Joel Salatin
- Thread starter tncattle
- Start date
- Status
Gale Seddon
Well-known member
I have a couple of his books and like them...but haven't had the time or energy to convert things here. It all reads very well though. Love the "Egg-Mobile" and the "Hog-Aerators" (sp?) ideas. Would really like to visit his farm and/or hear him speak sometime...he's not very far from here. Stockman Grass Farmer has a column by him each month. He is (or was?) active with VICFA (VA Independent Consumers & Farmers Assoc.). Here's his farm website: http://www.polyfacefarms.com
AH, the good old days.
No thanks, I have no desire to go back prior to 1960 on the farm!
Besides being way to labor intense there was no profit in it, so I will leave it to you yuppies to try to reinvent the wheel.
I bet this guy just loves PETA! ;-)
No thanks, I have no desire to go back prior to 1960 on the farm!
Besides being way to labor intense there was no profit in it, so I will leave it to you yuppies to try to reinvent the wheel.
I bet this guy just loves PETA! ;-)
handydandy
Well-known member
Sir Loin":paxenazb said:
Maybe you should research polyface farm before you comment. He is almost certainly more profitable than probably anyone on this board.
Been there, done that!
The man is making a living selling dreams to farmer illiterates, not farming!
Kind of like some people who are making a living selling global warming!
Rotating your stock, crops and keeping all animals outside is nothing new!
Nor is having the pigs follow the chickens, who are following the cows any thing new.
As a matter of fact they are both old hat!
My dad always said: Those who can’t make a living doing it, end up teaching it!
handydandy
Well-known member
Sir Loin":2n5hps4v said:
Are you saying He doesn't do 'it'?
You are right, it is old hat, but his farm is extremely profitable.
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
i wonder how that chicken remained happy throughout that soup process? you would think that at some point he would smell a rat. unless he raises happy dumb chickens
handydandy
Well-known member
Aero":1zj2cvra said:
Matt, why don't you check it out instead of questioning me. I've done the research. Don't believe me? I could care less. One thing about polyface farm, they didn't just sit around and take commodity prices, they went out and figured out how to get premium prices while most farmers complained.
handydandy":2sbipi68 said:
i have been through the website, watched the videos, read some other stuff about them. i havent seen their books published anywhere.
i just find it odd that you can defend their profitability when you dont really know.
if i told you i made $50/hour reading message board posts, would you believe me?
KMacGinley
Well-known member
Hey Aero: Joel says he clears $3000 per acre on his pigs. I find this a little hard to believe as well.
He is a little like old Kit. He has a Legend times a Homer lot 4 in his sale catalog that is a 3.0 frame. Go figure. :)
He is a little like old Kit. He has a Legend times a Homer lot 4 in his sale catalog that is a 3.0 frame. Go figure. :)
Sorry, didn’t mean to trip anyone’s trigger.
What I’m saying is “ He ain’t making money at it”!
What he is doing is running a pre 1960 farm in today’s market and claiming to be making money at it, but what he isn’t telling you is that farming is simply a tax write off against his books and speaking tour income.
The fact is, with that halfglass sawmill in the pic, he would be lucky if he even covers labor costs as slow as it is, much less make a profit.
Second, cattle raised on forage alone ain’t fit to eat, nor are range chickens. You might as well eat shoe leather and rubber bands on a stick.
The only thing he has going for him are the yard eggs, if he can find enough people who like them.
But what I do know is, what he is selling doesn’t work, or I and thousands of others would still be doing what he is doing.
Hello, prior to the 60s almost all produced on the farm were sold directly to the consumer or retail outlets.
I was raised on both and I would have to be starving to death before I would eat either again.
Take it from someone who has been there and done that, he’s pi$$ing in the wind. So keep helping him out and keep buying his books.
IMHO he’s more of a fisherman then a farmer! And he’s fishing for suckers and laughing all the way to the bank.
No he’s farming! Or at least his family, friends and strangers for room and board are.
What I’m saying is “ He ain’t making money at it”!
What he is doing is running a pre 1960 farm in today’s market and claiming to be making money at it, but what he isn’t telling you is that farming is simply a tax write off against his books and speaking tour income.
The fact is, with that halfglass sawmill in the pic, he would be lucky if he even covers labor costs as slow as it is, much less make a profit.
Second, cattle raised on forage alone ain’t fit to eat, nor are range chickens. You might as well eat shoe leather and rubber bands on a stick.
The only thing he has going for him are the yard eggs, if he can find enough people who like them.
I’m sorry I must have missed where it says what his gross profit from the farm is each year. What was the gro$$ profit last year? From the farm only!!
Not so, I don’t even know the man.
But what I do know is, what he is selling doesn’t work, or I and thousands of others would still be doing what he is doing.
Hello, prior to the 60s almost all produced on the farm were sold directly to the consumer or retail outlets.
He couldn’t give me only foraged fed beef or range chickens, much less charge me extra for it!
I was raised on both and I would have to be starving to death before I would eat either again.
Take it from someone who has been there and done that, he’s pi$$ing in the wind. So keep helping him out and keep buying his books.
IMHO he’s more of a fisherman then a farmer! And he’s fishing for suckers and laughing all the way to the bank.
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
he sounds like a old hippie. probably the only difference in him and pharo is a hat
badaxemoo
Well-known member
Sir Loin writes:
How common was management-intensive grazing in the pre-1960 United States? How concerned were consumers about the source of their food? How many people were willing to pay a premium for sustainably raised produce and meat?
Depends. If you're cutting and skidding your own logs and doing the work yourself, I'm pretty sure it's cheaper than purchasing lumber elsewhere. I catch boards for a neighbor with a mill that's bigger than Salatin's but isn't commercial scale and he wouldn't do it if he wasn't making money.
