Goodbye Middle Man

A year ago when we said goodbye to our Milk Middle Man and decided to sell our raw milk DIRECT to customers we knew we would meet many challenges. When we also decided to sell all our meat DIRECT to customers we assumed even more risk and challenges. Nothing to stand between us and our products except...us. The biggest challenge of all have been, I believe, finding others who have done the same and are willing to share what they have learned. Farmers are workers and few are writers so the How -To books are limited when it comes to promoting and advertising what your farm has to offer.


Joel Salatin of course has done wonders in this area as has Lynn Miller but we need more. We specifically need state specific how- to -books. I continue to search for one consolidated source, a well written book about the rules, regs and best advice for direct farm marketing in our home state of Illinois. Does anyone know of such a publication ?

Pop-Up Children. Just one more way to draw attention to your farm  sign.
It might also draw the attention of DCFS . I'm just sayin'

In the meantime, I plug away at all the marketing ideas that have so far worked well for us. This blog, our web page, http://www.south-pork-ranch.com/ our Facebook Page, http://www.facebook.com/  our listings on The Stewards of The Land website, http://www.thestewardsoftheland.com/OurStewards.htm along    with http://realmilk.com/,    http://www.localharvest.org/  and   http://www.eatwild.com/products/illinois.html   (Now was that blatant self advertising or what ?!?) All good but not enough when your sole source of income is from the products of your farm. We considered hiring a plane that pulls your big banner across the sky but its out of our budget (for now). And besides, a marketing technique that causes our cattle to run through fences seems counter productive. Anytime a farmers herd of critters shows up in a neighbors well landscaped yard, one looses a few "direct-marketing" points. So we settled for the ever basic but still effective (we will see) Farm Sign. 

Look for it   (on County Rd 3200 and The Melvin-Chatsworth Blacktop) and drop in for a visit to our store. Open everyday 10 AM to 5 PM except Sunday when we are closed. We'd also  love to just take a minute and tell you about our farm, share with you our reasons for keeping animals outside on pasture, and show you the swollen bellies of our THREE Red Wattle gilts ready to give birth any day now. We wouldn't even mind selling  you some of our certified organic meat, a bag of popcorn and a bar of handmade soap. If you insisted.  (Thanks JD, good to see you guys)

Who let the hogs out ? Woof woof woof woof woof.

   We have been blessed with some great  visitors this week and more to come tomorrow. On Tuesday, in addition to our reliable and hardworking intern Aaron, we had a PhD Candidate from U of I, Sasha, come for a chat and a tour. Of all the topics in all the gin joints in all the world, he chooses "Rare Swine Breed Conservation" for his thesis. How fun for us to drone on and on about the Red Wattle to someone who actually wanted to hear about it, instead of to our family who only pretends to want to hear about them...again. Sasha even asked if he could back some time and WORK with us. Heck YES, Mr. PhD . I knew we would like him when he pulled a pair of official Muck boots from his car. We liked him even more when he called our Red Wattles the " Maytag of Livestock" referring to the fact that they rarely get sick.

Keith (with beard) telling Sasha (with beard)
about the gentleness of our
Red Wattle Boar, Mad Max



Keith SHOWING  Sasha how gentle our Gentle Giant really is.



Today, two women from Washington (as in Illinois) came  to tour the farm and before leaving not only did they buy meat from our store and raw milk but they also ordered a whole hog and a 1/2  beef. Thank you. Thank you very much.

This afternoon, the well traveled and ambitious Matt and his cool mom came to check out the Red Wattle feeder pigs we had for sale. They are newbie homesteaders from the Lemont area. They asked fantastic, well thought out questions and reminded us why it is we do what we do. We often forget, that is why people need to remind us. If these two take 1/10 as good care of our pigs as they do their chickens, those pigs will be a couple of  deliriously happy porkers. There, I did it again ! Another great name for a rock band just pulled out of thin air. Really, how do I do it ?

Tomorrow, another student writing a paper about the relationships between farmers and their land, is coming for another interview. Traveling all the way from Massachusetts you might wonder how she found our little farmette. Well, she's actually a local, from Chenoa. Small town girl goes to big city college in order to write a paper about a small town farm. We'll looking forward to meeting her.

Tomorrow afternoon, we'll embark on an all new adventure. A woman from Wisconsin is bringing her Red Wattle gilt "Barbara" to meet up with  (code for  "meet up with" ) our Red Wattle Boa,r Mad Max. Hmmm, I wonder if she would mind if I called her "Babs" ? Yeah, you're right. I should probably wait until after the official breeding event before I get all casual with her. If she and Mad Max don't hit it off right away we have made accommodations for Miss B to spend a few nights. Keith and Aaron cleaned out one of the barn stalls on Tuesday and it is looking mighty cozy in there  what with the chandelier  (Yes Kristy, its yours) and the bottle of  wine cooling in the waterer. Yes, I am aware candles are more romantic but HELLO ! Its a barn, with straw.  You People.

