You Thought The Price Of Gas Was Bad...

I was talking to a co-worker today and he was telling me that he was called over to help a neighbor lady, who is single, push a bale of hay off the back of her truck.  Apparently this is the fist one she had ever bought because he had never been asked to do this for her before.  This was a very large bale, weighing over 1000 pounds.  While helping her, he inquired what she paid for it.  He has three horses that he feeds and is concerned that he might not have enough hay to get through the winter.  My interst was piqued as well as I have some cattle to feed.  She told him that she paid $135 for that bale.  Just three weeks ago, I paid $50 at the same place she bought this one.  I am sincerely hoping that she was mistaken, as I need to get a bale again next week.  All I can say is wow.

Drought and Flooding Causing Farm Income To Drop

This year's weather patterns may have put, yet another, nail in the coffin of the economy.  No matter how the White House and the MSM spin things, it is rather bleak out here in middle America.  But, I think that's how they want it.  They don't like us country folk much.  Read more here...

Frugal Living

We recently had some friends over for a fun day.  They had wanted to see the farm/homestead and "play" with the animals.  We went out back and shot ALL of our guns and had a general good time.

At one point, after showing off a few neat things we got for christmas, our one friend commented, wow, you have a lot of stuff.  I noticed the sound of envy in his voice.  His wife chuckled, uncomfortably.  It was not my intentioon to create envy in our friends.  They are struggling, financially, so they view our possessions as wealth. 

We are not wealthy, by any standard, let me make that clear.  We struggle, daily.  However, my wife has learned to stretch a dollar bill until the eagle's feathers fall off.  She is just plain good at it.

I responded to our friends with the truth, (which is always the best policy).  The fact is, it may look like we have a lot of neat, cool things, but we don't.  We simply know where we place our priorities.  We purchase things we need and occasionally some fun stuff.  But, here is the point, for all of the things we have, we never pay full retail.

For instance, the nice digital, $120 weather staion with outdoor remote I got for christmas.  My wife paid $20.  Or the brand new Carhartt jeans, two pairs, for $40 I got three years ago and am still wearing.

I could go on, but that would be pointless.  We live frugally, with the intention of being debt free, someday.  We have only the mortgage.  I work a full time job, my wife stays home.  We earn extra monet from our farm.  With this frugal mindset, we have noticed great improvements, over the years.  We have come from totally depraved, poverty, to just poverty.  Sounds funny, I know, but that is the best way I can explain it and it is very true.

There are many things we do without.  We don't eat out much, at all.  We think and pray before we spend, and we try to save.  We work hard at other income opportunities and try to stay within our means.  This is very un-American, really.

A great book for you to read, if you want to learn to make do with less is, The Complete Tightwad Gazette, by Amy Dacyczyn (do not ask me to pronounce that).
This book has everything imaginable for frugal living.  From ideas to generate income to fixing thins yourself to making your own, it's in there.

Frugal living is the way most people lived in the not-so-distant past.  Frugality is also a virtue.  It is not something to be ashamed of, but it is something to be proud of.  Look into it and read this book, you will gain something from it, I promise.  I know times are tough and money is tight, but this book could be the best $15 investment you can make outside of a pound of gold.  And few can afford a pound of gold.  Go for it.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

I was talking to a good friend of mine the other day. We had been discussing the benefits of relationship marketing and how it is played out. It's like this, we live in the poorest part of Missouri. It is plain foolish to think that we can charge astronomical prices for food fit to eat and earn any extra money. The simple fact is that the money isn't there. But I do believe that you can obtain a level of satisfaction in customers through building relationships with them. In other words, finding a way to create a win-win situation for you and your customer.

We raise and sell pastured poultry in an era where people are more and more concerned with where their food comes from. They want to feel good about the food they eat, they want to know that it will be healthy for their families and that the animals spent their lives happy (seriously). But they also want a good price. We sell our birds just a tad higher than the grocery store. That is a win for the customer, because they get healthy food with a good value. We have a decent payday. That's a win for us because we need the extra money. Win-win.

