Pair-a-Dice Farm

Pair-a-Dice Farm will be attending the South of the James and the Goochland Farmers Markets beginning the first weekend in May.
http://ow.ly/9BhDZ http://ow.ly/9Bikm

Down time for selling eggs means being creative to use them up. So I’m baking a lot of pound cakes in a variety of flavors. Yum Yum!

Made lamb liver jerky for dog treats as a added value item at the farmers markets this year. The jerky looks beuatiful & the dogs love them.

My first attempt at making doggy treats from lamb liver was very successful. They came out beautifully and the I taste tested them on the dogs who begged for more. That’s always a compliment. The jerky is pure liver strips without any seasoning or additives of any sort and the process was so complete, there’s a really good shelf life.

The wooly ewes were sorted from the hair ewes in their own areas. Michael and Joe moved the rams into their designated areas with their group which was no easy task because of their size. But once they saw the girls nature kicked in. Lambs should begin hitting the ground in 5 months.

The chicks are four weeks old already and they were transferred from the house to their new setting in the coop with the “big girls”. The babies will stay in the brooder area for another week until they can come out and run in their run safely away from being pecked by the “big girls”. Four more months and they will start laying eggs.

Stop the National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreements before it stops family farms from providing our fresh vegetables!

         The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has proposed a National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (NLGMA), and has posted it for public comment through July 28.  This NLGMA is entirely unnecessary because the new Food Safety Modernization Act has placed food safety oversight where it belongs – the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – and (thanks to all the work of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s Food Safety Task Force) this Act includes measures to minimize unnecessary burdens on smaller farms and businesses.  The NLGMA is modeled on similar Leafy Greens Marketing Agreements in California and Arizona, which have not only created tremendous barriers for small and midsize farms, but also mandate destruction of wildlife habitat, conservation buffers, and beneficial insect habitat for biological controls. 

        Now  is the time to let the USDA know that we oppose the NLGMA. Submit your comments by July 28.  Letters from farmers stating how the proposed agreement would harm their operations and thwart their ability to provide safe, healthful food to consumers seeking fresh, local and/or organic, would be especially effective.  Following is a link to a website where you can submit comments.

        Go to http://www.ams.usda.gov/LeafyGreensAgreement and click on “Submit a Comment” on the right side.  

        See below for more information on NLGMA from the National Organic Coalition.

More on NLGMA – from National Organic Coalition

         Remember the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that passed last year? We won a hard fought battle, securing appropriate food safety rules for small-to-midsized farms and processors producing fresh, and healthy food for local and regional markets.  This law will be implemented by one of the agencies with food safety authority – the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
        Now, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, an agency with no food safety expertise or authority, is proposing to establish a set of food safety regulations for leafy greens (spinach, lettuce, and cabbage) growers and handlers who sell into the wholesale market, called the National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (NLGMA).
        The most powerful “Big Ag” players in the leafy green industry are pushing the National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (NLGMA).   The sellers, processors, or distributors that sign on to the rule will require that the farmers they purchase from comply with its standards. The rule adds a second and conflicting layer of food safety standards and audits on top of FDA food safety rules.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
HOW TO COMMENT:

USDA is seeking written comments from the public on the NLGMA proposal by July 28.   Write USDA today to urge them to reject this proposal.

Go to http://www.ams.usda.gov/LeafyGreensAgreement and click on “Submit a Comment” on the right side.  

 Here are some suggested points to make:

        I oppose the creation of a National Leafy Green Marketing Agreement, which I believe to be the wrong approach to address food safety concerns.
        The Agricultural Marketing Service is not a food safety agency.   It is bad public policy to create food safety regulations in order to address the “marketing” goal of increasing consumer confidence in the safety of leafy greens.    Food safety policies should be driven by science, not by marketing problems.
        The NLGMA, as proposed, would give the large conventional produce industry the ability to use its own world view to dictate farming practices.   Small scale and organic farmers would have a very small voice in the standard-setting process.
        The NLGMA is modeled on state food safety agreements in California and Arizona.   In those examples, the conventional produce industry has pushed through food safety regulations that are biased against organic and small-scale farmers, have led to the destruction of wildlife habitat and discouraged good conservation practices on farms.  See pictures from Wild Farm Alliance at http://www.wildfarmalliance.org/Press%20Room/press_room_destruction.htm
         Diversified farming operations with complex rotations have been shown to be beneficial to the environment.    Yet crop-by-crop food safety regulations, such as the NLGMA, are an economic disaster for diversified farming operations, and are biased toward large mono-cultural operations.   For a farmer with 40 crops on 100 acres to comply with 40 different food safety regulations is prohibitively burdensome.  Crop specific food safety regulations, such as NLGMA, will drive farmers out of environmentally sensitive diversified crop production, and toward chemical-intensive mono-cultural operations.  This is counter to the goals of food safety and more environmentally sound agriculture.
        The Food and Drug Administration is currently writing regulations to establish food safety standards for produce.   Why is AMS proposing to establish standards that conflict with or duplicate the FDA standards, with the conventional leafy greens handlers in the drivers’ seat?
        The NLGMA is a disaster waiting to happen, for farmers, consumers, the environment, and ultimately for food safety. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BACKGROUND

