Beef in the U.S...The Steaks are High.

 

Last week my blog buddy Lorna Sixsmith, in her popular Blog Irish Farmerette, posted detailed and well researched information about the status of beef in Ireland. Many of the farms there are struggling with an overrun of bull calves and huge market limitations for getting that beef into the consumers hands while a decent payback is being grossly limited to the hard worker farmers.

I was shocked to read about the age and size limitations Irish Farmers must adhere to for their bulls to be allowed to sell at market. Perhaps that is because we have always sold our beef direct to the consumer and have never had to live under guidelines forced on us by third party buyers like Tyson and Cargill.

Not unlike the US, Irish Farmers are also battling the supermarkets who buy huge masses of veggies and meat at cut rate prices (to farmers) and then sell it to consumers for far less than it is worth.  This of course just encourages the consumer to seek out budget food fostering the mindset that massive amounts of cheap food is best. If they can get a triple sized burger, super sized fries and a drink for a few bucks why would they ever pay $5.79  for a pound of our grass fed beef (or that of another independent farmer?)

Well, the smart consumer will.  The smart consumer knows, as Lorna puts it in her post,  Is It a Load Of Bull ?   "Good food should cost good money and therefore, both the food and the work are appreciated. 

Here at home, the small farmer is still allowed to sell meat direct to the consumer , if they are willing to jump through several regulatory hoops and we still are. But now we have an even bigger problem and that is the extreme shortage of beef all over our country.

Due to an extremely harsh winter and the loss of thousands of beef animals, South Dakota was terribly hard hit as early as October 2013 as reported in The Huffington Post, there is now far less beef available "home grown" beef. Coupled with the effects of the drought we suffered in the Midwest summer of 2012 which caused many beef farms to liquidate, there were less animals to begin with, PRIOR to the bad winter.

Here on South Pork Ranch we did not lose "thousands" but we did lose 7 beef animals due to the extreme cold,or nearly 25% of our beef herd. This is a financial loss of over $14,000 in projected beef revenue, a huge amount for our small farm. How are we coping? Fortunately beef is not our only product, we also sell pork. Unfortunately we lost two whole Red Wattle litters due to the cold, less pigs means less income. Fortunately we also sell raw milk and sales have increased in that area, but unfortunately not near enough to off set the loss of meat income.

Therefore we had to raise our beef (and pork) prices in January.
Soon our raw milk price will go up as well.

Back to our country in general. In the 1980's the U.S. there were over 115 million cattle, now that number is less than 90 million which might explain why we import approximately 15% of our beef  from Canada, Mexico, Australia and South America.Beef is obviously limited and beef prices are skyrocketing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the average price of ground beef in February 2014 was up to $5.28/pound compared to just $4.19/pound in 2013. A decade before it averaged $3.60/pound.

This means that CAFO raised , non-organic, non 100% grass fed ground beef is selling for just 51 cents less than our own ground beef! Fortunately (here I go again) we are able to set our own prices based on our expenses and therefore we can and will be increasing our beef prices again. Our customers who appreciate the type of product we offer will, I know, pay the increased price as they value good food and more importantly they value our hard work.

But what has happened to our country and small countries like Ireland where less and less consumers value good food and hard work? Is it all solely our governments fault for making cheap food so easily available while at the same time throwing their farmers under the bus or must we the farmer also assume some blame?

If I the farmer want others to appreciate other farmers hard work and be willing to pay them a fair price then am I not responsible to lead the way? Every time I stop at the large local grocery store to pick up cheap veggies that traveled 2000 miles from California rather than take the time to plan my meals and then buy LOCAL produce for a bit more at the Farmers Market 15 miles from my house...I am adding to the problem.

Every time I run my GK's through McDonalds (less than 3 times a year now...but still) and get them a cheap and icky tasting, bad for them "Happy" meal rather than take the time to bring our ground beef to their home and cook it for them...I am adding to the problem.

Every time I grab a box of cereal , produced from GMO corn bought by a huge conglomerate at a cut rate price from a farmers whose debt load is twice as high as it was when he started in farming 30 years ago, rather than walk my butt 200 feet out to our own Farm Store, grab a bag of organic wheat flour grown by another local farmer and a couple of eggs from our own coop and make real pancakes from scratch...I am adding to the problem.

