This is what farm life is really like

Just notice where his mind is, what he talks about is what he thinks about. And all farmers talk about is what is going on with their animals. It consumes us. In a good way :D

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The State of the Small Farm - 2002-2007

Before 1950, farms were everywhere - small to medium sized and run by families or extended families. By the 1980s, farms were large, capital-intensive ventures - and the loss of those was a serious problem because it led to obvious decreases in food production here in the US. As agriculture became more and more technological, it forced more marginal farms to the edge and beyond. But that was the cost of paying the absolute lowest price for food, right?

So, when we started the farm, we almost immediately got a survey to complete for the USDA about the farm size, crops, and numbers. That survey became part of the periodic Census of Agriculture and last month the New York Times reported on the results.

1. There are more small/tiny farms - more than 900,000 of the 2,200,000 farms had less than $2500 of gross income. Tiny tiny tiny with very different needs and very different crops than the big boys of farming.

2. Tiny Farms Fit Tiny Niches - Tom Vilsack, ex-gov of Iowa and the new Secretary of Agriculture, acknowledged that there was a more diverse marketplace today, due to those smaller farms meeting niche markets better. But there needed to be more support for those farmers.

3. Less than half of the 2.2 million farms make a profit - so the remainder rely on off-farm income to subsidize the farm. That off-farm percentage is up 10% since the last Census in 2003.

4. The Northeast is doing OK and doing terrible - This blow-up of just the Northeast shows the county-by-county view of net 20 or more farms gained (green dots) and net 20 or more farms lost (orange dots). Sucks to be in New York, great in VT and NH. What do you bet most of those losses are dairy farms?

You can read more:

• US Summary
• NY State Summary
• Rensselaer County Summary (more NYS counties here)

Animals on Roofs

Our animals may be losing it - they keep climbing, climbing, climbing up onto the roofs. I think the winter is starting to get to them.

First to go was the junior rooster - Squawky.

Then Cassie started a' climbin'

Why Can't WE Feed Children So Well???

So, there I am cruising to work on President's Day - enjoying the pleasantly empty roads as most folks had the day off.  And then, this story comes on NPR

In Paris, Culinary Education Starts In Day Care (audio plus transcript)

Quotes of Note here:

1. "In Paris, hot meals are prepared on the premises of each of the city's 270 public day care facilities.  Nothing is mass produced, ingredients are more often fresh than frozen..."
2. "Most of the kids eat nearly everything."
3. "Presentation is very important.  Before tasting, they look.  So, when you see somthing nice, you want to eat it."

Woof.  No wonder our kids prefer Lunchables - that's what we eat at home, at the day care, at the cafeteria.    I guess we train our "Slow Food"ers from Day One.

Goats in the News: February 2009

1. Nigerian Police Hold Goat for Attempted Robbery - No comment. Just read the story and you'll start looking at your goats in a whole new way.
   
2. New York State sees 13% growth in dairy goats in 2008 - US overall up 4%, but the the Empire State pops with new ones.
3. Dairy Goat Journal "Keep or Cull?" - it is early, but it is already time to start thinking about how many you are going to keep. This is a short article with a few contradictory thoughts, but worth reviewing for everyone.
4. Fainting Cans of Grain - A blog about a Nigerian Goat. ROTFL funny. I wish I had time to be clever and witty too - good for Farmer.
5. "Talking Goats in Trees" - YouTube. Trust me, listen carefully.

Meet Your Meat: Antibiotics

Interesting article in the Feb/March 2009 issue of Mother Earth News that looks the problems of continuous use of antibiotics in confinement-style animal raising. Read the whole article here.

1. Historically, we have been close to animals, so many contagious, human diseases have close animal ancestors (pertussis from pigs, flu from birds, TB and the cold from cattle)
2. Oceans of Concentrated Manure, filled with antibiotic resistant microbes (pic)
   
3. And finally, the problem impacts nearby (and even regional) farms that don't use antibiotics:
   

'The costs associated with continuing industrial farm animal production are enormous. If it’s allowed to continue, industrial production as currently practiced could eventually eliminate a lot of other farming options (in addition to making a lot of us sick). As one Midwestern organic farmer explained to me, it’s simply not possible to raise pigs organically if you live too close to a confinement facility: the pathogen pressure is too intense. “Iowa has become a sink for pig diseases,” he said. "They’re just in the air, and you can’t avoid them.'

Know what your choices mean for your planet. And for your animals - the ones you eat and the ones you buy. Choose wisely - choose humanely - choose your farmer well.