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IN THIS ISSUE
- Program Updates
- Regional News
- Upcoming events
- Spotlight: Letterbox Farm
- Resources + Opportunities
- What We're Reading
- Job Opportunities
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Livestock Working Group Met to Discuss Cost of Production Calculator
In May the Local Meat Processing Support Program gathered members of the Livestock Working Group with Elaine Lemmon from Kitchen Table Consultants and Matt LeRoux from Cornell University Cooperative Extension to discuss the Cost of Production Calculator that Kitchen Table Consultants is developing as a complement to The Meat Suite Meat Price Calculator.
"This is exactly what we've been struggling to do" one farmer member shared after watching Elaine demonstrate the calculator with another farmer. "I wish I had this tool when I was the sourcing director [at a butcher shop], it would have been amazing," another member shared.
The calculator is slated to be released to the public later this year.
Read the meeting report.
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Upcoming Events (virtual unless otherwise noted) | |
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Spotlight: Letterbox Farm
Do you or someone you know have a creative or collaborative approach we could spotlight?
Contact Ren Constas at Ren@berkshiregrown.org.
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Years ago, Nichole met an entrepreneurial chef named Katie who offered to take her chicken and turn it into delicious value added products and it changed the game for Letterbox Farm. Nichole saw both her per bird value and the local interest in her farm skyrocket, so when Katie decided to retire, Nichole knew she had no choice but to keep momentum going.
The task at hand, which included learning rules and regulations, acquiring new kitchens and licensing, developing recipes and testing the market was a momentous, and Nichole secretly longed for the days when she could just drop off a bunch of chicken at Katie’s and pick it up a week later, totally transformed and legal for sale.
That’s when she decided to create the business she wished already existed: a farmer to farmer co-packing coordination service.
Today, Nichole connects small-scale livestock farmers like herself to a network of kitchens with commercial kitchens, opening up opportunities for farmers to get value added products made that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to – and for commercial kitchens to work with small, local producers.
It’s been a multiyear process of establishing relationships with different kitchens - developing recipes that scale up, are delicious, and most importantly, are profitable - and nailing down logistics so the process is as smooth as possible for everyone involved.
“What I really wanted was to be able to bring a pallet of chickens to someone who could turn as much of it as possible into desirable, high value products that were packaged and ready for sale. That’s what I’m trying to do for folks and we’re definitely getting there!”
As of now, an array of USDA broths (including various flavors chicken, beef, pork, mushroom & vegetable), pork and/or beef meatballs, pates, quiches and rendered lard/tallow are available. Nichole is also taking on NY-based clients for fall and winter pot pie and cottage pie production in her 20-C kitchen.
Are you a farmer with a product in mind you’d like to see made with your meat? Nichole is open to exploring feasibility and doing recipe development on new products.
“Can we use beef tendons? Pig head? Those are things I am doing research on and I'm collecting all that data to save farms money.”
Recipe development is a big risk and a lot of work. Nichole works with processors to develop scalable recipes that are vetted by the commercial kitchens she works with, and she absorbs the cost of the trial and error.
Want to plug in? Here are folks Nichole is looking to collaborate with:
- Farmers looking to produce value added products with their meat, either developing new recipes or working with her tried and true recipes
- Kitchens that want to work with farmers but don’t have capacity to coordinate logistics
- Local cold storage solutions that can accommodate frequent visits
- Livestock farmers that want to be part of a co-branded cooperative – especially for bone broth
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Harrier-Fields Farm in Schodack Landing, NY | |
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What We're Reading
USDA Expands Support for Producers to Stop the Spread of H5N1 in Dairy Cattle
"USDA recently announced expanded support for producers to help stop the spread of HPAI in dairy cattle, including for producers who do not have a herd that has tested positive. This support equips producers with tools they can use to keep their herds and workers healthy and reduce risk of the virus spreading to additional herds. These financial tools include supporting biosecurity planning and implementation; reimbursing producers for veterinary costs associated with sample collection for H5N1 testing, and offsetting shipping costs for influenza A testing at laboratories in the National Animal Health Laboratory Network.
HPAI has not been detected in the region served by this newsletter (NY, MA, CT). A map of states that have detected HPAI in livestock can be found at this link.
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Job Opportunities
Livestock work
LIVESTOCK FARM HAND Glynwood Center | Cold Spring, NY
Full Time $25-28/hr
SEASONAL FARMHAND Grand Cru Farm | Stockton, NJ
Full Time $20-25/hr
FORAGE AND LIVESTOCK MANAGER Sankow's Beaver Brook Farm | Lyme, CT
Salaried $35,568 - $50,000
ASSISTANT LIVESTOCK MANAGER Land Steward Farms | Beekman, NY
Salaried $55,500 - $65,000
Meat processing work
MEAT CUTTER/PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Short Creek Meats | Kennebunk, ME
Full Time $17-20/hr
BUTCHER'S APPRENTICE/SAUSAGE MAKER Short Creek Meats | Kennebunk, ME
Full Time $18-20/hr
BUTCHER'S APPRENTICE Hudson & Charles Grass -Fed Meats | New York, NY
Full Time $15-20/hr
APPRENTICE WHOLE ANIMAL BUTCHER Darke Pines | Jersey City, NJ
Salaried $35,568 - $50,000
CHEF BUTCHER IN TRAINING Dundore and Heister | Wyomissing, PA
Full Time $15-20/hr
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Freezer Space Available for Local Food Businesses
WALDEN NORTHEAST COLD STORAGE
Boston area pallet spaces available at Walden Northeast Cold Storage. Minimum 1 pallet. Centrally located off of I-495 and I-93.
Pallet rates:
$40/month storage
$40/month handling
Pick rate:
$0.40/case
Dock hours:
Monday to Friday 7:30am-3:30pm
Weekend pickups can be scheduled with a $150/work hour surcharge.
WOVEN STARS FARM
Freezer rental space available in Ghent, NY. Rates are roughly $25 per 7 ft stack or 32,000 sq inches per month. Flexible access hours. Reach out if interested! Contact wovenstarsfarm@gmail.com.
SAW KILL FARM
Michael Grady Robinson has a 12x12 freezer
available for rent in Red Hook, NY. Contact mgr77@cornell.edu
Warehouse/Office Space for Lease
Myers Produce recently moved into the former Food Bank of Western Mass facility in Hatfield, MA, and has some additional warehouse and office space available for lease.
Myers Produce is a woman-owned, certified organic regional distributor and trucking company offering year-round distribution, freight, and cold storage services for Northeast grown food producers delivering throughout the Northeast including Boston, NYC, VT, and the Cape and Islands.
Here is the LoopNet listing and property flyer for the available space (the building allows R&D, food and dairy processing, warehousing and general manufacturing). Spaces can be rented together or separately. The 8,946 sq ft dry warehouse has pallet racking available (currently disassembled) and includes a 720 sq ft walk-in cooler. Additional ambient, refrigerated, and frozen storage can be rented by the pallet, and freight and cross-docking services are also available.
Contact hello@myersproduce.com for additional information.
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Berkshire Agricultural Ventures acknowledges that we live and work on the unceded land of the Mohican, Munsee Lenape, and other Indigenous peoples. We recognize that the United States was built on stolen land and that all systems in this country are built on the stolen labor of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and other people of color.
You can read BAV's full statement on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging here.
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