I cannot as one farmer change what an entire government has successfully screwed up but I can still every single day make a difference on my own farm, in my own kitchen, with my own family, in my own community.

Intro to Naked Dance or Origins of Oompa Loompa's ? Decisions, Decisions.

Tomorrow I venture 60 miles south to the land of higher education and attempt to look only half as stupid as I am.

It's time to register for my fall classes at the University of Illinois and I am clueless.
Less than clueless.
In fact, I at this moment have less clues than our current president.

Now THAT is clueless.

I have completed all the on-line "homework" and created the endless passwords needed to access the endless websites in regards to financial aide, payment options (like paying for university is optional), housing (no, thank you...I already have a bed...and a roommate) and language placement tests.

Speaking of which, my French is very rusty being, EVEN THOUGH I HAD 6 YEARS  as I last took a class with Mr. Pinot G. back in 1976, so it's unlikely I'll place any higher than my 9 year old granddaughter in that arena. Well, I do remember that psycho French song about the boy cutting up a chicken piece by piece but I bet that won't help my case.

I have also planned to leave at least two hours too early so I don't get lost or show up late but mostly so I can find a coffee shop and inhale my usual pot of java before I have to again admit I am two and in some cases, three times as old as the other undergrads.

But still I am clueless about what classes I need to take since I've not yet had a clear answer about which of my former classes taken back in prehistoric times, will actually equate to a similar class at U of I. So, there is a good possibility my general education requirements will be met...or they will not and I'll have 60 credits (thank you Black Hills State College, Spearfish, South Dakota)  to use towards "electives."

If that happens I'll be stripped of the joy of choosing between classes like Intro to Naked Dance, generally what happens when I get out of the shower, lose my balance pulling on my grandma underwear and struggle not to hit my head on the toilet...again, or Origins of The Oompa Loompas which would only be fun if Gene Wilder himself taught the class. Yeah, I know, I miss Gilda too.

Regardless, I am placing myself at the mercy of my academic advisor. I am sure she will only advise me to take classes that will meet the requirements of my Creative Writing major while providing me with a most well rounded education. I am equally sure all my classes will fit in perfectly with my personal life of full time farmwife, mother, grandmother, free-lance writer and struggling novelist and crappy horsewoman.  I am even more sure all my classes will be located closely to each other so I won't huff and puff and lie down for a nap as I enter each lecture hall.

If not, at least she can point me back to that coffee shop I was in. I think I left all my registration paperwork on the counter between the eclairs and the croissants. Hey, look at that...I remembered more French!

Counting Our Eggs Before They Are...Frozen

It's hard for me to wrap my head around it so I can only imagine how difficult it might be for you living out there in blogville, but the fact of the matter is...we just lived through our winter of discontent and now is the time to get ready for the next one.

And next winter will be worse.

How do I know? Well, if we do sell our farm in November and pay off all our debt, we'll have about 2 nickels left to set up our new life. I will share exact amounts with you after the sale as I'll want to blog specifically about our survival on The Poor Farm, but for now I have no such specifics. We do know what our asking price for the farm is, and we know once debt is paid off there will be barely enough left to start a shell of a new house.

Don't cry for me Argentina (USA,  Britain, France or Wales) as Keith and I have planned these changes. But, to survive next winter at the new place we have to get very busy HERE at the old place, growing and then preserving enough food to get us through the winter of 2015.

I'm starting with eggs.

Our own chickens have been laying many plus the two farmers I buy eggs from to stock in our farm store are overproducing as well. When the store eggs get close to their expiration date (which is the silliest state law thing of 30 days, farm eggs last way longer than that) we bring them into the farm house and start cracking.

I will do several dozen at a time. I crack each eggs into a small bowl just to make sure they are not little ones as I personally have never been a fan of scrambled chicks for breakfast , then throw them into my food processor. A quick spin of bright orange yolk and white's and I get a great collection of scrambled raw eggs. Then into a glad bag or clean cottage cheese container they go followed by an immediate trip to the freezer.

