MWF Changes Egg Production Methods
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009We want to keep our farm community up to date with important changes on our farm and our reason for them. Read on-
Starting this week Maple Wind Farm Pasture-Raised Eggs will no longer be certified organic. All of our production methods will be exactly the same, except that our supplemental layer feed will not be certified organic. During the grazing season our birds will still be moved every three days to new pasture and will glean all the grasses, legumes, worms and insects they always have. Even now they’re out and about the barnyard feeding happily on the remnants of last year’s plant and insect life.
This was an extremely difficult decision for us, one that still hangs heavy in our minds. The reason for the change is that we found we were not able to sell our organic eggs for a price that would allow us to be financially sustainable. Indeed, we have been having difficulty selling our eggs even at prices lower than we can sustain (but higher than other non-organic local eggs). To continue to be organic, our prices at the retail level would need to be in the $6 – 7.00/dozen range. We know there are a few of you who would pay this price, but the vast majority of folks who buy local products will not. Currently we are sourcing conventional feeds for our chickens, grown locally. We hope to come back to organic certification at some future point when price is not as big of an issue. Thanks to all of you who have supported us over the years. We look forward to serving you in the future.
Bruce Hennessey, Beth Whiting, Nathaniel Holmes
We welcome your comments.
