Grassfed Life

If you listened to last week's episode it was all about brooder management. Managing the chicks from when they arrive on the farm until they reach about three weeks of age when it's time to go out onto pasture. Today's episode picks up right where that one left off. We talk all about transitioning birds to pasture, and then managing the new birds on pasture. There's a lot of practical and immediately applicable advice in this one. And this one also finishes up our series of shows on pastured poultry management. We've now covered all the way from choosing a hatchery to getting the finished birds processed. Today's show ties up some of the loose ends at the tail end of the process, it's all about transitioning the chicks from the brooder to the pasture.

READY TO START YOUR OWN LIVESTOCK FARM?

The Farm Business Essentials Online Course is here, and it's not just a piece of the puzzle. FBE is a complete step by step A to Z system to plan, market, and grow the farm enterprise that's right for you. Built by a farmer for farmers just like you - https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com

Profitable Pastured Poultry Course: https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com/poultry

Lots more free content at Grassfed Life: http://bit.ly/2D5gRJX

Subscribe: https://apple.co/2hayYod

Today's episode is all about the ins and outs of brooder management taking you from the time when the baby chicks arrive in the farm in the mail to the day when they are transitioned out to pasture. In this episode we cover feed, environment, and setup of Darby's brooder.

READY TO START YOUR OWN LIVESTOCK FARM?

The Farm Business Essentials Online Course is here, and it's not just a piece of the puzzle. FBE is a complete step by step A to Z system to plan, market, and grow the farm enterprise that's right for you. Built by a farmer for farmers just like you - https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com

Profitable Pastured Poultry Course: https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com/poultry

Lots more free content at Grassfed Life: http://bit.ly/2D5gRJX

Subscribe: https://apple.co/2hayYod

To start the show we'll go to an email that I recently received from one of you listening to the show... "Hi Diego I hope everything is going good for you in sunny California! I ordered 110 Cornish Cross chicks today. I am so excited to finally get my feet wet and stop analysis paralysis. I have made two hoop house style tractors out of cattle panels. I have located a non-GMO organic feed supplier. And I have set a date with a state inspected processor! Thank you so much for all your inspiration. Please pass on my thanks to Darby as well." Given that this person is just starting out, what should they focus on their first year?

READY TO START YOUR OWN LIVESTOCK FARM?

The Farm Business Essentials Online Course is here, and it's not just a piece of the puzzle. FBE is a complete step by step A to Z system to plan, market, and grow the farm enterprise that's right for you. Built by a farmer for farmers just like you - https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com

Profitable Pastured Poultry Course: https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com/poultry

Lots more free content at Grassfed Life: http://bit.ly/2D5gRJX

Subscribe: https://apple.co/2hayYod

Today is the 4th of July. A day when America celebrates and commemorates its independence. It's a national holiday, which means that for many American workers today is a calendared day off from work. A day that you can always look ahead to and say, "I have a long weekend for the 4th, let's go then." For most, not all, most workers today is a money in the bank holiday. Along with Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and a few others, it's one of the bonus days off for Americans each year. It's holidays like this that many people plan vacations and other life dreams around. But isn't that a little sad. Having to compartmentalize all of your recreational time into the time off that your company gives you and the days that the government mandates. All of that work away from home for a paycheck, and a limited amount of time to actually use that paycheck with your family. It isn't how most people would choose to live their lives, but it is how most people have accepted living their lives. If you are in that boat and your not happy with it, what if you could try to create a work scenario that is more aligned with how you want to live your life. Instead of cramming all of your recreational and family time into weekends and three weeks a year, what if you could spread that time out over the whole year. Each day having the ability to do whatever that you want to do most. Not all day every day, but part of every day. That doesn't mean that you don't have to work. But you could do the work on your terms, in your preferred location, and on your schedule. Effectively making every day a working holiday. Being a self employed farmer is one way to do that. Today on the 4th of July, Darby, a self employed farmer will talk about living each day as a holiday, and Declaring Independence in Your Own Life, From What Society Tells You It Has to Be.

READY TO START YOUR OWN LIVESTOCK FARM?

The Farm Business Essentials Online Course is here, and it's not just a piece of the puzzle. FBE is a complete step by step A to Z system to plan, market, and grow the farm enterprise that's right for you. Built by a farmer for farmers just like you - https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com

Profitable Pastured Poultry Course: https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com/poultry

