Issue 28 Early Winter 2003 - Amazon S3 · discussions will be held. We would like to invite all...

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

EDITOR’S BOX DIRECTOR INFORMATION

2

FROM OUR PRESIDENT ANNUAL MEETING

3

REEFER MADNESS 4

PRO-PLUS MEMBERS 5

WHAT IF? 6

LEAGAL STRUCTURING 8

THE FERTRELL COMPANY

10

RECIPE CORNER 11

GRASSFED MEAT

12

NETWORK IN ACTION 13

WORKSHOP

14

CLASSIFIEDS 16

SUPPORT ADVERTISERS!

15-19

PURPOSE-EVENTS 20

Issue 28 Early Winter 2003

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association

Record Keeping by Dan Bennett

I’ve heard it said that you can’t manage something you’re not keeping track of. In other words, record keeping is a vital link to the success of any business. Good deci-sions are always based on good informa-tion! Farming is no exception to this rule. Those of us in alternative agriculture who have the added complexity of direct mar-keting combined with our many produc-tion and financial challenges must particu-larly focus a great deal of attention on re-cord keeping. When the subject of record keeping comes up, many people think of only the account-ing and bookkeeping functions of a busi-ness. I would argue that every major phase of our businesses has a record keep-ing need. In this article, I will attempt to cover the topic of record keeping across all the major functions of a farm business in-cluding marketing, production, and fi-nance. I’ll also talk a little about the com-mon problem every business, small and large, experiences after we begin to collect information about the different areas of our businesses: the difficult job of integra-tion- putting data together into useful pieces of information. In addition, I will give examples of the record keeping tech-niques and tools I use on my farm to help bring a little practical application to this potentially boring topic. Marketing. The critical information needed by every good marketer is about customers. The more information we can collect and manage about our customers, the more successful we can be. At the Ben-nett Ranch, we collect this information in two places. The first customer database

we keep is on Microsoft Outlook. This da-tabase allows us to store vital demographic information about our customers – Name, Address, phone, email etc. Computer tools like Outlook or another popular one called ACT are generally categorized in software lingo as “Contact Managers”. With a good Contact Manager, you can keep track of any conceivable detail about your custom-ers you would like. These tools even allow you to electronically file all customer re-lated correspondence for easy retrieval. The second place we store customer information is in Quickbooks which is our financial sys-tem. Here we keep track of all customer buying information – most notably, what they buy, how much they buy, and how well they pay. The great thing about Quick-books and either Outlook or ACT is that they integrate together to keep your cus-tomer databases in sync. Production Record Keeping. At the Ben-nett Ranch, we primarily collect our pro-duction information manually using a table type form or chart and then enter the data into a spreadsheet program. We use Micro-soft Excel as the computer tool to collect and interpret the information. Our primary production information collected is listed in the chart below: With this information we manage the flow of product to customers, estimate future production capability, and determine pro-duction efficiencies. In our operation, pro-duction numbers don’t integrate electroni-cally with our marketing and finance func-tions. They obviously relate in many practi-cal ways which means that we integrate this

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American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue #28

I was talking to a friend last week and she said “how come everyone assumes farmers have more free time in the winter? There’s still plenty to do.” I guess that has been true so far for me, getting winter watering systems set up and hauling hay where the animals used to be able to fetch

their own food. But, there will be more time for socializing and learning coming up, I hope. I plan to get my budgeting and record keeping in order, that’s for sure. With winter around us we decided you needed a few hard-thinking topics to get started on and so in this issue we are focusing on business structure, record keeping and such kind of stuff. I’m really looking forward to meeting several of you in Feb at the PASA conference. The plan is to get another GRIT! to you in the mail right before the conference, but that Jan 15 deadline seems pretty close– I’ll keep my fingers crossed. We will really have fun and learn a lot at PASA– the program looks really amazing– you all should have received a flier in the mail a few weeks ago. I hope you read with interest the article about LLC’s. The topic in general may not be pertinent to you, but you’ll read at the very end an idea one of our members has come up with that I think may have great promise. If our initial explorations go anywhere, we may want to discuss the idea of looking at forming a Mutual Insurance Company at the annual meeting in PA. Now wouldn’t that be empowering? No promises….. Till February, Happy New Year to all, Jody

APPPA Grit! is published six times a year at:

PO Box 1024 Chippewa Falls WI 54729

Voice mail/phone: 715-667-5501

Fax: 715-667-3044 Editor: Jody Padgham

E-mail: [email protected] APPPA Grit!, the newsletter, is included as a benefit of membership in APPPA. Membership rates are $30 per year. To join APPPA, send check or money order made out to APPPA in the amount of $30 to: APPPA,

c/o Jody Padgham PO Box 1024

Chippewa Falls WI 54729

Information provided in this newsletter is believed to be accurate but readers assume all responsibility for actions based on this information. Classified ads for members are $5 per issue, up to 25 words, 25-50 words $10. Nonmembers add $5. Display advertising per issue is $20 business card size, $35 for a quarter page. For more information on advertising in the GRIT, please contact us.

ditor’s Box

APPPA DIRECTORS Thru Anne Fanatico, AR '03 Jeff Mattocks, PA '03 Jim McLaughlin, NY ‘03 Dan Bennett, KS ‘04 Charles-Laura Ritch, AL ‘04 Aaron Silverman, OR ‘04 Jenny Drake, TN ‘05 Kip Glass, MO ‘05 Brian Moyer, PA ‘05

APPPA DIRECTORS - Contact Information Dan Bennett (Board Sec/Treas)

3647 Kingman Rd, Ottawa KS 66067 (785) 242-6240, [email protected]

Jenny Drake 69 Cowan Valley Lane, Hickman TN, 38567 (615)683-4291, [email protected] Anne Fanatico (ATTRA Resource Center), PO Box 3657, Fayetteville AR 72702-3657 (501)442-9824, [email protected] Kip Glass 2169 N Farm Road 71, Bois D'Arc MO 65612-2305 (417) 732-4122, [email protected] Jeff Mattocks

(The Fertrell Company), PO Box 265, Bainbridge PA 17502-0265 (800)347-1566, [email protected] Jim McLaughlin (Board President)

242 Dan Main Rd, Norwich NY 13815 (607) 334-2833, [email protected]

Brian Moyer 96 Noll Lane, Fleetwood PA 19522-8846 (610) 944-9349, [email protected] Charles and Laura Ritch

298 Goose Pond Rd, Hartselle AL 35640 (256) 751-0987, [email protected]

Aaron Silverman 88741 Torrence Rd, Noti OR 97461-9703 (541) 935-7952, [email protected]


Many parts of the country have had their first major snowstorm by now. In fact even southern California had snow this year!

For us this brings the pasturing season to its final close. As I look back over the past season I realize I didn’t get done all I wanted to get done. I planned for cattle to clean up some land, I wanted more layers to follow those cattle and I wanted to get fence up for next year so I really would put on the cattle. But the year came and went and now I am planning to get the fence up as soon as I can get on the land in the spring. It seems some things we just don’t get to.

Speaking of some things we don’t get to, I was just in-formed of the results of this year’s election to board posi-tions. Out of our 450+ members we only had 28 mem-bers vote for new board members! Clearly most of our membership didn’t exercise their voting privileges. I would like to hear from you as to what we can do to make this easier and get a lot more people to vote. It is not to our advantage to have so few people voting.

I do want to thank with all sincerity, Anne Fanatico, our out going board member. Anne has been a tremendous asset to APPPA over her time on the board. Anne has been pursuing her doctorate in poultry science and does

not have the time to devote to the board at this time. She has promised to continue to support our efforts and be sure we will call on for her for her expertise in the future. Anne will be presenting at the PASA conference this February on several topics you won’t want to miss.

