Raw Milk News and Views

It's time for another raw milk update from we rebels who sell the wonderful stuff. If you are new to my blog be sure to check out my other Raw Milk posts (via this blogs search engine in the right hand column) so you'll be as brilliant as the rest of my followers.

Here's a good post to start http://midlifefarmwife.blogspot.com/2011/10/take-raw-milk-stand.html

So, to date, no word from any of the representatives I have emailed or spoken to concerning the rumored law that it is illegal to advertise, the sale of raw milk. Remember, in Illinois it is legal to sell it as long as the consumer comes to the farm with their own container. The farmer has been told he cannot legally transport it. But, on that note many folks are tired of that law and doing their best to make changes regarding transportation of such. Read about those fine folk here. http://rawmilkfreedomriders.wordpress.com/

Back to Illinois, where another law states this:

(505 ILCS 70/1) (from Ch. 5, par. 91)
Sec. 1. Every farmer, fruit and vine grower, and gardener, shall have an undisputed right to sell the produce of his farm, orchard, vineyard and garden in any place or market where such articles are usually sold, and in any quantity he may think proper, without paying any state, county or city tax, or license, for doing so, any law, city or town ordinance to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, that the corporate authorities of any such city, town or village may prohibit the obstruction of its streets, alleys and public places for any such purpose: And, provided further, that nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to authorize the sale of spirituous, vinous or malt liquors, contrary to laws which now are or hereafter may be in force prohibiting the sale thereof.
(Source: P.A. 84‑1308.)

See how confusing this all gets ?  The above law says a farmer has the right to sell the produce of his farm. Therefore it would seem logical that to sell it I must be able to advertise it.

So without clear input from those I sought for guidance, (Really, the words "guidance" and "government" are counter-productive , don't you think?  Well, I do)  we have no choice but to move ahead on our own, specifically, if we are going to make a living selling our products, we will need to TELL people about our products, since the majority of our future customers, although bright in their own ways, are not psychic.

Thus, last fall, we did the unspeakable. We advertised our raw milk, in Book of Face, Twitter, this Blog, and blatantly in our own little farm store. We even wrote signs in ink ! We waited for the G-men to come forth.

Nothing.

We moved forward a little more with a print ad in local newspapers just before Christmas; The Pantograph (Bloomington) and  The Daily Journal ( Kankakee.) We waited for Big Brother to come for coffee.

Nothing.

I approached number one son and webmaster , last week to list raw milk availability under "Products". So now even our web site is advertising our raw milk sales, something we have never done in the 5 years we've had a web site     http://www.south-pork-ranch.com/products.html     And we waited for Men in Black to arrest our cows.

Nothing.

This week we pulled the net in closer to home. So many local folks don't even know we exist here in our own community. Well, who's to blame for that ? That would be me, VP of Bacon.  So for the first time in the 18 years we have been on this farm, we ran an ad in our local small town newspapers. See below. And we waited for the phone calls.  We got a few...new customers ! But that's what advertising is all about isn't it?

Saponification Sunday...Sad State of Soap

So not to be copying Jen http://jenorasoaps.blogspot.com/ but seems I got carried away with water discounting as well. But before I go further, let me say how much I appreciate when soap folks who d share mistakes as well as earth shattering accomplishments. It takes a special soaper like Jen to say "Hey...DON"T do this! "  Of course I ignored her advice being of the dull witted variety, but still I appreciate that she tried to warn me.  Maybe you will be smarter than I

So I made a beautiful smelling soap  all full of clove and cassia essential oils.  Wafting with the aroma of freshly baked coffee cake and hot brewed Java, it also looked wonderful as I colored with real Folgers, none of that ridiculous what-is-the-point decaffeinated junk, and some coffee butter which is a deep rich brown.  Just before pouring in the mold I stitrred in  a brief teaspoon of the coffee grounds themselves and it all looked heavenly after sitting in the frig for 24 hrs.

Yeah, it looked wonderful until  I began cutting it into bars...It all came apart at the seams it seems. At first slice it went well but as I got closer to the bottom, the bottom lost it, crumbling to the floor.  DANG IT !

