Farm PIVOT: Pigs, Markets, & MORE!

[00:00:00] Speaker A: A pivot is a change in strategy without a change in vision, says Eric Reese, businessman and author. And today we're going to discuss our recent pivots and how we feel about those. [00:00:16] Speaker B: Welcome to the Duster Mud podcast. I'm rich. [00:00:18] Speaker A: And I'm Shelley. [00:00:19] Speaker B: We spent nearly 25 years in the US Air Force, and in 2021, we retired and moved to the Ozarks of Missouri and started a first generation regenerative farm. And about a year and a half, two years later, we started this podcast, the Duster Mud podcast. And on this podcast, we talk about food freedom and farming. And today we're going to focus on farming. [00:00:50] Speaker A: Farming. Pivoting in life is sometimes a very necessary activity or event. Sometimes you're headed in a direction, and it's the right direction, and you have a vision, and it is the right vision, but sometimes you need to make small adjustments. And recently we've come along and had to make some pivots and adjustments in our business and in our farm. [00:01:21] Speaker B: Yeah. So I liked the quote that you picked out. And when Shelley read me that quote, it's, you know, a change in strategy without a change in vision. I went immediately to we need to break out our vision statement that we wrote before we ever even got here. So here we go. [00:01:42] Speaker A: Like, as before the farm was a. [00:01:44] Speaker B: Farm, before the farm was a farm, we wanted, we, we want you guys to sort of join us in this discussion of pivot and in transformative thinking, and we're going to use it and we're going to discuss the pivots and the transformations that are happening here on our farm, in our business. But I think it's applicable in life. [00:02:06] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:02:07] Speaker B: So join us. The first thing we broke out was, if we're going to pivot, if we're going to make changes like what Eric Reese said, it should be a change in strategy without a change in vision. So let's break out the vision. So for us, in February of 2021, now, we hadn't even closed on this property yet. At that point, we had already come up with a vision for the farm and a why statement. As most of you know, we love Simon Sinek. And that was one of the first things we did when we were talking about this, was to come up with our why? Why are we doing this? And that was to raise natural food so that our family can be together and healthy. And along with that, our vision statement was, it's 2026. We have a profitable, sustainable farm that humanely raises natural food. And the way we were going to do that, we added a. Through an online presence and home deliveries, our extended family or customers has grown by 500 local families. So that was our vision. So as we talk through today about our pivots, it should still align with that vision. [00:03:38] Speaker A: Right. [00:03:38] Speaker B: The strategy on how we're getting there should be what we're talking about. [00:03:44] Speaker A: The through part. [00:03:45] Speaker B: The through part, yeah. But the actual vision should be the same. The profitable, sustainable farm that humanely raises natural food, that should stay the same. [00:03:56] Speaker A: Yes. [00:03:57] Speaker B: And the why we're doing it to raise natural food so that our family can be together and healthy. Like those should be foundational. And then the changes should be in the sort of the how or the through. [00:04:09] Speaker A: Right. [00:04:10] Speaker B: All right. [00:04:11] Speaker A: Sometimes, whenever things happen in life, they might be a little bit unexpected, and you have to make unexpected decisions. Other people's decisions often affect your personal decisions and your decision for your life, your business, your farm or homestead. And whenever we are. Whenever we're confronted with someone else's decisions, we were confronted with the decision for the person who supplied us, our feeder pigs. They decided they didn't want to do that anymore. And that put us in a decision, in a position to have to make a decision. [00:04:49] Speaker B: Yeah. On the 31 December last year, New Year's Eve last year, we made a podcast and took about 14 minutes of almost 400 of your time to discuss why we don't farrow pigs on this farm and how excited we were that we said no to something on the farm. And in that podcast, we discussed the fact that Rick and Jill Norton from Ozarks heritage Farm were our suppliers of amazing, pure, premium Berkshire piglets. And that partnership was awesome. And that allowed us to make the decision to not farrow or have raise piglets here on the farm, to have boars and sows and make piglets. [00:05:42] Speaker A: So whenever they came to us through a phone call and said, hey, we're looking to get out of this, we're not going to be doing this anymore, and we will put you in touch with some people who are doing it. We became. We became a bit concerned with our pork production, and did we have a secure source for pure Berkshire piglets. And through our concern, we thought, man, what are we going to do? Well, we have some guilts. Let's keep those guilts back, and we can at least AI them and start making our own feeder pigs. And so we had decided, like, literally that morning, that's what we were going to do to mitigate this problem. And 2 hours later, the gentleman called and he said, that deal kind of fell through of what I was going to do. And I wanted to know if you guys would be interested in buying me out. And that was just a