Lots more free content at Grassfed Life: http://bit.ly/2D5gRJX

Subscribe: https://apple.co/2hayYod

Many farmers like Darby work at least 60 hours per week - that's 7 days a week, from May through September. That's a lot of hours. It's much higher average workload during that time specific time frame than your average American. But we can't just focus on those numbers, because there's more to the story. Think about the off season. For many farmers the workload is seasonal. They spend a lot of time working in the summer and a lot of time not working in the winter. That brings the year round average of total hours worked down, probably closer to the national average for the average Joe American work. But there's a difference between the two workers, the average entrepreneur and farmer own is also working for themselves. Their efforts are directly going towards something more than just money, they are building a business. It's not just putting hours in for dollars; it's also getting something that has the potential to have more longevity than they have. Both in the near term and the long term as equity is built in the business and a business can often work 24/7 for a long time, effectively working when you can't. Meaning as the business owner you leveraged your hours now for longer term gain. Another factor to consider is - where are those hours spent? If you are farmer then they are probably spent on farm which means on your land where you live. You are spending a lot of hours working around your house. You aren't leaving each day to go to work, other than walking out the door. There's no commute. Which means you are around your family and any down time like breaks and lunch can be spent with them, or however you see fit. A far cry from the more family isolated hours of the average American worker. There's more to the hours worked per week, than just the hours worked per week. This is important to understand if you are thinking about getting into farming and these long summer work hours are scaring you. You need to look deeper; you need to look at where those hours of work are taking place and what those hours of working are going towards. Because what on the surface appears to be insane hours, how insane is it really? And at the end of the day is the average American worker the one who's really putting in the insane hours week after week, year after year?

READY TO START YOUR OWN LIVESTOCK FARM?

The Farm Business Essentials Online Course is here, and it's not just a piece of the puzzle. FBE is a complete step by step A to Z system to plan, market, and grow the farm enterprise that's right for you. Built by a farmer for farmers just like you - https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com

Profitable Pastured Poultry Course: https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com/poultry

Lots more free content at Grassfed Life: http://bit.ly/2D5gRJX

Subscribe: https://apple.co/2hayYod

We will start by going back in time by 8 weeks to April 22. That will be our starting point, Day 0 for the new chicks arriving on the farm. Delivered via mail, the newborn chicks start out their life on the farm in the comfort of the brooder. There they enjoy the warmth of an electric light as the play in wood shavings all day while they eat, gain weight and feather out. As we move ahead to Day 20, the chicks aren't as fragile as they once were, and they are now started to get crowded in their brooder. That means that it's time to move out, and the chicks head out to pasture where they touch grass for the first time, spending their first night in the open air under the protection of a chicken tractor. The chicks will spend the next 35 days here, each day getting moved to a fresh patch of pasture, leaving their nutrient rich manure behind. It's now late spring or summer, and despite their growth some will die along the way from the damp, the heat or the raccoon that got a little too close. The others will grow bigger and bigger eating bugs, grass, and the grain that you the farmer provides them each day. When the chicks are around 8 and half weeks old they will have converted all that food into body mass and each bird will weigh around 6.5 lbs. It's a pretty fast weight gain, in a pretty short amount of time - it's what the Cornish Cross were breed for. Now at just over 2 months old, the chickens live in the field, and their life in general, is almost over. Because that day has arrived; it's now time to process the birds - taking that living breathing chicken, and converting it into food for humans. When the birds reach this stage of their life you as the farmer have a couple options for processing them. One is to process the birds on farm. The other is taking the birds to a local processor. That's how Darby processes his birds, and today we'll pick our story right here at this stage. We'll zoom in on the day before, the day of, and the day after processing his birds. You'll get an inside look at everything that takes place between the chickens last hours on pasture to their return back to the farm as sellable meat in shrink wrapped bags.

READY TO START YOUR OWN LIVESTOCK FARM?

The Farm Business Essentials Online Course is here, and it's not just a piece of the puzzle. FBE is a complete step by step A to Z system to plan, market, and grow the farm enterprise that's right for you. Built by a farmer for farmers just like you - https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com

Profitable Pastured Poultry Course: https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com/poultry

Lots more free content at Grassfed Life: http://bit.ly/2D5gRJX

Subscribe: https://apple.co/2hayYod

How do you communicate your message, the one that your customers want to hear, at a farmers market?

Two ways: when you tell a customer face to face and with signage that you display.

But not just any signs.

As advertising legend David Ogilvy said, advertising isn't art, it's there to sell product.

Given that, make sure that your signs that are clear, understandable, and easy to read from near, and afar.

The whole goal of signage is to get people to come over to your booth and talk to you so you can then tell them your story.

The sign doesn't sell the product, you do. The function of the sign is to get people to stop and talk to you.

And if people can't read your sign then they probably won't stop to get the rest of your story.

READY TO START YOUR OWN LIVESTOCK FARM?

The Farm Business Essentials Online Course is here, and it's not just a piece of the puzzle. FBE is a complete step by step A to Z system to plan, market, and grow the farm enterprise that's right for you. Built by a farmer for farmers just like you - https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com

Profitable Pastured Poultry Course: https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com/poultry

Lots more free content at Grassfed Life: http://bit.ly/2D5gRJX

Subscribe: https://apple.co/2hayYod

Over the last few episodes we have talked about raising pork.

Today we will be shifting that conversation over to cover what do you do with that pig once it has been raised.