We can also sell grass fed beef, on the hoof, for much less than what you will pay in a grocery store. The people get great meat at a great value and we, again get some spending cash. Win-win.

But the most important thing we get out of the deal is the knowledge and satisfaction of helping people, even less affluent people, eat better. And we eat better food, ourselves, to boot.

The key is not to try to make that million dollars one time. Rather, make one dollar a million times. Do you get it?

Out Of The Woods?

I love to read news bits from Alan Nation. When I come across one that I feel is worthy, I post it here. This is another one of those worthy tid bits, written, of course, by Alan Nation of the Stockman GrassFarmer. Yet more proof that we are far from being out of the woods. In fact, I would argue the case for a round of hyper inflation to come, but that is for another time, or blog. So, here is Mr. Nation's article, enjoy.


Farmland Values Fall

Monday, 17 August 2009
The USDA’s annual report said that farmland values fell for the first time in 20 years last year. Overall average farmland values were down 3.2% to $2100 an acre, the first drop since 1987. However, farmland declines were far more severe in the Mountain States where land prices were down 11%. In Montana, land prices were down 22%, the most in the USA. In general, areas dominated by livestock saw the worst land price declines and areas dominated by grain farming the least. However, grain farmer incomes are expected to drop 20% in 2009 and this could effect Midwestern land prices. The highest price farmland was in Rhode Island where prices were $15,300 an acre. The lowest prices were in New Mexico at $480 an acre.

We have been offering up for sale our meager farm produce (eggs) and peddling Fertrell, among some miscellaneous things, at a local farmer/flea market. I have been having a blast, meeting new people. We have been averaging around forty dollars each day, one day per week. I know, this doesn't sound like much money, but it is money we didn't have before.

This brings up an old question I once heard, would you rather make a million dollars one time, or one dollar a million times?

I think that there is a lot to be said for the later option. I would rather make one dollar a million times. With a diversification in you homestead, you can create a whole bunch of "salaries" from varying enterprises. For us, going to the market one day a week is just one aspect of our homestead income. Forty dollars per day equals $160 per month. That pays for the wife's monthly trip to Aldi. Do you see the point? That now frees up other monies that would have been spent at Aldi, for other things. Perhaps we can now put some money aside for the week long camping trip my family and I would like to take to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

The key to it all is to make sure that each enterprise you add to your homestead income completely compliments what you already do. In other words, you don't want to add more labor, material costs and maintenance costs along with another enterprise. Rather, add something that fits in with what you already do, you know, create and look for holons. Read the linked articles for more on this, but, simply put, a holon would be selling rabbit manure for fertilizer that is produced from the rabbits you already have. No added machinery, labor or costs, relatively speaking.

If you do this and put the money aside (out of sight, out of mind), the next thing you know, you might be able to invest in something else, or take your wife out for a nice evening together (that's one of my goals).

So, out some thought to it and ask yourself, how can I generate one dollar a million times?

More Life Truths

Once again, Joel Salatin (my favorite grass farmer/chicken guy) has shared some wisdom he heard at a conference that he attended. This is more of it, quoted from Joel's article in the May issue of the stockman grass farmer.

Joel says that life truth number three (I skipped number 2) is this: Bigger IS better-in ideas. "Don't be afraid to have big ideas that revolutionize your farm. What if you quit filling silos? What if you quit milking in the winter? What if you added pastured poultry?"

All questions that could take us over the top. For us, a small time gig, it is a matter of what can best compliment the enterprises we already have. We don't farm full time and I see it a long way off, if ever. But, we do earn extra, supplementary income from our homestead. Thinking out side the box can effect even the smallest of the small, in my opinion.

So, how about your small farm or homestead?

Japan Is Looking To Agriculture To Cure Its Woes

"Japan is expecting its unemployment rate to double over the next two years to record levels as the country’s export-oriented economy continues to shrink."