Eggs frozen this way will keep up to a year (or so I have read) and can be thawed in cold water for quick use in baking or cooking. I also do 6 eggs at a time for future omelets but most of my packages contain a full dozen. I plan to pull out a package of frozen scrambled eggs each Monday and then bake for the week.

If you have a different way of freezing raw eggs or preserving fresh eggs please let me know. This whole surviving on less than $15,000 a year (once we move) is a new  goal and we have a steep learning curve in front of us.

Fortunately I don't mind heights.

29 years and counting

No, I'm now pretending that I'm 29, In fact I would not be 29 again if you paid me BIG money. The 29 I speak of refers to my years as a registered nurse.

I graduated in 1985 from Rapid City Regional Hospital School of Nursing. Good ol'  RCRHSON. We were the very last class of that nursing school, a three year diploma program. This means I have neither my Associates Degree (2 year) nor my Bachelors Degree (3 year), I am somewhere in between.

Diploma nursing programs were very popular in the 60's, 70's but were phased out in the 80's which I believe was a bad thing. Diploma nurses got so much more. Not only did we get a large amount of lecture time we were blessed with many, many MANY hours of clinical time and our last semester we had to handle full patient loads 6-8 patients. None of this 1-2 patient mamby pamby stuff.

I am so one of those nurses. :)

Now, it's 29 years later. My first 3 years were on the brand new oncology unit at RCRH in South Dakota. After that I moved back to Illinois and worked a few months at Mennonite Hospital in Bloomington in their inpatient unit, when I saw an ad looking for a hospice director in Pontiac.

I had been out of nursing school just three years, had no management experience, had two young children but applied anyway.

I got the job.

The next eleven years were the hardest, most wonderful of all my years in nursing. I started out as the only hospice employee (SURPRISE!) but as patients were admitted staff was added, amazing staff who I will always treasure.  When I left I was managing 55.  I loved hospice but the hours required to do the job well meant much less time to do my job well as mother and wife. Serving two Gods is never a good idea.

I took a part time weekend job as staff RN at a small community hospital. My oldest children were on their way out of the house but my younger two were able to benefit from my increased hours at home. Well, I thought they benefited, they swear I was overbearing and controlling and think the older two had it made because I wasn't home so much. Oh well...

After 10 years working nights every weekend, developing another great relationship with even more amazing colleagues (who traveled with me to Ireland twice) I came home in 2010 to work on the farm full time.

A couple of days ago, I renewed my nursing license even though I haven't worked in a hospital in almost 4 years. Even though I have no plans to go back to nursing and have taken the road way less traveled by going back to college this fall for a degree in creative writing. Even though my daughter is an RN, a very capable ER certified RN, who has been  practicing for 13 years and more than qualified to answer all our families medical questions the way I used to.

Even though.

I guess I'm just waiting for next year to roll around...when I'll have been an RN for 30 years instead of just 29. Maybe then I'll be willing to let my license go "inactive." I like even numbers so much better than odd ones.

Raw Milk Monday...Illinois Farm Bureau Weighs in

Illinois Farm Bureau  recently posted on their web site their view of the current raw milk battle in Illinois and although I do appreciate their moderate transparency , I certainly do not appreciate their very wishy washy stance, but I have never been a big fan of wishy washy in any arena. Either you support small farmers or you support Big Ag and Big Government.  The article states "We support their right to choose, provided the dairy farmers that are producing this food product are subject to some oversight, and the milk is picked up at the farm in the consumer’s container."

Interesting how IFB "supports" the consumers right to choose. Since when do Americans need any organizations support to make our own choices? And the reference to some oversight is a blatant lie. The oversight has mushroomed from one small page to several pages of rules and regulations that if passed will be extremely detrimental to small raw milk farmers and consumers alike.

And why must the milk only be picked up at the farm? Several members of the dairy work group specifically stated they would be willing to endure more testing, and inspecting to ensure a safe product, if allowed to sell at farmers markets  retail settings. But they were ignored and IDPH flipped over on them taking those (still proposed) additional testing and inspecting requirements and applying them to ALL raw milk producers, even those with JUST ONE COW OR GOAT!

Jim Fraley, author of the recent article has visited our farm and drank our raw milk. He has sat across from us as we all attempted to work together on the ill-conceived Dairy Work Group Committee created, controlled and disbanded (before any real consensus was reached) by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) in 2013.

