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Category: In the News

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Published on 1 Comment on Newsworthy Wednesday
Forest Hill Farm Piglets

Heritage Hogs At Risk

A new Michigan law is targeting heritage breed hogs. In an effort to control the feral hog population the State's Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) is removing heritage breed hogs from privately owned farms.  Forest Hill Farm raises Gloucestershire Old Spot and Berkshire hogs. If Iowa passed a similar law our hogs could be destroyed. Our hogs graze and live outdoors. They are social, productive, and domesticated. Their outdoor areas are rotated to keep them clean, healthy, offer a variety of forages, and prevent overgrazing. A confinement hog, who escapes into the countryside, has the same opportunity to become feral as a heritage breed. Actually, because our hogs are always outdoors, and very friendly, if they did get out of their fence line they could easily be coaxed back with the bribe of raw milk and a back scratch. One of the problems with the Michigan law, and there are many issues with it, is that the Invasive Species Order (ISO) outlaws the possession of wild swine, hogs, boars, and pigs, aside from domestic hog production. They haven't defined an exception so farmers won't know if their livestock is prohibited until the ISO goes into effect and the DNRE begins their inspections. Is anyone surprised that the Michigan Pork Producer Association supports the measure?  Aren't both heritage breed farmers and confinement owners pork producers? Four lawsuits have been filed against the ISO, heritage hog farmers are asking if the DNRE has jurisdiction.

Just more food for thought!

 

Published on Leave a comment on Food Recalls go High Tech and UCS Gives Monsanto an ‘F’

Food recalls go high tech

Linguists have discovered a new language spoken by a remote tribe in India that’s understood by only 1,000 people.
It’s called “tech support”

If you have a Twitter account the USDA now has state specific food safety alerts for meat, poultry and processed egg products. These alerts are available through Twitter. The alerts can be followed by listing your state’s two letter designation followed by underscore then FSISALERT. Iowa, for example, is IA_FSISALERT
As an aside; Does it seem that there are far more food safety alerts since large meat processors have put smaller processors out of business and factory farms have become the norm?  Just some food for thought.

 

Union of Concerned Scientists

The Union of concerned scientists (UCS) has given Monsanto Company an ‘F’ in sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture systems supply food, protect the environment, and protect farmers. The UCS says Monsanto fails all three.

It’s my belief that genetically engineered crops, antibiotics in animal feeds, and chemical herbicides can take horrendous farmers, bad producers, and inadequate land stewards and make them profitable. All the while the environment, animals, and consumers suffer the consequences.

Genetic engineering's doing the most harm, in my opinion.  Cross contamination from Genetically engineered crops continuously infect non-genetically engineered species. Where will it end? Are any crops safe from genetic contamination?

Two other objections are Monsanto’s suppression of independent research of its products. This means that policy makers can’t make informed decisions because there aren’t adequate independent studies to objectively research the effects of GMO’s and herbicides. Also, the amount of money spent lobbying and advertising these products skews the opinion of those on the receiving end of the money trail.
For more information check out the Union of Concerned Scientists web site

 

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Published on 3 Comments on Best Farming Practices

Best Farming Practices
One of the questions we're  asked frequently is, “Why aren’t more farmers raising animals in better environments?”  The answer’s simple; money.

With high corn prices, record high land prices, and the ability to increase crop yields with chemicals, confinement livestock allows farmers to double crop.  When animals are confined to housing instead of grazing the land is freed up for row crops. Grazing land can now be put into more “productive” use.

Added into the issue is government subsidies that pay for corn and soybean crops, not pasture grazing. Acreage is too valuable to “waste” on animal production. The monetary return is too small for animal producers, especially when labor is factored into the equation.

Our farm is an extension of our lifestyle, values, and a love of  the environment and animals.  Our customers health and the health of our livestock is the priority.

Our son and I took a class offered by one of the universities on raising sheep.  The material presented was all about profit.  Keeping costs down, production up. According to the class instructor the bottom line dictates every aspect of animal production .  The class presented graphs and charts indicating how cheaper food sources could be advantageous when feeding sheep. In this instructor's opinion hay was too expensive. Hay wasn't profitable to feed. Corn stalk bales were the better choice.  Cheap grain mixed with cheap dry matter are more advantageous.

When the class was over I explained to our son that none of these ideas  would work on our farm. Our goal is to use the Best Farming Practices. In my opinion, conventional farmers are shooting themselves in the foot.  If a livestock producer sells meat by direct marketing, the customer's satisfaction is the model, not the bottom line. Quality products equal repeat customers. The university model works well, if you are paid for carcass weight, not quality. But producing crap isn’t a viable business plan. If raising garbage meat, with animals living in pathetic conditions, is all a producer is capable of then perhaps a new career is called for.  I’ll step down from my soap box now.

The book Righteous Porkchop by Nicolette Hahn Niman has been selected for the Linn Area Reads program. There are several events planned to promote good food choices. Factory farm meat is readily available. It takes greater effort to find pasture raised pork and grass fed meat.  Check out Linn Area Reads for book discussion locations and an events calendar.  On May 11 at 7 pm Nicolette Hahn Niman will give a presentation at the Hotel Kirkwood.  If you have any questions about pasture raised pork, or raising livestock in general, I’d be happy to answer them for you email us .

