Let's chat a little about farm/homestead life in today's situation. While I myself, am no farmer...I can usually grow a mean garden, and raise some incredible critters. I leave the farming itself to the boys, who are capable. I may manage the ins and outs, scheduling, and all the "little" things; my boys are the backbone of our farm. We don't farm 100's or 1000's of acres, but we still produce and we operate just on a smaller level. We keep livestock and harvest hay, that is our market. However, with all markets of late, it's getting tough.
I know many farmers/homesteaders that have faced the sharp increases that we have. Feed prices doubling and tripling, hay prices increasing to cover the cost of diesel/DEF/repairs/netting-twine, fertilizer price spike, seed prices increasing with less germination, property tax increases, human food price increases of 11-56%, declining availability of parts/foods/etc, utility expenses rising, and the decline of livestock sales has lead to some pretty lean times. At the current prices(which increase by the week) our annual feed bill will exceed $6000 which is nearly double from the annual feed bill of 2021. We switched from regular fertilizer/manure this year which had increased 2 fold, to a different type of fertilizer/manure that was still $400 more than last year. Baler netting that was $260 last year, was $320 this year. Repair parts for tractors, balers, rakes, etc. have all doubled...if you can get them! While our expenses are crazy high, I would not want to be a big farmer! We can not absorb too many more increases. I know many of the bigger farms are also having a struggle to absorb their expenses, struggle through not being able to get the parts/repairs to their equipment, not being able to get seeds or seeing seeds not germinate and large sections of the row crops are just not growing. The struggle is real for all farmers & homesteaders, no matter what their size!
On my personal channels, I have urged people to get stocked up on food, water, medications, first aid supplies, pet/animal foods for well over year. Being the one that manages every aspect of our farm, I have studied the market ups and downs, I have seen the products availability wavering, and I have pages of notes of livestock pricing fluctuations that are alarming. It's my job, to be aware of the stock markets, the livestock markets, the financials, the trends and times of the year that the markets fluctuate. I have to stay on top of these things in order to make sure this small family farm stays, at least, a float. I have encouraged people to grow their own gardens, preserve the foods they grow, and learn to barter and trade. I want to see everyone succeed in a time when things are not looking so good. Utilizing your local farmers markets/producers (eggs, gardeners, meat producers, and dairies), are your best paths. Just this morning, it was announced that egg prices have increased nearly 33% in the past 3 months and that the "experts" are expecting a shortage. Sadly, we are seeing and hearing the word "shortage" in every market.
With all the chaos in the world, farmers/homesteaders are still working our butts off! We are out daily or several times a day caring for livestock, gardens, and/or crops. Here at our farm, we have reached baling season. We are having to do ours in sections, between the weather and off-the-farm schedules, we have to manage the time for that too. The hay crop on our farm, is looking pretty light to this point, which is not good. If the yields don't increase, it will mean having to purchase part of our hay usage from another producer, and the prices are already stupid! At the same time, we are taking more cautions to be easier on our equipment, since parts are hard to come by and the ones we can get are double the normal price.
My area of production is in my gardens, and I have been overall, pretty disappointed in the germination area. I have have planted 3 rounds of green beans, and have less than 20 plants that have grown. I planted 75 strawberry roots this year and 14 plants that grew. I have planted beets that are just not producing. I was finally able to locate some sweet potato slips and hope they will have time to produce before the frost sets in! I will also be planting a fall garden that I have not done for several years. There were several seeds/plants that were hard to come by this year, so I have been learning to raise/grow some things to save seeds...something else I have not done much of. I have tried growing herbs again, in containers. This has been a venture through many years...I just can not seem to keep them alive. So far, I've kept this years crop growing. I planted potatoes again, for the first time in several years. When I harvest those, they will be canned up. I've had a run in with blight this year, that I haven't dealt with before. I am working to curb that, but I have several pretty sickly looking plants. I have seen many recommendations on Captain Jacks, so I have some that I will be applying tonight. We have had a terrible infestation with Japanese beatles this year. They had taken over my fruit trees and grape vines. Some Seven spray, seems to have curtailed that mess for now. My pepper plants, while not growing as I believe they should, are setting on flowers and peppers. I'm hopeful that they produce well. I have banana peppers and jalapenos that are setting on and looking good...even though the plants are kinda puny in size. I have paid attention to our pollinators this year more than ever before. I noticed this year we do not have many honey bees. It seems like they have just disappeared. So, I have already decided to add a massive flower garden to our mix this year. Being allergic to bees, I have concerns about that, but we MUST HAVE bees, to pollinate, period. Plus, flowers are a pretty bonus. I added some flowers to my regular garden this year, but it's just not enough.
Educating yourself is a never ending goal. I spent most of last winter, learning everything I could about gardening ideas, container gardening, different styles of gardens, and how to care for plants better. I also keep copious amounts of paper notes on things that have worked or not worked in previous years. I have used so many of the notes from my Winter learning to help this year! I have several notes already from this growing season, and will be paying attention to how different methods have impacted my garden. I bought myself a small, cheap greenhouse...to try my hand at that side of growing. I can tell you, that was a rewarding experience. I was able to grow seed indoors, until the weather cooperated to put them out. I was able to get plants when I could find them and keep them alive until I could plant them outdoors, and learned a lot in the process. Not to mention the stress relief that being able to work with plants and soil, when it was still cold and snowy outdoors, was for me! Although, it made me daydream of having a full time sunroom/greenhouse attached to my house for year round use! So, there is that!
I need to finish up some paperwork, so I will finish up here. I hope you all are preparing as much as possible and getting so great vegetables from your gardens.
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