He verbally supported the raw milk farmers and consumers who served on this committee and in fact when the group often came to a standstill where common ground seemed unobtainable, it was Jim who stood in front of both sides and pulled us towards goals we felt we all could live with. Keith and I felt like he was really hearing small raw milk farmers, and that he was well representing our concerns to the group HE worked for, The Illinois Farm Bureau.

But then when the general assembly was hearing the ill-gotten House Bill 4036 amendment #1 just last month, where Representative Burke was asking that all raw milk sales be made illegal in Illinois, Jim Fraley stopped taking our calls.

At that time, Keith and I left several messages for Mr Fraley. We wanted to hear directly from him how the Illinois farm Bureau felt about making all raw milk sales illegal in Illinois. Did he not tell us in the Dairy Work Group meetings that the Illinois Farm Bureau was against any BANS on raw milk sales? Did he know about this move by Representative Burke? Did his organization support it? Did he support it?

But as I said he did not return our calls or emails. Apparently "support" is circumstantial.

If I had to make a guess, I would say he wanted to talk with us, but was instructed by higher ups not too. Perhaps, like so many who work for larger organizations, instead of for themselves as most small farmers do, his personal opinion no longer mattered or held any power. So when we discovered this recently written article I have to say I was mightily disappointed and feel strongly that what actually occurred in those meetings of the dairy work group last year and what is still being reported is just night and day.

As it stands now...there are no new pending house bills banning raw milk sales (that we are aware of) but IDPH continues to sharpen their nails on the proposed rules for raw milk production and sales in Illinois. The latest draft I have seen now includes required testing of animals and milk samples that will be expensive and unnecessary. We will have the chance again to protest all these rules when they come up for public comment, perhaps this fall.

Until then, raw milk sales in Illinois are already being dramatically affected. I am aware that two of the farmers who served on the Dairy Work Group with us last year are planning to close their (barn) doors very soon. Not because any of their raw milk customers have gotten ill, not because they did not have enough sales but because of the stress they feel related to the looming oversight of their own government.

As a result our raw milk sales have exploded and after making several new customers wait a few months (until our cows were again on pasture and producing more milk) we are as of yesterday CLOSED to all new raw milk customers. We simply do not have enough. We do have a waiting list and they are comprised of those who got their milk up north but can no longer find a good source. Willing to drive up to three hours for fresh, unpasteurized, non-homogenized milk.

As more small farms decide to close their doors (and not just raw milk farmers) more Illinois residents will be forced to either accept farm products brought over the state lines from farms they have never seen produced by farmers that will have no opportunity to meet, or they will take their money out of the state and spend it elsewhere.  Raw milk products brought into Illinois from other states will be MORE likely to cause illness due to long transportation times. In addition the loss of revenue for Illinois will only further cripple this states infrastructure, consequences we warned them about repeatedly.

Of course, they did not listen.

Organic Standards...You Can't Use Them Unless You Follow Them

 

It's time for another Certified Organic Rant, in fact I'm overdue but I'm sure you'll forgive me. Every year about this time( as I am completing the extensive recertification paperwork required in order to be legitimately Certified Organic) I become hypersensitive to  the Organic Posers which come out of the woodwork. I ignore many of them but some just get under my skin and therefore I must react.

My basic premise is this, farm however you choose, this is still America (for a short time at least) but please be HONEST about how you farm. You don't think being certified organic is worth the trouble, expense, customer trust or label recognition? Then by all means don't do it.

That's all I'm saying. If you think it best to keep your animals crowded into small places without grass, sky, dirt or fresh air just be proud of that and tell your customers. Or less dramatic, if you keep your beef animals outside with lots of room but you choose to feed grain, then tell your customers THAT. Or you choose to raise your hogs outside , fed organic feed but you still believe prophylactic vaccines and antibiotics are useful then tell your customers THAT.

Only those who are not proud of the way they farm will pretend to be something they are not.

But unfortunately as more customers demand good food raised in humane and healthy ways, more Organic Posers, or Fake Farmers as I also like to refer to them,  raise their ugly heads and banners. First I'll define an Organic Poser, they are pretty easy to spot.

