Chores and Chats

31/01/2023

Been putting in a lot of hours for our “supporting agriculture” merch and working on the Farm Queen Podcast. So many good things coming! Can’t wait to share in the next week or so. Processing our first test order to make sure everything is good to go.

23/10/2022

Food is often grown and stored to disperse over the course of the year. Here’s an example of onions. There’s only one harvest a year in most areas.

18/09/2022

One of the local NY beef farmers explains ”Meat Math” from live to your freezer. Lucky 13 does an amazing job at all they do.
Don’t hesitate to ask your farmer questions, they do love to take the time to give you the answers. Thank Erin for the fantastic breakdown!

11/09/2022

“Walmart’s investment in Sustainable Beef secures funding and gets the company off the ground. It also anchors Walmart as a customer, and Sustainable Beef may not have had too many other choices in the highly-consolidated retail market. With local or regional grocery stores getting gobbled up by big corporations, just four companies — Walmart, Costco, Kroger, and Ahold Delhaize — control 65% of the retail market.”

When you have the “Big 4” meat packers AND the “Big 4” retailers, it’s not the farmers or consumers that benefit. Food therefore becomes a mega business.

BUY CHEAP AND SELL HIGH. That’s the motto.
So farmers get paid pennies and consumers are paying the highest prices. It’s no longer about cheap food, it’s about profit margins.

Profit margins were farmers are footing the bill to even supply goods and consumers are lining the pockets of so called “affordable groceries”.

https://farmaction.us/2022/09/09/walmart-tightens-its-grip-on-meat-processing-with-new-investment/?fbclid=IwAR1_kXg9h4n4EsatxWaHXWbEvlQ0sPPeSBplTcFOjZZ2elWRtD1to-HVJ7Q

We’re wary of Walmart’s investment in Sustainable Beef, an independent beef processor. Walmart's goal is to gain more profit and power at the expense of everyone else.

11/09/2022

GOOD NEWS!
Our first podcast episode is now in edits! It’s looking like this will be four parts on buying local meats from the farmers perspective.

This conversation begins with how farmers are listing their goods and how consumers are finding them.

Keep an eye out for more details this week!

04/09/2022

Did you know that you can watch the live birthing center at the NY State Fair from the comfort of your home? The live steam is hosted by NY Animal Agriculture Coalition.

There are many people involved in bringing this to you. Farmers, volunteers and many sponsors to share the beginnings of dairy. The birthing center has been something that all can enjoy. In person or online. Join the herd of supporters.

02/08/2022

As the owner of Asha’s has been arrested and charged with grand larceny, this opens a whole need for us all to be aware of what is legal and isn’t when it comes to livestock.

We are gathering resources from other proper sanctuary and rescue facilities to hold an open discussion on what this circumstance means, what should have happened and what the legal rights are of the cattle owners and the sanctuary.

Stay tuned for more from us!

https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/niagara-county/owner-of-newfane-farm-sanctuary-who-refused-to-release-cows-arrested/?fbclid=IwAR1fZrOrLj7bfbNl4h0OZXSZcdEzTbvlJqvXLNLLHo2IdE6KMGApzgeLto0

New York State Police said they were processing the arrest of Tracy Murphy, the owner of Asha’s, on Tuesday morning.

31/07/2022

I’ve been watching this saga play out across social media for days now.

As farmers, this is concerning because livestock owners have no true way to identify their animals. It isn’t like we have the technology available for microchips in livestock.

RFID tags are the closest we can get. Most smaller farms can’t afford those either. The issue here is, even if they had them… the tags were removed.

It’s nearly impossible in a case of “he said, she said” to prove that livestock is owned by someone else.

So where does this leave farmers?
Even cats and dogs can accidentally escape.
This is an entire issue in the equine industry too.
There are laws against tag removal.

As farmers watch on edge across the country, one small family farm is now up against an embroiled battle with attorneys representing the vegan owner of the sanctuary and their animal rights activist pro-bono attorneys.

This is a gross injustice to the farming community.
If you can support this family family, even if it’s $5 or a share, I know it would be greatly appreciated.

This fundraising effort is being directly given to the family.

Newfane, NY is a farm community. A place where neighborhood farmers hel… Joel Colombo needs your support for Help Newfane Farmer Fight To Reclaim His Own Cows

07/04/2022

“ According to the USDA, there are 18,750 women farmers in New York State, including 6,459 principal operators, which means they run their entire farm business. Some women are partners and managers who work with others to operate their farms. The average age is 53 and almost 1,000 of them have been farmers for two years or less.
These women farmers raise families while they work very long hours on their farms, which grow food and raise animals to feed our state’s people. It is a hard life, but it has many rewards.” NYS Senator Patty Ritchie 2017