This is an excerpt from an article written by my favorite cattle man, Alan Nation. You can view the entire article here. It is this bloggers opinion (me) that this is the kind of economic times that will drive a service oriented society back to it agrarian roots.

However, there is another article on Mr. Nations blog, next to the one mentioned above about us little people in the middle of the nation, that might suggest that we might have it right?

Go to Alan's blog and read on, then you can be the judge.

The Meltdown Continues...

Cattle Feeders Lose Five Billion

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
CattleFax market reporting service estimates that grain finished cattle have lost their owners around five billion dollars since November of 2007. The service notes that despite these horrendous losses cattle feeders continue to pay too much for feeder cattle and they are still betting on the come. However, at some point this will have to end and feeder cattle will have to come down in price. CattleFax estimates feeder cattle will trade between $90 and $95, basis the CME feeder cattle contract for the next 60 days. After that, it could get dicey unless cattle feeders start making some money.

Troubling Times

I work in a grocery store as the produce manager, as you might know. I just read an interesting little article at Alan Nation's blog in which Mr. Nation talks about the 30% decline in restaurant sales. This, of course, is in direct correlation with the tailspin of the economy. I will not waste your time with my thoughts on the economy, however, since I do work in a grocery store, I have noticed an increase in our business. I can really tell a difference on typical days that are usually slower. This makes me curious in regard to the slow-down in restaurant sales in relation to growing grocery store sales. What has this all got to do with farming and the homestead life, you ask? Everything, it could mean a boots in your sales at the farmer's market and off the farm sales, couldn't it? Use the link above and judge for yourself. I know that seed companies are experiencing a 30% increase in their sales, as well. Hmmm...?

I've Said It Before, It's All About Relationships

Let me start off by saying that this information can be helpful to men, as well as women. It helps to know the habits of those you talk to and the way they are "wired". Face it, men and women are different, and that is OK.

So here are a few things to key in on when marketing your farm fresh products. This is a lesson for me, as well. I'm a guy, what can I say. But I do work in a retail environment and can attest to what is about to be said. So, here goes...

Women develop bonds through talking to others. Men bond by doing things together.

Women rarely buy impulsively, early on in the decision. Men know what they want before they buy shop.

Don't worry how long it takes to make that first sale to a woman. It is the bond that takes place that will mean more to you and your business than anything. It will mean a bunch in terms of repeat sales and sales to all of her friends.

Some things to consider as y'all get ready for the farmer's market season.

Adapted from the Stockman Grassfarmer form author Mart Barletta "Marketing to women, How to Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market."

Wylie Coyote Wheat

What kind of a title is this? You'll understand more after reading this post on Alan Nation's blog. To put it into my own words, I would have to say that wheat farmers should have been wealthy, but they missed the boat. Mr. Nation has been writing about the coming of this catastrophe in the Stockman Grassfarmer for some time with a fair degree of prophetic accuracy.

No man has ever thrown a brick so high that it didn't come back down. Commoditiy prices went sky high last summer, and, it seems, farmers tended to store their commodities waiting for an even higher price. Unfortunately, the prices fell quicker than they had hoped.

Many farmers even spent the new wealth before they had it on new machinery and upgrades. With the prices falling, it will be difficult to pay the piper.

Click the link and read the above article to learn more about the Wylie Coyote moment.

Well, I almost hate to say this, but, news is slow on the farm these days. We are beginning the slowdown into the winter months, scaling back on just the bare essentials. We have around 40 broilers left to butcher, which should happen next week, unless we decide one group is not yet ready. This group of birds had an illness, early on, and their growth was stunted because of it. So, that group is about three weks behind. We have been pouring the food into them, hoping that they might catch up, somewhat, but they still seem to be lagging. They are healthy, for sure, and are growing again, they just lost so much time from the rest of the batch. We'll see.