I also want to congratulate Jeff Mattocks for his reelec-tion to the board. Jeff is our resident nutritionist and brings an unbelievable wealth of knowledge to APPPA. APPPA is also pleased to welcome Karen Black and Robert Plamondon to our board for 2004-2006. Anyone who has “lurked” around the pastured poultry list serves is familiar with Roberts work. Again, this couple brings a vast working knowledge of poultry and other areas to our board. As a couple they will hold one seat on the Board of Directors. I look forward to working with them these next few years.

APPPA is in the process of appointing a new board member to replace Aaron Silverman who resigned ear-lier this year. Unfortunately due to business commit-ments Aaron was unable to make our bi-monthly tele-conference board meetings. He felt it better to step down and allow another person to fill his slot. Aaron is still involved with some of the editorial work for GRIT. His input is missed at board meetings. We have several


APPPA Annual Meeting At the 2004 PASA Conference– February 5-7 , State College PA The APPPA annual membership meeting will be held at this year’s PASA* conference. The APPPA annual meeting will be held at 8:00 pm Friday evening, following the banquet dinner. Throughout the confer-ence, APPPA members will lead several workshop sessions: Beginning Pastured Poultry Production Friday 1pm Jim McLaughlin and Brian Moyer Specialty Breeds for Pastured Poultry Systems Friday 3 pm Ann Fanatico Poultry Day Range and Moveable Pen Comparison Saturday 8 am Kip Glass Turkeys Have Feelings Too: Pastured Turkey Production Saturday 10:30 am Dan Bennett Small Scale Pastured Poultry Processing Saturday 1:30 pm Ann Fanatico and Charles Ritch APPPA will have a “poultry room” set up at the conference, where on-going conversations and facilitated discussions will be held. We would like to invite all APPPA members to bring photo displays, posters, bro-chures or other materials to share with other members in our APPPA “poultry room. “ APPPA members will be able to register for the conference at the PASA member price! Look for conference program details on the PASA website at www.pasafarming.org. You should have already received the flier in the mail– don’t de-lay in registering!

*Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture Conference (PASA) The 13th annual “Farming for the Future Conference” will be held February 5, 6, and 7, 2004. This year’s keynote addresses will be delivered by Paul Hawken, author of 'Natural Capitalism' and The Ecology of Commerce, and Anuradha Mittal, Co-Director of Food First. The conference will feature over 50 workshops, and a 45-vendor 'Sustainable Trade Show and Marketplace'. For more information go to www.pasafarming.org or contact PASA at 814-349-9856. ¤

From Our President


Our family just completed our third season raising pas-tured poultry in western Oregon on our 210-acre Abun-dant Life Farm, just west of Salem. This year we raised 2200 broilers in 11 batches and 150 turkeys. Until this year one of the challenges we faced was how to cool our processed broilers and turkeys until they are either picked up by a customer or are put into one of our 8 upright or chest freezers for storage until they are sold. At first we tried processing in the morning and selling in the after-noon. But when we got up to 200 broilers, we simply couldn’t finish soon enough to get cleaned up before cus-tomers started arriving. So we decided to process the day before customer pickup, which greatly lowered the stress level, but added the complication of cold storage for these 200 broilers. We tried keeping them in the initial ice wa-ter cool down vats overnight, but soon concluded that was fraught with risk. In addi-tion, early on we discovered through a near disaster that stuff-ing a bunch of broilers in our 3 door re f r igera ted cooler (normally used to store our eggs) wouldn’t work either, especially on a hot summer day. By this time you’re probably ask-ing “why not get a walk in cooler?” That certainly is an op-tion, but I think we’ve ended up with a better solution. A seed of an idea was planted when I talked to a custom meat slaughter owner who sold meat next to me at the Salem Farmer’s Market. She told me about the refrigerated trailer (often called ‘reefers’ - the kind pulled behind Pe-terbuilts passing you at 75 MPH on the freeway) they purchased to store meat when their walk-in was full. What intrigued me the most was that this trailer could be set for any temperature between –10 to 70 degrees F, in-stantly going from heating to cooling to freezing with only a twist of the temperature dial. Talk about a multi-use unit. In addition to this remarkable flexibility, it can be placed anywhere on your farm, and can be moved if you later decide the initial placement wasn’t ideal. Be-cause it’s not a permanent structure, no permits, inspec-tions, or other bureaucratic nonsense is required. And because it runs off a diesel engine, you don’t need an elec-trical hookup (more about that later). That sounds great, you’re thinking, but what about price? A new reefer costs $70K, and that doesn’t fit into many farmers’ budget. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that a good condition used reefer is very affordable.

Reefer Madness by Scott Jondle

To start my search process, I looked in the Portland Yellow Pages under Trailer-Truck and found there were many dealers selling used reefers. After mak-ing several calls, I found that reefers range in length from about 25 to 53 feet. At first I was asking about the smaller reefers (25 by 8 feet will store a lot of broilers) but soon discovered that the smaller sizes are in more demand and thus command a higher price and are harder to come by. So, being price sensitive, I shifted my search to the larger sizes. I soon had a list of three or four dealers that had trailers that sounded worth looking at. A few days later I spent a day looking at reefers in Port-land and found a 48 footer with a Thermo King refrigerating unit at the largest trailer dealer in the area. This trailer was a 1992 model, probably a

trade-in, looked brand new, had low hours (7700) and was being heavily discounted because it had been sitting on the lot for too many months. It was too long for local deliveries, and not quite long enough and too heavy (with two side doors) for long haul operators. The cost - $3900 plus $125 to transport it 75 miles to our farm. I don’t think this is a unique bargain. I suspect checking out similar dealers in any large city may

yield similar results. The trailer was delivered be-fore the start of this year’s broiler season and was set up about 25 feet from our processing area. Since the floor of the reefer sits about four feet off the ground, I had a carpenter friend build a 6-foot wide deck and stairway along the side of the trailer for access. This deck is wide enough that we can sell our broilers from it. I also had it made so the railing across from the side door is hinged so it can be opened to allow my tractor with front end loader to unload broilers, which are placed 25 to a con-tainer in food grade, plastic, 55 gal drums that I cut in half and put wood/rope handles on. This saves the agony of having to wrestle these up the stairs. Here are some features that make this reefer ideal. 1) It is a multi-temp model, which means it has two separate temperature controls and two separate cooling units, one in the front and one near the back, running off the same compressor. This is a


Could this Reefer be in your Future?


Those who have joined as Producer Plus Members (a $50 investment) can go the private Pro-Plus webpage and download special APPPA mate-rials. (Those without internet ac-cess receive these items in the mail. Past newsletters will be mailed by request) ♦ Jeff Mattock’s fantastic 37 page

book, Pasture-Raised Poultry Nutrition

♦ A PDF version of a Pastured Poultry Marketing Brochure, which can be customized with your farm name and info and passed out to customers.

♦ Access to the Pro-Plus listserve. All APPPA board members are available with timely answers to your particu-lar questions.

♦ Past issues of the APPPA GRIT– from #18 on!

