Winter is just a mellow time of year on the farm. Love it! It’s still chores every day, twice a day- but it’s about 30 minutes total most days.

The biggest news is I have a business plan for the farm in 2017. Ho hum I know, but for me it’s a big deal. The biggest change is we are not doing broilers in 2017 (meat chickens). Well, we are doing 1 small batch, but not planning to sell very many of them. This is a tough decision to make, these are by far the most profitable item we raise and sell. The deal is I don’t have time for processing. I can hire the processing, but then the profit goes way down. These birds are a real pain to raise, so if the money isn’t there to justify the sleepless nights, why bother?

It feels good to have that decision made, but at the same time I want to provide my customers with what they want. I did give the heads up to Ryan at Yurtstead Farms, so he is planning to raise extra broilers in 2017 to make up for my customers. That feels better.

I will continue to raise grass finished beef, pork, and pasture raised eggs.

As I mentioned last month, I need to focus on my brewery work. This plan provides a good balance of life and work.

Thanks for reading. Take care and have a safe holiday season. John