Who is sustaining who ? or is it whom ?

 

Hey !  Yes you. See that wooden box over there ? The one right next to you with the word  "SOAP" on it ? Yes, that's the one. Kick it over my way would you ? Hey, not so hard !  OK then, let...me...just step...up here...umphhh...groan...THERE. I'm up and ready to go. Cute suit huh ?

In case you are new to this blog, well first I apologize, and second many thanks, but you  may not realize that I have  just mounted my soap box which means an opinion is coming. There is still time to bail if you click on that little "X" in the right hand corner of your screen. Otherwise you'll have to read on and endure.

Farming is full of trendy terms right now. Organic, beyond organic, local, all natural, grass-fed, free-range and of course sustainable. I've ranted before about the the organic label with its correct and incorrect use and its likely I will come back to it but today's word is "sustainable."
We've used it to describe our own farm for some time now and it is  used frequently by other farmers we know and even some non-farmer types which is odd but true. I recently read an insurance companies ad that referred to itself as sustainable. Truthfully, I have found the term confusing so I've done some research. The definition (from several agricultural sources ) is this:

A method of agriculture that attempts to ensure the profitability of farms while preserving the environment.

Funny. In my peacock sized brain, I thought "sustainable" meant simply the ability to support ones farm without outside financial assistance, Which is why I have felt so guilty, yes guilty for so many years because our farm was surviving due in large part to the income I brought in as a nurse. My husband, who was the one doing the majority of the farm work up until my "retirement"  from nursing 5 months ago, would be the first to agree, as would our tax man.

But in looking at that definition above, in no way does it imply that the financial resources a farm requires to operate must come from the farm alone. Once again I created my own definition and was incorrect.  (cue the song "You're so Vain" here) Or am I ? In the first three words , "A Method of Agriculture" suggests that it is in agriculture alone we can ensure profitability. But what if in those early years the products you produce, grow and hopefully sell are not enough to meet expenses ? Are you "less sustainable" as a farmer if you require additional non-direct-farm income in order to make the hay payment or buy the grinder needed to mix your own hog feed or heaven forbid, you accept assistance from government programs such as NRCS ?  

Moving on to the next section of "attempting to ensure the profitability of farms," I have to wonder about that word "attempt."  Pretty weak isn't it ?  Down right wishy washy in my opinion. Like, "OK, I'll attempt to be profitable but you can't blame me if corn prices go to high. "  Granted one farmer is not able to control all grain prices but that same one farmer can decide how he will deal with those circumstances on his /her own farm. Perhaps the pastured hogs will get less corn and  more of the other sources of less costly protein such as soy bean hulls , hay or raw milk if one has access to a nearby dairy and the means to transport the milk. Options.  We all have enough options to allow us to accomplish a task instead of  just "attempting" to accomplish it.  Attempt, such a defeatist word. No wonder farmers feel so low sometimes.   

And now "Profitability."  Our farm has never been hugely profitable yet bills were paid and some luxuries were allowed.  My salary covered all the household expenses and then bought the things the farm needed that the farm could not pay for. We drove used vehicles and Keith's farm equipment was even more used. In the 18 years we have been married we have purchased just two brand new pieces of farm equipment. One Kubota tractor and one livestock trailer which was paid for with grant funds from the ever generous Frontera Farmers foundation. These are not complaints. These are facts. But when our methods didn't work we changed them. Sometimes the changes  were BRILLIANT (like selling whole hog carcasses directly to the back alley of fine restaurants ) while other times the changes we made failed worse than  those changes barked about by that hotshot politician from Chicago.

And in light of all that we decided the best way to become more sustainable and more profitable was for me to leave a job that paid financially very well but had taken me to a dead end spiritually. So here we are trying, "attempting" every day to be independently sustainable. Will we make it ?  Only Mud, Sweat and Tears will tell. If we mange to support our farm with no outside income are we "more" sustainable than those farmers who still must farm all day and perhaps work all night in a factory or all day for perhaps another farmer and then working a second shift on their own land ? Whose wives must teach or cook or nurse or God willing , write, to bring in more income ? I think not. Farming is hell and heaven all mixed into one wet and cold, warm and sunny day and in my opinion, again, if you are still getting out of bed each day thinking about how you can make your farm just a little bit better than it was the day before, you are indeed "sustainable"

And if all that is not enough, the definition of sustainable goes on to require preservation of the environment. Again, very subjective. How WE  choose to preserve the environment (through the very stringent standards of the National Organic Program) may not be the same way YOU choose to preserve the environment. To some gardeners a little bit of Round Up to control weeds is acceptable while to others it is frowned upon or even to others may be illegal to use on their farms.