AND MORE! Let us know what would be useful to YOU! We are excited to have more than 80 Producer Plus members. Please mark the “Producer Plus” box on your renewal form. If it is not time for you to renew, let us know if you would like to upgrade by calling the office at 715-667-5501 mailing to P.O Box 1024, Chippewa Falls, WI 54726 or emailing to [email protected]

fairly common option, I believe. By using an insulated bulk head divider (which I picked up free from another dealer that wanted to get rid of it) that can be placed any-where inside the trailer to divide it into two compartments, you can set the forward compartment to freeze, and the rear compartment to cool – at the same time. At least one side door is almost mandatory, since it is much easier to open then the large rear door and lets much less cold air escape when opened. Get two side doors if you want to freeze and cool at the same time. 2) Probably the most important fea-ture is the auto on/off option. This option turns off the diesel engine when the set temperature is reached and automatically turns it back on when needed. This feature will save you many gallons of diesel fuel during the course of a season. When running in the continuous mode (where the diesel engine is always running), I’ve been told it will burn about 0.4 gals/hour. In the auto on/off mode, the 50 gal diesel tank will probably last most of the season. 3) The refrigerating units have a life expectancy of around 26,000 hours. If you can find one with at least half its life left, you are in good shape. 4) When turned on, a reefer puts out a huge blast of cold air that quickly gets down to cooling or freezing temperatures. Even in the dog days of summer, it didn’t take more than 15 minutes to get down to 33 de-grees, so you don’t need to turn on the unit until you are ready to fill it with meat. And several hundred broilers can’t even begin to tax its cooling capability. I should add that I am cooling only the first 15 feet of the reefer because of where I placed the insulted bulkhead di-vider, so that helps get down to temperature fast. 5) Having freez-ing capacity completely independ-

(Continued from page 4) Reefer Madness

APPPA PRODUCER APPPA PRODUCER APPPA PRODUCER

PLUS MEMBERSPLUS MEMBERSPLUS MEMBERS

ent of the electric grid is a comfort-ing thought. If we should ever ex-perience a prolonged power outage, we could transfer all our cold stor-age meat into the reefer, and have enough room left over to store all our neighbors frozen stuff as well. 6) Another option that some people will find handy is electrical standby. This allows you to plug the cooling unit into a 220 V power source and run it without using the diesel engine. There are two draw-backs. These reefers cost more and they require 3-phase power. Since I don’t have 3-phase power close to where I parked it, I decided not to get this option. (If you don’t have 3-phase power, converters are avail-able, but rather expensive). The advantage is cheaper operating costs, especially at the current cost of diesel fuel. If you have a need to run a reefer for prolonged periods of time, this option would definitely be worth looking into. Here is how we use our reefer. Af-ter we have cleaned up from proc-essing, we remove the broilers from the ice water cool down vats and place them in the plastic half drums mentioned earlier. We place a wet cloth over the top to keep them moist. Using the miracle of hy-draulics, my front-end loader lifts 3 drums at a time onto the reefer deck. The drums are placed on pal-lets inside the reefer to insure ade-quate cooling air underneath. I set the temperature control dial to 33 degrees, place the mode switch in auto on/off, and flip the master switch to on. After about a 15 sec-ond preheat, the engines roars to life. That’s all there is to it. The next morning, we set up a table on the deck, take out each drum one at a time, weigh and bag each broiler, and place them back in the reefer. Our customers come for pickup that afternoon. At the end of the



So, you want to raise pastured poultry? A little to put in the freezer for your own consumption, sell a few to pay for yours, and what the heck, why not raise a few more to make a little profit. And who knows, if it goes well you might make a small pro-duction out of it and make a lot more profit. After all it can’t be that hard, letting the birds have a wonderful life in the fresh air and sunshine, running around on that green grass. Spending maybe an hour a day moving pens, feeding and watering, and watching them play and catch bugs. Surely the proc-essing can’t be that bad? When we first got started with our pastured poultry enterprise, we thought we would cover all possible problems that would ever happen (Remember Mur-phy’s Law). Let’s start with brooding; what could possibly go wrong there? Are the chicks warm enough? Why are we losing so many? Is it Coccidiosis? How can we improve this part of the growing process? Fortu-nately we never had any catastrophic brooder losses. This year, neighbors of ours had a major outbreak of Coccidiosis, and lost over 120 out of 200 chicks in the first 3 weeks. Their problem being poor brooder management. Caked manure, dirty waterers, damp bedding under the waterers, and running out of feed often, causing the chicks to search for food in that bedding breeding ground. Cleanliness in the brooder is a must, proper stocking rates, plenty of feeder and waterer space, and feed in front of the birds at all times. Recommended reading is, Robert Plamon-don’s “Success with Baby Chicks” Now it’s time to move them out to pasture. Is the weather going to be good for the next three days? How low are the night time lows? Poultry producer Jim Protiva, in south central Missouri turned me on to a trick of using the wide plastic wrap type material that they wrap product on pallets in the shipping in-dustry. You wrap the field pens in it closing up the large open areas that can allow in blowing rain and cold air that is so common early in the season. Al-lowing an extra few days of protection for the newly pastured birds can go a long way in their survival and better weight gain.

The orientation of your field pens is very important be-cause it isn’t going to be 70 degrees and sunny all the time. This is going to vary with your pen design and prevailing winds of your area. In our area of SW Missouri we face the open end of our pens to the east. One spring, with over 800 chickens in field pens, the rains came and didn’t stop. The field the birds were in had very little slope. With the ground totally saturated, I went out to check the birds at midnight after the fourth round of heavy rain had moved through in the last 8 hours. It had rained so hard the water couldn’t run away fast enough. Birds from 3 ½ weeks of age to 7 weeks of age were wad-ing in 3” to 4” of water. Of course, the 3 ½ week old birds were over belly deep, soaked, and hypothermic from the cold water. Nothing to do but take them to safety before they die. Waking up my reluctant(very helpful) spouse, we hauled in a wheelbarrow, two crates at a time to the truck waiting on the roadway, as we could not drive through the soaked field without getting stuck. We loaded over 400 of the 800 birds and took them to the safety and dryness of the brood-ing area. We then hauled straw to the remaining larger birds to elevate them out of the soup. Fortunately we only lost 4 out of the 800 and were able to get the others moved back out 2 days later after everything dried up some what. Now our spring birds are put in fields that have a signifi-cant slope to allow the spring rains to flow away. (Lesson learned) Heat; how well will the birds handle it? We have found that the white material commercial tents are made of is the coolest covering for our field pens. Again, trial and error. Do your water reservoirs have a large enough capacity to handle your largest birds, stocked at the highest stocking densities at the hottest temperatures? Do you have contin-gencies to quickly replace or repair broken waterers after one breaks or malfunctions draining your reservoirs dry during the hottest time of day? Can you get your reser-voirs filled quickly? Do you check your chickens several times a day during the high heat? Birds die quickly with-out water in 100 degree heat. These problems have hap-pened to everyone and they will happen to you. Now, you’ve successfully gotten your broilers to process-ing day. They are fat and happy, you have several orders to fill, people are counting on you to sell them a healthy product.


What If By Kip Glass


information manually and then make decisions accordingly. Most of our decisions made with our production re-cord keeping are essential to the operation and are not something we do only if we have time. For example, we must compare our production information with our orders to know how much additional marketing we need to do before processing. We must know if we have enough product this week to meet our customer commitments. We must also know slaughter weights in order to create invoices. Production information can also be used after the fact to look for trends in production techniques and analyze the effect of long term improvements. Either way, production information is critical to the successful operation of every farm and a way must be found to collect it. Financial Record Keeping. At the Bennett Ranch, we utilize a software product created by Intuit called Quick-books. Many of you have heard of and perhaps used its sister product, Quicken. Quickbooks is the business ver-sion of this popular personal financial management software. Quickbooks is a fairly comprehensive tool for small businesses and works well for a small farm or ranch. Like Quicken, Quickbooks has the capability to automate your checkbook and tremendously eases the effort to keep it balanced. Its capability goes way beyond this, how-ever. With it, you can create invoices and manage your accounts receivables. You can keep track of all your bills and better manage your cash flow. Other highlights include sales tax payments, full financial reporting, and sales tracking by product. Quickbooks even has complete payroll capability. We use most of the capability of Quick-books with the exception of Payroll. There are obviously many benefits to taking the time to gather financial information. First and foremost, it helps to determine the difference between making money and losing money. Additionally, we’ve realized from this ef-fort that our accountant has a very easy time in preparing tax returns. We simply email our Quickbooks file to her and she does the rest. Like any computer program, it takes time to understand and begin to derive benefit from it.. There are other soft-ware options available for you to choose from. We chose QuickBooks because it appears to be the most popular small business accounting tool available. This has afforded us the benefit of finding help when we need it and working with a company that is committed to continually improving the product. We have used QuickBooks since ’98 and are currently using the 2003 version. Once all this record keeping is complete and accurate, then the hard work starts – interpreting the information. The interpretation phase is the tough part because it requires time and energy. Often times, we do the work associ-ated with collecting the information then run out of time and energy to interpret the information properly. This is the key to good decision making. We must have the discipline to complete the job – I’m talking to myself as much as I’m talking to you! Many times, working with a family member or business partner can be very helpful in the interpretation of the business information. We have found it very effective to combine a team approach with setting an established time for interpreting our business information and creating a plan for the coming year. In January each year, we set aside a few days to brainstorm and plan for the new year. This forces us to prepare the necessary year end infor-mation collected from last season to begin the plan for the new year. This planning effort also helps us to establish specific action items for data interpretation and decision making that need to be done prior to the new season start-ing in the spring. We must remember that once the job of record keeping is done, the job of more effectively man-aging our businesses begins. Good luck and much 2004 success!

