We grow it, so where can you buy it?

So it is no secret by now that you all know we raise corn, soybeans, wheat, and pigs on our family farm.  We feel very blessed to be able to raise food for our family and all of yours.  So that being said, I'm often asked where can you buy the food we raise and grow on our family farm.

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!

Dear Heather

Well last week's Farmer Fridays didn't happen quite as planned with the passing of my Gramma, but we survived the events of last week and as I said then, I find much comfort in the fact that she is no longer suffering.

That being said, almost every day I get asked some sort of question about our farm, our crops, our pigs, etc...  Many of those questions I have answered over the years with past Farmer Fridays so I thought I'd get them organized all in one spot for you as part of this "Dear Heather" post.  I hope this answers some of your questions, but if you still have some, I'd love for you to contact me or leave a comment and I will answer them in future Farmer Fridays.

So here's some of the past "Dear Heather" questions I've been asked and answered:

What are the holidays like on the farm?

What is Christmas like on the farm?

How does corn grow?

Why is too much rain a bad thing?

Where do your pigs live?

Is corn really knee high by the 4th of July?

What type of corn do you grow on your farm?

What impact does the draught have on your crops?

How are you "green" on your family farm?

Did you grow up on a farm?

How do your pigs survive the Indiana winters?

How do you protect your pigs from the elements?

What is a "snow day" like on your farm?

Where can you buy our pork?

What is the best part of being a farmer?

What do you feed your pigs?

How do you use GPS technology on your farm?

What happens to your pigs when we have a big temperature change overnight?

How involved are your kids on the farm?

How long does planting and harvest season last?

So what else would you like to know?  Please leave it in the comments or email me at proudporkmom (at) gmail.com

Farmer Fridays - 2011 Harvest Season

Well Harvest 2011 is not quite in the books for us yet as we still have a couple hundred acres of corn to shell, but the end is definitely in sight.  I thought I would share some of my favorite photos from this year's harvest season for today's Farmer Fridays.

And remember Big Sissy shared some of her own earlier this month as she shared her view from the combine with us.

And just because our real harvest is almost over, doesn't mean Bubby's harvest is over.  He is planting and harvesting crops year round in our house.

Don't be alarmed by the red equipment.  He is a John Deere boy 100% just ask Miss Liz, but he will use whatever people will give him. 

Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have about our harvest season.

Farmer Fridays - Do you believe in signs?

This time of year our family is usually in full harvest mode harvesting our corn and soybean crop to ultimately feed our pigs.  However, the combine has not moved on our farm since Monday night as the rain that we needed all summer arrived on Tuesday and didn't leave until last night.  After it was all said it done, we got 3 inches of rain this week which means it will be a few more days until the combine is back in the fields.  

The bright side of the cold, windy, rainy weather we had this week is that today was an absolutely beautiful fall day and tomorrow looks like it will be the same.  For me, I'm hoping this is a sign that harvest will be back on track soon.  Additionally, I'm taking this sign a little farther.

My Aunt S who was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this summer had a bone marrow transplant 4 weeks ago.  She came home from the hospital a week and a half ago which was well ahead of schedule and all appeared to be going well until this week.  Wednesday night she was readmitted to the hospital with some side effects that the doctors are still trying to diagnose.  When she was admitted on Wednesday, the prognosis looked potentially grim, but it is starting to sound a little better today.  We are still waiting on all the test results and only time will tell, but I'm taking today's beautiful weather as a sign that she is going to be OK.  So I'm asking for all of your prayers and thoughts for my Aunt S as that's really all I can do as it is out of my control.  

Farmer Fridays - Big Sissy's view from the combine

When Big Sissy went for a combine ride the other day, she asked if she could take my camera so she could share her view from the combine with all of you.  (I don't know if it is good or bad that she has taken an interest in my blogging, but I'm going with good for now.)  

During Big Sissy's combine ride, we were cutting soybeans.  As you know, we raise soybeans on our family farm in addition to corn, wheat, and pigs.  We sell all of our soybeans to a local soybean processing plant.  We then buy soybean meal from this plant made from our soybeans and those of other local farmers to feed our pigs along with corn raised on our family farm and other essential nutrients.  

So with no further ado, here is Big Sissy's view (with her own commentary):

Here comes Pop Pop to pick me up

The soybeans coming out of the combine's auger to fill the truck

The soybean field

Pop Pop using GPS auto steer technology to cut soybeans without actually having to steer the combine himself (unbelievable, right?)

The combine cutting the soybeans

The soybeans in the combine's holding tank waiting to be unloaded into the truck

I hope you enjoyed Big Sissy's view.

Farmer Fridays - What do we feed our pigs

In case you didn't know, October is National Pork month.  As a pig farmer, we love pigs and pork so it is always fun to celebrate them.

