Social media has created a version of farming that looks simple from the outside. Where there are animals on pasture, beautifully curated farm stores, freezers stocked with homegrown beef, pork and chicken. We do this on purpose of course – we want people to see the good, the sometimes bad but very rare ugly. After all, if we consumed you all with our negativity, would we be creating a welcoming environment that you would want to be a part of?
Most people do not understand or see the decisions that are happening behind the scenes all year long. The decisions that shape the quality of our meats, long before they ever reach your plate. Over the past year, we have made one of the biggest operational shifts we’ve ever taken on at Hidden Creek Farm: we brought our feed program 100% in house and transitioned to nonGMO feed across all the livestock that we produce.
This wasn’t a small change, a convenient one and certainly not a cheap one. We had to increase infrastructure to find solutions to storage and transport problems that we were facing. Transporting feed in 1 ton totes, when you are raising the amount of animals that we are, is far from a glorious or sustainable job.
Many farms purchase pre-mixed feed from a mill. This is what we used to do for poultry. It is labeled a certain way and meets general standards of that label, but ultimately, the farmer is trusting someone else to source, mix and deliver it. As we progressed in our sustainability goals, it felt like it was time to take a different path in our production system.
With this change, we are now sourcing our own ingredients, formulating our own ratios that are specific to our individual needs, grinding and mixing ourselves, and in control of exactly goes into every batch. For every ton of feed that we use is something that we have had a direct hand in creating. & that level of control changes everything.
For our beef and pork programs, this shift is an evolution – not a complete overhaul. We were already grinding our own feed rations but we were not fully nonGMO. Essentially, we had control over the formulation but knew that we needed to tighten up that system. Now from sourcing to mixing, we can stand behind every component of what our cattle, poultry and hogs are consuming with trust and confidence that the end product is exactly what we say that it is.
Poultry production is where this change becomes a true transformation of our business. Up until recently, our poultry feed was 100% outsourced – which is very common in small scale poultry production. & though it is incredibly common (dare I say the industry norm?), it meant that we had less visibility into ingredient sourcing, very little flexibility in formulation, and an eye roll if we mentioned consistency.
Bringing poultry feed in house has changed these areas of concern overnight. We now control the system from start to finish – other than hatching and processing the birds ourselves. & I never say never when it comes to either of those things. It’s been a massive operational shift, to say the least.
This change wasn’t about chasing a label but wanting for our customers what we wanted for ourselves. We began asking ourselves questions like what are we actually feeding our animals? Where are those ingredients coming from? How can we improve, not just maintain, the standard? Is this what we want our own family to be consuming? At a certain point the answer became very clear. If we wanted full transparency, we had to take full ownership.
Alongside bringing the feed in-house, we made the decision to transition to nonGMO soybean meal across all species. Knowing that our poultry customers expected a nonGMO feed program, as we had always had, we knew with 100% certainty that utilizing a GMO meal was going to set us backwards with our customer base. & if we were utilizing nonGMO meal for the chickens and turkeys, why would we not do the same for our steers & hogs?
Decisions like this come with real costs. Switching to nonGMO ingredients increased our feed costs. Grinding and mixing feed ourselves adds labor, equipment needs, wear and tear – not to mention, time. Expanding that system to include thousands and thousands of birds per season? That multiplied the impact significantly. What I’m trying to say is that this decision doesn’t improve margins over night but instead builds something stronger long term.
While we are making these improvements, the cattle market continues to climb. Feeder cattle prices are rising, input costs are increasing across the board, and our production timeline doesn’t exactly allow for quick pivots. The beef that you see in our store today was planned nearly two years ago. So when we think about pricing, we are not asking “what did this animal cost us?” We are asking “what will it cost us to replace its place in our herd?” If we cannot afford the next animal, there is no next year.
Long story long, you may notice gradual adjustments in our pricing. Not because we are trying to price gauge or take your last penny, but because we are building a system that is intentional, transparent & built on something that matters.
We don’t expect for our customers to dive into feed formulation or cattle markets but we do believe that you deserve open and honest transparency. Where this farms stands today is because of your support – even when we were in the beginning stages and it was hard.
There is so much intentionality that goes into our animals and thoughtfulness when it comes to building this business for the next generation of farmers. You know, the ones running around with bare feet & mud (probably manure) stained clothing? THEY are who this is all for. As their parents, we don’t take that job lightly.
All of that to say, thank you for being here. Truly.
Jesse & Abigail Sickler