The obvious answer is you take it to a butcher who processes it down into various cuts.

But this is where the questions come into play.

What cuts should have the butcher break down the pig into?

Should keep those cuts as cuts or turn that meat into value added product like sausage?

Should you always process pigs into the same cuts, or does your market demand different cuts at different times through the year?

And then how do you take into account the on the land management to ensure that you have enough pigs ready at different times of year to maintain demand for the individual cuts.

Are you confused yet?

It gets complex pretty quickly.

In this episode, we'll dig into some of the different cuts of pork, and Darby's rationale for selling which ones, when. And this episode should help you balance what you are doing on the land with balance what you need to keep in the freezer.

READY TO START YOUR OWN LIVESTOCK FARM?

The Farm Business Essentials Online Course is here, and it's not just a piece of the puzzle. FBE is a complete step by step A to Z system to plan, market, and grow the farm enterprise that's right for you. Built by a farmer for farmers just like you - https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com

Profitable Pastured Poultry Course: https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com/poultry

Lots more free content at Grassfed Life: http://bit.ly/2D5gRJX

Subscribe: https://apple.co/2hayYod

Today we are continuing on with Part 2 in the mini-series on raising pigs on a sustainability minded family farm. This episode is all about equipment and infrastructure. Some things to think about before we get into this episode... Where are you starting from and where do you want to go? Depending on where you are starting from, and what you are starting with, that can really dictate what types of equipment and infrastructure you start raising pigs with. Similarly you need to know where you want to go with pigs. Is your foray into pigs experimental or is it something that you are for sure committed to from the long term? The answer to that question will dictate how much money you put into infrastructure and how permanent that infrastructure is. Do you own land or do you lease land? Do you have a wooded area or just pasture? These are all considerations that you need to think about when you start planning and designing your small scale pig operation. On other thing to think about is how much labor to have at your disposal? As we go through this episode keep in mind that Darby has a labor force of one, himself. So everything on his farm is geared towards making the job easier, faster, and more efficient so just one person can manage it. If he had staff, some of these systems might be setup differently. Remember context is very important here. Where are you starting from, what are you starting with, and where do you want go? There is no cookie cutter solution to any of this. Knowing that, we will take this topic on and today we will cover all of the basics that you need to get started with pigs literally form the ground up covering fencing, feeders, and waterers. We will also talk about and compare a starter setup with a more permanent setup. If you want to raise pigs, then this episode is all about what you need to buy to do it.

READY TO START YOUR OWN LIVESTOCK FARM?

The Farm Business Essentials Online Course is here, and it's not just a piece of the puzzle. FBE is a complete step by step A to Z system to plan, market, and grow the farm enterprise that's right for you. Built by a farmer for farmers just like you - https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com

Profitable Pastured Poultry Course: https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com/poultry

Lots more free content at Grassfed Life: http://bit.ly/2D5gRJX

Subscribe: https://apple.co/2hayYod

Today we will take a realistic look at how Darby raises his pigs on his farm and why.

We will place a lot of emphasis on his context and how that directly ties to why he does what he does. As you will hear it's a balancing act. It's a constant balance between his moral compass and watching his wallet. Another way of saying that is there is always a more regenerative way of doing things, but they come at a cost. And things need to be financially sustainable in addition to being sustainable on the land. At its simplest for Darby this means putting pigs where they excel, and that's in the woods.

We will discuss the nuts and bolts of raising pigs in the wood, and we will also look at other alternative methods of raising pigs and Darby will share his thoughts on those from both a management and an economic standpoint.

If I had to boil it all down ahead of time, it all comes down to finding the intersection of what's best for you as a farmer, what's best for the land, and what's best for the pig.

You'll hear how finding that balance isn't always easy.

But despite the challenges of trying to be perfect, you will see how the system that Darby has setup is leaps and bounds ahead of the baseline, the CAFOs.

As Joel Salatin says, "The problem is that modern American CAFO's are where amoral science and pure capitalism take you, and it's far away from nurturing and caretaking."

With the CAFO system and $100M pigs being raised this way each year. It's hard to conceive of a scenario where this situation changes. The numbers are too big, the grasp is too tight.

So if we want to see change, it's going to start here, with the people listening to this show. Change is going to start with you. It's going to start with the small farmer that have committed to doing things differently.

Today you will hear about one of those small farms, that's finding a balance between an entrepreneurial and capitalist business and one that nurtures and honors the pigness of the pig.

READY TO START YOUR OWN LIVESTOCK FARM?

The Farm Business Essentials Online Course is here, and it's not just a piece of the puzzle. FBE is a complete step by step A to Z system to plan, market, and grow the farm enterprise that's right for you. Built by a farmer for farmers just like you - https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com

Profitable Pastured Poultry Course: https://www.farmbusinessessentials.com/poultry

Lots more free content at Grassfed Life: http://bit.ly/2D5gRJX

Subscribe: https://apple.co/2hayYod