I just read a good article on Alan Nation's blog about the grocery giant, Whole Foods. Apparently they are suffering from the economic catastrophe that so many are suffering from. This is one reason I believe, whole heartedly, in what is called "organic growth". This growth from within is a keyy element to your business, the principle is simple, you don't grow until your business can pay for it. It seems that Whole Foods has succomed to the ever fater pace of growth at all costs. Now, it appears, they are suffering for it. Feel free to click the link to Alan's blog and read the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to have something of more substance soon. In the meantime you can buy this "Bible Baby" for just $10.00. With a frame, it will add inspiration to any room. Contact us at sppowers@iglide.net to order.

The Rotten Egg?

For those of you out there who may not have formed an opinion on the proposed $700 billion bailout, I found a very concise article of opinion written by my favorite grass farmer, Alan Nation. I think he speaks for many of us "little folks" out here and I agree with him. I encourage you to click here to read his short, but direct article. The title of his article is very fitting, "Wall Street Lays An Egg, Again". Mr. Nation opines, "apparently, Wall Street likes capitalism on the way up, and socialism on the way down", how true. And to answer his question at the end of the article "do we want Wall Street to take its medicine now, or later", I say now. The fed has been propping this thing up for decades and the longer it is propped up, the more it is going to hurt. In fact, this thing is really going to sting. "Sting" may not be strong enough. I think we may very well see a depression the like of which this country has not seen before, and that includes the "Great Depression". In the words of Ron Paul, "they want to fight this debt problem with more debt". How much sense does that make?

Go and read Mr. Nations little article, then sound off and let me know what you think.

Expensive Oil Creates More Oil

Monday, 25 August 2008
It has been said that the best cure for high prices is high prices. I am seeing the veracity of that observation in my own backyard. I live near a "worked out" oil field that was capped off after oil prices fell in the 1980's. Today, a handful of local entrepreneurs are going back and reworking the old field using today’s new horizontal drilling and extraction technology. If current production holds through the end of the year, the reworking of this marginal field will add one million barrels of new oil and 10 billion cubic feet of new gas to our nation’s supply in its first year. Taxes on this new production has already added $47 million in new revenue through June 30. This success has also attracted interest in new wells, with 25 drilling permits issued in our county this year and 27 in the adjoining county. No doubt similar things are happening all over the world. The local oil people said the big problem in getting more new oil is not a lack of oil in the ground but the nationwide shortage of drilling rigs and drill pipe.

To see this article, and others like it, visit Alan Nations blog at the Stockman Grass Farmer's website.

What lies Ahead?

Wow! Two posts in one day! Like I said in my post this morning, I'm bored. But I came across a really good article that kind of goes along with the "balloon that went POP!" article I posted the other day. I know, I know. What does any of this have to do with farming? A bunch, I'm affraid. We, as do most of you, have a mortgage. I feel that is very important to keep a watchful eye on things to come and be ready for it. This is done with the idea of trying to help small farmers stay on their farms, to keep feeding their families and their communities. So, with that in mind, read this article by clicking here: http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/11/news/economy/fannie_freddie.fortune/index.htm

The Big Balloon That Went "POP!"

If you can, try to picture our economy like a big balloon. This balloon has been steadily inflated since the last, great depression of the 1930's. The Federal government and the Federal reserve have use all the tools at their disposal to keep things afloat for the last 70 years.

Is it really possible to have an economy that never experiences a severe correction, that keeps growing with ever growing employment?

Or is it, in the words of Gordon Harzard, "No man can throw a brick so high that it will never come down."

We think of bubbles as being specific to markets such as tech stocks and real estate. What we are dealing with is different, a credit bubble.

"Credit is the air that financial markets breathe", says Richard Parry, a columnist with the Stockman Grassfarmer. "The credit bubble is the source of the asset bubbles, the underlying cause."

