Indeed, area livestock farmers are benefiting from a growing consumer demand for their meat, born of a combined concern for animal welfare, proper nutrition and local farms.
Unlike sprawling factory farms, where animals raised for slaughter might be fed grains laced with antibiotics and hormones and be confined perpetually in pens or cages, these area farms allow their animals to roam freely in pastures and to eat nothing but natural grains and grasses.
Wheel-View Farm in Shelburne was a dairy farm when Carolyn E. and John L. Wheeler took it over in 1979, but eventually the twice-a-day milkings were too much for them. Today, they raise Scotch Highland and Belted Galloway beef cattle.
"We started raising beef cattle in 2002, just when the market came to life. As soon as people knew we had grass-fed beef available, we couldn't keep up with the demand. They're entirely grass-fed. We use no antibiotics or hormones or anything unnatural," Carolyn Wheeler said.
"If we had tried this 20 years ago, I don't think we would have had this much business. But in the last eight to 10 years, people became more aware of where their food comes from, and they want to know the cows had a healthy, happy life. And I think they've also become more supportive of local farms and they want to keep them viable," she said.
On her farm in the Florence section of Northampton, Diane M. Roeder raises grass-fed sheep for both wool and meat. A registered nurse, she trumpets the greater nutritional value the meat of grass-fed animals can have.
"Certainly, the benefits are important. The fats are better for you in a grass-fed animal. I'm a nurse, so I'm interested in that. However, not all my customers are big grass-fed fans. A lot just want to buy local," she said.
"People also want to know that animals lived well. They feel better if they know an animal was raised the way it should be, out in a pasture, not indoors, confined in a small space," she said.
Despite the improved markets the state's livestock farms are enjoying, fewer animals are being raised for meat in the state than in years gone by. In 1960, there were 117,000 pigs and hogs counted in the state. That number dropped to 33,000 in 1990 and 13,000 in 2006. In 1990, there were 16,800 sheep and lambs being raised in the state. That number dropped to 9,600 in 2002.
At Chestnut Farms in Hardwick, Kathleen M. Denney and Richard E. Jakshtis will raise about 500 chickens, 100 turkeys, 50 cows, 40 sheep and several hundred piglets this season. The animals are allowed to roam as much as possible and they are fed natural grass and grains that are without chemical additives.
"We love animals. I don't own a pair of Birkenstocks, but I care about animals and care about how they are raised. However, I also enjoy eating a steak," Denney said.
She bought the 106-acre farm about a decade ago after it had languished on the market for years. More a landfill than a farm at the time, it was a place where tire piles, old farming equipment and even a hearse decomposed in the fields.
"Landfill is a kind term. I guess I bought what I could afford. But we were willing to do the work," said Denney, who has had a varied work career - a stint with Arthur Anderson, the accounting firm, and another as a teacher - although it was her lifelong ambition to own a farm.
Once the property was hers, the couple continued in their jobs off the farm while trying to rehabilitate the property. It was only last August that they felt it was profitable enough that both could quit their off-farm jobs.
"The demand has exceeded expectations. But with anything you do, the learning curve is steep. Our challenge is balancing production with demand. That's one thing I learned in spades," she said.
"We believe you can make a living doing this, but you're not going to get rich - although we are very rich in quality of life. The margins are very small and that's the hard part, because we're competing against the Big Ys, who are buying their beef from abroad, and the cost of doing business in Central and South America is obviously much less," she said.
Like others who raise livestock for slaughter, Denney said the demand and profits are greatest selling through local outlets, such as farmers markets. Some also supply area restaurants. Animals are taken for slaughter to one of the few meat processing stations in southern New England where they are humanely killed before the meat is flash frozen and returned to the farmer.
A fire that destroyed the main meat processing station serving Western Massachusetts in December, the Adams Farm Slaughterhouse in Athol, was a setback for area livestock owners, but other stations in New England are attempting to serve those affected farms.
Helping Denney and Jakshtis improve their profitability is a novel marketing structure that is becoming more popular among the region's small farms - community supported agriculture, also known as CSAs. Instead of raising crops or livestock and then trying to find a market for them at harvest or slaughter, CSA farms sell shares in the harvest prior to the season, promising shareholders a portion of the farm's output based on the size of their shareholdings. The structure guarantees the farmers will have funds to begin the season and it frees them up from probably the most onerous part of their job - marketing what they farm.
For Chestnut Farms, the cost to their CSA customers is roughly $6 a pound. For that, they get a mix of meats and a mix of grades, from hamburger to porterhouse steaks, from chicken breasts to lamb shanks. Each month, they can buy 10-, 25- or 50-pound lots.
Denney calls the CSA program "wonderful."
"We ask for a minimum six-month commitment. People pay on a monthly basis and they are guaranteed the poundage they sign up for. CSA provides a revenue stream. Can I make a living selling all my meat at $6 a pound? The margins are very thin, but I ran the numbers and it looks like I can make it work," she said.
Kent A. Lage, the assistant commissioner of the state Department of Agricultural Resources, said, "CSAs have been a huge success."
"For farmers, from an economic standpoint, it's great. They get that money up front. Right now, we're well over 40 CSAs in the state, and three years ago, we were at 10 or 12," he said.
"We've even seen farmers working with individual companies to form CSAs, and instead of the members coming to the farm, the farmer will go to the parking lot of the company and people can pick up their shares there. For employees, it's their own personal farmers market," Lage said.
©2007 The Republican
© 2007 MassLive.com All Rights Reserved
