IS AN EGG AN EGG?
Well, yes and no.
The Whole Farm Co-operative farmers only sell eggs fromchickens that get exercise, get a few bugs and greens and, as a result,lead truly fulfilling lives. Eggs from these chickens have strongcalcium rich shells and deep golden yolks. These, yolk and shell,are the tell tale signs of eggs from free ranging chickens. But, our customerswonder, how come some
eggs are blue-green, some snowy white and others coffeeand cream brown?
Our trade mark egg has been the brownegg. We like it because it tells a story. Gilda Gieske andher friends candle our eggs by hand. Brown eggs don't candle well by machine. The same as true for other colored eggs. The light doesn't get throughthe shell so easily. White eggs candle well by machine. So,we've always felt, a brown eggs says, "I was candled lovingly by hand andnot on a conveyor belt." Unfortunately, (well, fortunately, actually)the brown egg supply hasn't been able to meet demand recently. We'vehad to ship white eggs. But these are white eggs from Leghorn chickenswho had lots of exercise, worms and greens. In a word, these wereeggs from >fulfilled chickens. And the bright gold yolks were encasedin strong
calcium rich shells. We hope you enjoyed them. |
| THECHEESE REPORT Those of you who have purchased WFCsharp aged cheddar over the last year have no doubt noticed a change. Our aged cheddar is now Amish aged cheddar. It is not the Graziersaged cheddar that you've been used to. The Grazierscheddar was our first cheese. It was a wonderful experiment. Personally, I thought it was the best cheddar I'd ever had. That delicioustaste caused the cheeses demise, however. We ate it all!
; Small scale cheese making is a dicey adventure. After months of research WFC has purchased the aged cheddar inventory froma Lanesboro, MN creamery that went out of business. We bought thecheese because it was from Amish farmers in southeastern Minnesota whograzed their cows in a manner similar to our members. We will, however,label the cheese differently than our regular Graziers cheese. Our other Grazier's cheese, the curds, varieties of Monterey Jack, Colbyand non-aged cheddar are now made by WFC members Brad and Kevin Donnayat Stickney Hill Dairy near Kimball. Below is an articleI wrote for the Land Magazine (PO Box 3169, Mankato, MN 56002) onStickney Hill Dairy: Minnesota dairy farm.
Brad Donnay is a trained cheese makerand runs a dairy farm with his brother Kevin. If you get a picturein your mind of these young men working with large black and white animalshang on to it. But now add a piece to the picture. Dairy goats.
The Donnay brothers milk a herd of50 goats and a herd of 85 cows. Now they're making dairy cow and dairygoat cheese.
"My Dad wantedto retire. I was working at Bongard's but I wanted to take over thefarm," Brad, an agricultural graduate of the University of Wisconsin (UW)at River Falls, said. "The problem was my brother wanted to farmtoo."
Neither brother had the capital or the creditto expand the dairy cow herd to 200 cows. But when milking goatswere suggested by a friend they thought the idea stupid.
& "I pictured some farm yard goat thatate tin cans," Brad remembers.
But the friend persisted.
"I found out dairy goats were pretty mellowanimals and had some good breeding behind them," he now says."The doeshave really nice udders on them."
Now it's hard to get Brad Donnay to staysilent when it comes to the merits of dairy goats.
The Donnay brothers bought a herdof does and a couple of males >late last summer from southwestern Minnesota. There is a fluid goat milk market in that part of the state. Thereis, however, none in central Minnesota. Making goat cheese, whichretails at $10 to $14 per pound, made good sense. Particularly sinceKevin Donnay graduated from UW River Falls cheese making coursesthis spring. Kevin made the first trial batches of goat and cow cheeselast spring. Comments from test eaters were positive, Brad says."Chevre is your typical goat cheese," Brad says.
The brothers intend to make a wide varietyof cheeses based on the typical and, probably, not so typical. "We willmake a chevre and basil, garlic and herb chevre, goat feta, tomato-basilgoat feta, garlic and herb goat feta , goat cheddar, goat gouda,goat monterey jack," Brad said.
ar, he explains.The dairy cow cheese they intend to make will be cheddar curds,
gouda, cheddar and feta.
