The pigs are here! All 24 of them arrived on Monday. There is one red pig, three black pigs and 20 pink pigs with some black spots. Some of them have waddles (little fleshy bits hat hang by the corners of their jaws) that flap when they run and look extra cute.  

Ben, the site manager and I drove up to the farm to get them with the snazzy pig box. Once they were loaded up they promptly fell asleep in a big pile like a baby on a car ride and snored little baby snores. 

Right now they live in the barn and have lots of straw to snuggle into on these chilly nights. They sleep in a big pile and seem to have a rule where napping require touching at least two other pigs at any given time.

​I just found out this week I was selected for the New York State Young Farmers Loan Forgiveness Incentive Program. Over the next two years, all of my student loans will be forgiven. This is the only program of its kind in the country that is currently funded. It is still a very small program and I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to have been selected.

This gives me $18,000 more dollars to put into my business in the coming years. I buy my animals locally, my feed is grown locally and my animals are processed locally. 
It will be so exciting to put that money back into my community. 

I hope this is the beginning of more programs that help young farmers with student debt. The National Young Farmers Coalition's campaign Farming Is Public Service is working on this at the federal level. There needs to be better options for student loans to keep my generation farming.