We have this "credit crisis" because debtors are defaulting on their loans in record numbers. (An interesting side note here, on CNN there was a story on this huge bank in California, Indymac, that the Fed had seized, closed and will re-open on Monday. Only people with less than $100,000 will get any money, and probably not all of it. I saw this while sitting in the emergency room, which I will explain another time.) The "credit crunch" is because of not much lending going on, despite low interest rates on short term loans.

The bottom line is that there is a shortage of good, quality debtors and lenders don't seem to trust very many people anymore. Instead of loaning out money (what is "money"?), lenders tend to sit on it, trying to fix their balance sheets.

The "powers that be" tend to tell us to borrow and spend, stimulate the economy.

Consumers say, "We can't, we're too far in debt."

The Fed can make the world "liquid", but they cannot make homeowners and consumers "solvent." To top things off, consumers are suffering from the double whammy of rising food and energy costs.

Thanks to money creation by the Federal Reserve and the leveraging of all that newly created money by commercial banks and by Wall Street investment banks, we have a huge, inflated balloon resting on a base of much smaller real output.

How big is this balloon?

Charles Morris, author of Trillion Dollar Meltdown, estimates that one trillion dollars of excess credit and bad debt has to come out of the system. The current sub-prime lending crisis is just the beginning of the "great unwinding".

The list of troubled sectors subject to possible write-downs or out right defaults include, sub-prime mortgages, hedge funds, corporate debt/ leveraged buyouts, credit card debt, auto loan debt, and credit default swaps between banks. Even insurance companies that insure home mortgages and municipal bonds are in trouble.

All total, about one trillion dollars of bad debt will need to be recognized before the credit crisis will be over. So far, banks have written down about 200 billion of bad loans, so there is still along way to go.

How will this be different than the great depression of the 1930's? Normally the economy goes bad first, creating financial problems. In this instance, trouble in the financial markets is dragging down the economy- a crucial distinction.

The last time this happened was in 1929!

In 1929 numerous bank failures touched off the Great Depression. We can' say that there will be another like it, but we need to take necessary precautions.

We have a similar situation, a financial crisis, a huge excess of liquidity and bad debt and the use of debt for excessive speculation. Economists now feel that the 1929 slowdown morphed into the Great Depression because the Federal Reserve tightened credit rather than loosening it after the financial crisis of 1929.

With that in mind, you can see why the Fed is busy cutting interest rates and throwing all but the kitchen sink at today's problems. It is though that because of this "throwing everything in" that we are facing the the worst set of macroeconomic conditions since the great depression. Perhaps this time we will have hyper-inflation instead.

In 2004, Economist magazine worried that "the global financial system has become a giant printing press as Americans easy money policy has spilled beyond its borders". This glut of global liquidity has flowed to share prices and houses around the world inflating a series of asset priced bubbles.

Now we see this tidal wave flowing into natural resources and commodities, raising their prices. When the asset priced bubbles break, all those dollars will flow back home (like a tidal wave) leaving paper money worth less than toilet paper. (It already is, in my opinion.)

If you think that can't happen here, research the German Wiemar inflation of the 1920's.

Interestingly, the French Revolution of the 1790's involved a period of hyper-inflation induced by the banning of gold and silver currency and the introduction of massive amounts of paper currency. (do you see a connection here?)

The U.S. dollar has been the per-eminent currency around the world. We will soon see talk of pricing oil in other currencies. Which Iran is already talking of, they want to switch to the Euro, which is the real reason we want to go to war with Iran. If other countries begin trading in other currencies, there will be serious trouble for the U.S. economy and the U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar has been on a self destructive path since it left the gold standard in 1971. Historically, the dollar loses 90% of its value every thirty years, that will continue.

A good Principle to follow is that when everyone and everything is debt ridden, don't follow that same foolish course.

Investment in gold and silver is always a good choice, in good times and bad.


(You can learn more by subscribing to the Stockman Grassfarmer. Click on the link to the right of this blog.)

Once Bitten.

