The Costs Of Being A Small Farm
It is a tough world out there for many. Food pricing, energy pricing, gas costs…just trying to make ends meet is a huge challenge, and we are not excluded from this. One of the biggest tasks on a small scale farm, like ours, is trying to balance keeping the lights on while making sure what we have to offer is something that people can afford. I will admit, it continues to become more difficult.
One of the comments I often see in the world of social media is, “Why are you charging so much? It should be cheap coming off the farm rather than a grocery store.” Six years ago, when we started our farm, I would have completely agreed with this sentiment. I vividly recall looking into buying chicken from a local farm, rather than the grocery store. The price at that time was $2.00 a pound for a whole chicken, and the weight was around 6 pounds. I was stunned, $12.00 for a whole chicken? I could buy one at the grocery store for half that price.
Chicken is the most widely consumed protein in the United States, and the chicken industry is dominated by four major producers: Tyson, Pilgrim’s Pride, Sanderson Farms and Perdue. Tyson alone controls 25% of the market share of poultry production in this country, and the top four combined control 60% of the market share. These billion dollar global corporations also collect the largest amount of farm subsidies (money given to support the commodities of agriculture in order to keep prices lower for consumers). Our little local farm? Well we are just that, a little local farm.
The average cost of a day old chick raised for meat production is $2.50-$3.00 each. We typically raise 125 chickens a month from March to October, which is a total of 750 chicks. This costs us approximately $2,250 for the chicks alone. We purchase one ton of feed for each group, which typically provides enough feed for the eight weeks it takes to raise them. The cost for this is $470, which is $200 more than feed prices were two years ago. Packaging for each chicken comes out to a cost of $0.30 per bird, a total of $675 for the season. Labeling for chicken produced on the farm is very specific and we have that printed. One thousand labels are $200. Bedding is another cost. Each large brick of bedding is $5.00, and for each group of chicks we go through 15 bricks of bedding during their lifetime. So for the very basics needed to raise chickens, it costs us about $6,400 for the season. This does not factor in things like replacement of watering stations, freezer storage, electricity costs (all chicks require heat sources for the first 4 weeks of life) and butchering time. The typical loss is around 15 chicks per batch. They are fragile creatures and loss is not something that can be avoided, which is another financial impact. There is ZERO money coming to us in the form of subsidies. Our whole chickens currently are $2.75 a pound, and if we cut them up for you then we charge $3.15 per pound for the additional processing. Average weight is between 4-6 pounds.
From the start, we’ve said that transparency is a core value to our farming practices. So, I’m sharing all of this because it’s important for our community to know the reality of small farming. The ability to provide food to our community is an absolute privilege and at the same time, for many small scale farms, what we do isn’t about getting rich. It’s about a passion for sustainable food sources, where humane care is a priority and freshness is critical. The cost to raise any animal, from birth to market, is variable. Cost all depends on where you live, access to processing and the ability to produce the food necessary to feed the animal or to rely on a feed mill to supply the nutritionally sound grain mix that is required for healthy growth.
As consumers, I stress that it is so important to know what you are paying for. Whether you are buying chicken, beef or pork, we always emphasize waste reduction and utilizing as much of the end product as possible. If you are purchasing a chicken cut up, ask for the carcass. Get the soup bones and neck bones from the steer or hog. Using these items to make your own broth or stock is a great way to carry on “knowing where your food comes from,” and to control what goes into the meals you put on your table. Tallow or lard have so many uses, and you are already paying for that in your hang weight when purchasing a steer or hog. Giblets that come with a chicken can be dried and turned into great treats for your dog. If you don’t have a dog, there are many recipes for giblets and they provide a great source of iron for your family. Being a true food adventurer means learning how to stretch the dollar that you are paying the farmer for the work of raising the animals.
In upcoming entries, I am going to teach you how to make your own chicken, beef or pork stock. One of the greatest skills of our parents and grandparents was resourcefulness. That will be a huge focus of what I share with all of you. I want you to feel successful in being actively engaged in the food chain. Getting back to a time in which we eat seasonally, preserve what we grow and share knowledge, is so important. Food, and where it comes from, should not be a mystery. I hope you enjoy all I have to share. I also look forward to your comments about how generations of your family have found important ways to be a part of the food chain process. More to come!