There was finally something to do around the farm this past weekend. At least something that pertained to farming activities. I had the Hino sitting in the yard with some amount of screenings in it. Those screenings needed to be loaded into portable totes of around 30 bushels each in order to be stored for future sale to customers needing poultry feed. I needed the Hino empty so I could take fresh grain into the cleaners this week. So I plugged in the Hino and the 766 and got to work. It didn't take too long, but there was a tremendous accumulation of snow on the tarp that took a lot of work to dislodge...without poking holes in the tarp!
In the video, I say it is the 25th...it was indeed the 24th.
Turns out that I got a call on Monday from the seed cleaning plant in Stony Plain that they had a cancellation from another organic grower and wanted to know if I could put off delivery of my grain. That wasn't a problem so it turns out that I don't have to haul grain this week afterall.
How does the profitability or market for organic livestock feed compare to producing grain for organic flours?
ReplyDeleteSomewhere, I have read about an organic grain/livestock farmer (or group of farmers) that was using the screenings from their grain (and the weed seeds) to produce a high quality livestock feed. The interesting part was that the organically grown weeds actually added to the quality of the feed (something about the scavenging ability of the weed extracting minerals, etc.)
No comparison...growing grain for livestock feed is an absolute waste of time. I simply think about how far removed I am from the consumer purchase point whenever I sell anything from the farm. Livestock Feed = I produce it, I sell grain to the livestock farmer, who sells the livestock to a feedlot, who sells to a processor, who trucks it and sells it to a retail store, who sells it to a consumer. I am low on the totem pole.
ReplyDeleteGrain for human consumption = I sell to the consumer at retail prices.
I have over simplified a bit, but you get my drift.
Very observant about the weed seeds etc. Yes, they are very nutritious and can add a lot of quality to the feedstuff. I am basically selling the waste from my farming operations to livestock growers. I sell waste and they get some less expensive feed.
The only problem with the model I have mentioned above is that it takes a lot more work to find the consumers to purchase flour and it is terribly easy to find a livestock farmer to buy my grain. I find it worth the extra effort.
ReplyDelete