So I got a thinner knife which helped some but a few hours later obnoxious fissures started showing up throughout the bar. Right about the same time the bottom half was darkening into a rich brown, which made me see the potential and grieve its loss even more.

I really liked the way my swirls worked after stabbing the soap with a small whisk a few times. But alas it will not work for resale. So, I will grate it and rebatch it, another lesson learned.

ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK THE RECIPE AGAINST THE LYE CALCULATOR

The bowl? Got it for 99cents at my favorite thrift shop, Frugality, in Fairbury, Illinois. On the bottom it says FRANKOMA. Name of potter? Who knows. Still a cool bowl

To Tour or Not to Tour; That is The Question (and the risk)

As seen in todays issue of http://www.therenegadefarmer.com/



When folks call us to ask about our farm, its products, location, etc...they invariably ask the toughest question of all, "Do you give tours?"

The answer is indubitably Yes, unless of course it is No, not really. Why so wishy-washy? I'll have to refer you to our insurance carrier, who gets nervous about tours. Where we see opportunity to educate city dwellers, share techniques with other farmers and provide children with the means of touching a real live animal, she sees it as a lawsuit waiting to take root and spread faster than a pack of Morning Glory Seeds.

School children love the opportunity to visit farms and help with chores
Make sure the parents come along to help.

Her advice to us is to avoid labeling it a "Tour" and whatever you do, don't charge for it. Instead, she suggests, call it a "Walk-a-Bout" and inform people they can leave a donation if they so desire. If we do decide to give real tours it could cause our liability insurance to double. She also strongly recommends we have all farm visitors sign a waiver, something like this;

Thanks for visiting us. Farms are highly dangerous and could kill you. A cow might gore you in the abdomen, a boar might bite off your arm, a chicken might peck your eyes out and our milk could curdle in your stomach before you get back down the driveway. We are not responsible for anything. Have a great day.

Or something similar to that. We understand her concern, farms can be dangerous, but then again so is life in general. We hate to assume the worst of people, that they might sue us if our turkey pecks at their open-toed sandal (and WHY would you wear those to the farm?) and we love teaching them about the benefits of free range eggs and pastured meat. We really love seeing a child pet the soft warm nose of a newborn calf.

We're just strange that way.

Stranger than many of our own farmer friends who don't allow visitors for fear of disease that might be brought onto their farm from outside sources. I've been on a few farms like that where visitors wore more masks, booties and gloves than a medical team did prior to open heart surgery.

Allowing Graduate students and journalists to visit your
farm can be a real asset, unless you see it as a risk

How did farms and folks get so leery and untrustworthy of each other? How will we ever foster the love of farming in our youth, enough so that they might want to own or at least work on a farm of their own, if we don't allow them to touch the farms livestock or taste its produce before giving full disclaimers and 10 page liability waivers?

What do you do at your farm? Do you give tours? Do you charge a fee for them? Do you have visitors sign waivers? Do you carry extra insurance against injury claims?

Or do you just put up a huge NO TRESPASSING sign at the end of your driveway, and be done with it? I'd love to hear what you are doing about this on your farm and why. You can comment publicly here or send me an email at opies99@gmail.com.

Bye Bye Bossy

This post is part of Farm House Fridays at The Renegade Farmer. When done be sure and check them out. It's a fantastic site for all farmers, famer want-to-be, farm stalkers, whatever. http://certifiedorganicfarm.blogspot.com/


Eight months ago we did the unthinkable. We listed our farm for sale, the simple reason being :business was too good and it was killing us.  Read all about the sale here
http://certifiedorganicfarm.blogspot.com/

When our four children left home and decided farm ownership was not their preference, (what can I say? They are very bright children) we had two choices, or so we thought. Hire staff and continue growing our organic dairy, beef and pork farm OR sell the whole thing down to the last ground burger pattie in our farm store, and start all over on a tiny homestead growing just enough for the two of us; living off the grid was what we wanted, a long time dream.