Regardless of the buzz word you type on your farm products label YOU are accountable to that customer. who buys your product. Say what you mean and mean what you say verbally and in writing. But please think hard about what you put on those labels and be willing to defend with pride the words you have chosen to identify the farm you represent. Honesty and integrity are still the best buzz words of all.

Local is as local does

I was a foodie looong before the term became hip, I mean cool..er rad ?  Now, if you are not a foodie then you must be living in the back cooler of McDonald's as it had become a very popular term. But what it is exactly ? A Foodie is someone who appreciates GOOD FOOD. Not fast food or junk food, not frozen entrees of boxes filled with preservatives and very little actual food but instead real food that came hopefully from a non-factory garden or farm.  A "locovore, "  another popular term,  is in the broadest sense, someone who tries to eat mostly food grown locally. "Local" is usually food that is grown within 100 miles of the consumer but the definition varies.

The reasons for eating locally grown food are many. Hopefully the food is better because it has traveled less distance and been handled far less. On average , an American' s food travels 1500 miles before it comes to rest on his plate. This is understandable for something like Salmon which I love, as the Atlantic is a ways from Livingston County Illinois, but why does my lettuce have to travel so far? Especially when a place like Living Waters http://www.livingwaterfarms.net/Home.html  is literally less than 20 miles from my door ?

And what about chicken and beef and pork ? Turkey, lamb, goat and talapia, syrup and wheat flour ? Popcorn, arugula, sprouts ,milk, honey, apples, jams and ice cream ? Each and every one of those items is grown within 30 miles of our farm. Amazing really.  I'll be the first to admit (before one of my kids rats me out) I do not eat all organic or even all local because fact be known, I have a lazy side. It is EASY to buy food that is not so good for you. The supermarkets make it that way, tucking all the fresh stuff off to the sides while filling up the middle rows with all the convenience foods. Yet, once you START eating better, you will find yourself seeking better food.

When we opened our little store a few months ago we knew we would sell our meat there and we hoped to carry a few items from other farmers IF they were interested. The response has been so exciting ! To date we have products from 6 other farmers which include organic wheat flour, organic corn meal, organic wheat berries, cage free eggs, POPCORN (I am a popcorn freak) and Black Aztec corn meal. What I like the most is knowing those farmers through their involvement with our farm or through our mutual involvement with the Stewards of The Land. A farmers group that is accomplishing tasks that many other farmers said could not be done. Read about that group here http://www.thestewardsoftheland.com/

But when we choose to eat mass produced food, food with little taste and often less nutritional value we are also choosing NOT to support the small family farms which surround us. Even now when you drive long distances in the country you will notice the lack of animals in the fields. Where did they all go ? Many are now housed on factory farms where thousands of animals are crowded into small buildings never to see the outdoors even once in their lives.  Its no wonder that these same animals produce meat with little or no real TASTE.

You might think a small purchase of corn meal in a bag at a farmers market or small family farm store can't possible make a difference but it does. Telling your friends about the farmers sweet corn you purchased makes a difference too. Find the farmers in your area and get to know them. ASK them how they grow their produce, raise their animals, and if you like what you hear, buy their  products.

It takes a little extra effort but you'll be rewarded with better tasting, longer lasting REAL food which is nutritionally better for you and an appreciative farmer who may be able to afford to run his booth at the farmers market or sell his items in the local grocery store next year.

Death by Paperwork

I have a dream. I live on a farm with my mate. We grow things, some animals, some vegetables, some fruits. We harvest and freeze or can them. We eat them. We write none of it down except maybe some info WE want like which breeds grew best and which carrots tasted most like carrots. We keep one little book each year and it is a beautiful book with a hand painted cover and paper made by fairies. We fax, copy, scan, file, attach...nothing.

But I am sure I would still blog.

The simple life. I yearn for it but yet I continue to make our life more complicated by adding new projects, products and procedures. There is this paper monster inside of me who loves to make posters, newsletters, signage. A monster who loves to play around with blog settings and designs, word perfect documents and organic files. But beneath all that is this smaller creature who is gaining strength who wants LESS. Less stuff, less paperwork, less documentation, less filing, less computer, less phone.

