Custom Meat

There has been a lot of confusion about how "custom" farmers work. We don't know in advance accurate hanging weights of animals or customer cut choices... cut choice is up to the buyer, the customer pays the processor separately. We would need additional licensing to sell processed meat even if we weren't the processor, and that's not what we do... We aren't selling meat, we sell animals and cows are sold by the whole, half or quarter. Pigs are sold by the half. When the coyotes did not eat all of our birds, poultry was sold by the whole, but could be processed into quarters if the customer wanted. If you want Alan to deliver it when it is done, he just asks for the check for the processing part before he picks it up (made out to the processor), and some gas reimbursement if the drive is longer than the average. We don't sell farther than 100 miles from the farm, and rarely more than 25 miles away. The processing cost and hanging weight of the animal are unknown at the time we take it to the butcher. When they process it, they weigh it and charge for the cutting/grinding/packaging/whatever. You need to call them to give them your order when we bring them the animal and to find out your cost. Then when they tell us how heavy the animal was, we ask $3.50 per pound hanging weight 1/4. (This is lighter than the live weight but heavier than the de-boned weight.) The picture previously posted of Alan and the calf is the calf that became the bull that became the steer that will feed 4 families. It had a good life enjoying room to run and fresh well and creek water and a varied pasture (exercise and diet lead to healthier animals with leaner meat and more omega 3 fatty acids naturally). Not sure if the calf in the picture or it's nursemate was the sire of the Indian Summer heifer we have now. We had the calf's mother supply milk to an adoptee and did not castrate either before the next cow was conceived... Like I said a good life for an animal on the farm. That is what our farm is about... raising our own children and letting the animals that provide us food have a good life and raise young of their own. There is no better teacher than nature, and we adults are still learning too. If you have questions, please post them and sorry if there is a delay in the response... life happens.

Noxious Weed Control to allow Diversity and Sustainability

Canadian and Bull Thistles are a problem on our farm, they are pictured above.

On our farm we try to promote the growth of a diverse group of plants and animals to sustain our family and our piece of nature. 49 acres is a lot of land to take care of when you are doing more than monocultures with chemical support. I understand that most farmers grow commodity crops using petroleum based fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides... not us. We have a few antique tractors that run on gasoline or diesel to do the big mechanical work... carrying water tanks to animals, mowing and cultivating... but the real power of our farm is the family who cares for it.

http://asap.sustainability.uiuc.edu/members/dananderson/documents/fennell-09

Click on the link to learn of the thistle control project we are involved with. Dan Anderson visited on May 12th, 2009 after Alan had plowed up and disked the pasture that was infested with the invasive thistle. He recommended planting "special effort sudangrass." This was sold out so other than the few pounds he had left, we had to look into alternatives.

Trying to control invasives while keeping diversity and ecosystem health are a challenge. Being involved in the state funded conservation reserve program (CRP) adds other challenges when almost a third of our farm is planted in young trees and has government restrictions as to what we are allowed to do on that portion of our land.

To share some of the research we've collected see below:

from: University of Montana, Invaders Database

http://invader.dbs.umt.edu/Noxious_Weeds/state_run.asp?state=form

We wanted the list of Noxious weeds in Illinois, this is what we found:

Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)

Ambrosia trifida (giant ragweed)

Cannabis sativa (marijuana)

Carduus nutans (nodding thistle)

Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)

Sonchus arvensis (perennial sowthistle)

Sorghum spp. (sorghum)

on another site

http://www.invasive.org/species/list.cfm?id=45

common ragweed	Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.	Asteraceae	Asterales
giant ragweed	Ambrosia trifida L.	Asteraceae	Asterales
marijuana	Cannabis sativa L	Cannabaceae	Urticales
musk thistle	Carduus nutans L.	Asteraceae	Asterales
Canada thistle	Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.	Asteraceae	Asterales
kudzu	Pueraria montana var. lobata (Lour.) Merr.	Fabaceae (Leguminosae)	Fabales
perennial sowthistle	Sonchus arvensis L.	Asteraceae	Asterales
sorghum-almum	Sorghum almum Parodi	Poaceae	Cyperales
johnsongrass	Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers.	Poaceae	Cyperales

This concerned me a bit, since the Sudangrass recommended is a Sorghum... ?noxious?

Other noxious weeds on the farm not on the Montana or invasive.org list included Multiflora rose, categorized as an exotic weed under the Illinois Exotic Weed Control Act of 1987. We may tackle that and the ragweed specifically in the future.

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/chf/outreach/VMG/cthistle.html

"Repeated and frequent pulling or hand-cutting of individual plants will eventually starve underground stems. Cutting or pulling should be at least 3 times each season, in June, August, and September. This treatment is feasible for light and moderate infestations, but may be relatively time consuming in heavy infestations. ...Roundup should not be used in high-quality natural areas during the growing season because of the possibility of harming nontarget plants.

On severely disturbed sites with heavy infestations, such as cropland or abandoned cropland, the site could be plowed and sowed to a cover crop (wheat, alfalfa, rye), if practical and desirable. The following May, the cover crop should be plowed under and desired native species should be seeded."

Next we wanted to see biocontrol alternatives that might not require so much mechanical work on our part.

Biocontrol for Canadian Thistle:

http://www.fws.gov/invasives/volunteersTrainingModule/invasives/planning.html

has information on IPM (integrated pest management) including:

"Livestock animals such as cattle or sheep can be used to eat invasive plants, till the soil with their hooves, and disperse native seeds." Our goats, pigs, poultry etc. might help...

Ceutorhynchus litura, Larinus planus, Urophora cardu (stylata for bull thistle), Rhinocyllus conicus (for Nodding Thistle: Cheilosa corydon (fly-like), Psylloides chalcomera)

... so what would that cost? According to http://www.bio-control.com/pricing.asp

Canada Thistle Stem Gall Fly, Urophora cardui for 105: $100.00

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/

to see a discussion of the struggles with the CRP see:
http://farmersforthefuture.ning.com/forum/topics/government-compliance-and

We also found out who to report pest problems to in our area:
Steve Knight
State Plant Health Director

2300 East Devon, Ste. 210

Des Plaines, IL 60018
Phone: (847) 299-0024, 6939

Fax: (847) 299-6046

6/20 redid goat fence after they escaped, watched as they ate young corn and thistles equally...

6/22 Used new hand weed wacker on thistles east of house near asparagus patch

6/23 more hand weed wacking and pulling east and south of house

6/24 more pulling of thistles... no gloves are thick enough and one person cannot keep up!
http://www.welterseed.com/

6/24/09: We bought Japanese Millet to try in place of the Sudan-Sorghum recommendation. In addition to the concern that Sorghum is on the noxious weed list, "All Sorghum Sudans can cause Prussic Acid and Nitrate poisoning in livestock" so... Japanese Millet "It is of significantly finer quality than sorghum sudan or pearl millet, and a little more coarse than oats. It comes on fast, really controls weeds and mellows up the ground".

6/25 few pounds of sudan-sorghum arrived in the mail.

6/27 homesteader's weekend, talked with other farmers who warned of sudan grass toxicity and noxious status... Alan returned from Boy Scout Camp.

6/28 tractor repaired! Tried to spot burn selected thistles south of corn crib in CRP... got overwhelmed, it's like mowing a 2 acre lawn with a tweezers!