farm work

hauling hay: Shayn throws the bales up to his brother, Lynn.It’s the end of a long day as Shayn joins the boys and me in the house for dinner. His brother, Chase, follows, nursing two large blisters on his hand. Don comes in next, telling Shayn he’s “done trenching”. All three have spent the spring day fencing the turkey pen and grading for a processing building. They’re tired, dirty and sore.

On any given day a farmer can step into a different role. Some days he’s a welder, an electrician, a plumber, a carpenter, a veterinarian, a builder, etc. That is part of what makes farming fun – you get to work on something different each morning. But it’s also work, and sometimes hard work depending on the task. Helping a sow farrow a littler of piglets? Definitely fun. Digging a trench around the turkey pen? Definitely not as fun. But those things we don’t enjoy as much still need to be done. If we don’t have a trench to bury wire in. the fox will find his way underneath and get our turkeys.

We often receive calls and e-mails from a prospective farmer. They’re excited about what we do and want to help at the farm and see what it’s like. Many don’t realize that there is a lot of manual labor involved. It’s not sitting in the shade petting chickens all day. :) Shayn & I both enjoy speaking with them and answering questions. We hope others will start raising clean meat as well. Utah Natural Meat definitely can’t feed everyone! We need more farmers who see value in raising animals a different way and we are open to helping  and sharing what we’ve learned, and learning from them as well.

If you are looking into raising animals and have questions, please call and ask! Whether you want to raise some meat chickens in your backyard, or raise pigs on twenty acres, we would be more than happy to discuss any ideas with you. We also welcome anyone who would like to come work at the farm and see what a typical day involves before they start into it themselves. It may be hot, dusty and tiring, but it’s rewarding and fun. Just make sure you bring some gloves.