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We used to raise chickens and eggs and even had an all-egg CSA in the Portland area, but we stopped a couple of years back when oil and feed prices just kept rising. We could see the $6/dozen eggs coming down the line, and just didn't want to go there, but we would have had to in order to cover our costs. Unless we had resources to grow our own feed, we were at the mercy of international markets which influence the cost of feed ingredients.

We've switched to raising grass-fed beef and actually made a small profit last year for the first time. Our only input is naturally grown and organic hay, which we source from a farmer about 15 miles away. I think it's very important to grow foods that match your region's capability. But because of regulations, the minimum amount we can sell to customers is a 1/4 animal. We know that many people can't afford to buy (or store) that much meat at once. Changing the current regs (as was discussed on air) to allow us to sell by the cut would enable us to sell to a wider audience, and would benefit a lot of small-scale ranchers on both sides of the Cascades.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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