Farm Diversification ...In Reverse

We got our dairy license in 1995 and sold to a co-op.

We raised a few pigs and calves each summer for freezer meat for a few friends and family

Then we became certified organic and sold more meat out of our basement freezer.

Then we stopped selling milk to the co-op and sold only to folks who came to the farm.

Soon after we started selling to a Chicago Grocery Store

Then another and then two more

Then we sold our meat at the local Farmers Market

Then we started selling to restaurants. First one, then two then ten.

After that we opened up our farm store

Then we sold roaster hogs to folks who liked parties and we delivered all over the state

Then our Red Wattle meat got picked for chef contests and school events and fund raising and and and and

And we were very successful

And totally exhausted.

So we put our farm business up for sale. While we wait for Prince Farming to come along and sign on the dotted lines we have taken up a new direction.

We call it, reverse diversification

First we cut back on roaster hog deliveries and then we eliminated the restaurants. We started resigning from the boards we served on and all the other events.

We stopped entering our pigs in beauty contests!

Last week we stopped selling to grocery stores.

As of  yesterday 100% of all our pork, and milk and beef) will now be sold direct to the consumer who comes to our farm, ONLY and we are very excited but of course worried.  When we ceased selling to restaurants, we prayed our customer base would be strong enough to purchase our meat directly or in the grocery stores.

And now we are pulling away from the grocery stores. Again we have to ask, "what if our customer base is not large enough to support what we are raising?" or "what if there are enough customer numbers but not enough consumer cash to afford our organic meat?" or "what if we have enough customers, who have enough cash but don't want to drive out to our farm?"

What if?

What if?

What if?

What if  we do manage to sell enough meat just out of our own farm store to actually pay the mortgage and the feed bill and the phone bill?

We won't know until we try.

Our customers tell us they would buy more meat if we had it available; that they have friends who would buy our meat if we had enough. That they would like to pre-order a whole beef and a whole hog every year.

So OK we'll give it a try. Instead of spreading ourselves so thin we'll spread ourselves thick.

About 1 &1/2 inch thick for 7.75/pound if you happen to be a bone-in pork chop in our farm store.