Whew. I just read a really good article in this month's edition of the "Stockman Grassfarmer", written by Alan Nation. The article caught my attention on several points, but I want to focus on one here and add some thoughts of my own. This involves the idea of envy and how it is the root cause of "bubbles" in economic terms.

There has been a lot of talk, recently, about the big real estate bubble burst and how it is adversely affecting the banking world. I fear that the ramifications of this bubble burst reach much farther than the major news media are letting us in on. Thus, these things tend to pique my interest and cause pause for thought.

The Wall Street Journal recently did an article on this subject, analyzing what causes commodity price bubbles. (I must add that I have not seen the article myself, but trust Mr. Nation's integrity in his use of said article.) Again, this subject is heavily on the public mind as we are staring high fuel prices, real estate troubles, banking troubles, high risk lending and hyper inflation in the face.

Basically, the conclusion the Wall Street Journal came to is that the cause that drives a boom into a bubble is that few of us (Americans) can stand to see our neighbors and friends get rich through no effort on their part. I have friends like this, and have fallen victim, myself. We can't stand to see people we know succeed with very little effort and we want in on the action. This is evident, in my opinion, through the real estate boom and subsequent bubble burst. Joe down the street purchases a house with no money down (high risk lending), goes to sleep and wakes up with $10,000 increase on that investment, then flips the house (sells it) with a nice profit. He can now avoid the capital gains taxes by purchasing another home and the cycle begins. Or, Joe can avoid taxes by borrowing against the equity in that home (more high risk lending). John, up the street watches this take place. He sees Joe with a new boat and is even taken out on the lake for a fishing trip with Joe. John is now listening to Joe talk about how easy it is to make money this way and the envy bug bites. The trend now begins and moves the market toward the bubble as everyone tries their hand in the game.

Conversely, we don't envy our friends that make their fortune through hard work and saving. Americans seem to have adopted, in recent history, the idea that hard work and saving is beneath us. We envy those who get rich while sleeping. How many "get rich quick" schemes have you, at least, listened to in your life? I can say that I have listened to a few and bought into even less, although, I have tried once or twice.

Commodities, while high, are not yet in bubble mode. However, analysts suggest that this could take place next year for many reasons.

One is that commodities have, traditionally, run on a 29-30 year cycle. Past peaks occurred in 1920, 1951, and 1980. If the cycle holds true, this would mean in 2009-2010 should show another peak.

Alan Nation says "Given time, capitalism is highly efficient in erasing commodity shortages of all kinds. Consequently, all commodity bubbles eventually pop."

The advice Mr. Nation gives is to keep your wits about you when the bust comes. Save your money and don't fall victim to the envy bug. There will be lots of good farm land for sale in 2012 and after, upgrade then.

Now, Holon a Second

In the latest issue of the Stockman GrassFarmer, Alan Nation had a very interesting article. I found it to be personal and humorous, with a good smattering of wisdom from a grass farmer who's been there. I recommend reading it, if you haven't already. There is one part of his article that I found to be especially interesting, a holonic business structure.

A holon is an income, or salary, that is generated from little to no input costs to create it and function.

A holonic business structure has a centerpiece enterprise that covers the majority of fixed cost and overheads and pays for the management of it.

Mr. Nation also says that holons also are self managing dependencies. They cannot exist without the centerpiece, yet, they do not take away from either.

A holon can be a service or something that reduces the cost of the centerpiece and does not have to be sold to someone off the farm. An example of this is on-farm biodeisel production or firewood for personal use.

To know wheather or not your farm is a holarchy, you can ask yourself if you have to buy in feed or not. Or do you have to buy in anything? The answer is that if the feed is free, then it is a holon.

An example of a holon, here on Cedar Cove Farm, would be the manure that the rabbits produce. Not only can we and do we, use the manure for our personal garden without having to buy it in, but we can and will, sell it for an added salary. We feed the rabbits to raise, sell and butcher, for our own freezer and to sell off the farm, but the manure itself, is the holon. It costs us nothing extra to produce, and we can use it or sell it.

