TLR Newsletter

 After taking our recent load of animals into the processor, we were met with yet another unpleasant surprise, as the price to process animals has increased yet again, this time by a much lower $7 per animal (versus almost $80 with the previous round).  Although the $7 increase per animal is small by most standards, it represents yet another increase among many others in the supply chain, whether it be hay cost, fuel cost, processing cost, or seed.  Make no doubt about it, the huge array of different cost increases truly represents an existential threat to TLR, and our existing operating framework may need to change dramatically in the coming years.  We will continue to update our customers of any changes, and possible disruptions through our newsletter as usual.

Even a small farming operation is a highly complex undertaking, with an extremely wide array of variables that can be manipulated, usually with imperfect information, and based on speculation about the future.  In this environment, there is ample room for experimentation, and farmers are known for continual experimentation and innovation.  With the price of inputs going up in price so dramatically, it is an imperative that we focus on innovation to keep costs down to maintain the operation. Although innovation can lead to improvements over time, the development cycle in the agricultural sector tends to be significantly slower than in other areas.  Farmers often must wait a whole season to see the effect of their experiments, and only get to modify/update their experimental trials once a year.  A commonly used estimate for the time needed to determine the efficacy, and to further calibrate a new system in agriculture is  7 years!  Despite this, research and...

One of the changes that we have made in response to the steep increase in fees we have experienced has been to grow our animals out to a larger size, to reduce the price per pound of processing fees.  Because of this, we have taken far fewer animals in to the processor recently, which led to a steep dropoff in product availability.  We had to cut off one-time/non-subscription purchase, to prioritize our monthly subscription members.  But we are now reaping the benefits of this patient approach.  We now have a cohort of animals that have increased in size to the point where they are much more marketable in light of the higher fees, and we will be stocking up our inventory to have product available for one-time (non-subscription) purchases.  The order form will open in September, for October delivery, and we believe the inventory will be sufficient going forward to keep the one-time purchase option open long term. We also had to turn away potential monthly subscri...

 One of the talking points that comes up the most often when chatting with customers is the use of concentrates used in feeding animals.  Our animals are pasture-raised and fed hay when the pastures run low, which sets us apart from many other producers.  But what exactly are concentrates, and why don't we use them? Beet Pulp The way we define "concentrate" at TLR is actually as a generic term that includes grains, vegetable pulp, soy protein powder, molasses, etc.  These concentrates come in many forms.  Some producers feed their animals grain, as a high energy (carbohydrate) supplement.  When a female goat is in the late stages of pregnancy, or while lactating, female goat's have high energy needs, and some producers supplement the females with some grain to support their needs at this time. Other producers feed grains to all animals routinely, and others feed grain almost exclusively.  Due to the high energy content, grain-fed animals tend to grow v...

 In our earlier posts, we have described how the farm will be evolving over the long run, as we strive to sustainably raise our animals in a way that also improves the finances of the farm.  Ultimately, the farm must be profitable for our mission to continue, and we aim to work on projects that both improve the property and our sustainability, while also improving the bottom line.  That is why we have embarked upon a multi-year effort to transition the farm to a tree-based enterprise, as trees make great use of resources, provide tons of additional benefits beyond feed, and are water efficient as compared to irrigating our pastures. We began this process in earnest last year, with the planting of several thousand tree seeds of many different varieties.  Some of the more important include mulberry, black locust, Osage orange, and chestnut.  These trees offer a plethora of benefits, but each of them is known to be fast growing, respond well to "browse" (trimming b...

In central California, late spring through late fall is as dry as a bone, and vegetation quickly turns dry and brown (or "golden", if you will).  The nutritional value of this vegetation is quite low, as the grasses have since gone to seed, which pushes the valuable nutrients held in the plant out to the seed heads, and leaves the body of the plant left as hollow stems of lignin and cellulose.  These fibrous materials are not easily digested, and most of them pass through the animal unmodified, giving no energy or other nutrition to the animal as it goes.  Only the rugged, deep tap-rooted plants can survive, and their thick skins and defensive physiology leave the animals hunting for something - anything - else to eat. For this reason, we rely to a large extent on hay that we buy in from producers in the central valley.  Our water is too expensive to irrigate, so it makes much more sense for us to buy in hay from other producers that have access to less expensive irr...

The problem of food waste is starting to get more mainstream press as of late.  Last Week Tonight 's John Oliver even highlighted food waste in our own Salinas Valley in his 2015 episode on food waste: Entire blogs and YouTube channels are dedicated to people who sustain themselves by pulling perfectly good food out of the waste stream, to feed themselves for free. Although there is no one cause of food waste, and therefore no "quick fix", Turning Leaf Ranch is happy to have partnered with Drew Massa Transportation, to collect human-grade produce that would otherwise go to waste.  We have fed our animals with Salinas Valley produce for years, and this year, given the steep increase in processing fees we recently experienced, we will increase our efforts in this area, to help offset our feed costs. We are highly selective of the produce we feed to the animals.  We only feed leafy greens, not including brassicas, which can influence the flavor of the meat.  Although th...