



Colonel's Blog, Earthdate 12 March 2023...
Hey Y'all!
Good morning and happy Sunday from Free Missouri! It was a mild 39 degrees with no wind this morning for rounds. The clock said we got started a bit later than normal, but the sun said we were early. By tomorrow, our bodies will be used to the new time and we won't have to discuss changing the clocks for months. We will try to keep the animals on the same sun-based schedule they are used to. All of the animals were good this morning. The sheep always seem to be more hungry after a rain event. I don't think they eat as much during the rain and then are famished the next day so they were especially excited to get their breakfast this morning. The beef chickens were out of food by morning and were also ready for their breakfast. The 3rd and 4th pics above show the beef chickens in their brooder with their brooder plates and food dishes. Notice they are scattered about in different places. That tells us that they are at a good temperature. If they are too cold, they huddle together and will smother each other. If they are too hot, they will sit and pant. These guys are running about scattered around the brooder which means temps are good. The peeping incubators revealed a new chick by evening yesterday. When we awoke this morning, there were two more. The top two pics are a brand new chick before it is even dry. We will leave them in the incubator while the others hatch as long as they don't get too hot. Same indications, if they start panting, we will move them to their brooder. A few hours before hatching, their bodies absorb the last of the yolk and that final jolt sustains them for up to 72 hours. So we are in no hurry to move them out of the incubators. Their peeping and jostling encourages the other chicks to begin hatching. We volleyed questions and answers with our accountant yesterday and I think we are good for our business return, due this week. We also did a bit of YouTube work, made some yogurt and cheese, finished painting doors, and fixed the fence charger. Today we plan to make some more yogurt and cheese, replace a float valve on one of the cattle waterers, and move a fence charger to the lamb fence.
I really cannot express how excited I am that you are thinking and engaging with me in this discussion regarding our freedoms, especially as it relates to food! If you haven't done so, I encourage you to go back to some of the more recent blogs and review the comments. There are some well presented very thoughtful comments. The discussion certainly helps me refine my thoughts and solidify my feelings. One example, I will elaborate on and hopefully clarify my thoughts regarding the role of government in our food choice. I completely agree with Joel Salatin in his assertion that we need a Food Emancipation Proclamation. If folks want to trust the government system for food distribution, they should be able to do so. Find a government inspected/certified/regulated/blessed food source and be happy. In the same manner, if folks want to make their own decisions regarding what food they consume, they should be able to do so without that same government inspection/certification/regulation/blessing. We should all have the freedom to decide which system we want to use. I reiterate, if you are willing to buy a food product, and a farmer is willing to sell you that food product, the government should not restrict that commerce. I received an email from a friend after the blog yesterday wherein he described a 1942 Supreme Court case where the Court decided that a farmer did not have the right to grow more wheat than the government said he could in the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, even to use on his own farm, because then he wouldn't be buying wheat from another state which would artificially lower the government-decided demand therein affecting interstate wheat prices. The Court ruled that the Dept of Agriculture could in fact regulate the farmer's wheat production. Today, for me, this sounds like "you are exempted so you can process 1,000 poultry, but not 1,001." That is not freedom, it is government regulation on commerce. You can follow this Act through the years as it morphed until you get to the Farm Service Agency of today. I am NOT looking for the government to do anything...I am asking for the government to stay out of my farm! #farmlife #foodfreedom
Shelley's YouTube Short today is: Raw Milk Morning Harvest
Our YouTube Video from yesterday: Clearing Fence Regenerative Farming Style
Local Farm Report for 11 March 2023:
Harvest:
43 Chicken eggs
16 Duck eggs
0 Goose eggs
6 1/4 Gallons of milk
Sales:
N/A
Farm Additions:
1 Layer chick
Cheers! Psycho & Shelley
See what you did here :)? We went from food freedom to interstate commerce to supreme court
Might even get to state rights eventually. Since Constitution is silent it would be worth looking at 10th amendment.
At some point in our history we managed to give up our food security for food safety and got neither security or safety. ( sorry Mr Franklin):)15,501,273 pounds of food recalled in 2021 according to USDA, 34 million people are food insecure, 9 million of them are children going hungry in the richest nation of the world while government is arguing that 1000+1 chicken is way too much. By the way, Tyson Foods income is up . Company delivers record annual sales and earni…