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Our Mission: To foster a local food community and promote a culture of stewardship by cultivating farmer-consumer relationships, promoting the enjoyment of healthful food, increasing food security through diversity, and enhancing overall rural sustainability. |
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| PRODUCTS & PRACTICES | |
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| Question | Answer |
| List what you intend to sell. (if applicable) (e.g. meats, grains, jellies, crafts; also note if you have any heritage breeds) |
Poultry feed made with organic or transitional ingredients; Berkshire pork; Heritage and Broad-breasted white turkeys; Grassfed lamb |
| Describe your farming, processing and/or crafting practices. (if applicable) | We live on an acreage northeast of West Point, Nebraska. While not certified organic, we largely follow organic practices. We raise our home milk cows, steers and sheep on open pasture, and do not finish on grain. Our pigs are also raised outdoors, on pasture and/or wooded areas, with shelter. Our turkeys are free-ranging, with access to shelter as well. |
| Describe your pest and disease management system. (if applicable) | Prevention wherever possible. If an animal shows signs of sickness, which is fortunately rare, and we have to treat with medication to heal them, we will NOT sell those animals without full disclosure. Our numbers are small enough that pests/diseases have not yet been an issue. |
| Describe your herd health and productivity management. (if applicable) (i.e. do you use any hormones, antibiotics, and/or steroids) |
We use natural/herbal remedies at times as well. No hormones, steroids, or ongoing antibiotic use. We have used antibiotics in isolated instances with a sick animal, and these are not offered for sale without disclosure. See above. |
| Describe your feeding practices. (if applicable) (grass-fed only, free-range, feed-lot, etc.) |
See "Farming" section above. The feeds that we use are mixed ourselves, from rations customized for us by Fertrell. We are using certified organic or transitional corn, oats, and soymeal in the rations. When available I prefer to use open-pollinated varieties of corn. |
| Describe your soil and nutrient management. (if applicable) (Do you compost, use fertilizers, green manures or animal manures?) |
I use rotational grazing to assist with distributing manure over our pastures. I also have used organic/natural fertilizers from Fertrell (www.fetrell.com), and I am a Distributor for those products. |
| Describe your water usage practices. (if applicable) (If you irrigate, describe how - e.g. deep well, surface water, etc., and explain how you conserve water or use best management practices. Describe how you are protecting your water source from contamination/erosion). |
We are on rural water, and also have two wells. One well is an operating windmill, and is used primarily to water our small orchard. The other well is an old-fashioned dug well which we have done some preliminary work on to preserve and use in the future, hopefully for livestock watering, and possbily pasture irrigation if feasable. |
| Describe your conservation/land stewardship practices. (if applicable) (e.g., do you plant windbreaks, maintain grass waterways, riparian buffers, use green manures for wind erosion, plant habitats for birds, improve soil quality, etc.) |
We have mainted all windbreaks and tree plantings since moving here in 1998, and look on them as a huge asset to the property. Most of the balance of the property is in pasture. |
| Describe any additional information and/or sustainable practices about your operation that
would be helpful to a potential customer in understanding your farm or operation better. (e.g. if you are raising any heritage animals you might list breeds or list varieties of heirloom seeds. List the percentage of local ingredients in your processed items). |
See sections above for additional detail. We hatch our own heritage breed turkeys: Bourbon Red, Sweetgrass, and Standard White. |
| List your food liability insurance coverage, both general and product-related, as well as any licenses and tests that you have available. (if applicable) | NFC now provides this coverage to producer members. |
| ORGANIC PRODUCERS | |||
| List which products you are selling as organic. (if applicable) | |||
| List certifying agency's name and address: (if applicable) |
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| Certifying Agency's Phone: (if applicable) |
Certifying Agency's Fax: (if applicable) |
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| Do you have available for inspection a copy of your current organic certificate? (if applicable) | Yes No | ||
| I affirm that all statements made about my farm and products in this application are true, correct and complete and I have given a truthful representation of my operation, practices, and origin of products. I understand that if questions arise about my operation I may be inspected (unannounced). If I stated my operation is organic, then I am complying with the National Organic Program and will provide upon request a copy of my certification. I have read all of the producer standards and fully understand and am willing to comply with them. | |||
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I agree
| Wednesday the 21st day of June, 2006 | ||