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Farm Indiana // july 2013
over the years. “Forty years ago, the future of farming was about streamlining and vertical integration,” he says. “A large hog operation might consist of 18,000 sows all in confinement inside; they never see sunlight, they’re on concrete floors, and it’s all to maximize survivability of the litters. They’re born, weaned from mothers at four weeks and given antibiotics and hormones to get to a processing weight as quickly as possible. “That’s great in that it provides the consumer with an affordable pork product with wide distribution in grocery stores,” he says. “But it’s been to the detriment of the quality of the pork. If you’ve only eaten pork from the grocery store for the past 30 years, you really don’t know what pork tastes like.” Hood says small family farms can’t compete
with large hog lots on price or availability; they have to compete with quality. Hood says he inherited the Red Wattle breeding stock from his in-laws. Now, he has a niche in the market, which has coincided nicely with culture trends toward slow food and local food-sourcing. “Right now some of our biggest customers are into charcuterie, home curing and home butchery,” Hood says. “People want quality stuff, and they want to learn how to do some things for themselves.” *FI
> > For more information on
Hood’s Heritage Hogs, visit www.hoodsheritagehogs.com.
The Way the Wind Blows ... As I’m sure most everyone did, I spent my fair share of time this spring watching news reports about the tornadoes that rolled through the Midwest, including the monster storm that hit the town of Moore, Okla., in May. It’s hard to wrap my mind around tragedies on such grand scales. It’s difficult to imagine the immense sense of loss … of life, of possessions, of future dreams and long-ago memories, of a sense of security, really. And storms like these make me think about you. Each morning around 8 a.m., I receive three alerts from The Weather Channel application I’ve downloaded to my phone. One alert tells me of the current temperature, one informs me of the expected high temperature for the day, and the last is a farm alert, which tells me the day’s weather and soil conditions. I’m not sure why I opted to receive the farm alert a year or so back, but I did, and it’s been eye-opening to track how drastically the weather can change and to consider how those changes can impact your lives. At this time last year, we were experiencing one of the worst droughts the Midwest had seen in decades. In 2013, continual
rains have threatened farmers’ abilities to get their crops in the ground. Each week’s — and each day’s, really — shift in weather patterns can negatively impact the health and wealth of your harvests. And that’s probably a pretty big understatement. I know I’m not telling you anything new. But if most people are like I was two years ago, they don’t really think much about the overwhelming consequences of these sorts of things. Each day matters in the life of a farmer. If it rains too much, you worry. If it rains too little, you worry. If the winds are too strong, the sun too hot, the clouds too thick … you get my drift. In recent years, weather patterns have continued to become more extreme — creating ever-more uncertainty for the success of people we most need to be successful: farmers. Today, harvesting a successful crop must feel a little like playing the lottery … and hoping to win every single time you play. Not many of us head to work each morning with an entire year’s paycheck balancing in the wind. But you brave souls do. For that, my hat goes off to you.
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