Take for example the sale of our meat. Ideally you would come to my store, pick out a steak you liked. I'd say, "That will be $7.  You pay me. Or you trade me a pasture raised chicken for it. I say THANK YOU

The reality is, you come to my store, you pick out a steak. I weigh it and charge you according to my price list. Then I write it all down on a sales slip. You get a copy and I keep the original. After you leave I carry the sales slip and the $ into the house. I pull up Quicken and log in the sales (date, type of product sold, amount paid and type of payment) as well as the number of the check you paid with. The sales slip then goes into a large 3 ring binder in alphabetical order. Double documentation because I do not trust computers. After one year I take all those slips put of the binder and file them because one day someone might complain about the meat and I feel the need for a strong and long paper trail. I blame heath care. I was in that system so long and risk and liability are two words I grew up with.

I really do hate those two words. I would rather structure my life around these two words, Trust and Dependability.

Piglet on outside of sled. "This hay had better be good"
Piglet inside the sled " Oh it is, these farmers are the most dependable and trustworthy ones I have ever worked with . By the way have you seen Baconnella lately ? She's been missing a few days." 

So farm planning day 11. Must simplify farm processes and develop customer trust through a dependable farm practices. Sounds like a mission statement to me. See ? I can't quit.

In your face

When we decided to go public with our farm venture our Marketing President (moi) struggled with the appropriate slogan. She discussed it with the General Farm Manager (Keith) who ran it by the Ways and Means Committee. (That was Jason saying "what do you mean ?" and Kyle saying "No Way!" when I suggested our slogan.

Seems some of the higher ups (they are all taller than me) thought the slogan  I was suggesting was a little rude.  Like the slogan "Where's the Beef ?" of the Wendy's company from the early 80's wasn't rude.  Not only did their slogan become famous, the little old lady who yelled it recieved all kinds of awards.

So the Marketing President cooked a great meal for the General Farm Manager , including homemade baking soda biscuits, and got her way. And it wasn't even a Thursday. The Ways and Mean Committe never really had a say since they don't bunk here anymore. And thus our farm slogan was born.

But for those of you who are the softer, gentler type of human being, we also have these

T-shirts (short sleeved) are available in our store or by mail. $20  for the black slogan shirt and $15 for the white shirt with the pig pictures, plus $4 for S&H. They come in adult sizes S, M, L,XL and 2X. I do not yet have kids sizes. Would Make THE MOST EXCELLENT Christmas Gift. Please email me you order at   opies99@gmail.com 
And thanks so much for helping support the small family farm.

Child labor...again

Running a farm is hard work. Running a farm business is grounds for involuntary committment. Millions of books exist about non-farm businesses but finding an -all-in-one source for a farm business has been tricky. I suppose if we had just picked ONE "niche" it might have been easier to find resources. But Nooooooooooooooo. We chose, organic beef production, organic pork production, raw milk production, carcass sales to individuals and restaurants, meat by the piece to the grocery store trade and individuals, Red Wattle Breeding Stock production, and our most recent venture...a farm store.

I once whined to one of my sisters about feeling overwhelmed. Her response, "Donna, you've been overwhelmed since Kindergarten." In other words I am the one who made this big straw bed so I better lie (lay ? leigh ?) in it.

With so many venues comes paperwork. Some of it required by regulating agencies but some of it required only by me. For example our raw milk customer list.

                     Allana logging in milk sales for the day.
 A great way to improve your printing skills.

The State of Illinois sees no reason to survey us (we've asked) so we survey ourselves. We follow the rules for a Grade A Dairy just as we have for the last 11 years before IDPH decided raw milk sales were too scary for them to deal with. Even though it is legal to sell raw milk in Illinois and even though we have the smartest group of self-educated customers ever, I still track who buys milk, how much and when. Unless a customer wants to be incognito then by all means he can be. But in the very unlikely but still remotely possible event that something should be wrong with our milk (tank gets too warm for example) I want to be able to contact the affected customers. Funny thing how IDPH feels raw milk is unsafe, yet they legalize the sales and then yet again they reguire absolutely no inspection or milk testing of raw milk dairies. Which reminds me, it is time to send another milk sample off to Daily Labs in Peoria. Results are available to any of our milk customers. Ask and you shall receive.

Galway Hooker

Just one of the conversation topics today from just one of our customers when we opened our farm store this morning. And before I go any farther...a Galway hooker is a boat. Better now ? Good. Seems I am not the only one who has been across the pond lately.

                                   

You got your black T-Shirt or you got your white T-Shirt.