(Continued from page 1) Record Keeping

Eggs Broilers Turkeys Beef

Daily Egg count Daily Death Loss by batch Daily Death Loss Weights

Daily Death Loss Weekly Orders Orders Slaughter Weights /Count

Weekly Orders Slaughter Weights / Count Slaughter Weights/Count


In GRIT # 27 we had communication about liability insurance and options pastured poultry producers have for insuring product they may process and sell from the farm. After polling several APPPA Board Members, it became clear that one of the best options for now is for a producer to create a legal structure for their poultry business and insure that business as a separate entity from the farm. Most of us may not know it, but by reporting taxes we do more or less have a “business structure.” If you haven’t filed for any other option your business is most likely considered by your state government to be a “Sole Proprietorship.” This means that you are the owner, you have complete control, and that all of the assets (of your farm, household and life) are lumped together. Any profits or losses of your business are reported on your personal income tax return. The ad-vantage of this kind of business is that it is very sim-ple- and often requires no additional paperwork, though in some states requires a simple registration. The disadvantage is that any debts incurred by your poultry business also put personal assets at risk. Another disadvantage of a Sole Pro-prietorship for pastured poultry pro-ducers is that it can be very hard to find product liability insurance, as noted in GRIT #27. One way to get around this problem is to legally organize your poultry business in one of the ways that will “limit your liability.” There are sev-eral ways of doing this- including forming an S or C Corporation, a Cooperative or a Limited Liability Company. Larger operations may consider one of the first three types of incorporation, but the Limited Li-ability Company is the option that many smaller producers are using to protect their farm assets and get liability insurance. All this talk of liability can be pretty confusing. When talking of a Limited Liability Company (LLC) we mean a business structure that will separate the assets of your home and farm from your poultry business. Prod-uct Liability Insurance is that needed to cover your as-sets in the event that a customer becomes ill or has

other problems with your products. Farm Liability In-surance protects your farm if a visitor gets hurt while on the farm. Many of us are able to get Farm Liability Insurance as a rider on our normal farm insurance policies, though some of us that process on-farm are even having problems finding this kind of coverage. It is very difficult to find Product Liability Insurance for home processed poultry, even though states allow home processing and the product is generally ex-tremely high quality and safe. I admit to feeling mixed about writing about how to situate yourself so that you can get more insurance. I, like most of you I imagine, am none to fond of the in-surance world (apologies to any insurance reps out there). But, unfortunately, many farmers markets re-quire product liability, and though I am not aware of any, in this world of libel we have today, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of a suit against a pastured poultry producer for a product problem some day. Seeing how hot coffee at a fast food restaurant can bring a cus-tomer thousands of dollars (or was it millions?) don’t think that you’ll get off easy if someone decides that the grit in an under-cleaned gizzard was responsible for

breaking their expensive dental bridge. So, after that diversion- just what is a LLC and how do you go about get-ting one? The LLC is one of the newest forms of business structuring. It was first used in the late 1970’s, and is seen as a more-or-less blending of the positive aspects of partnerships with the lim-ited liability of a corpora-tion. Though laws will differ from state to state,

(and before your move forward you should contact your state Small Business Office or Department of Regulation,) an LLC is generally made up of two or more individuals that sign an operating agreement to do business together. For those of us on family farms, this can be family members, but can also include out-siders that are interested in the business or want to con-tribute financially. By organizing as an LLC, in most states all “owners,


Chickens Galore LLC, or How to Protect Your Business though Legal Structuring By Jody Padgham

Making Eggs


managers and agents” are protected by state law from per-sonal liability for debts and other obligations. LLC laws are very general, and dictate only that those forming the business come to an agreement on how to manage the business, and how it can be dissolved. Any profit division, democratic issues, etc. are left to the discretion of the busi-ness owners, as in any partnership. However, an LLC does carry another benefit of a corporation, in that profits made through the business are taxed only at the individual level, and are not noted at the LLC business level. This sounds confusing now, but believe me that it is a good thing that your accountant can better explain to you. The first step to forming an LLC is to contact your state authorities to find out the particular laws governing LLC’s in your state. For those with access to the web, the Small Business Administration has a wonderful website with links to every state licensing bureau at http://www.sba.gov/hotlist/license.html. Those without web access can look in the phone book for their local Small Business Administration office or call the national SBA for a local contact. (1-800-827-5722.) Many states will require that you fill out articles of organi-zation with your Secretary of State or Department of Fi-nancial Institutions. These will ask who is involved, where they live, the name of the business, the business address, an agent and not a whole lot more. You will have to pay a fee to file (I think it is $50 in Wisconsin.) After that, in some states you will have to file an application with the Secretary of State or other office to reserve a limited liabil-ity company name. The words “Limited Liability Com-pany” or “LLC” may be required. Some states will have a search service to help you find out what names are already registered. Following the above, the members of the LLC will have to prepare an “Operating Agreement”. For those who have seen a set of bylaws, this agreement is often somewhat similar. The details of the operating agreement are decided by the members. Generally included will be details on dis-tribution of ownership, monetary investments, voting pro-cedures, management responsibilities and dissolution pro-cedures. It is useful to have a lawyer advise the creation of the operating agreement to ensure the LLC will be struc-tured properly. If you don’t already work with a lawyer, your banker may have a suggestion. Also, a list of agricul-tural lawyers can be accessed by contacting the American Agricultural Law Association at the University of Arkan-sas College of Law (phone 501-575-7389) or www.aglaw-assn.org. The Operating Agreement is kept as an internal document (much like Bylaws).

(Continued from page 8) LLC Annual reports must then by filed by the LLC with the Secretary of State or other state office. Taxes are claimed on the individual tax returns of the mem-bers, much like in a partnership. The LLC itself does not file tax forms. In most states managing members of the LLC are treated as self-employed individuals, and must pay self-employment taxes. So, when forming an LLC for an on-farm poultry business, you will be separating out the assets of the poultry business (the birds, equipment, some hous-ing etc.) from those of the other parts of your farm and life (home, cars, perhaps dairy barn or other buildings.) The liability of the owners will be equal to their investment in the company. You may struc-ture it that the LLC owns the birds but pays rent to the farm to use brooding facilities or winter hen housing, for example. It is important to be clear on what is a part of the LLC and what is the farm or home. Costs and income will need to be clearly sepa-rated. Once the LLC is set up, you can explore the possi-bilities for insurance. Insurance companies have tended to look more favorably on farm businesses that have separated out the poultry into an LLC. Those wishing to operate “under the radar screen” may not want to formalize as an LLC, as the regis-tration will be filed and accessible in state offices. I will close by copying an email I received from an APPPA member who also happens to be a (semi-retired) lawyer: Jody – I read your member communications column (in issue 27) which was thought-provoking. The LLC sugges-tion might work in some states - but the managing partner still has some personal liability in others. As an old, semi-retired lawyer, my suggestion is to check with the state Sec-retary of State (if, like us, you live in Louisiana) or what-ever office is in charge of corporations in the state where the producer lives. That office will be able to give the producer sample forms and, maybe, let you know if there is any per-sonal liability for the managing partner. Another way is to ask a friendly lawyer. (Yes, such creatures exist!) Another thought that I've been playing with is forming our own mutual insurance company. The insured members would own the company, like a co-op. You probably wouldn't need as much money as appears on first blush because you re-insure. Actuarily, it shouldn't be too bad either because the suits are few and far between. There are really only three reasons for having the insurance: protec-