Best farming Practices

©Glenda Plozay, Forest Hill Farm Products,LLC

Published on Leave a comment on Labeling Meat Solutions

Meat. And Only Meat.

Accurate Meat Labeling

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing a new rule to establish easy-to-understand names for raw meat and poultry products. Most meat bought at the grocery store includes injections, marinades, or other added solutions.  Currently there isn't any way to identify this meat, no such label exists.  Here's an example; a single ingredient chicken (nothing but chicken) and a chicken with added solution are both labeled as “chicken” even though one may be 60 percent chicken and 40 percent solution.  What's in the solution? Who knows, the ingredients aren't disclosed.

T bone
100% Grass fed, Angus, T-bone steak

Forest Hill Farm sells meat.  Nothing added.  Just Meat.

©Glenda Plozay, Forest Hill Farm Products,LLC

Published on Leave a comment on Arsenic in Animal Feed

The FDA announced that a drug fed to chickens will no longer be sold in the U.S.  Pfizer subsidiary Alpharma will discontinue sales of 3-Nitro.  Chickens are fed this drug to increase their appetites.  The FDA found that chickens fed arsenic had traces of the drug in their meat, primarily their liver. Pfizer will stop selling the drug in 30 days, after animal producers have had time to find new medications.  3-Nitro, a.k.a. roxarsone is the most common arsenic based animal drug, but similar drugs have been approved for poultry and pig feed.

The poultry and pigs at Forest Hill Farm eat non-GMO grains and grasses.

Published on Leave a comment on WHO Scandal Exposed
Pigs in pasture
Forest Hill Farm pigs in rape field

WHO Scandal Exposed

We’re talking World Health Organization (WHO), not the band. A stunning new report reveals that top scientists convinced the WHO to declare H1N1 a global pandemic. It has been uncovered that they held close financial ties to the company that created the vaccine. The scientists assigned to combat the H1N1 virus had their hands in the cookie jar. The report in the British Medical Journal exposed the hidden ties that drove WHO to declare the pandemic. The report’s author’s, Deborah Cohen and Phillip Carter concluded that “...H1N1 may yet claim its biggest victim - the credibility of the WHO and the trust in the global public health system.” Source: Natural News Article

 

©Glenda Plozay, Forest Hill Farm Products,LLC

Published on Leave a comment on NAMED COWS GIVE MORE MILK

“ A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew”
Herb Caen

NAMED COWS GIVE MORE MILK


LONDON: Two students at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom have won a veterinary medicine prize for showing that giving dairy cows names and calling them by their correct name increased milk production yield by an average of 258 liters per year. The researchers said the cows are very responsive to friendly milkers with a positive attitude. We are pleased to introduce you to our four dairy cows; Chloe, Lulu, Alice and Clairece.
Chloe is a Jersey-Angus cross. Lulu is a Holstein, and Alice and Clairece  are registered Jersey’s. They provide milk for our family and all of the pigs at Forest Hill Farm.

 

©Glenda Plozay, Forest Hill Farm Products,LLC

 

Published on Leave a comment on The Watch Dog…In the News

The FDA announced that a drug fed to chickens will no longer be sold in the U.S.  Pfizer subsidiary, Alpharma will discontinue sales of 3-Nitro.  Chickens are fed this drug to increase their appetites.  The FDA found that chickens fed arsenic had traces of the drug in their meat, primarily their liver. Pfizer will stop selling the drug in 30 days, after animal producers have had time to find new medications.  3-Nitro, a.k.a. roxarsone is the most common arsenic based animal drug, but similar drugs have been approved for poultry and pig feed.

Forest Hill Farm pasture raised chicken

Published on Leave a comment on Feed pigs right!

 

In Japan they’ve been genetically altering hogs. They’re introducing vegetable genes into pigs.
We were watching the movie Night Shift, I love that movie.  Michael Keaton’s character, Billy Blaze records all of his “big ideas” into his Sony Walkman.  One of his ideas was to feed tuna mayonnaise, “This is Bill, call Starkist.”  Well this is Glenda, “Call Japan, feed pigs spinach.”  Better yet, let them graze a field of spinach.
Our pigs are healthy.  Our pigs are happy.  Our pigs have a varied diet of seasonal grasses and legumes.  In the spring they graze a field of forage peas, oats, and rape seed.  In the summer they graze on grasses, alfalfa, and clover.  In the fall they eat apples, pumpkins, and harvest their own corn.  In Japan scientists have “successfully” implanted the spinach gene into hogs.
Click Here for the story about vegetable genes implanted in hogs

 

©Glenda Plozay, Forest Hill Farm Products,LLC

Published on Leave a comment on Dairy Fat and Diabetes
Chloe

Scientists at The Harvard School of Public Health have concluded that people who consume full fat dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter are 60 percent less likely to develop diabetes.  People who consume full fat dairy products have high levels of trans-palmitoleic acid which helps regulate insulin and reduces internal inflammation Another diabetes risk factor) The study authors estimate that consuming three to five servings of dairy may deliver the benefit, more research is needed to determine the most effective amount. perhaps the scientists could also include grass fed dairy products in their study.  The benefits would likely grow exponentially.