very interesting timing for us. And we quickly had to begin to consider, would we be willing in our lives and on our farm to pivot and change our minds and start farrowing pigs and get a breeder, borer and some sows to start making the piglets ourselves. [00:07:07] Speaker B: We thought about it for not too terribly long and agreed to do so. Our pivot is from having a feeder pig only operation where we brought piglets onto the farm at about two, two and a half months old and then raised them up through butcher weight. We're pivoting to having boars and sows, which are basically breeding stock, and all of the infrastructure that goes along with that breeding stock, and then having piglets and the requirements that go along with having piglets, their medical care, castrating the males. Like, there's. There's quite a bit that goes along with the piglets. The pivot is to adding basically, and not just basically adding an entirely new enterprise to the farm. So the, like, does that pivot fit the vision? [00:08:07] Speaker A: I think it actually fits a little bit better. [00:08:10] Speaker B: Because we said sustainable. [00:08:11] Speaker A: Because we said sustainable. And whenever you are reliant upon another industry to provide you with one of your primary enterprises, that's not very sustainable. And so if you take on the responsibility of creating the thing from the beginning, then that's when you. You can. You're not all the way sustainable. Yes, there are gaps in that, but in order to. We have a bull, we have roosters, we have the other things in order to generate life on this farm, rather than bringing life in. And so I think we become more sustainable by doing that. So I think we actually. This pivot actually sends us a little bit more in the direction of the overall vision from three years ago. [00:09:01] Speaker B: Yeah, you're right. [00:09:02] Speaker A: Doesn't make it easy, but I think it does align very well with what we originally intended. [00:09:08] Speaker B: That's true. [00:09:10] Speaker A: So sometimes a no becoming a yes may turn out to be a very good thing. We don't know. The jury is out. [00:09:19] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll see. We do have the boar and the sow on the farm, right? They are breeding and we have yet to have any piglets. [00:09:29] Speaker A: No, that's right. [00:09:31] Speaker B: We'll keep you updated. [00:09:32] Speaker A: And of course, humanely, humanely humane practices are the only way that we farm. They're going to be. We're going to leave it to them as much as possible. We're going to leave it to they know what they're doing and interfere as very, as little as we possibly can. To me, that's the most humane thing to do, is allow the animal to do what the animal knows how to do. And the sows that we purchased are experienced. They know what they're doing. And I really don't feel like either one of us are going to need to get in the way of that. [00:10:01] Speaker B: Good. [00:10:03] Speaker A: So we pivot. So turn and do something else. [00:10:12] Speaker B: So, pivot. [00:10:12] Speaker A: Number one, breeders on the farm. [00:10:15] Speaker B: Breeder pigs. [00:10:16] Speaker A: Breeder pigs on the farm. [00:10:17] Speaker B: On the farm. [00:10:17] Speaker A: Yep. So we said no, and we've changed our minds. [00:10:20] Speaker B: Pivot. [00:10:21] Speaker A: Pivot. Whenever that vision statement was written, nowhere in that or in our. We did not want to do farmers markets. That was one of the things that we actually said no to out the gate. And if you notice on that vision statement, it says through an online presence and home deliveries. And we really don't like doing online. And we have an online presence, by. [00:10:53] Speaker B: All means, I was gonna say, but we actually like doing online. [00:10:56] Speaker A: We like online, but the shipping part just seems a little extra. When you can get things local, we just encourage you to get things from your local farmer, rather than me shipping it halfway across the world or the country. And then the other one was through home deliveries. We'll just bring it to you. Well, the logistics on all of that is far more detailed than we really knew or wanted to do. We thought it sounded like a great idea. [00:11:29] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, we're looking at that. I'm working at the Pentagon and you stay at home. And so the naivety of that statement, I think, is fair, like, for our experience level with farming, to think that that's what we wanted to do, I believe was a fair thing. [00:11:54] Speaker A: And it was the world of which we were coming from. [00:11:57] Speaker B: That's right. [00:11:57] Speaker A: We were coming from Amazon and Instacart and Washington, DC, and in Washington, DC. So it made sense to us to say, we'll ship it to you and we'll bring it to you. That's the convenience that everyone enjoys, and that's the convenience that we enjoyed. We still enjoy Amazon, but that was the convenience that we enjoyed grocery shopping in a city. And so we will just mimic that off farm. And it has not, that. That has not played out like we originally envisioned it. And so last year we started doing the Ava farmers market and we actually turned out we really liked it and we were quite successful. It grew our business, it grew our customer base, and it, it really let us know that that face to face thing is important to us. And so much so that with the business of the breeder pigs came an indoor spot at the Forsyth Farmers market, which we've mentioned