Finding the equipment for a smallcheese making operation wasn't >easy. Some of it came from as faraway as Ohio. The cheese vat is a converted dairy cow bulk tank. And even though it cost less to set up the cheese plant and renovate adairy cow barn for dairy goats the project wasn't cheap. Brad figuresthey've put about $75,000 into starting the business.
On the other hand he's optimisticabout the financial prospects of the business.
"The numbers look very good," he says offinancial projections they've made for the business.
Projected sales are what make for good financialnumbers. Stickney Hill Dairy is counting on retail sales througha local grocer and marketing assistance from a third partner in the cheeseplant, Dave Lenzmeier. "Sales are 90% of the business," Brad says. "Anybody can make cheese on the kitchen stove but can they sell it?" Sales are an important aspect of farm businesses that farmers often don'tgive enough attention to. But efficient and economical productionare also important. Brad figures that dairy goats have a number ofbenefits that dairy cows don't have.
*Goats produce small quantities ofhigh value milk requiring less storage costs.
*Goats require less feed and labor thandairy cows.
*Dairy goat housing is smaller and lessexpensive than dairy cow housing.
"Even thoughyou only get 8 pounds of milk per day from a goat I think you net profitfrom 50 goats will be the same as from 50 cows," Brad says. "Andthe labor from the goats would be a lot less."
The Donnays and Lenzmeier are optimisticenough about goats to believe that Stickney Dairy will be buying goat milkfrom other farmers in a few years. If that comes to pass the newbusiness will be going forward
into the past. The first dairy manufacturing onStickney Hill was in 1879. That year Truman Stickney made 500 pounds ofdairy cow butter. The Donnay family purchased one side of StickneyHill in 1918. Now, three generations later, dairy manufacturing isonce again taking place on Stickney Hill. |
WHERE'STHE BEEF
Roy Perishspends a lot of time dreaming up ideas on how to run his farm better whilehe milks his cows. Two years ago, however, he would never have dreamedhe be in charge of lining up cattle and hogs for butcher for a farmer ownedco-operative.
That's what Perish does for WFC. Hescours the area for beef and pork that have been raised without medicatedfeed, without growth hormone implants and that have been largely grassfed. At first it was easy. The beef came from the Perish familiesherd. The pork came from the Salber farm a few miles away.
As sales increased Roy begin to lookfurther and further afield for >meat that met WFC standards. It'sbeen challenging. Last spring a Cold Spring family said they wouldlike to join the co-op and sell their beef to our customers. Unfortunatelythey fed medicated feed. A new crop of calves are being raised withoutmedication by this family and will be ready for slaughter in a fewmonths. Another farmer in southwest Minnesota, who is certified organic,would have 40 head available for the co-op. But WFC is unable topay farmers until after we've sold the meat. The farmer can't afford towait. Banks in general won't allow farmers to sell theiranimals unless they can get nearly immediate payment.
"The bank for one of our producers, MartyPrimus, is local. When he had 17 head last spring he could show he'dmake more money through us so the credit union was willing to work withhim," Roy says. "Ninety-nine percent of the banks aren't that understanding."
As Roy has searched out animals that fitWFC standards he's had to start to think long term. He's alreadythinking about animals that will be slaughtered next June.
"We've had a harder time finding animalsfrom farmers who think like we do," he says. "I'm always interestedin talking to new farmers."
Animals that WFC slaughters this winterwill be fed largely on a ration of hay. "We'll feed them about eight poundsof grain per day," he says.
The small ration of corn and small grain(oats or barley) will provide the cattle with the energy and protein theyneed to get through the cold months.
Farmers interested in supplying animalsthrough WFC can reach Roy at 320-594-6590. He's in the house occasionally. |
SMARTWOOD. DUMB WOOD.
Whole Farm Co-op has carried wood products(bluebird houses and wood duck boxes) from Snowy Pines Reforestationfor the last six months or so. You may recollect that the Nolan-Rapatzfamily, who run Snowy Pines, operate a reforestation business along witha small sawmill. Greg and Marcia Nolan-Rapatz have always been dedicatedto the idea that selectively logged and locally milled wood is better forthe economy of our rural communities and the forest than whole salecutting and exporting of timber from the area.