I looked forward to my conversation with Dave Mattocks, President of The Fertrell Company, Inc this past week- Dave, as well as everyone I’ve talked to at Fertrell, is a kind and knowledgeable person, always ready to answer questions and show interest in a new problem or situation. It didn’t surprise me when Dave explained that supporting farmers is the basic philosophy of the Fertrell Com-pany. “Our number one goal is to bring opportunity to the farm community for sustainability” Dave explains. He goes on to say that “our second goal is to move more farmers to producing certified organic products by supporting the strengths of each farmer.” The Fertrell Company is committed to working with farmers to understand the needs of their soils, livestock and overall systems and finding the appropriate ways to supply those needs. The Company’s main focus is on working with the soil to grow better crops and feed for the livestock. They also supply livestock supplements to improve health and growth. Dave tells me that livestock, including pastured poultry, are most efficient at getting the nutrients they need to thrive from the plants that make up their food. “You will see an 85% better efficiency from naturally available nu-trients over those that are added to feed post-harvest.” This means that soil building to improve feed quality is by and far the best way to improve the health and vigor of animals. Fertrell sells many soil-building products, includ-ing mineral mixes and fertilizer formulations, and will work with each farmer individually to understand the needs of their soils and livestock. Not all nutrients are available from all soils, and not all farmers are able to raise the feed they need, and so Fertrell developed several livestock nutrient mixes, including the “Poultry Nutri-Blancer” which is very popular among pastured poultry producers. The Fertrell Poultry web page explains the Fertrell phi-losophy that “health comes first and performance will follow.” The Fertrell Company was first started in Baltimore Maryland in 1946. The founder was interested in roses, and frustrated with commercially available fertilizers, so he worked in his backyard to develop a natural nutrient mix that got the superior results he was looking for. Friends encouraged him to share his product, and the Fertrell Company was born. Dave Mattocks joined the company, and in 1991 he and 2 partners bought controlling interest in the company. Since then they have been growing 20-25% per year, and Fertrell products are now available nation-wide through a series of distributors. Fertrell distributors are hand chosen by Dave and his son Jeff (the Fertrell Poultry expert and member of the AP-PPA Board). When they see a farmer who is really doing well and excited by the changes Fertrell product has brought to their farm, Dave and Jeff will work closely with that farmer to help them further understand the prod-ucts available and how to work with other farmers. Distributors will then set up satellite dealers, making the prod-uct and support available over a very wide geography. Several APPPA members are also Fertrell Distributors. You can find a distributor in your area by calling Fertrell at 1/800-347-1566 or going to their webpage at www.fertrell.com. Many Fertrell products are allowed in certified organic operations, including the Poultry Nutri-Balancer. All Fertrell formulation are made at their mixing plant in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The 16 on site employ-ees are very proud of what they do, and Dave stresses with them the value the farmers they serve are gaining from the personal integrity each employee puts into their product.. Dave closes by telling me “The Fertrell Company believes there is a very strong future for alternative agriculture with a natural connection. The Company and all its employees want to affect the world and touch as many lives as possible- our biggest desire is for the farmer to be successful.” ¤

Business Member Profile: The Fertrell Company, Inc. Fertrell


day, the temperature control is set to 0 degrees and the unsold broilers now begin their freeze down. After a couple days, the rock hard broilers are then transferred to one of our electrical freezers and the reefer is turned off until our next batch is processed three weeks later. We used this same procedure for our turkeys. Try finding cool storage for 150 turkeys! Using the reefer only 3 days every 3 weeks minimizes fuel usage and keeps operating costs to a minimum. I put a little over 200 hours on the engine this year; at this rate it should still be running when our great grandkids are running the farm. We also raise beef, pork, and lamb. When these are ready to pick up from the custom slaughterhouse, we bring the frozen meat back and put it in our reefer (set to 0 degrees) to store until our customers come to pick it up. We like to maximize the opportunities our customers have to come to our farm, because they can usually find other meat to buy as well. This procedure also eliminates the customers having to deal with sometimes surly slaughter-house personnel. By now, you may be thinking this sounds to good to be true. So, what are the drawbacks? Well, like any piece of machinery with a motor, sooner or later you will need some service work done. I’ve gotten to know the independ-ent mobile reefer mechanic who was recommended by the dealer rather well. He’s been out four times, once to do a routine service check after I first bought it, once to replace a leaking water pump and worn fan belt, and twice to chase down an intermittent electrical short. Having watched him work, I now feel confident enough to do the yearly service stuff myself (change oil and filters). On the positive side, he turned out to be a great guy and has be-come one of our best customers. In summary, we have found our reefer to be a very cost effective way to give us the periodic, large cooling/freezing capacity we require to successfully raise and market pastured poultry. If you think you may be interested in a reefer and would like more info, give me a call at 503-623-6378 or email at [email protected] and I’d be glad to give you some cheap advice. ¤

(Continued from page 5)Reefer Madness

Update from Tim Shell

Tim Shell and family have moved to China to manage a livestock farming venture. The focus of the farm is to con-tribute to the upgrading of the nutrition levels of area children by producing premium, organic-quality, animal, food protein for consumption using sustainable agricultural production models. The breeding stock have been dispersed to several smaller operation, some of which may have chicks available next year. If you would like to get in touch with those growers their names and phone numbers are below. Tim’s publications are now available through Scott Wilson, 2801 Manning Rd., Suffolk, VA 23434, 757-539-5324, [email protected] I truly appreciate all of the business you have done with us and hope that you prosper in your endeavors. Timothy Shell and family We will all miss Tim and his work with pastured peepers and pastured bird genetics and wish he and his family well with this new venture

Cornish Rock Cross : Ken Gies 518-568-5322 Tom Delahanty 505-838-0345

The Improved Corndel : Vince and Julie Maro 715-834-4547 [email protected] Jene Petersen 402-677-5222 Tom Delahanty 505-838-0345


Do you have dependable help that will be by your side no matter what? What if the heating element on the scalder quits? Can you replace it? Do you have an extra one on hand? One time we had over 150 chickens to eviscerate and due to 3 helpers not showing up my wife and I had to eviscerate them ourselves with customers coming in a few hours. STRESS!!!! I feel processing is the biggest stumbling block to everyone in this industry. Invest in good equipment to make the toughest part of this enterprise a lot easier. So the birds are processed, customers are coming…..What! You haven’t acquired any customers yet? I’ve seen a lot of people in this industry raise birds hoping someone will buy them. Develop your market first, it relieves a lot of stress, and keeps you from buying another freezer. As your demand increases, so should your production num-bers. Remember it is only eight weeks from chick to processing day; your customers will wait and be that much more appreciative. Basically this was written to get you to thinking, “WHAT IF?” Go through every phase of the process. What if this happens, that happens? Have a plan for backup with every-thing. Sometime failures are time critical, plan for it. Don’t think you won’t have problems, it’s inevitable. Just learn from your mistakes, read all you can get your hands on. Why not help and learn from someone already in the industry? Don’t be afraid to do things differently, you don’t have to follow exactly as another person does. Remember there is always a better way, search it out, but always think of the, “What If” in every thing you do. ¤

(Continued from page 6) What If?