before. And so instead of doing one farmers market, now we're actually doing two farmers markets. And so what wasn't on there at all on the vision statement, but now we plussed up and now we're doing two. It is a lot to do to do two farmers markets. The one bonus is the Forsyth Farmers market is an indoor market. The freezer stays stocked, the site, the booth stays set up, and all we have to kind of do is show up with some replenishment, inventory the cash box, a few extra things, and then we're set up and good to go. So that really alleviated a lot of back labor on our part. [00:13:31] Speaker B: Yeah. So that pivot to farmers market initially, and now farmers markets, plural, at this point, I believe is still, again, it still fits within the vision of a profitable, sustainable farm that humanely raises natural food. The change is the, through an online presence in home deliveries to now farmers markets. [00:13:57] Speaker A: Yes, but I still stand by the fact that I don't necessarily want to do farmers markets forever. At 51 years old, I don't know that farmers markets are something that we want to do as a long term revenue source. I don't know that that's how we necessarily want to suspend our Saturdays every Saturday forever. Dumb. [00:14:25] Speaker B: So pivot number three. [00:14:26] Speaker A: So pivot number three comes in. We've just been doing lots of pivots. [00:14:32] Speaker B: Pivot number three is, and I believe we've mentioned we have rented some space in downtown Ava near the square, and we are opening a store. We formed a new business, a new llc, air to ground meets. And we are opening air to ground meets local market, where we will have all of our farm products for sale in a permanent storefront. [00:15:01] Speaker A: Right. We will also feature some other local homesteads, and we will also have confections, some soaps, other other types of homestead and locally made items in the store. And we're really excited about it. It's going to be a permanent fixture that, again, not back intent, not labor intensive farming is enough labor without carting freezers back and forth. [00:15:34] Speaker B: So we can, we eliminate the need for the setup and take down every time at the Ava farmers market by having a permanent presence there just off of the square in Ava as a storefront. [00:15:46] Speaker A: Another bonus is we will be able to be open and be available, available. But whatever hours we choose, we are not limited and dictated by the hours of the farmers market on Saturday. [00:15:58] Speaker B: Well, and the season of the farmers market. So we had to work really hard as the farmers market closed last year to try to encourage folks, to inform them, to educate them that just unlike produce producers, our products are available year round. Like we process beef in the fall, we process pork in the fall, we process lamb in December. So throughout the winter months, we still had product with no market like, no farmers market to take that product, to sell it. [00:16:38] Speaker A: A very difficult revenue stream. Whenever you don't have anywhere to get other than, yes, online presence, and we always do, you can come pick it up at our farm. And such as that, we were able. [00:16:51] Speaker B: To set up deliveries, drop sites, and we would meet people. And not quite half of the Saturdays, I think we've met someone to make deliveries. But it was still a fairly difficult proposition to try to keep things going through those winter months as the, well, the market's over, I guess, you know, we'll see you next year. [00:17:15] Speaker A: Yeah. So this is going to give us the opportunity to be open year round at the hours that we so choose. And whenever you're farming, and we have many farmer friends that watch this whenever you're farming is a very, can be a very capital intensive venture. The pigs still have to eat even in December. The cows eat a lot of hay starting in January. There are a lot of inputs that go in year round. And whenever you only have six or seven months to create some money, get some cash flow, it makes it difficult to feed everybody in February when you're not selling anything. So this is going to give us the opportunity to still be out there in the public selling stuff weekly and keep the cash flow coming in. So I'm really excited about February deposits. [00:18:10] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that'll be good. [00:18:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:12] Speaker B: So the storefront then, I believe we're still within the vision. And honestly, we're looking at the word profitable at that point is really what that pivot is trying to lead us towards is the profitable side of the sustainable farm. And again, instead of home deliveries, the idea is through a storefront. [00:18:39] Speaker A: Now, one of the things that we do enjoy is deliveries, but it's more like a pickup order. So we love it. Our customers, a lot of them, they make their order online on our website. Just place the order. We package up your order, kind of like a Walmart pickup. We'll take it to the farmers market of your choice or location. Soon it'll be the store and you can do in store pickup. So you can, you can order it online, you can pay and come pick it up at the store. So there will still be a convenience factor. [00:19:09] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Yep. And we're looking at mid June 2024 for an opening. We're not sure the exact date yet. We haven't even taken the store yet. So there's a lot, there's a lot to get done, but we're hoping