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Posts tagged as “Plain Values”

Small Efficiency — Confessions of a Steward

Small Efficiency — Confessions of a Steward

By Guest Post on August 15, 2023
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By Joel Salatin, Plain Values

For decades, I’ve been direct marketing our farm’s production directly to retail customers as a direct-marketed, branded product. That means our farm embraces the role of middle-man and we have a logo.

We practice craft rather than commodity. The Harvard Business Review analyzed the difference and found that although businesses can be profitable in either craft or commodity, success depended on staying in the same column. In other words, a craft trying to scale to a commodity failed, and a commodity trying to present itself as a craft failed. The differences are profound.

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Simplifying — Roots + Wings

Simplifying — Roots + Wings

By Guest Post on August 1, 2023
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By Rory Feek, Plain Values

On our recent trip to Amish country in Ohio to spend time with the team at the Plain Values office, Marlin put together a small gathering of folks from the community, and I sang a few songs and shared a few stories with them. But I think my favorite part of the trip was when he took us around and introduced us to his neighbors, Ivan and Emma, a young Amish couple in their mid-thirties.

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Moving Animals Around Pt. 2  —  Confessions of a Steward

Moving Animals Around Pt. 2  —  Confessions of a Steward

By Guest Post on July 31, 2023
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By Joel Salatin, Plain Values

Last month I laid the foundation for the patterns and whys of animal movement. Failure to systematically and routinely move domestic livestock is perhaps the single biggest failure in animal agriculture.

But how? Fortunately, we have infrastructure today that makes learning ancient herding techniques unnecessary. In extremely remote and unpopulated areas, herding is still practiced. But in more populated and developed areas, it’s not practical. I don’t know anyone capable of telling a milk cow to stay in a 10 by 20-yard spot in a pasture and have her obey.

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Start-Up Farm — Confessions of a Steward

Start-Up Farm — Confessions of a Steward

By Guest Post on July 27, 2023
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By Joel Salatin, Plain Values

The single biggest cost—and hurdle—in starting a farm of any size is the land cost. Our own nation has gone from free land to extremely expensive land. Old farmers today who acquired their land in the 1960s often have a hard time appreciating the land cost issue for aspiring new farmers.

When my mom and dad bought our place in 1961, it was $90 an acre, and feeder calves sold for $180; one acre would grow half a calf per year, which means the land and production were in a 1:1 ratio ($90:$90). Today, the land is $7,000 an acre, and that calf is worth $700; the land receives no more sunlight or rain and still grows half a calf worth $350. That means today’s land:production ratio is 20:1 ($7,000:$350), which is a far cry from the 1:1 in 1961.

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First Foods — The Healing Land

First Foods — The Healing Land

By Guest Post on July 25, 2023
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By Shawn & Beth Dougherty, Plain Values

The corn in the garden is already more than knee-high, and the first planting of green beans has been gracing the supper table for more than a week, so summer must really be here. And even with temperatures in the high eighties making heat wrinkles over the county road, we’re happy to see the seasons advance. Pretty soon there will be okra to fry and tomatoes in our salads. The land is generous in July.

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Staying Local — Roots + Wings

Staying Local — Roots + Wings

By Guest Post on July 18, 2023
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By Rory Feek, Plain Values

I once made a trip north to Amish country in Ohio to visit and spend time with Marlin and his team at the Plain Values home office. In the few days that I was there, I returned home with some unexpected personal insights that I thought I might share in the next column or two. The first one has to do with automobiles, or actually maybe the lack of automobiles in the world of the Amish, and also recently in mine.

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Time for What’s Important — The Healing Land

Time for What’s Important — The Healing Land

By Guest Post on June 9, 2023
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by Shawn & Beth Dougherty, Plain Values

A Child comes in the back door with a full milk can; the screen door slaps shut behind him. There is the sound of a bucket being set on the bench, the clang of a bail handle against the side of the milk can. In the kitchen someone is frying bacon; the smell reaches into the basement, where at a simple counter and sink we process raw milk twice daily.

Sometimes we wonder how we got here! When we first thought we might keep a dairy cow, we worried that the chores would be too much work and that we would not be able to maintain a rigid schedule. Not only were we taking on twice-daily milking, but we would be moving our intensively grazed dairy cows onto fresh grass each time we milked. With all the other farm chores and homeschooling our eight children, were we going to have time for the added work? But while milking a cow does require commitment, it turned out to be not nearly as much work as we expected.

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Animals Move  —  Confessions of a Steward

Animals Move  —  Confessions of a Steward

By Guest Post on June 6, 2023
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by Joel Salatin, Plain Values

In animal husbandry and livestock production, probably the most common violation of God’s design is failure to mimic animal movement.

Whether it’s a horse paddock, dog run, or a 1,000 cow herd, keeping animals requires intentional and managed movement. Studying God’s design in nature reveals a remarkably sophisticated animal choreography. In the wild, animals don’t stay in the same place; they move—dramatically.

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