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Family Farm Sustainability

Helen Cabot
Feb 29, 2016
2 min read

I recently read an interesting article, on the sustainability of small family farms. The article Quitting Season: Why Farmers Walk Away From Their Farms does a very good job of explaining the current situation, likely more eloquently than I will. As a small family farm we pride ourselves in humane, ethical raising and processing of our animals. We strive for the highest quality of life, which results in an amazing end product. This however comes with a cost, we cannot produce thousands of animals a year, we don't ship a semi load of pigs twice a week, we don't have a chicken barn with thousands of chickens that were raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFO). It takes us more time and more inputs to get an animal to finishing weight and condition - but they do it naturally! Large scale commercial farms ship out hundreds of pigs a week, they get significant discounts on feed based on buying volume, they have access to government programs for income stability, as such they can sell volume at a lower price. As a small family farm we do not have the same options or the same volume. Commercial operations may have thousands of sows, we have 14 currently. In 2015 we finished approximately 50 pigs - and increased our breeding stock, in 2016 we are hoping for approximately 120 pigs finished - possibly with a slight increase in our breeding stock. Although our taxes are not done for the year yet - I am certain that we subsidized the farm from Rick's log truck driving earnings. No the farm doesn't support our family - Rick is off the farm most of the day, 5 days a week. All our numbers tell me the farm makes about $1 / day / animal. For the pigs that works out to approximately $180 profit per animal. Out of that the land payment and equipment payments still have to be made. Well - the bookkeeper (aka jack of all trades farm owner) finally has the numbers together for last year and projections for 2016 done. We have actually been making closer to 30 cents a day per animal - before delivery costs. Unfortunetely we are going to have to make some pricing changes. We are just working on figuring out where we have to set pricing to be able to afford to continue. We are doing this for the quality of life and because we believe in providing you and your families with a natural amazing quality product - raised healthy, ethically and humanely without hormones, steroids or antibiotics - not because we are making a fortune doing it. Our hope is that one day the farm will support itself and our family - but that is a future dream at this point.