The Big Grocery Lie

Posted on July 1, 2017July 1, 2017 by sbhill

This week I have been working crazily doing lots of research. I want to tackle something very wrong with our whole grocery marketing system. Prices continue to go up and never come back down. I am calling it the big grocery lie! All producers understand that there are many different times when there are shortages of a farm commodity. We as small producers are extremely susceptible to these problems in our operations. We know that a hail can come through, or grasshoppers, or even limited amoun...

Value Added Marketing On Steroids !!!

Posted on June 27, 2017 by sbhill

So we have been talking about value added marketing for the last few months. There are many great, tried and true ideas to market your products, however..... they all take time away from your operation, your mind off of your production, and a hefty chunk out of your bottom line. I want to introduce you today to a process that is so awesome I am recommending it to many of my clients, and heck I am totally on board myself. If I can sell my lambs, cattle and everything I make at home for more ...

Value Added Cattle

Posted on April 12, 2017April 12, 2017 by sbhill

I hope that you are enjoying the Value Added series as much as I am enjoying writing it. Today we are going to look into value adding cattle. I was born and raised on a cattle ranch. This is a subject that I have spent years trying to figure out how to make a bit more money doing. We in the cattle industry have always had to depend on the market. We don't get a choice on what we get for our livestock sales after spending a whole year dumping money into our livestock operation. It has bee...

Value Added Gardening

Posted on March 18, 2017 by sbhill

It is that time of year when the weather is warming up enough that you get the itch to be outside and growing things. I think it is a part of us to want to grow our food. This year I want you to think about what value added gardening can do for your bottom line. Many of us start our own seeds and grow them to a seedling and plant in our gardens. What if you planted twice or three times what you need, and sell the rest at either a stand or online? This would right away make you start out in t...

Value Added Sheep Part 3 -Wool

Posted on March 15, 2017April 26, 2017 by sbhill

Value Added Marketing Sheep 3 This is the last in our Value Added Marketing sheep series. We are going to talk about value added marketing wool products. This is one of my favorite topics, and I tend to ramble about wool. I am an accomplished hand spinner, and wool hoarder, as my husband often tells me. I love wool. I love that there are so many different natural colors, textures, grades and so much you can do with it. As I said before I am a spinner so I have been value adding wool fo...

Value Added Sheep Part 2 Meat

Posted on February 14, 2017April 26, 2017 by sbhill

I am very excited to be starting this second in a series of 3 value added sheep articles, especially this time of year. Value Added Sheep Part 1 can be found here. Many producers are getting ready to start their lambing, and in fact a friend of mine has several lambs on the ground. I want to focus on value adding to the meat breeds and my own experience, and ideas for you to be able to market your small farm sheep in the way that will make you the most money for your operation. First of al...

Value Added Marketing Sheep-Part 1

Posted on February 4, 2017February 4, 2017 by sbhill

We are starting our value added marketing series with sheep. Sheep and wool are an agricultural product dating back to early biblical times. In fact one of my favorite bible verses is Proverbs 31:13 She looks for wool and flax And works with her hands in delight. Sheep come in many different flavors a friend of mine used to say. There are over one thousand sheep breeds worldwide. You must first know what your goals are then you can pick your sheep breed. For instance if you are breeding...