The answer is really quite easy, but it may not be obvious.
You see you can buy the food we grow and raise at the grocery store or mega big box store. We don't have our own label or anything at the grocery store, but when you buy pork at the grocery store that is helping our family farm and fellow farms just like ours.
Our family sells the majority of our pigs to Tyson Foods who then distributes the pork in the grocery stores across the country. So there is a good chance when we sell our pigs to Tyson Foods in Indiana, our pork ends up in a grocery store near you especially if you are in Indiana and the Midwest.
Pork Chops I purchased at Walmart --- could have been ours |
My mother-in-law and I also sell some pigs each year under our own private label at 2 local Farmer's Markets, a local orchard, and an online food hub as a way to educate others about our family farm and help pay for Big Sissy, Bubby, and Little Sissy's college education.
The cost of college for the three of them is scary! |
So what about our corn, soybeans, and wheat?
Well all of the corn we grow on our family farm is used to feed our pigs so we don't sell any corn.
Big Sissy delivering a snack to my father-in-law driving the combine during corn harvest. |
We do sell all of our soybeans; however, we sell them to a local soybean processor that makes soybean meal from our soybeans and we buy soybean meal from them to mix with the corn to feed our pigs. (Soybean meal is what is left after the oil and hulls are removed from the soybean and is a protein source for out pigs. The oil that is removed is used for cooking oil and the hulls are used as a fiber source to feed other animals.)
Soybeans in the pod in the field |
Actual soybeans |
As far as our wheat goes, we only grow a small amount of wheat each year. But what we do raise, we sell to a local elevator where it is milled and turned into flour.
Partially harvest wheat field |
So as a proud Indiana farmer, you can support our family farm and fellow farms just like ours by buying pork at the grocery store or by contacting me directly if you prefer to purchase our private label. Either way we provide the best care possible to our pigs as they are our top priority. So whether it is providing a climate controlled barn for pigs to live in to be protected from the elements or predators or using precision when planting or harvesting our corn crop, we truly feel blessed and honored to be raising food for our family and yours!