        Also see the Action Alert and Comment Form from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) at http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/%E2%80%9Cbig-ag%E2%80%9D-at-it-again/

        The NLGMA was originally proposed by a group of large conventional produce industry organizations as a way to give those organizations the authority to set food safety standards for leafy greens vegetables, in order to restore consumer confidence in leafy greens, in the aftermath of the 2006 e.coli outbreak in spinach.   The proposal would allow the produce industry to establish food safety standards for leafy greens production and handling, with input and approval by USDA.  These industry-established standards would become the dominant standards in the industry, and all farmers selling product to the handlers that are signatories to the Agreement would be required to follow the farming methods prescribed by the Agreement. 
        The proposal is mirrored on state marketing agreements already in place in California and Arizona, in which the conventional produce industry has been able to dictate farming practices that are in conflict with organic standards, are economically harmful to small scale and diversified farming operations, and have lead to destruction of wildlife habitat and other on-farm conservation measures.   
        In late 2009, USDA held hearings around the country to seek public input on the produce industry’s proposal for a NLGMA.   After receiving thousands of pages of testimony in opposition to the industry proposal from organic and small-scale farmers, consumers, conservationists, and natural food retailers, USDA has sided with the industry to move forward with a USDA-backed NLGMA.   See some of those comments from NOC and others.
        The Agricultural Marketing Service is NOT a food safety agency and it should leave food safety regulation to the Food and Drug Administration.   AMS staff is made up of economists and marketing specialists who convene industry to reach agreement on orderly marketing of produce.  They are NOT food safety scientists. 
        Making matters worse, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) does not have the authority to write food safety standards for produce, because that authority rests with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).   The FDA is currently in the process of writing produce food safety regulations, as required by comprehensive food safety legislation enacted by Congress last year.  Despite this fact, AMS is still proposing to let the industry write its own food safety standards for leafy greens, under USDA control.   The last thing farmers need is to have to comply with FDA food safety standards and potentially conflicting or overlapping standards from USDA.  
 

 Please post your comments for everyone

One thing my son Michael hates is a first time mom giving birth to twins. Mainly because the new mom is so jumpy about being a new mom and trying to bond her new little one but then when there are two to deal with, she can be overwhelmed and occassionally will select only one to bond with. That requires us to step in and take the rejected lamb to the house to be bottle fed which is really time consuming between two hours feedings and diaper changings.

Yesterday, was a different story. A first time mom was lambing but the baby was breach and the lamb expired. The head was delivered but the rest was stuck. This was a huge lamb that was now not coming out and decomposing. Michael and I struggled for nearly an hour to get that lamb out of an exhausted, infected and very sore mom. The problem was the shoulders were jammed behind her hip bones. I was able to slide my hands in there while she pushed and we pulled and finally a release. The smell was gagging. We dosed her heavily for infection and minerals and nutrients to help her speed her hopeful recovery. Michael put her in a quiet place to recover in the barn and she will continue to be treated for infection for the next few days. She’s really swollen from the ordeal but standing on her own occassionally. Yes, it’s sad that we lost the lamb but it was more important to save a very young ewe who could give many more lambs in the future.

On a happier note, one of our older ewes had a huge baby girl who easily towers over the lambs born over a month ago. She’s not only tall, she’s solidy heavy for a two day old. The new lamb is tagged #100. Mom is a veteran and trusts us with her lamb unlike the first timers. There was another first time mom who also lambed yesterday but the baby was normal size. The new mom is still skiddish about this lamb especially when the lamb goes to nurse and the mom jumps but they’ll get it together, nature has a way of calming a new mom down.

It was a physically and emotionally draining day yesterday but today when we went to the barn, the ewe was up on her own and eating well. She’s still stay there until she shows signs of wanting to get out with the rest of the flock.

 The North American Meat Processors Association confirmed on Thursday that all front-line inspectors and all enforcement, investigations and analysis officers have been deemed “essential employees” and will continue to work if the federal government shuts down at midnight tonight. Under federal law, meat and poultry plants may not operate without oversight from federal inspectors. Nearly 8,000 inspectors oversee 6,200 plants nationwide and ensure compliance with federal rules regarding product safety, labeling and humane treatment of livestock. If a federal government shutdown did keep inspectors out of plants, it would impact 3.7 million jobs and cause a loss of approximately $3 billion in economic activity per day. “American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) leaders met this week with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) political appointees and members of the U.S. Congress regarding questions on federal funding and programs important to the sheep industry,” stated Peter Orwick, ASI executive director. “Meetings were also held with USDA regarding it’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) programs that previously had funding eliminated as they were considered directives, such as recently happened to predator programs in nine states.” USDA APHIS plans to send letters to the affected cooperators and, “of course in the event of a shut down, broader distribution of information will be available on services that will not be available in the interim.”

(American Sheep Industry Weekly April 8, 2011)

Attended the vendors meeting at South of the James. I think you will really like the direction this market it taking as they have decided to be a “Producer Only” market. This is a positive step towards actually knowing where your food originates and how it’s grown. You become an educated consumer in asking questions from the producer to assure you are getting the top quality food for you and your family while reducing carbon footprints of your foods by buying locally grown food. Congratulations to the South of the James Market on living up to what a farmers market should truely be and hopefully setting a new standard for other markets.