Looks like we’ll soon have another kind of baby around here! Those pigs sure like their mud. They do manage to keep their port-a-hut relatively clean, at least. This weekend’s projects include moving the mama’s to drier ground, if any can be found.
We’re all hearing about the state of the economy these days. Around here that leads to discussions on what this will mean for our business, direct-marketing our beef, pork & chicken. Will the rising gas, energy and food prices mean that our customers will have to cut back on how much they buy from us? Or are people becoming more aware of the issues surrounding industrially-produced food and making local sustainably-raised food a priority in their budgets?
The jury’s still out here. On the one hand we’ve had more sales here at the farm this winter than last winter, and the local store that carries our meat has bought more than last year. Despite the fact that we had to raise prices significantly because of rising feed costs, we’ve had more chicken and on-the-hoof beef & pork pre-orders than last year and received them earlier in the year. Farmers market starts in just over a month and I’m hopeful that it’s going to go even better for us this year. We got our name and reputation out there last year and can build on that, plus we’ll be at two markets this year instead of one.
On the other hand we’ve had more cancellations of pre-orders than we’ve experienced before (though the vast majority of them were about timing and not for financial reasons.) At the moment we’re fretting about the hogs a bit. Out of the litter of 8 pigs we butchered last month we had 3-1/2 unsold. We butchered those into cuts to sell at farmers market this summer. Out of this month’s litter of 7, we only have 3 sold. We’re not really sure if we can move those other 4 at Farmers Market, in addition to the 3-1/2.
[Edited to add…that was wild! At the very moment I typed that, someone called and ordered a whole hog! So make that 3 left to sell…]
But I was encouraged by an article in this past Sunday’s Des Moines Register, “High cost for food lets czars envision a new era“. The presidents of Whole Foods and Stonyfield Farms spoke to students at Drake and Iowa State last week “about the success of green businesses and where the movement is headed.”
“The higher food prices climb, the more recalls there are, the more people learn about problems associated with coventional food from industrialized farms, the better it is for natural and organic food producers, they said.”
So what do you think? If you’re a farmer, have you experienced any changes in your sales lately? If so, how have they changed, and to what do you attribute the change? If you’re a consumer, are your food budget and the type of items you buy changing? If so, why?
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