Grassfed Meat Association Sets up Shop Kiowa, Colo.– The newly established American Grassfed Association is a group of producers, consumers, educa-tors and food industry personnel dedicated to promoting meat from grassfed animals through government rela-tions, research, marketing and education. The first item on AGA’s agenda is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a legal defi-nition of grassfed and to implement a labeling program. The AGA states that “grassfed” means a ruminant– a class that includes cattle, bison, goats and sheep– that has been raised and finished on a 100% forage diet, with no grain. For non-ruminant species such as pigs and poultry grassfed means grass has formed a significant part of the animal’s diet. Meat from grassfed animals offers benefits for human health, animal welfare and the environment, the AGA claims. The AGA has received funding from the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Cooperative Develop-ment Center in Denver Colo., and a $25,000 USDA Business Development Grant. For more information about the AGA, visit www.americangrassfed.org or call (877) 774-7277. ¤

excellent candidates we are currently looking at.

Thanks also to David Smith and Francis Abbott for their willingness to run for board positions. Both of theses individuals are excellent candidates and I encourage them to run for next years openings.

I want to extend my appreciation to Skip Polson, who as of 2004 will no longer be on the board. Skip was our first president and led APPPA through our formative years. Our bylaws allow a past president to be a board member ex-officio for two years after their term expires. It has been great to know that Skips wisdom and knowl-edge is only an e-mail or call away. Thanks Skip for all your efforts to keep us on track these last eight years.

I also want to thank you for my reelection, I look forward to making APPPA a progressive, informative, top notch organization that our members can feel great about being a part of. I am your current board president, however the board meets in January to elect the board president for that year. The president is only elected to a one year term and all board members are eligible for election to the post. We will keep you informed in the next issue of GRIT as to who the new officers are.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family the very best holiday season and a safe prosperous New Year. Remember that no matter the beliefs you hold this time of year it is a time for thankfulness and hav-ing the privilege to be able to make a difference in someone else’s life. Take the time to consider someone less fortunate than you, and ask what you can do to make their life better.

Blessings – Jim McLaughlin

(Continued from page 3) From the Pres.


Alabama ♦ Charles Ritch, Hartselle, 256-751-0987 ♦ Ronald Nix, Clayton, 334-775-8622 Arkansas ♦ Rochelle Peterson, Pryatt 870-427-3039 California ♦ Paul Hain, Tres Pinos 831-628-3390 Colorado ♦ Valley Pheasants, Alamosa 719-589-0409 Connecticut ♦ Mark & Sue Smallwood, Kent 860-927-

3940 Florida

• Jeff and Terri Brower, DeLeon Springs 386-985-5736

• Terry & Nancy Parn, Morriston 352-528-3928

Georgia

• Jim Bowden, Woodbury [email protected]

• David Taylor, Lakemont 706-782-8369 Hawaii

• Skip Polson, Kaneohe 808-239-2973 Idaho

• Full Circle Farms, Princeton [email protected] Illinois

• Tom & Jessica Arnold, Elizabeth 815-858- 2407

• Bill Davison, Congerville 309-467-9228

• Dennis & JoAnn Dickman, Herscher 815- 426-2154

• Brad Guidi, Princeville 309-242-9268

• Jeff & Angela Hyett , Dalton City 271-874- 2001

• Darryl Seibert , Belleveille 618-233-7011

• Tom & Sue VanderBergh, Witt 217-594- 2570

• Scott Webb, Hanna City 309-565-7811 Indiana

• Janet Feavel, Hillsboro 765-798-3144

• Jeff Hawkins, N. Manchester 260-982-4961

• Glenn Hochstetler. Leesburg 574-658-5588

• Jacob & Martha Miller, Cambridge City765-489-6290

• Harold Schrock, Bloomfield 812-384-9220

• Jim & Nancy Whelan, Thorntown 765-483-9268

Iowa

• Kathy Dice, Wapello 319-729-5905

• Julia & Krista Matson, Maxwell 515-967-4048

• Irene McCoy, New Virginia 641-449-3254

• Wes Moser , Lester 712-478-4622

• Wayne Simmons, Guthrie Center 641-747-3005

• Tom & JoAnn Steiner, Oakville, 319-937-6311

Kansas ♦ Dan Bennett , Ottawa 785-242-6240 Louisiana ♦ Hawley Gary, New Iberia 337-369-9506 ♦ Scotty LeBleu , DeQuincy 337-786-2768 ♦ John McLure, Woodsworth 318-487-4907 ♦ Gerd Oppenheim, Norwood 225-629-5937 Massachusetts ♦ Mitchell Posin, Chilamark 508-645-9064 Maryland

• Lamar & Judy Gehman, Loveville 301-475-5111

• Lilly & David Smith, Sparks 410-472-0738 Michigan

• Cathy Baker, Custer 231-757-0064

• James Graham, Rosebush 89-433-2907

• Richard & Annette Hebnon, Vandalia 269-476-8883

• Frank & Kay Jones, Durand, 989-288-2421

• Doug & Lee Kirkpatrick 517-727-2225

• Craig Kovacic, Imlay City 810-724-1476

• Margie Marks, Iron River 906-265-5783

• Jay Meerman, Coopersville 616-997-8251

• Portage Prairie Pastured Poultry, Niles 269-695-3122

Minnesota

• Ron Desens, Litchfiled 320-693-8449

• Scott/Anna Froemming , Browerville 320-594-2350

• Christian Gasset , Caledonia 507-724-1042

• Jeremy & Kelley Lanctot, Sunburg, 320-278-2002

• Diane Leonhardt 100 Hwy 42, Kellogg MN 55945

Mississippi

• Tom & Linda Chapman, Hermanville 601-535-7473

• David & Edie Varando, Summit, 601-684-8743

• James McPhearson, Poplarville 601-795-0379

• Andrew Miller, 87 Dormitory Dr, Macon 39341

Missouri

• Anne & Jordan Bentley, Bucklin 660-695-3482

• Kip Glass, Bois D’ Arc 417-732-4122

• Jack Graves, Buckner 816-650-9307

• Albert Hempel, Eldridge 573-363-5213

• Jim Protiva, West Plains 417-277-5869

• David Schafer & Alice Dobbs, Jamesport 660-684-6035

• Julie & Tim Walker, Fayetteville 660-248-3949

• Daniel West , Belleville 573-269-1341 Nebraska

• Steve Freudenburg , Madison 402-254-2961

• Christopher Marlowe Box 344 Laurel, 68745

New Jersey

• Mark & Karen Faille, Hopewell 609-466- 8504

• James Power , Flemington 908-782-8132 New Mexico ♦ David Rigsby , Embudo 505-579-4147 New York

• Judy & Bill Beckman, Mechanicaville 518-664-0750

• Pierre Dione, Olean, 716-376-2390

• Jim & Ardelle Hayes, Warnerville, 518-234-2105

• Scott/Stephanie MacDonald, Romulus 607-687-7143

• Keith & Margaret Morgan-Davie, Saquoit 315-839-7105

• Bob & Kathy Ott, Attica 585-591-2685

• Mike Picinelli, Stanfordville 845-868-1306 North Carolina ♦ Jamie Ager, Fairview 828-628-1027 ♦ Launia Jane Biggers, Gold Hill 704-279-

5859 ♦ Barry Hubert, Boone, 828-265-2234 ♦ Charles Gupton, Louisburg, 252-438-4002 North Dakota ♦ Myron & Georgean Lick , Buso 701-448-