I suppose if you take a continental breed and continuously graze them on poor pasture and then overcook the meat it probably would be a bit tough.
However, I don't know any grassfed producers or consumers that do this.
Maybe some others lack the savvy, intelligence, and marketing skills necessary to pull this off.
I'm not sure what things were like in Tennessee 40 years ago, but both sets of my grandparents farmed in Minnesota from the early 1930s to the mid 1970s and they sold none of their milk, and a tiny percentage of their eggs, pork, and beef directly to a consumer or retail outlet. 99% of what they raised went to the stockyards or the creamery to be processed.
Why would he do that? Have you seen the prices he gets for his products?
Looks like whoever was raising you didn't know what they were doing.
I'm critical of a several things that Salatin proposes. But I don't begrudge him for making money selling books. I'm quite confident he put in plenty of sweat equity on him farm before he started putting pen to paper.
If there's a sucker around, it's the guy that thinks that everything is just fine with the current food system and that sustainable agriculture is nothing more than a playground for those seeking the country "lifestyle".
Is that what you think?
How common was management-intensive grazing in the pre-1960 United States? How concerned were consumers about the source of their food? How many people were willing to pay a premium for sustainably raised produce and meat?
Depends. If you're cutting and skidding your own logs and doing the work yourself, I'm pretty sure it's cheaper than purchasing lumber elsewhere. I catch boards for a neighbor with a mill that's bigger than Salatin's but isn't commercial scale and he wouldn't do it if he wasn't making money.
I suppose if you take a continental breed and continuously graze them on poor pasture and then overcook the meat it probably would be a bit tough.
However, I don't know any grassfed producers or consumers that do this.
Maybe some others lack the savvy, intelligence, and marketing skills necessary to pull this off.
I'm not sure what things were like in Tennessee 40 years ago, but both sets of my grandparents farmed in Minnesota from the early 1930s to the mid 1970s and they sold none of their milk, and a tiny percentage of their eggs, pork, and beef directly to a consumer or retail outlet. 99% of what they raised went to the stockyards or the creamery to be processed.
Why would he do that? Have you seen the prices he gets for his products?
Looks like whoever was raising you didn't know what they were doing.
I'm critical of a several things that Salatin proposes. But I don't begrudge him for making money selling books. I'm quite confident he put in plenty of sweat equity on him farm before he started putting pen to paper.
If there's a sucker around, it's the guy that thinks that everything is just fine with the current food system and that sustainable agriculture is nothing more than a playground for those seeking the country "lifestyle".
Is that what you think?
badaxemoo
Well-known member
ALACOWMAN":2o12kxqp said:
Actually, if I recall correctly, he is a Christian, pro-lifer who tends to be a libertarian on the conservative end of the spectrum.
That would make for a strange hippie.
Re:
Please define “management-intensive grazing”.
Re:
Re:
Re:
As for the cooking part, you will have to take that up with my mother!
Re:
Even if he has good pasture you still need grain to make good beef!
Re:
Dumb me, I guess we just need to go back to the horse and buggy days and start all over and do it his way!
Now where can I get a good set of mules?
Re:
I have no problem with him making money selling books or going on tour either.
But what I do have a problem with is his boasting he has reinvented the wheel when in fact most of what he is selling is false, already proven wrong or was in use long before he returned, at age 50 to the farm in 1982 with a BA degree in English.
The fact is, the man has little farming experience. You only need to read the first two paragraphs to see he doesn’t know what he is talking about.
Very common! Only we called it cross fencing or herding before we had fencing. And in the 70s we started using some temporary electric fencing.
Please define “management-intensive grazing”.
Re:
Very concerned! He11, some even walked miles to farms just to get a gallon of milk and/or a dozen of egg.
Re:
Not sure what you are asking with that one!
Re:
As is all beef of any breed that receives no grain and pasture only.
As for the cooking part, you will have to take that up with my mother!
Re:
Well, this guy’s website says that is what he is doing!
Even if he has good pasture you still need grain to make good beef!
Re:
Right! This guy is a genius and the rest of us are just brasspoles!
Dumb me, I guess we just need to go back to the horse and buggy days and start all over and do it his way!
Now where can I get a good set of mules?
Re:
I have no problem with him making money selling books or going on tour either.
But what I do have a problem with is his boasting he has reinvented the wheel when in fact most of what he is selling is false, already proven wrong or was in use long before he returned, at age 50 to the farm in 1982 with a BA degree in English.
The fact is, the man has little farming experience. You only need to read the first two paragraphs to see he doesn’t know what he is talking about.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Bez>
Well-known member
Sheesh - sure is a lot of chirping over some guy I have never heard of. Probably a whole pile of us do not even know who this guy is.
He must be pretty important.
I suppose he has a web site and I suppose he makes money somewhere - but does he truly have that great an effect on your lives?
Think I now realize how he does it - he just gets all sorts of folks to argue about his ways and means.
I knew a guy who owned a Ford dealership - he used to say - "there may be bad advertisements and there may be good advertisements - but it was all advertisement. And advertising usually brings in people and money."
I do not think I will even look this guy up - he might get me all stirred up too.
Bez>
He must be pretty important.
I suppose he has a web site and I suppose he makes money somewhere - but does he truly have that great an effect on your lives?
Think I now realize how he does it - he just gets all sorts of folks to argue about his ways and means.
I knew a guy who owned a Ford dealership - he used to say - "there may be bad advertisements and there may be good advertisements - but it was all advertisement. And advertising usually brings in people and money."
I do not think I will even look this guy up - he might get me all stirred up too.
Bez>
- Status
