1. Diversifying Crops For Better Luck With Labor The foodie world focuses on diversifying crops because of the environment & "if it's bad weather for 1 crop, it might still be good for others" Those aren't wrong, but I think they also actually miss the #1 reason to branch out.
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Storytime: once worked w a big apple-growing region in upper midwest. Dozens of family farms growing apples & nothing else. A one-county applepalooza. These growers had the WORST time with labor. #1 problem that came up, way beyond weather or bugs or markets.
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I drive 2 hrs north. Asked growers there "how's the labor situation?" 100% of the farmers said "it's fine ... why?"
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Turns out none of the farms in the north zone were apples-only. They all grew asparagus, cherries, AND apples. Asparagus harvest = early spring cherries = late spring, mid summer apples = late summer through late fall
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They just split farms into crops that spread their labor across the entire season, so people could come, stay, & do a steady job for 8-9 months. That's it. Migrant workers'd rather migrate less, & the farm can land people early in the season and keep them all the way through.
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The folks having a hard time were the ones who put the whole farm on one crop, and it was the same crop all the neighbors were growing too. So each farm could only put pickers to work for maybe 4-6 wks. And it was the same exact 4-6 weeks as the whole rest of the county.
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I think about this every time farms complain about how "impossible" labor is. Turns out if a farm invests in being a good job prospect, hiring gets a lot easier? so weird
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2. Grassfed Livestock* is legitimately better for you, the environment, & makes more sense financially *ruminants (cows, goats, sheep). they ... actually eat grass. pigs & poultry on pasture = a whole nother discussion
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Replying to @SarahTaber_bww
" pigs & poultry on pasture = a whole nother discussion" I want to hear that one!
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Replying to @MorlockP
for another day but tl;dr their stomachs work more or less like ours, they don't really eat grass, so to "pasture" them takes a different game plan
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yep; I know the short version (raise pigs every year on the farm), but am curious for the longer version (some day)
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