Restock Dates: Please see our Farm Blog where we post our weekly newsletter for the latest updates

Half Beef Shares | Egg Pricing | Visitor Stories

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

February 23, 2025

Good morning from your Farmer(s)
Contents:

  1. 1. NEW Egg Ordering Process
  2. 2. Half Beef Share – Order NOW
  3. 3. Farm Visitor Stories
  4. 4. Product Availability Update

NEW Egg Ordering Process – As you know, eggs are not only expensive, but are now being rationed by grocery stores.

We have had our share of extra folks contacting us because our prices are lower than grocery stores. This reminds us of March 2020 when our freezer went from FULL to EMPTY before we knew what was happening. I would say 95% or more of those who first bought during Covid left when store shelves filled back up. We are NOT interested in customers shopping price, but only customers interested in our quality products.

One of our farm friends (his feed & hens come from the same supplier as ours) told me he has raised egg prices three weeks in a row. His website price is now $11.50/dz.

Thus, effective Feb 20, 2025, meat orders less than (<) $100 will be charged a $4 surcharge per dozen eggs. That will equal $11/dozen and $28/flat.

Eggs are in short supply and most likely will get worse before improving. There is no way our farm can pick up the slack created by killing perfectly healthy flocks of hens. Hopefully, we will not have to ration eggs to our customers.

We appreciate your understanding and support.

Half Beef Share – Order NOW – request for half beef shares continue to be strong. Some are buying before prices rise and or concerns about future availability.

Currently, we have six customers on the wait list for a March harvest. Timeline is:
Feb 26th Deadline to place order, pay deposit and complete cut sheet
March 4th Harvest date
March 19th Cut/pack your order
March 24th Pickup date

Click this link to place your order, read ordering tips, and cut sheet (at the bottom of the page).

Farm Visitor Stories – I’m not sure about other farms, but we have had some interesting folks visit our farm over the years. This week Dr. Williams brought four people from the Netherlands in to see our operation. They are all associated with a company named Lely and their purpose was to gather insight they could take back to improve farming in their Country.

About a month ago we had Five French Friends who were traveling together come in to buy some beef for supper. They had stopped in Hattiesburg and were staying at an Air BNB – and simply wanted beef from a local farm. Pretty cool!

Probably the most unique visit – actually turned into visits - was a couple who were circus performers from Houston. They traveled in a Winnebago motor home and pulled their car behind it.

The first time we met they were on their way to a performance in Alabama and bought several hundred dollars worth of beef to include beef tongues. Before long, they called to ask if I minded if they parked their Winnebago here as they needed to make a quick trip to Houston by car. Soon they returned and set out for another circus performance.

The last time they were travelling through again they bought several hundred dollars of beef including beef tongues and off they went…not a care in the world.

The last story is about a retired couple from Ohio – who we later learned moved their residency to South Dakota. Their first purchase was at the Ocean Springs location as they were staying at a campsite in Biloxi.

Before they left Biloxi they came to the farm to visit and picked up another order before heading out. They spend much of the year hopping from campsite to campsite and seeking out local farms to buy from before returning to OH to see about family.

While visiting we discovered they knew several farmers that we know – and they were very complimentary of our beef! The last time we heard from them was a year later as they passed through the Gulf Coast.

Being a farmer is certainly not boring. Hope you enjoyed these stories.

** Product Availability Update **

NOTE: Restocks are made about 6 PM on the dates indicated below!

Chicken - Restocked February 12th. Next Restock will be February 26th

Turkey - Restocked Ground Turkey, Wings, Legs, and Thighs November 22nd. It will be mid 2025 before the next restock.


Eggs - Restock each (NOW) TUESDAY PRIOR to YOUR delivery date. PLEASE NOTE- due to current market situation with eggs we have implemented a $4 surcharge per dozen for meat orders that are less than $100


Beef - Restocked February 21st. Next Restock will be March 21st.

Pork – Patty Sausage Feb. 26th. Smoked items February 23rd

Lamb - Restocked October 8th

More from the blog

Small Farm Republic

Pasture Talk With Our Cows– Tuesday morning I was out checking on our cows and took the opportunity to record a short 2-minute story about the time I saved the life of one of the “pet” cows Number 608. Click to watch here. Small Farm Republic- is a book written by John Klar. A former attorney who contracted Lyme disease, John now farms in Vermont. I spent much of last weekend reading his book. He is very pro-small farms and presented a lot of evidence to support his position. On page 77 he makes a comparison to the number of farms and farmers during the Great Depression versus today. During the Great Depression the American population was 100 million. According to USDA charts

What If Pigs Could Talk

Well, at Nature's Gourmet Farm our pigs may not speak English, but their body language sure says a lot. Notice our pigs! See how content they are napping - they would say how nice the morning is and glad to enjoy the shade in our natural environment. The soft dirt is so relaxing. We have heard that some pigs live in cramped and confined spaces on hard concrete. Why would any farmer treat their pigs like that?

Farm Happenings!

Celebrity Visitor – Tuesday afternoon I had the opportunity to meet one of the nicest guys here on our farm. CJ called me about ten days earlier to ask if he could come and see our farm. Seems his family owns a farm near Bassfield, MS and they were needing to make some changes. As you know, I’m eager to help anyone who would like to farm as Mississippi certainly needs more folks raising food to feed our communities – and since he was interested in Regenerative Pasture Raised animals that was even better.