Another example from our farm is our latest enterprise, worms. We purchased a "worm factory" and about 1000 worms, the worms are for our garden needs. Outside the initial cost they cost us nothing to raise. We will have the holon of compost and tea for the garden and the possibility of selling worms to bait shops and fishermen.

Thanks to the low cost or no cost of holons, the margins are generally much larger than the centerpiece enterprise. They show a very high return for labor and human creativity. This is where "thinking outside the box" pays for itself. This is part of the reason that grass farming is so profitable because grass farmers are already thinking outside the box, and let their livestock do the work. In the words of Darrel Emmick, "Cows have legs, let them use them."

The point of the holon discussion in Mr. Nations article was the holons are an excellent way for families to include and encourage children to participate in the family farm. Holons can give them an enterprise of their own in which they can earn and learn the value of money. (Did you hear that, homeschoolers?) Given this, children may, then, be less likely to leave the family farm and participate in it long after your gone. They might come to enjoy the farm lifestyle and the return it gives them, along with the satisfaction of working hard for their families and the Lord.

Mr. Nation also suggests the holons might also be a way for the elderly to support themselves when they can no longer perform the rigorous duties of a full farm.

My wife and I talked about it, asking ourselves if we have holons. Of course, we found we do, as I have mentioned. With a little entrepreneur thinking and development, perhaps they can be developed into a good cash flow for the kids. Who knows? But, we are excited with this new knowledge and will be looking for other holons to add to the bottom line.

We don't want to add any more enterprises, at this time. We want to get, not just good, but exceptional, at what we are doing now. Capitalizing on any holons is just a bonus that really adds to the excitement of our farm.

So, have you considered any holons on your farm or ranch?

Taste Testing

I just read an interesting little article in the Stockman Grassfarmer. It said that if you taste test your milk and it seems sour and awful, the protein content in the grass is too high. This is in grass fed cows, of course. It also said that the same taste change is taking place in the fat of a beef cow also, but you don't find that out until later. I guess it could be a good thing to test or monitor the protein levels in the forage from time to time if you're 100% grass fed and trying to produce a high quality product.

Tomorrow we recieve our first batch of broilers for this year and, guess what? I am so not ready! We are planning a new place to brood them and it needs a bit of work. To say the least, I haven't started yet. I guess I'll be busy after work tomorrow.

I took a pasture walk this afternoon with one of my sons and I decided that it was a bitter sweet kind of walk. It was bitter because the grass, although green, isn't tall enough yet. It was sweet because I noticed a high percentage of the annual rye and orchard grass has taken. That is a wonderful sight. I am trying very hard not to get ahead of the game with my rotation plan, it is really testing my patience. Spring is sprining here, though, and am encouraged in that. The peach trees are beginning to bloom along with the nectarined and pears. Unfortunately I believe we may have lost two apple trees. These are young trees and we had high hopes for them.

This week we plan to purchase more bricks to expand the garden. We would like to do a little market gardening this year to see haow we might fair at the farmers market. I have put up several buckets of rabbit manure to sell and we just received our "Worm Factory" that we hope we can supplement our income with by selling worms and compost. Whatever is left, if anything, when we get done using it. In the economy of things, our goal is to have a diverse income from many different areas. It is important, however, that whatever industry we add must fit in with the other things we are doing. In other words, we don't want to add more labor, that is not cost effective, but add things that fit in with what we already do. When we look at a given enterprise, we ask, "how does this fit?" If it doesn't fit, we simplt don't take it on. Many farmers work themselves right out of business, spend themselves out of business or just plain burn out so that the kids want nothing to do with the farm when they get older. They don't want to struggle the way mom and dad did. So, it is important to make sure what you're doing fits and that you incorporate the kids so that they actually want to be a farmer like their daddy.