Greetings from the farm!
While our daily routine of caring for our animals and land has not changed much as all in the last two years (and for this we are grateful), the impacts of the COVID driven economy have forced us to be more diligent in managing the impacts of outside forces to our farm. Inflation has been a hot topic in the last several weeks. I wanted to take a few moments to be transparent with you, our customers, in regards to how inflation is impacting our small local farm meat business.
Over the last year we have seen significant increases in costs throughout our farming operation, and we are anticipating a continued trend in this direction. Costs have increased across the board for various feed and agronomy inputs, replacement breeding stock, transportation, repairs and supplies. Specific to our local meat business, we have seen significant cost increases in boxes, processing costs and transportation.
These increased costs have forced us to keep a tight eye on our retail meat prices. But the more I read, I realize these price increases in food products, and specifically meat are not isolated to just our business.
As a proud Boilermaker, I spent a large amount of my time at Purdue studying Agricultural Economics. I can tend to geek out on economic data and trends. I like to follow the blogs of Jason Lusk, the current department head of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, who recently shared this data:
As of September of this year, American's spending of food at home is up 4.5% versus September 2020. And looking specifically at retail food prices for that same time period, all food at home is up 8.2% while meats have led the way with these respective increases, Beef 22.4%, Pork 16.2%, Chicken 13.7%.
So what does this mean for you, our customer?
In order to cover our increased costs, we have had to increase the retail prices for many of our products. We will continue to keep a close eye on all costs as well as retail prices to ensure we are pricing our items fairly.
Bundles remain our best value purchase by far. These select bundles allow for you to buy bulk meats at a reduced price. I encourage you to take a good look at our bundles and see which may be the best fit for you and your family.
The Farmer Bundle We are excited to offer this new bundle! The Farmer Bundle highlights our farm raised meats we recommend and will likely eat as a family each month. The contents of this bundle will change monthly to adjust to seasonal trends, so keep a close eye on this one! Available in the Farmer Bundle or larger Farmer Bundle Plus.
The Family Filler Our Family Filler Bundles were designed with families such as yours in mind! There are seasons in our family’s life in which we are on the go a lot, yet I still want to ensure my family is eating nutritious protein to fuel their growing bodies. This collection of beef and pork represents my go to products during these times. Note: there are only a few of these left, once they are gone we will need to wait for our inventory to build up to offer again.
1/4 Hog Bundle Probably our best value purchase! Designed with families in mind. ~35# of popular pork products ready for a variety of quick preparation options.
If you have any specific questions, I would be happy to answer them. Contact me at ltfarmmeats@gmail.com or 765-246-6634.
Thank you for your continued support.
My best,
Beth Tharp
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