1. Labels, Signs, Facebook Pages, Blogs, Websites  that say "Organic" but never mention their certifying agency. Ours is MOSA.

2. Use of the term "Raised per Organic Standards" yet they cannot list even 10 of the over 200 standards, nor will they own a copy of the NOP standards manual. How can they follow standards they are unaware of?

3. Will accept (and feed to their livestock) donations of non-CERTIFIED organic feed from restaurants, grocery stores, gardeners, neighbors.

4. Cannot answer the following questions with a "yes"
     a. Do you graze on land that is certified organic?
     b. Do you buy only certified organic replacement livestock? If not do you inform your customers
         of the animals orientation.?
     c. Do you only administer antibiotics to save an animals life?
     d. Is your meat processed in a certified organic locker?
     e. Do you post "No Spray" signs around the edges of your property?


5. Is not aware that any equipment used to cut, bale, ship organic feed must be cleaned according to NOP standards after that same equipment has cut, baled, or shipped non-organic feed.

6. Cannot list at least 5 approved organic treatments for animal illness, such as organic garlic and diatomaceous earth.

7. Gets all huffy and bent out of shape (like a huge pretzel) when you ask questions like these.

The Midlife Farmwife and Her Hardworking Prince Farming

Chicago...really is my kind of town.

Every year for the last 6 years I've taken my GK's on a Chicago Train Trip. We save for it all year and then cash in the coins and GO!

I can't help it, even after two decades of farming with my husband I have city blood that cannot be denied. I was raised in the Windy City (named that for the blow hard politicians not for its weather patterns), as was my father, his father and his grandfather. Well my great grandfather George J O'Shaughnessy started life in Ireland then immigrated to Chicago as a teen, but STILL it was his home for many years.

We also had several of dad's siblings who lived there as well including multiple cousins. It was and always will be my home town.

From left GK Nicole  12, Daughter Raven, GK Allana 9.
GK Wesley 6

Dad made the city fun. In the 60's he knew every free event, every play, every musical recital, every subculture and its best food dives.  He dragged me onto the bus and took me from one end of Chicago to another. I loved it. We never took cabs. Expensive cabs were reserved for trips to the emergency room only, someone had to be dying (or giving birth) to get a cab ride.

Even now when I hop in a cab I get an impending sense of doom, and yet I never put my seat belt on. Part of the thrill of riding in a Chicago Cab is not knowing whether you'll make it to your destination in one piece.

 

 

 

I forced my own four into the city a few times each year as they were growing up but I will report that the two youngest could care less (now in their 20's) and our oldest traveled enough in his 6 years in the Navy that his wanderlust is for now a bit squelched, but our daughter...she loves going to the city as much as I. In fact she doesn't need me at all, often goes with her friends on her own, imagine that!

She even was able on this trip to show me some places I had not been to before like Millennium Park. Hey it's only been there about a decade, give me some slack.  In the midst of that area sits an amazing metal sculpture known officially as  Cloud Gate.   But all the locals call it simply "The Bean. "It is British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the United States.

Raven and I on steps in front of "The Bean"

The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect Chicago’s famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a "gate" to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives.

Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture is among the largest of its kind in the world, measuring 66-feet long by 33-feet high. A great place for photos.

Outdoor theatre at Millennium Park

Just opposite of Cloud Gate/AKA The Bean was an amazing set of water towers with digital faces appearing on the dies of the towers. The water ran between the towers and of course fascinated the GK's who had to explore it's depths even further.

 

 



The fact that it was quite cool that day made no difference and once our leader Allana ventured forth...

So did the other two GK's followed by several other children who convinced their parents they would not perish in the inch deep pool !

We did the other usual tourist stuff like staying in a hotel, hanging out at The Childrens Museum at Navy Pier and eating at Bubba Gump Shrimp. Who doesn't like to eat their burger and fries out of a miniature Forrest Gump Shrimp Boat?

I did warn the GK's that if we make our move to The Poor Farm as planned in the fall, and get to live under the poverty line that it may be our last train trip for awhile...they were too busy splashing in the ice cold fountain water to really care much about what the future may or may not bring.