9460 Ohio

• Mark & Terrie Bennett , Sidney 934-492-7943

• Donna Betts, Whipple, 740-585-2260

• Michael Blubaugh, Utica 740-668-8200

• Kent Denlinger, West Manchester 937-678-6324

• Joel Gernert, Bloomville 419-983-2216

• Tim Guthrie, Russellville 937-377-1234

• Kate & Eric Helt, Gambier, 740-427-3995

• John & Louise Joppeck, Wellington 440-647-2485

• Erik & Amanda Manges, Sullivan, 419-736-2226

• Francis Paterek, Chagrin Falls, 440-543-5737

• Eric Rubel, Belmont, 740-686-2153

• John Schar, Sardis, 740-483-1262

• Jim & Cindy Yancy, Pedro 740-532-8988

• Paul & Colleen Yoder, Apple Creek 330-698-0340

Oregon

• John & Robin Foquette, Elkton 541-952-0701

• Linda Jackson, Buxton, [email protected]

• Scott & Marilyn Jondle, Dallas, 503-623-6378

• Aaron Silverman, Noti, 541-935-7952

• Keith Smith, Scotts Mills, 503-551-2753

• Sheridan Thiringer , Veronia 503-429-7800

NETWORK IN ACTION! - PRODUCERS SECTION Due to space considerations we only print names and phone numbers. Those who are electronically wired can go to the APPPA web page (www.apppa.org) for hotlinks to emails and web pages


mark your calendars: “Organic Poultry on Pasture” Six hour workshop by Ron and Shelia Hamilton of Armena, Alberta Canada.

Thursday, February 26, 2004, La Crosse, WI. One in a series of eight workshops offered in the “Organic University” preceding the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference, this six hour session will highlight the lessons learned by Ron and Shelia through their production of certi-fied organic grass fed broilers, eggs, turkeys ducks and geese. With current annual production of 17,000 broilers, over 250 turkeys and 200 laying hens, the Hamilton’s have been raising certified organic birds on grass since 1997. The ma-jority of their product is marketed directly through area farmers markets. The Hamiltons will explain the details of their production and marketing system. They will outline their free-range system for broilers and use of an egg mobile for hens. They will also offer a 90 minute session during the Organic Conference which follows the Organic University on Friday and Saturday. The accompanying Organic Trade Show features over 140 venders with products, resources and supplies useful to your farming operation. Further information and registration details are available from the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES 715-772-3153) and on the MOSES website (www.mosesorganic.org) . Registration for the full day session is $135, which includes an organic lunch and breaks and a comprehensive resource notebook.

• Stephenson Farms, Santa Fe 409-925-1815 Utah ♦ Penny Trinca, Nibley 435-753-1759 Vermont ♦ Eric Ginette, Cabot [email protected] Virginia

• Larry & Debby Bright , Floyd 540-745-5790

• Will Chapin, Callands 804-724-4248

• Linda Fadeley, Farnham 804-394-9651

• Marty Gore, Jettersville 804-561-3804

• Kendall Harris, Christianburg 540-382-1482

• Michael Hubbard, Tazwell 276-472-2511

• William G Keller, Crozet 434-823-4242 Washington

• Kathy & Jack Benoun, Raymond 360-934-6496

• Jonathan Coulimore, Vancouver 360-256-8650

• EagleSong, Monroe 360-794-2938

• Pat Labine, Olympia 360-866-9424

• Mike & Anita Puckett , Woodland 360-225-7426

• Leonard Tobin, Walla Walla 509-529-5325 West Virginia ♦ Allan Balliett, Sheperdstown 304-876-3382 ♦ Gary & Gail Norton , Lindside 304-832-4141 Wisconsin

• Francis Abbott, Plymouth 920-893-0421

• Randy & Lynn Anderson, Arkansaw 715-285-5226

• Pat & Cindy Bice, Vesper 715-424-5159

• Kay Craig, New Holstein 920-894-4201

• Dean Dickel, Schullsburg 608-965-3000

• Amelia Fairchild, Mt Horeb 608-523-1340

• Bob/Rose Fenrich , Mt Horeb 608-437-8813

• Mike/Deb , Milladore 715-652-3520

• Nick & Debra Hofland , Taylor 715-662-2209

• Lathrop Farms, McFarland 608-835-7687

• Julie/Vince Maro, Mondovi 715-834-4547 ♦ Randy & Laura Orth, Lancaster 608-723-4714 ♦ Jody Padgham, Boyd 715-667-3203 ♦ John Pavaleski, Amherst Junction 715-824-6428 ♦ Kevan & Annette Rod, Brule, 715-372-5186 ♦ Scott & Julie Trautman, Stoughton, 608-205-9798

• Dan Wood, Turner 503-769-5000 Pennsylvania

• Lawrence Baylor , Danville 570-275-5327

• Dick & Jane Burlingame, Russell 814-757-8540

• William Callahan, Mifflinburg, 570-966-2678

• Tom & Sabine Carey , Spring Mills 814-364-2885

• Jack & Dale Duff , Natrona Heights 724-224-8140

• Jonas Esch New Providence 717-786-4018

• Lyn Garling , Rebersburg 814-349-2697

• John Hopkins, Orangeville 570-683-5820 ♦ Jackie Marsh, 814-358-2657

• Kim & Diane Miller, New Alexandria 724-668-8600

• Paradise Valley Organic Farm, Milton 570-437-2156

• RockyTop Farm, Westfield 814-367-5909

• Marc Sheaver , Glen Rock 717-227-9271

• Isaac Stauffer, RD 1 Box 509-S, Port Trevorton, PA 17864-9643

• Mark Stoltzfus, Mill Hall 570-726-7799

• Thompson Farm, Couldersport 814-274-7430

• Bucky Ziegler, Milton 570-437-2156

• Margaret Zittel, Chalfont 215-996-1637 South Dakota ♦ Tom Neuberger , Canistota 605-296-3314 South Carolina

• Celeste & George Albers, John’s Island, 843-559-5095

• Wendell Hochstetler, Abbeville 864-446-8471

• Dave Morrissey, Anderson 864-296-4541

• David/Pattie White, Darlington 843-395-0793 Tennessee ♦ Jennifer & TJ Bodnar , Hohenwald www.avalon-acres.com ♦ Jenny Drake , Hickman 615-683-4291 Texas

• Kim Alexander, Del Valle 512-247-4455

• Randy Boone, Floresville 830-216-7068

• Robin Bowman , Sabinal 830-966-3600

• Madelon Bradshaw , Weatherford 817-448-9606

• Matthew/Marantha Chapman, Hearne 979-279-6972

• David Crank , Hempstead 979-826-9812

• Don Hobart, Franklin 979-828-2669

• Robert Hutchins, Greenville, 903-450-8145

• HC Moore , Lipan 254-646-3091


APPPA membership by state Late Fall 2003 AL 2 AR 6 CA 5 CO 3 CT 2 FL 5 GA 7 HI 1 IA 12 ID 4 IL 22 IN 18 KS 5 KY 4 LA 7 MA 10 MD 10 ME 4 MI 12 MN 13 MO 23 MS 4 NC 7 ND 1 NE 4 NJ 3 NM 2 NY 27 OH 28 OK 1 OR 17 PA 42 SC 7 SD 2 TN 4 TX 17 UT 1 VA 15 VT 4 WA 13 WI 31 WV 3 Cana 5 Argentina 1 UK 1 Bermuda 1

tion of the consumer, protection of the producer and the requirement of the larger markets, to whom most of us don't sell anyway, for between two and three million in liability insurance. The more members, the lower the insurance rates would be. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Trudy Oppenheim Isn’t that a hopeful thought? I belong to a property insurance mutual here in the small community of Boyd, WI and am proud to join together with my neighbors to share in times of need. What do YOU think? For more information on the legal issues of direct marketing, I highly recommend the 1999 book “The Le-gal Guide for Direct Farm Marketing” by Neil D. Hamilton of the Drake University Law School. The small format, 224 page spiral bound book sells for around $20 and may be ordered by calling 515-271-2065. ¤

(Continued from page 9) LLC

Featherman Pro


GRIT Classifieds

♦ For Sale: Shenandoah gas brooder, GB SM4. Purchased new in 2002. Has 3 foot canopy with automatic temperature sensing bulb and pilot light. Capable of brooding 500+ chicks. Paid over $300 new. Works great, but too much for my 200 birds. Kay Craig, 920-894-4201 [email protected] (WI)

♦ For Sale: Natural Egg Farm in Hawaii on the Island of Kuaii. Op-erating for the last 4 years with established health store and gro-cery chain clients. Great opportu-nity. Profitable family farm with potential for expansion to the other islands. $135,000. Contact Lanny for more info at 928-486-0329.

