I am trying to be better about updating the blog to let you know what is going on here... I have so much planned in my head and on paper, I just forget that you might want to know what we are planning and why we do things the way we do.
The last few weeks alot of our time has been spent developing a 'new' feed recipe for our pigs. I developed 3 guidlines for the feed that I wanted to follow:
1) Needs to be local - preferably grown by us.
2) Needs to be sustainable - able for us to continue producing year after year(no monsanto seed!)
3) Needs to be healthy for the animals and provide health benefits to those consuming the products
Affordability was also an issue, or I could have chosen to purchase our feed from Scratch and Peck feeds - http://www.scratchandpeck.com/ This feed closely resembles what I would like to feed the pigs, but at $0.61/lb before shipping, that would take ALL of the profit out of raising pigs. If commercial producers are currently getting $0.69/lb live weight while paying $0.15/lb for commercial feed I would have to chage $2.76 /lb live weight JUST to stay competitive with factory farms... Not to mention that heritage breed pigs raised outside grow a little slower which means that they consume more feed to get to market weight. That would defeat our purpose of trying to raise healthy food that everyone can afford to eat.
So my next plan was to formulate our own recipe. Scratch and Peck did provide a lable that listed their ingredients, which helped tremendously since I did not go to school to formulate feeds. With my list in mind, I knew we had to be able to grow the ingredients while adding as little off farm supplements as possible.
By growing all of the ingredients used in our pig feed, it will cut down on the fuel that would have been used to bring in grain, especially soy, which would have to come from eastern Nebraska or even further. It also means that we know exactly what was or wasn't applied to the growing grains, as we farm following Organic standards. Any corn included in the feed will be non-GMO open polinated corn, grown right here.
My research led my to Austrian Meat Theory on feeding pigs for the best quality meat(very different from American standards) and Niman Ranch pork raising protocols. Their standards state:
1) Antiobiotic Free
2) Hormone Free
3) All vegetarian diets (To comply with this claim, we cannot feed meat or meat by-products This includes, but is not limited to: animal fat, meat and bone meal, fishmeal, tankage, blood or plasma, or even eggs. This excludes milk products which are allowed.
Most feeds for pigs contain some or all of these ingredients to boost protein levels... Yuck!
We did however realize that the pigs would need some form of salt/minerals to help balance their diet. There are Organic premixes available, but for now I intend to go with a SeaLife kelp - see here: http://www.noamkelp.com/slfeed.html
So our final ingredient list for our ground feed came to:
Austrian Field Peas
Wheat
Barley
SeaLife Kelp
Diatomaceous Earth (controls parasites and reduces odors)
We are also planting small pasture paddocks or grass/clover/alfalfa to get the pigs out grazing and they will be supplemented with hay and excess dairy.
We feel like eliminating the soy from their diet was the right choice - http://www.westonaprice.org/Soy-Alert
We plan to feed our meat chickens the same ground feed with added calcium.
Two litters are due this month which means they will be ready to process Oct-Dec. The reservation list is filling up fast so if you want to try our pork, please contact us!
Nathaniel & Rylee McGowan
flowerfieldfarms@gmail.com
308-672-1573
308-672-6562
Showing posts with label Pork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pork. Show all posts
Friday, April 6, 2012
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Newsletters
We started out the new year by printing 100 newsletters to let our friends know what is going on here at the farm. If you didn't receive one, here is a copy for you to read, and please contact us with your name and address so we can be sure to add you to our mailing list.
January 2011 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
We took the liberty of adding you to our mailing list, to keep everyone we know up to date as to what is happening and available here at the farm. There is also room for you to add your friends and family so they can begin recieving our newsletters as well. If there is something you are already purchasing locally, please continue to support that grower
We had a really great start to our direct marketing approach to farming last year that began at the Scottsbluff farmers market. We were a little unsure if there would be a market for our products in such a rural agricultural community. To our suprise people thanked us for taking the time to provide them with fresh local food. We were given hope that it might just work and we have decided to really go for it!
We will again raise a market garden again this year, although we will be shifting our focus mainly to perrennials. We will be planting more strawberries, raspberries, asparagus, and flowers. We want to have a diversified, sustainable farm where all the pieces work together, and nothing is wasted. An example of this is the whey fed pigs being pastured in the gardens during the winter to glean what is left, and add fertilizer as well. Chickens will not only lay eggs, but will be our main form of organic insect control around the gardens and dairy.
Our first hive of honeybee's are doing well, and we are very excited to be adding 30 more hives in April. We will harvest honey on Labor Day weekend with Ernie Griffiths. If you need honey, please call him. We are planning to use the honey we harvest this year to make a 2011 edition Plum Lavendar Wine with the help of the folks at Table Mountain Vineyards. We will have a limited amount of honey for sale in 2012.
