Next week marks 10 years in the meat processing industry. Wow, what a time for reflection the last month has been leading up to this mark in time. We purchased this old locker plant on November 13, 2009. Had a fire on December 27th, 2010 and rebuilt what you see now thereafter. So much is the same. We still sell Pasture Raised, Non GMO fed Thanksgiving turkeys for the same price and we still have many of our early customers that fill their individual freezers with our beef, pork, and chicken. But so much is also different. Farmers and their personal customers now make up 75% of our business through service processing and the Smith kids have grown up to become a significant part of the business. Evan Smith is now one of our primary Butchers, Jada Smith is organizing all the incoming cutting instructions after her day at school, and Rebekah Smith enjoys taking care of barn and sheep chores. Conner has gone onto Alaska and is working on a contract for the Center of Disease Control for a year. The baby of the family, Yone Smith, prefers to do house work as her family chore but she can help sort sheep, get eggs, and make sure the rest of us stay in line with what we need to be doing as a natural born manager. She views the staff as an extension of her family and believes they are here to feed her.
Which in many ways they are both figuratively and literally. Not only has This Old Farm raised up the kids but it has also raised me up through the years. I personally credit most of my growth as a human being to being a farmer and business owner, which has required much prayer through the years. We tend to learn through our hardest moments in life. I can think back on some challenging moments. To all those that have helped grow me as a person, thank you! I appreciate the early customers that convinced me there was a market for locally raised, good meat. I appreciate our first processing customers that taught me along the way. Each year we have seen great improvements in the process as customers gave feedback and made requests. Our mission is to support the family farm through educating, processing, and marketing locally raised meats. I am proud to say we have done just that over the last 10 years!
TO CELEBRATE WE ARE OFFERING 10% OFF ALL PROCESSING APPOINTMENTS BOOKED BY SAYING “HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS OLD FARM”! (Offer good for a single date of slaughter appointments.)
Thank you to all who have been part of our lives,
Jessica