♦ For Sale: Egg Production Equip-ment. Metal nest boxes with or without roll out egg trays. Feed bins, egg grader with packers. Au-ger feeders, plastic egg flats etc. All equipment located in new Mex-ico along with quanset type large metal buildings. For more info contact Lanny at 928-486-0329.

♦ Looking for a good used chicken plucker, similar to Pickwick SPJ3 or Brower SP3OSS. Call evenings 660-563-3309. Calvin Benedict. No Sunday calls. (MO)

Broiler & Layer ChicksReady-to-lay Pullets

Equipment/Incubators

Fertile Eggs

266 E. Paletown Road, Quakertown, PA. 18951 Ph.: 215 - 536 - 3155 www.moyerschicks.com Fax: 215 - 536 - 80 34 [email protected]

Easy Grower

Shady Lane Poultry Farm, Inc.

Day–old chicks, several varieties: Pasture-bred commercial Cornish Cross Broilers,

Rainbow Free Range Gourmet Broilers, Brown Sex-link layers, Homesteader’s Delight dual purpose chickens.

Also several varieties of exhibition and heirloom poultry available.

Matt John 520 Agawam Road Winchester, Kentucky 40391

859-737-2636 www.shadylanepoultry.com


Poultry Nutri-Balancer

For all your Poultry Nutrition

Layers Broilers Turkeys Ducks

Geese Ratite Game Birds

SCALDER 42 gallon rotary, gas fired with auto control temp timer. 34,000 BTU, all stainless steel.

$1,895.00

POULTRY MAN Eli M. Reiff 570-966-0769

922 Conley Rd Mifflinburg, PA 17844

Mechanical PLUCKER 1 HP motor, motor totally en-closed, 10:1 Gear reduction, 27” diameter, stainless with shower $1,395.00

ALSO AVAILABLE: Manual Scalder–

hand dunk birds. 42 gallon, 45,000 btu

$695.00

“Where Quality Comes Naturally”

The Fertrell Company PO Box 265 Bainbridge, PA

17502 800-347-1566

www.fertrell.com

Fertrell PASA


DDOTSONOTSON F FARMARM ANDAND F FEEDEED

Distributors of Fertrell Poultry Nutri-Balancer

and the complete line of

Fertrell Products. Also Available : Certified Organic Hay

Dotson Farm and Feed

2929 N. 9th Street Rd. Lafayette, IN 47904

Ph 765-742-5111 cell 765-404-9826 Fax 765-429-5601

Growers Discount

PICKWICK-ZESCO POULTRY PROCESSING

EQUIPMENT 7887 Fuller Road – Suite 116 Eden Prairie, MN 55344 USA

Telephone: 800/808-3335 USA 952/906-3333 Fax: 952/906-3335

www.pickwick-zesco.com [email protected]

PICKWICK-ZESCO has equipment for your processing needs. We have equipment to do one

bird at a time to 500 birds per hour. The Pickwick line of poultry processing equipment has been

picking birds for over 50 years worldwide! Check out our equipment on our Web Page, or call us for

a catalog!

We also handle meat processing equipment for the small to medium size processor. We have

over 40 years experience in this field.

CALL PICKWICK-ZESCO TODAY FOR YOUR POULTRY & MEAT PROCESSING

EQUIPMENT NEEDS!

Helfter

Fertrell


Call or email for your free copy

Shackle Evisceration at an Affordable Price

Basic Units for less than $500.00 Custom sizes, motorized and manual.

Also: 3 Stainless Steel Tanks– 100, 200, 400

gallon. Pickwick Stainless Steel kill tunnel, dunker, scalder capable of 280+ per hour. New cost is over $8,000.00, will sell for $2,850.00 .

Contact Jim Protiva

at (417) 277-5869 7-9 pm CST or email [email protected]

Brower– hard copy–

change email

Ferris Fencing– disk

Poultry Equipment Catalog

Your Complete Source for Free Range Poultry Equipment

♦ Feed Bins and Feed Delivery Systems ♦ Chore-Time ® Floor Feeding Systems ♦ Automatic Bell & Nipple Drinker Systems ♦ Hanging Feeders and Waterers ♦ Natural Ventilation Curtain Sys-

tems ♦ Pens and Range Equipment ♦ Incubators, Brooders and Heaters Plus parts and supplies Visit www.gillisag.com [email protected] Call us toll free: Willmar MN Storm Lake IA 1-800-992-8986 1-800-792-6828 Gillis Agricultural Systems, Inc.

APPPA STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The American Pastured Poultry Producers Association (APPPA) is a nonprofit educational and networking organization dedicated to encouraging the production, processing, and marketing of poultry raised on pasture.

APPPA exists to facilitate the free flow of creative ideas. Member producers are encouraged to consider all poultry species and all pasturing models, assuming personal responsibility for adapting ideas and models presented through APPPA.

APPPA passionately embraces humane, people-friendly, environmentally-enhancing, pasture-based production models. While we respect the freedom of others to engage in industrial confinement factory farming, we believe our approach is superior.

APPPA assists both producers and consumers to transact business with as little government intervention as possible. APPPA does not discriminate in membership or programs based on the business size of producer or consumer. Realizing that production models must be profitable to be successful, APPPA's interests include processing, packaging, cooking, marketing, and any other topics related to pastured poultry enterprises.

APPPA's world vision is to see pastured poultry adopted as the model for environmentally, emotionally, and economically sensible poultry production. This vision includes decentralized food systems, farmstead-sized processing, and as much interaction as possible between producer and consumer.

(Adopted by the APPPA Steering Committee, August 27, 1997)

EVENTS & HAPPENINGS

APPPA GRIT! PO Box 1024 CHIPPEWA FALLS WI 54729

All the indicators point to pastured, home processed poultry as one of this century’s best family farm enterprises. Pasture Poultry Profit$ by Joel Salatin.

Presorted Standard

US Postage Paid Chippewa Falls WI

♦ Jan 9-10 Practical Farmers of IA Conference, Des Moines, IA http://www.pfi.iastate.edu/Calendar/upcoming_events.htm 515-232-5661 ext 101

♦ Jan 21-24 24th Annual Ecological Farming Confer-ence, Alsilomar, CA http://www.eco-farm.org/efc/efc_main.html 831-763-2111

♦ Jan 23-24, Practical Tools and Solutions for Sus-taining Family Farms Conference, Gainsville, FL. http://www.ssawg.org 225-654-2017

♦ Jan 24, Kansas Winter Grazing Conf. Salina, KS http://www.kansasruralcenter.org/heartland/kga.htm

♦ Jan 24 International Poultry Exposition, Atlanta GA http://www.poultryegg.org/Exposition/exposition.html 770-493-9401

♦ Feb 5-7, 2004 PASA Conference and APPPA Annual meeting (see note p 3)

♦ Feb 26, 2004 “Organic Poultry on Pasture” workshop at Organic University, (see note p 9)

Next Issue of Grit— Winter 2004. Deadline Jan 15

Issue 28 Early Winter 2003 - Amazon S3 · discussions will be held. We would like to invite all...

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Transcript of Issue 28 Early Winter 2003 - Amazon S3 · discussions will be held. We would like to invite all...