In the first article of this series, I discussed how joining the Farmer To Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) can really lower the fiscal risk to your operation from unforeseen legal fees. A second major risk we have as producers who direct market our goods is from that of a consumer litigation lawsuit. One legal…
As a farmer, there are no shortage of issues we face that can derail our livelihood and best made plans: Death, disease, in-climate weather, drought, flood, pests, cash flow snafus and equipment breakdowns are but just a few of the issues we face which can set us back financially or even put us out of…
It was an unusually calm morning when the phone rang. “Hi sir its Zela Martinez with Lucky Green Transport – I need to know what the status of your ISF is?” “ISF, what’s an ISF?” “Your customs filing, who’s your customs broker?”, she replied with a noticeable rolling of the eyes tone. “What a…
Training new pigs to electric fencing can be an interesting process to say the least. If there is one thing about farming that I still don’t enjoy, it’s introducing these guys to electricity! The reason being is that if something is going to go wrong with a pig, the greatest probability is that it will…
Life happens. Life will always get in the way. Control what life can get in the way of. I am writing this in the middle of a dad-duty day. A day that has forced me to push what seems like an endless workload to the side. And while I enjoy being a dad and spending…
If you are planning on raising meat birds or starting some layer chicks this Spring, now is the time to be planning and getting things in motion. When buying chicks, you have a couple of options – buying direct from the hatchery or pick up birds from a local farm store. When you order direct…
One of my largest frustrations in starting our farming enterprise has been that of figuring out what equipment works and doesn’t work. The wrong selection ends up costing you time, mental health and most importantly money. And trust me, I’ve made my fair share of poor choices. Anytime you can learn from someone who “has…
My initial experiences with farming over the past 12 seasons can be summed up pretty easily. Not knowing anything about farming back in 2004 when I first began researching some potential enterprises to begin, in everything I read I was looking for a “how to” manual. In short, nearly everything I’ve started on our farm…
A question I routinely get asked is what is the best breed of pig to raise on pasture (or in our case in the forest)? If you have never raised pigs before, this is my answer to that question: If they have four legs, a tail and two ears they qualify and that is the…
One of the things I most enjoy about being self employed in my niche of farming is the seasonal aspect of it all. Because we live in the Midwest, we have a true winter and as such our poultry production takes place from the beginning of April with our meat chickens and runs thru late…