With the assistance of the Institute forAgricultural and Trade Policy (a long time supporter of WFC) Snowy Pinesis starting a Smart Wood program here in central Minnesota. SmartWood certification involves a certification process similar to organiccertification. By tracing a paper work trail from the end user (youor your carpenter) back to the woods you can be assured that the wood that'sbeing used in your project has consistently adhered to the 10 Smart woodprinciples which include:
1)compliance with environmental laws andregulations
2)assurance that land owner where the logscome from don't cut the >forest and then abandon the land
3)assurance that logging and milling practicesserve the well being of forest workers and local communities
4)that multiple use of the forest lands are encouraged Snowy Pines is in the process of workingwith a forester, landowner, logger and planing mill that will all becomeSmart wood certified. Whole Farm Co-op is considering assisting thisgroup with marketing.
So, what's dumb wood? "Dumb wood is whereyou're just focused on one thing--making money at all costs and you'vegot people out there working as cheap as possible and you don't care whatthe woods looks like when you're done," Greg Nolan says. |
GROWTHHORMONES DO THE STRANGEST THINGS
Growth hormones used by many Americanand Canadian farmers to speed up beef production may cause cancer, Europeanofficials have contended for years. Recently, a Canadian researchersaid that growth hormones were responsible for the trend toward increasinglyearlier puberty in girls. Even though the evidence in these matters isn'tall in, the Europeans have refused to accept imports of U.S. and Canadianbeef because of the potential danger.
There is no over riding proof that beefgrowth hormones do cause cancer or early onset of puberty, US officialsassert, and so therefore the Europeans have no right to ban US importsof hormone treated beef. The World Trade Organization has sided withthe Canadians and the Americans. As a result the WTO authorized retaliatorytariffs worth $128 million on European farm products in July,1999.
The European position is an example of whatis called the "precautionary principle" in food safety.
There are six hormones approved by the USFood and Drug Administration for use in cattle as growth hormones: estradiol 17-beta, progesterone, testosterone, zeronal, melengestrol acetate(often referred to as MGA) and trenbelone acetate or TBA. The firstthree are considered natural or endogenous. Correct usage of hormonesinvolves inserting a capsule with a mixture of the hormones into the skinbehind the ear. The ear is then disposed of at slaughter. But a 1986 study showed many US farmers were inserting the capsule intothe muscle tissue. That practice made the cattle grow even faster. The capsule then went along with the muscle tissue to the people who atethe beef.
& Although there is argument about whetherUS farmers are now using the hormones correctly, usage is not at the heartof the debate.
The debate pits science versus science onbehalf of politics and >economics. The argument is whether we shouldact when we think there might be a problem. Or wait until we knowfor sure.
Little is actually known about theeffects of the six growth hormones on humans who eat meat containing them. Scientists know the most about estradiol 17-beta, a form of estrogen. Both sides agree that estrogen can cause cancer. They don't agreeon the cancer causing & The recognition by the American side that there are acceptable dailyintakes (ADIs) of estradiol 17-beta and the two other natural hormoneswas a change in position. Previously the FDA said there was no danger. Recognizing now that there are ADIs is a tacit recognition that hormonespose some danger. This new position may effect meat inspection, bothfor domestic consumption and for export. Currently, because US regulatorshave asserted there is no danger, meat is not inspected for hormone residue.
The European Union is currently conducting17 risk assessments on aspects of beef growth hormones. Althoughthe results will come too late to reduce the trade barrier fines authorizedby the WTO and imposed by the US, the EU continues to ban hormonetreated beef based on the belief that it could, rather than it will, causeharm to European beef eaters.
Whole Farm Co-operative farmers do not usegrowth hormones on their cattle.
(This article is revised from theIATP Food Safety Newsletter I write. You can get the complete newsletteronline from Jackie Hunt
Christensen at ITAP. email <jchristensen@iatp.org> |