Home on the range, our pastured cows enjoy
the outdoors even at end November

But, with only one serious looker (who never called back so don't know why I referred to her as "serious") it appears that many folks love the IDEA of running their own farm but due to lack of time/money/ initiative they would rather we continue the work part while they continue the purchasing part.

We understand. I like driving our new (used) Ford F-150 but I don't want to start manufacturing them.

So, after some time, we discover...option three; downsizing right here. It may be awhile until the right buyer finds South Pork Ranch and wishes to make it their dream, so while we work to make that connection we begin to say Sayonara to some of the most work intensive/costly parts of the farm. We're not sure if and how it can be done here. The house is big and inefficient, the animals are many, and the debt is high as is sadly common with most farm operations. So how do we downsize to a manageable work load while bringing in enough income for mortgage/feed/land rental etc.? Which should come first. the chicken or the egg?

We say the cow.

Our dairy is the most costly part of our farm. We do not grow our own hay or grain and must purchase it and then pay to have it hauled to us. Certified organic hay, grain and now straw, is not cheap. Keith milks 18 cows and we raise their offspring for replacement cows and beef sales, abput 60 head of cattle all told.  That's a lot of hay.

Our first goal: to reduce the milking herd from 18 to 5 by June. Five cows will give us enough milk to continue our raw milk sales, even allowing for a few new customers, which average about $1500 per month, and provide us with all the milk we need personally. It will also provide us with enough to continue feeding our hogs which are more profitable than our dairy.

A Farmer and his Girls

But here comes the tough part. How to decide which cow goes and when? Should we require each Bossy to reapply for her own job or just rely on the good old background check?  Perhaps a "Cow-Cam" placed strategically in the free stall area of the barn will highlight the worst behaved cows and make our decision to ship them, easier.  A few will be available for sale as family milk cows. Gentle and kind, used to daily human contact they are great backyard cows, but  the majority will go to the locker a few at a time to be made into nutritious organic burger .

With each cow gone there will be less manure to scrape and spread, less hay to feed, less repairs in the barn, less fencing to fix, less cleanup in the milk parlor, less flies in the hot sticky summer.

There will also be less of those kind creatures who helped us build our farm, and teach our children about the benefits of hard work, (we taught them so well they said "No Thanks!") Less to show to customers children who visit, less of the bloodlines we worked hard to expand and improve upon.
Less sweet calves with the big brown eyes.

But all dreams come at a cost, and you can't very well downsize without making changes. We just hope we are making the right ones.




PS. About that snow. Yeah we got a couple inches, lots of wind and a cold night but nothing to cry about. Damn Midwest Alarmists

Bring it On

The beavers were busy yesterday, After weeks of above normal temperatures we were beginning to think winter was delayed permanently but then predictions of snow started coming in for today.

"One inch and winds of 15mph" predicted at 8am yesterday
We did morning chores and started adding extra bedding to animal stalls. I painted the yard sign, yes PAINTED, with directions to the barn, house and farm store. Keith repaired the door to chicken coop and I painted it as well.

"One and 1/2 inches and winds of 20mph" predicted at noon
Keith moved big bales of hay in front Mad Max (top dog hog) and his harem's hogcienda. This will provide wind block and source of food. I burned lots of old trash and wood piles, overfilled the big calves hay feeder.

"One to three inches and winds of 25mph" predicted last evening
Keith moved large barrels of feed to barn to save on walking to machine shed should snow hit. He spread a few loads of manure as well and took small milk tank over to Forrest for repairs.
I planted spring seeds in an old concrete waterer, with a 10 foot diameter no less. I should have put them in months ago, but why? It was 56 degrees yesterday! I caught 6 loose chickens and threw them into chicken yard on my way up to the house.

"Three to Six inches and white out conditions" predicted this am
It's 8am we still need to bed horses, move mower inside garage. (Its had a dead battery for the last month), and move another big bale of hay in front of Red Wattle Wally's stall so he and his girls have wind protection and extra feed. Then we should be "ready"

As I write the sky is white and snow is just starting to blow across the yard. Keith volunteered to do my calf chores this am so I volunteered to make him a big coffee cake for when he comes in for his morning break.