Our heritage breed of hereford hogs arrived two days before Christmas and are doing great! We are super excited for our first litter of hereford piglets, which we expect sometime in April. We also accquired several Tunis ewes, which will start lambing in April as well. This will enable us to have spring lamb for sale starting late in the fall.
We will be adding pastured Thanksgiving turkeys, and Christmas Goose this year. It would help us tremendously if you would pre-order the poultry and pork on the order form so we can make sure to raise enough for everyone. We have added more laying hens this year as well.
We are planning a micro dairy here at the farm where we can milk 10 head of cows that have access to pasture each day. We will have quarts of grade A pasturized creamline milk for sale in returnable glass bottles. We will also offer cream, butter, and ice cream as well as cheddar and bleu cheese, all made here on the farm! We are working on the building now and hope to be sellin milk this year. If not, it may be 2012 before we are able to bottle the milk, due to the facilities and equipment requirements. Please let us know if you are interested in these items on the order form!
As we transition from 'conventional' farming to direct marketing we are trying to make the farm more visitor friendly so you can feel like you are going to grandpa's farm when you visit. We believe in raising our livestock the old fashioned way - our pigs play in the mud and chickens free range every day. All of the seeds we plant are heirloom, non genetically modified or treated in any way. We don't feed ANY antibiotics or hormones, or spray our gardens with ANY chemicals. We go BEYOND ORGANIC to ensure you have safe food! "If you think organic food is expensive, have you priced cancer lately?" - Joel Salatin
Sincerely,The Folks at Flower Field Farms
Nathaniel & Rylee
Delaney, Eddie, Teagan, & Rayfe
Joy Huber
Noah & Kadan
January 2011 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
We took the liberty of adding you to our mailing list, to keep everyone we know up to date as to what is happening and available here at the farm. There is also room for you to add your friends and family so they can begin recieving our newsletters as well. If there is something you are already purchasing locally, please continue to support that grower
We had a really great start to our direct marketing approach to farming last year that began at the Scottsbluff farmers market. We were a little unsure if there would be a market for our products in such a rural agricultural community. To our suprise people thanked us for taking the time to provide them with fresh local food. We were given hope that it might just work and we have decided to really go for it!
We will again raise a market garden again this year, although we will be shifting our focus mainly to perrennials. We will be planting more strawberries, raspberries, asparagus, and flowers. We want to have a diversified, sustainable farm where all the pieces work together, and nothing is wasted. An example of this is the whey fed pigs being pastured in the gardens during the winter to glean what is left, and add fertilizer as well. Chickens will not only lay eggs, but will be our main form of organic insect control around the gardens and dairy.
Our first hive of honeybee's are doing well, and we are very excited to be adding 30 more hives in April. We will harvest honey on Labor Day weekend with Ernie Griffiths. If you need honey, please call him. We are planning to use the honey we harvest this year to make a 2011 edition Plum Lavendar Wine with the help of the folks at Table Mountain Vineyards. We will have a limited amount of honey for sale in 2012.
Our heritage breed of hereford hogs arrived two days before Christmas and are doing great! We are super excited for our first litter of hereford piglets, which we expect sometime in April. We also accquired several Tunis ewes, which will start lambing in April as well. This will enable us to have spring lamb for sale starting late in the fall.
We will be adding pastured Thanksgiving turkeys, and Christmas Goose this year. It would help us tremendously if you would pre-order the poultry and pork on the order form so we can make sure to raise enough for everyone. We have added more laying hens this year as well.
We are planning a micro dairy here at the farm where we can milk 10 head of cows that have access to pasture each day. We will have quarts of grade A pasturized creamline milk for sale in returnable glass bottles. We will also offer cream, butter, and ice cream as well as cheddar and bleu cheese, all made here on the farm! We are working on the building now and hope to be sellin milk this year. If not, it may be 2012 before we are able to bottle the milk, due to the facilities and equipment requirements. Please let us know if you are interested in these items on the order form!
As we transition from 'conventional' farming to direct marketing we are trying to make the farm more visitor friendly so you can feel like you are going to grandpa's farm when you visit. We believe in raising our livestock the old fashioned way - our pigs play in the mud and chickens free range every day. All of the seeds we plant are heirloom, non genetically modified or treated in any way. We don't feed ANY antibiotics or hormones, or spray our gardens with ANY chemicals. We go BEYOND ORGANIC to ensure you have safe food! "If you think organic food is expensive, have you priced cancer lately?" - Joel Salatin
Sincerely,The Folks at Flower Field Farms
Nathaniel & Rylee
Delaney, Eddie, Teagan, & Rayfe
Joy Huber
Noah & Kadan
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