During the month of October, my Farmer Fridays will focus on different aspects of our family pig farm and how we raise our pigs so that we can produce healthy, nutritious, and safe pork for my family and yours to eat.

Today I'd like to focus on the diets of our pigs and what we feed them...

Farmer Fridays - It's going to be a busy weekend

Although this year's planting season started off extremely slow due to Mother Nature, it appears we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel but that means it is going to be one busy weekend on our family farm.

As you know, we finished planting a couple of weeks ago and although there is always a huge collective sigh of relief once all of our corn and soybeans are planted; the work does not end there.  We've kept quite busy since we finished planting and our list of activities for this weekend includes finishing wheat harvest,

applying anhydrous ammonia to the final two fields of corn,

spraying our soybeans, and possibly planting soybeans on top of the wheat stubble (the field where we harvested the wheat).  (This is called double cropping because we are going to attempt to get 2 crops out of the same field in the same year.)

So needless to say The Farmer and his dad will be ready to have some down time on the 4th of July when we have our annual family cookout and fireworks show which will probably include some fishing.

Happy 4th of July!!

Farmer Fridays - What a difference

What a difference just a few weeks have made on our family farm.  As you know from past Farmer Fridays' posts, planting season of 2011 has been proceeding at a less than desirable rate due to the extremely wet weather Mother Nature has sent our way for most of April and May.

Well that changed a lot over the last two weeks and we have been able to spend the majority of the 14 days in the field.  In fact last Saturday, we finished planting corn including areas that had to be re-planted due to being drowned out by too much rain after being planted.  On Sunday, we started planting soybeans and finished yesterday morning. 

Needless to say The Farmer and his dad have been working almost 'round the clock; however, it is always worth it when we can say we are done planting.  So I'm quite positive everyone released a huge sigh of relief yesterday at this family farm.

Now just because the planting is done, doesn't mean the work is done.  We are now working diligently to get all of our corn sprayed.  If you remember from last year, we have to spray our corn to kill the weeds that compete for essential nutrients with the corn.  And then after all of the spraying is done, it is time to apply anhydrous ammonia (nitrogen) to the corn to essentially help it grow or "get bigger" as Big Sissy used to say. 

So although there is still plenty of field work to be done in a timely manner, it sure is excited to know all of our corn and soybeans are planting.  Now if we can just get Mother Nature to bring back some rain periodically and gently over the course of the summer so our crops will grow, everything would be perfect... or close to it.

 

Farmer Fridays - It's almost time to head to the fields

Well it's almost time to head to the fields for planting season which is one of the most favorite times of year on this family farm.  This winter has been extremely cold and full of ice so Spring Fever started awhile ago around this pig pen.  The Farmer and his Dad and even Big Sissy and Bubby can't wait to get in the fields and start planting.  The fact of the matter we all can't wait.  It is such a fun time of year and everyone's mood improves once they can spend time outside and get in the fields.

To prepare for the planting season, The Farmer has been applying organic fertilizer, as the weather allows, onto fields that grew beans last year and will grow corn this year.  (The 3 inches of rain we received on Monday have halted this process for the time being.)  Remember this is just one of the many ways we are "green" on our family as the organic fertilizer is the manure from our pigs that allows us to dramatically reduce if not eliminate the need for man made fertilizers on our family farm.  Additionally, it also allows use the pigs' manure to fertilize the corn that we will then turn into feed for our pigs.  Truthfully it is a pretty cool process if you ask me.

The Farmer and his Dad have also been working on getting our planter ready so when the fields are dry and the manure is hauled they will be ready to head to the fields and start planting corn and soybeans. 

So needless to say... there's never a dull moment on our family farm.

Be sure to check in for next week's Farmer Fridays as one of my fellow Real Farmwives of America and Friends, The Hoosier Farm Babe, will be doing a guest post. 

Celebrate the Harvest Wordless Wednesday

Although The Farmer has spent all day in the sleeting, freezing rain, cold weather working on the farm (Thank God our pigs live in climate controlled buildings at 70 degrees year round protected from the elements), I thought it was only appropriate on this day before Thanksgiving that we Celebrate the Harvest we just had and reflect back on some great times from this harvest season because as hard as it is to believe Christmas will be here before we know it.

So here's to Celebrating the Harvest of 2010...

This is linked to A Beautiful Mess. 

P.S.  Today is not only the day before Thanksgiving, but it is also World Food Thanks Day. It is the day for us to not only be thankful for all of the food we have to eat, but also to thank those people and industries that help bring food to our tables. 

My number one food thanks is being a part of a family farm that works hard each and every day to help provide food for your family's dinner table from our family's farm and for all of my fellow family farmers that do the same. 

What are your food thanks?