemicals. Regenerating soil is not an easy thing to do. There is always more to learn. For example, last Spring is when I learned about the importance of soil biology and the role they play in making minerals available in a form a plant can use. The learning came from a special soil test called PLFA that identifies the type of biology and overall percentage of each type in your soil. My soil showed heavy concentrations of bacteria and little fungi & protozoa. That means the biology was out of balance and was not able to make nutrients available to the plants.
Last week we shared thoughts on What Is To Big? Meaning, when does a farm become to big that it no longer integrates within the community where it resides. One of the indicators I consider is the number of full time employees. Once a farm (or any business) has more than five FTE employees it adds more government requirements to operate. Which shows up in prices charged to consumers. From a farm perspective, I think about how resilient is the farm. This was a major point in Joel Salatin's key note address at the American
In 2014 an investigative reporter by the name of Christopher Leonard published his book titled "The Meat Racket" The Secret Takeover of America's Food Business. Most of his book focuses on Tyson. However, they developed the model that all integrators (meat packers) use today. In Chapter 2 he tells the story of John Tyson as a young married man living with his parents in MO when the Great Depression hit and how his Dad basically told him he had to go out and make his own way as his farm would not support all of them. His Dad gifted him the farm truck and a bale of hay to use for gas money. John was headed to Fort Smith, AR where he heard there were jobs. He ran out of gas in Springdale, AR. In Springdale he started looking for ways to make money with the only asset he had - the farm truck.
The most asked question is When will you have more chicken? Soon, I promise. the batch received two weeks ago is doing outstanding. These will go to pasture on Monday. And, we received another batch Friday morning about 6:15am and they are also doing very good.. There are two batches on pasture now. We have delayed the processing date for the next batch from July 11th to July 25th so they can grow a bit more. This is a good thing because I have had to purchase a new plucker (used processing equipment is hard to find these days). And, like a lot of things, there is not inventory sitting there waiting for an order like there once was. Fortunately, the new plucker will arrive well in advance of the new processing date of July 25th.
This has been a tough year to raise chickens. As many of you know, we have been raising pastured chickens since 2012 following our visit to Polyface Farms to witness first hand how Joel Salatin writes about how to raise pastured chickens. And, we have raised a lot of chickens that matured into nice 5 & 6 pound dressed chickens.
It's been a busy week here on the farm! Tuesday through Thursday we worked on cutting, packing, and making ground beef & organ burger to restock our store Thursday evening. Friday, our soil consultant is on site working with us on building compost piles and learning how to evaluate our biology using the microscope. More to come later. Today, I want to share a documentary on glyphosate - the active ingredient in Roundup that is sprayed on corn and soybeans to kill weeds and onto wheat & oats prior to harvest to defoliate the plant just before harvesting. In case you don't know, the seed head is at the top of the plant and receives a full dose of this harmful chemical.
Folks, I wanted to share Joel Salatin's (Polyface Farm) 5-minute testimony before Congress this week with hopes that you will read not only what Joel had to say but also comments from readers – (especially Ed and Elliott T.). Unfortunately, in Mississippi we still can only operate at the 1,000 limit vs. the federal limit of 20,000 on chicken like 40 other states operate BECAUSE of associations like poultry and Farm Bureau who through FEAR (not facts) taint peoples mind against farmers selling direct to consumers. Additionally, Farm Bureau, I suspect also lobbies to keep other insurers out of the Mississippi markets that are available in other states for farms that sell direct to consumer. I believe that Mississippi must
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