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!

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!!

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?

Farmer Fridays - Wheat Harvest

 It's been a busy week at our family farm and its time again for another Farmer Fridays.

Wheat harvest normally coincides with the 4th of July so my husband never knows if he can travel with us to my mom's house for the 4th of July holiday. Last Saturday, we were able to start and complete wheat harvest in one day. (We don't grow a lot of wheat in a year on our family farm. We primarily grow wheat to help with one of our recycling programs on our farm, but more on that later in another post.  Additionally, we didn't bale any straw this year. ) My husband and son were in heaven.  So the prospect of my husband joining us for the 4th of July looked good.  
 However, more rain arrived on Sunday and put a hold on my husband's soybean spraying activities for a few more days. Needless to say when I got ready to leave yesterday for my mom's house, my husband was heading to the fields to spray our soybeans.
I'm so excited that the fields are finally dry enough to spray as we are dramatically behind schedule this year due to the wet weather. Thus, you will not hear me complaining about my husband not joining us for the 4th of July weekend. On a positive note, we are planning a family cookout and fireworks with his family on the 5th.

Needless to say it is just another day in the life of a farmer when the farm comes first and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy 4th of July and I hope you enjoy my wheat harvest pictures. Wheat in the field
 The combine cutting the wheat.  This is the same combine head we use to cut soybeans.
 A partially cut wheat field
 Side profile of the combine cutting wheat
 The combine unloading wheat into the semi to take to the elevator to sell.
 A view after the wheat has been cut.  The layer is straw and could be baled to make straw bales.