That's how we beavers roll.

Dear Mom...

I am caught between two worlds. I love the technology of the Internet, I am an info junkie, a blog buffoon, a digital photo freak, a Book of Face lover but I hate how those very things have so destroyed real face to face communication.

A nephew of mine recently enlisted in the Marines. He is allowed letters. Period. No twitters or status updates, no blue tooth on his ear. Just letters.

So that is what he is getting from me. My recent ramblings about nothing sent to him 2 and 3 times a week, reminded me how much I loved getting letters from my folks all those years (10) that I lived in South Dakota. They were both excellent letter writers.

So, in their honor, one resolution of mine this year will be more letter writing. It's a soon to be lost art if we don't get busy with our pens.

From our Farm Your Face

Yesterday, was a big meat day here on South Pork Ranch. Three animals left the farm (via the livestock trailer on its way to the Eureka locker) while three returned to the farm via several coolers and assorted cardboard boxes.

Before November 2010, all our meat would go into two freezers in our basement where folks could purchase it through a freindly knock on the back door, but I always imagined 80 year old aunt Rosalinda tumbling down the back steps, so we opened our farm store. It also became inconvenient to crawl out of my evening bath in order to retrieve one pound of liver for a hungry customer.

Now, our meat (after being USDA inspected, labeled and vacuum packed) is sold out of two bartered upright freezers in our little farm store. Considering that meat travels over 1500 miles in the US before it gets to the consumers table we are happy that ours travels only 1/10 that distance. The Eureka locker, the only certified organic locker in Illinois, where we picked up over 1000 pounds of meat yesterday, is just 60 miles from our farm.

So, it goes from us, to them, to us and then to our customers. Farm to Face as we like to say. A really good system, except for the part where we have to put all the meat away in our store.

Frozen meat is how shall I put it?....Cold, yes that's the word I was looking for. It is COLD. It is times like these that we regret allowing our four children the option to grow up and move away. The days of young healthy, free labor were good days indeed.

 Meat from our last pickup being stored in the machine shed freezers, is relocated to farm store via the high tech kids wagon. Empty spots are filled. Meat in coolers in the back of the pick up are unloaded and complete the empty shelf filling. Once the freezers are filled, any leftover meat from yesterdays pickup goes in the machine shed freezers.

All meat is hand marked with a lot number so we can track each animal to its own package of burger or bacon. Some of our meat is pre-weighed but some like our beef jerky is not so I had to weigh them and write the lot number on them. Yes, I did try a stamp, but the packages are cold and not flat so writing the lot number by hand works much better. Maybe instead of all the free advice you could show up on meat day and help put some of this stuff away. Hmmmmm?

Meat must  be rearranged in the freezer into some sort of order. The method is complex. Beef on the left, pork on the right.

This is the PORK freezer. On a good day it
will mostly contain PORK

I once tried labeling each shelf with the meat located there but labels get moved or fall off so instead I try to put the meat back in the same area like I did the time before, but then I go and order an entire 1/4 cow made into beef jerky. That is over 100 pounds of jerky or approx. 200 packages of jerky which I forgot to plan for.

So meat is readjusted. And readjusted again. Keith is busy doing chores late since he had to leave early for the locker run. I'm just telling you that so you understand why I am doing all the meat adjusting. Someone has to milk and it ain't me.

Finally all 1000 pounds of meat is put away. We decide this would be a great time to sit down in the kitchen and get caught up with each other over pot of coffee number two. I've been up since 0330 and Keith has been up since shortly after that.

And who do you think shows up at that exact moment? Well the Illinois Department of Agriculture's meat inspector that is who. Seems its time for our annual inspection.

No problem, we give him a fresh cup of coffee and a few beef sticks to chew on while he finishes his paperwork at our kitchen table. Funny how he didn't show up until AFTER all the meat was put away

.