Local Meat

Although we can't blame the pandemic for the weather, it has changed so much else, including our farm operations. For the past 10 years, we've had a booth at the Concord Farmers Market. Not this year. It would be fun to go to the market and visit with vendors and customers, but all our merchandise is needed to accommodate the increase in our online orders and serve our walk-in and drive-up customers. And many other farmers are enjoying the same increase in sales. I've hired additional help to pack orders and serve customers. More folks than ever are seeking our farm to buy meat, but also to visit our 11 new calves.

It's a shame that our increased business is the result of a plague that is doing such harm to so many people – and businesses, too. I know what it's like to struggle financially, and it's no fun.

It's hard to tell if people buy local beef because there is less meat in the supermarkets; or because they are appalled by the news stories coming out of Midwestern meat-packing plants; or because they want to support farmers. Whichever is true, I'm hoping that once they taste the incredible flavor of locally raised beef, they'll never go back to factory-farmed meat.

This week's column is short because I'm running hard to keep up with all of our online orders and to make sure we have plenty of beef, pork, and lamb in our Loudon farm store. To keep up with demand, we recently went to see a farmer to confirm that he's raising his grass-fed cattle the way we do, and to buy several of them to bring home. When we have to augment the herd, we use only trusted sources.

We've had to close our store here on our farm in Loudon on Wednesday and Thursday to give us time to re-supply. Shoppers will be welcome here Friday and Saturday. Mask up and come see us!