So at 10 am we opened the store just like we said we would and at 10:03 I announced to Keith , "You watch, we won't get even three customers today ." Always  the voice of sweetness and light, thats me. A few moments later when I was ready to turn the "OPEN" sign over to the "CLOSED due to Bankruptcy" side, our neighbor Duane came by, followed by other neighbors and their children  from other states, then some current customers, then my old (not very) hospice friend Cheryl and her husband and then some new customers and some more old customers and then a woman and her girls all the way from Elgin and then two HS girls who heard about our farm and wanted to do a paper about us and then and then and then....

The meat scale was in our basement for years,

finally it is cleaned, buffed to a sheen and

working as big ol'paperweight machine.

Before we knew it, the day was over. Looks like we are store owners. Drop by this week between 10am and 5 pm and get a free cookie, free coffee and a free tour. The meat however is not free but we will barter for pasture raised poultry, fresh Atlantic Salmon or that little 1969 Mercedes Benz for sale at Paternoster Ford in Fairbury, Illinois.

Little Store on the Prairie

Not the most original title but Laura Ingalls Wilder must be dead by now, she probably won't mind. Other store names in the running include "The Spotted Wattle" to honor the cross bred hogs we have here that are half red Wattle and half Spotted Poland. We found combining these two breeds made for some very loooong pieces of hearty tasting bacon. We also kicked around the name "Piggle Wiggles "not too far from the Piggly Wiggly stores of South Dakota very popular in the 70's. The problem with ALL those names is their lack of reference to the beef we will sell in the store and that is just plain unfair. Some fine cow/cattle types have given their lives for our farm, (we call them heros here in Illinois, where do you think they came up with the name for the Hero Sandwich ? Out of thin air ?) and they deserve to be alluded to in our store name don't you agree ?  But our creative juices have dried up lately. It was spent on the BIG decisions like what color to paint the inside window frames. All three of our sons believe white is the classiest choice while mommy dearest insists on Barn Red.

So until we decide its just "The Store". We hope you can drop by and see it ...maybe even name it. Bring a paint brush, there's still a chance all the work may not be 100% complete. Bets are being collected, they are not in my favor.

                            Grand Opening Week
                 Saturday November 27 through
                           Saturday December 4.
                                    10 am to 5pm


                  Certified Organic Beef and Pork
                          All beef is 100% grass fed


                         South Pork Ranch T-shirts
                                           Honey
                                  Free range Eggs
                                      Door prizes




click here for directions   http://www.south-pork-ranch.com/directions.htmlr

A Country Store is Born

How can I describe this past week ? Like a cyclone without water, an earthquake without building damage, a volcano without lava. We had so much going on in so many places all at the same time. Even the more well organized multi-taskers found themselves standing in the corner babbling and drooling. Add that to the continued heat wave and our already sweaty faces that when combined with the drool caused our heads to slide right off our bodies. And THAT just really slowed down our thought processes.

Yet still, though all that, Keith and I mustered forward as did our 3 fine sons  who completed many tasks for us. Jason and Colton focused on trench digging and rewiring of the new store, while I secured another grocery store to sell our meat (Naturally Yours Grocer in Normal and Peoria, Illinois )http://www.naturallyyoursgrocery.com/  We started stocking their freezer section 2 dys ago.

The store arrived Tuesday Aug 10, ahead of schedule. Looked impressive coming up our lane. Grandson Wes was beside himself with the excitement of big trucks getting so close,

Soon after, we observed the buildings owner Tim Sinn of Countryside Barns ,http://www.countrysidebarns.com/ maneuver the store into place over the gravel pad Keith had laid the day before.  Very neat to see the flat bed trailer raise that store high in the air...

and then slowly ease into place. It was during this process we could really appreciate the quality building skills that went into our new farm store. Within a few moments our store was in place.

Now, the REAL work begins. The list goes a little something like this..install all the electrical wires, outlets and boxes, dig trenches for wiring, install AC unit and Heating unit, dig trench for propane, hang all lights, insulate walls, finish walls with plywood, paint interior walls, and ceiling, decide on floor covering, install counter for checking out, paint outside walls and porch, move standup freezers in, stock all freezers, install general shelving for other merchandise such a t-shirts, honey, published books of my blog, pastured eggs, and who knows what else.  We will also be removing all of Keiths "inventory" in the area closest to the store and building a small petting zoo area. INTERNS...we need interns.!

In the next picture, Keith and Wesley demonstrate the loft where additional merchandise and frustrated, over worked Yaya's can be stored.

But for today, the emphasis was wiring. Thank you Colton, for being the project leader in this area and thanks to Jason for his apprenticeship hours. Thanks again to our secret investors for without them you'd just be looking at pics of cardboard boxes we would be taping together to make a store.

Grand opening won't be until September. Stay tuned for more details.