{"id":705,"date":"2012-11-30T18:14:29","date_gmt":"2012-12-01T01:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/?p=705"},"modified":"2012-11-30T18:15:52","modified_gmt":"2012-12-01T01:15:52","slug":"updates-from-the-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/updates-from-the-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"Updates from the Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"
Wow! \u00a0It has been a long time since we wrote a newsletter- so\u2026 lots to cover.<\/div>\n
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Broilers<\/strong><\/div>\n
This year has been a struggle. \u00a0A struggle that is necessary to get where we want to be as a farm\/business\/citizen. \u00a0The elimination of corn, soy and GMOs in the broiler ration has been difficult. \u00a0The growth rates on the broilers went from 8 weeks with corn\/soy to 14-16 weeks without. \u00a0This added a lot of expense to a pound of chicken. \u00a0We ran a trial last year with good results, so we were slow to react this year when things weren\u2019t going well. \u00a0We tried different hatcheries, leaving the one we have used for years in hopes that it would solve the issue- it didn\u2019t. \u00a0So we sat down and started working on the ration again. \u00a0We have made some tweaks- mainly the addition of safflower seeds from Maupin to raise the fat content that may have dripped too low when the corn was removed. \u00a0The last batch of the season is out of the brooder and is looking pretty good. \u00a0We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will have a chicken day after Thanksgiving.<\/div>\n
So is it all worth it? \u00a0 Not sure. \u00a0Sometimes I feel that we are having a bit of mission creep. \u00a0The life of the animal is where we differentiate ourselves the most from the other guys- and this remains our primary charter. \u00a0We cater to the animals\u2019 natural instincts before we consider the convenience of the farmer. \u00a0We have never deviated from this practice. \u00a0The mission has crept off the farm a bit- getting more and more engrossed with the politics of each grain, how it is processed, and what is its primary purpose. \u00a0It gets complicated- quick. \u00a0But on the other hand\u2026we have to practice what we preach. \u00a0We cannot say \u2018 know your farmer\u2019 and then buy grains off a train car from Minnesota- we have to know too! \u00a0Right now we are working under the philosophy that if we can- we should. \u00a0So, if we can raise our animals without importing grains from around the world, without corn, without soybeans, without byproducts \u2013 we should. \u00a0As it stands now \u2013 I still believe we can do this. \u00a0 In the meantime, production is down and costs are up\u2026a struggle that we hope is worth it. \u00a0I would really like to know how you feel about this- is this important to you?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Pork<\/strong><\/div>\n
The hog operation changed significantly this year as well (the hog ration has always been corn, soy and GMO free \u2013BTW). \u00a0We farrowed all the little ones on the farm this year. \u00a0This was a fantastic learning curve and we plan to stick with it- with one major modification. \u00a0We are planning to only farrow in the spring. \u00a0Farrowing year round has created \u2018drifts\u2019 of pigs everywhere on the farm- the boars by the pond, the last litter on the North field, the sows in the far East paddock. \u00a0This has made it difficult to grow crops specifically for the pigs, limited our ability to rest the land as long as we would like, and it is difficult to manage.<\/div>\n
Next year we plan to farrow 12-15 gilts all at once. \u00a0We have a paddock of triticale growing that should be ready by the time the \u00a0girls will ready to give birth. \u00a0We plan to keep all the pigs together until weaning time where the little ones will be off to the alfalfa field for finishing. \u00a0This means that we will finally have shares to offer! \u00a0This is by far the biggest request we get \u2013 can I get a whole\/half pig? \u00a0We will finally be answering yes- how many! \u00a0Right now we are farrowing and harvesting all year round- which really helps with the cash flow. \u00a0Raising a hundred pigs without harvesting any will be difficult and we will likely ask for a deposit well in advance of harvest. \u00a0More on that soon!! \u00a0We are really excited about this method- far more sustainable than our current methods.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Eggs<\/strong><\/div>\n
Eggs are stable and we do not plan many changes for next year. \u00a0Last year we were able to rotate the hen huts throughout the winter and will do so again this year. \u00a0Our dilemma with eggs has always been lighting. \u00a0We do not use artificial lighting for our hens. \u00a014 hours of light means eggs\u2026.less than 14 means very few eggs. \u00a0We price eggs knowing that we will have very little production for half of the year. \u00a0It does frustrate us to know that customers are willing to pay 25% more for eggs that are force molted, artificially lit, non- pastured, and fed dried-up extruded paste- just because they are local. \u00a0But cheaper, fatter, faster is not our mission….you are not paying for the eggs as much as you\u2019re paying for the life of the hen. \u00a0 And hens do not eat extruded feed, or shed their feathers quickly, or need night lights.<\/div>\n
Things will pick up for eggs after the winter solstice and we will start up the Winter Drops after the New Year.<\/div>\n
FFA Fruit and Potatoes<\/div>\n
We have decided not to work with the FFA group this year. \u00a0Last year there were complaints about the quality of the apples, a couple of order mix ups, and we didn\u2019t get a single response on our Facebook survey to stay the course. \u00a0We will continue to look for ways to connect you with other producers, however, this offer may have run its course.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dorper Lambs<\/strong><\/div>\n
What a nightmare the sheep have been!! Okay, maybe that is a bit extreme. \u00a0The ram wants your knee-caps, the ewes will stand on a foot of grass and still push their way through the fence for no good reason, hot wire has been useless, and herding sheep should be left to qualified dogs\u2026not short-tempered humans. \u00a0 Now for the good news- we think we have a working model! \u00a0If the ewes like leaning on fences\u2026.let \u2018em\u2026and let them move them too. \u00a0We have made a corral of cattle panels to hold the sheep, however, we have turned them upside down so the smooth side is on the ground. \u00a0Now when the ewes lean through the bars they can actually slide the pen to fresh grass. \u00a0Now that the hay is up the sheep can really make tracks around the farm- continually moving to fresh grass whenever they need too. \u00a0This is management intensive grazing (MiG) without the management. \u00a0If we can continue to refine this model we may be adding more sheep to the farm.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Thanksgiving Turkeys<\/strong><\/div>\n
I saved the worst for last. \u00a0We will not have any turkeys this year. \u00a0Early in August we had a predator (possibly a Raccoon) get into the brooder house and wiped out the Turkeys. \u00a0Turkeys are very fragile early in life and when the raccoon was in the brooder; the entire group dog piled in the corners. \u00a0We had great luck with the early Turkeys and the breast steaks were well received, so we will try again next year with both off-season parts and Holiday birds.<\/div>\n
\n

Thanks so much for supporting us- we are thrilled to be able to live this life!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Crew at the Great American Egg<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow! \u00a0It has been a long time since we wrote a newsletter- so\u2026 lots to cover. Broilers This year has been a struggle. \u00a0A struggle that is necessary to get where we want to be as a farm\/business\/citizen. \u00a0The elimination of corn, soy and GMOs in the broiler ration has been difficult. \u00a0The growth rates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":707,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705\/revisions\/707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatamericanegg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}