Real Talk

Four Legs Farm meat is without a doubt more expensive than meat in the grocery store. And I feel like for the most part people have been very supportive of the farm and understanding of why I charge as much as I do. 

It's also a lot to ask of people to buy a large quantity of expensive meat weeks or months before the product will be delivered. I cannot convey how thankful I am for how many of you have taken the leap of faith with me and already bought your shares. It's awesome.

I would like to share a little bit more about how my farm works as a business. 

I have gotten very lucky in bunch of ways that help make my farm work:

• Very cheap rent for the farmland and I get to live on the property - thanks Glynwood!
• Some infrastructure is owned and maintained by Glynwood. For example I'm able to get away with not owning a truck right now.
• An FSA microloan helped me get through a huge amount of spending in the Spring. It covered buying my animals and some of the first feed order.
• My part-time job at the National Young Farmers Coalition is very flexible and supportive of my farm. 
• NYS forgave my student loans!
• All of you! Buying meat shares ahead of time made buying fencing, vet supplies, feed and paying my rent possible.

There are still a lot of reasons why my meat is more expensive than the grocery store

• Scale. Local non-GMO grain in small quantities is at least 2-3x more expensive than conventional grain in large quantities. I buy my animals from other small scale producers because I feel good about their farming practices. My processor and butcher are small, local businesses too.  
• All of my animals are raised on pasture. This is really important to me and to many of you for ecological and animal welfare reasons, but it takes more time and energy to raise animals this way. This article sums it up nicely.
• Subsidies. I don't receive any subsidies for my farm from the government. Small farms that sell directly to consumers do not qualify for those programs.

I recently found another farmer online running a 12 Month Farm Finance Challenge. Eleven farms are writing blog posts every month about their finances and sharing how much money they spent and how much money they earned. Being this candid about farm finances is huge - I hope this helps customers better understand what their farmers are going through. It's pushing me to think about better ways to communicate about my business with all of you. Stay tuned.

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