somewhere the second 3rd week of June is when we'll be able to open that. [00:19:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:28] Speaker B: And then pivot number four is a little bit closer to home. [00:19:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:33] Speaker B: It's a little less personal, less farm and more us. [00:19:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:37] Speaker B: As far as a pivot goes, several. [00:19:39] Speaker A: Weeks ago, our friends Kevin and Sarah from living traditions homestead came out and assisted us in setting up a more worry free garden. They were seeing just how busy we are and what we've got on our plate and what we're trying to do and realizing that our garden was going to fall off like it did last year, like it did last year, it just became an overgrown mess and it fell off of our ability to maintain it. And whenever they saw that, they said, hey, you know, let's, let's get you guys in a more, more sustainable situation with your garden. And came out and helped us set up with our weed fabric and our automatic watering system. [00:20:26] Speaker B: And so far that is working out really well. We put a video together a couple of weeks ago of us planting that garden, burning the holes in the weed fabric and getting the plants in. We'll put out a video soon, an update on how the garden is doing. Everything that we put in as plant starts is growing a couple of them. I didn't harden off well enough and so they were stunted initially because they came straight out of a greenhouse, but everything else has done really well. The direct sow, we've had most success. Couple of things, a couple of things haven't. But it's still early enough in the season. We can drop some more seeds in. [00:21:10] Speaker A: And that's to be expected whenever you're direct sowing. I mean, sometimes you're going to get germination and sometimes you're not. [00:21:16] Speaker B: That is not happening. Is the garden is not overgrown with weeds. [00:21:22] Speaker A: It is not. And I can tell you, our soil that we have made over the past three years is really fertile. It's a happy, happy situation. And all of the weeds love to grow in it. All of the. Everything's love to grow in it. And I can tell you right now, you would be out to have to be out there with your weed eater. [00:21:40] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:21:40] Speaker A: Already. I mean, there's just no way. And so with that, with putting that weed fabric down and not having any weeds. We're able to look at the garden, we're watching it grow and we're not seeing a bunch of weeds. It doesn't look daunting. It's not a negative in our life. It's actually being the positive that we know that gardening especially should be. [00:22:04] Speaker B: Kevin and Sarah, come help us set it all up. There's that initial investment of time in putting in the weed fabric, but then the time savings already has been more than that initial investment was. [00:22:19] Speaker A: Oh, for sure, absolutely. So we're really looking forward to watching it continue to grow and being able to enjoy the vegetables coming off of it rather than worrying about the weeds. And the tomatoes are standing up and we've. Oh, it's going to be. There's a video coming, we promise. We're just going to let them grow just a little bit before. Yeah. [00:22:39] Speaker B: So that that pivot, although not necessarily farm related, is because it frees up our brains, it frees up our mental space. We can look out the window and not be upset that the garden is now overgrown and all of that work is just wasted. Like, it. It, for us, at least for me, is a. Is really a mental thing of looking out and seeing a nice, neat, pretty garden that is growing food without having to feel bad about myself because the garden is overgrown. [00:23:11] Speaker A: Right. Whenever we're trying to do a whole. [00:23:13] Speaker B: Bunch of other really good, humanely raised, you know, great food. [00:23:18] Speaker A: Exactly. And it's working. So that fits in with our vision. Yeah, quite nicely. Well, it frees us up for the profitability. [00:23:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:28] Speaker A: To be in a store so that we're not out having to weed a garden. It frees us up to be able to do that and it makes it actually sustainable because we're actually going to do it. It would just stop outside of that. It was probably going to be the first thing to go, to be honest. [00:23:46] Speaker B: So a pivot is a change in strategy without a change in vision. I believe the four pivots we discussed today really do fit that. They are still within the vision that we set up over three years ago, before we even owned this property. We're still fitting inside that vision. But the pivots, I believe, are actually going to bring us closer to that vision. [00:24:15] Speaker A: Right. And we encourage you that if you're doing something within your life, if you have a homestead or a farm or an apartment and you've come up against someone else's decisions or just things that happen in life, don't be afraid to pivot. Don't be afraid to slightly change direction. Step to the side, just turn a little bit, and you might find that your pivot is going to actually align more with what you originally intended than what you have going on right now. And so we just encourage you to do the thing. [00:24:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:53] Speaker A: Pivot. Pivot. [00:24:56] Speaker B: Thank you for hanging out with us today. And until next time, bye, all. Bye.