Nothing like that so far this winter (knock on wood). Things are humming along smoothly at the farm. We only have two bottle calves at the moment and we just sold about ten cows. Chores, milking and all around farm activity are going well (and faster since we don’t have to keep moving snow).  A fellow dairy farmer wife, FarmersWife30, wrote about how hard it has been to blog this winter without all the snow “excitement.” I agree. It is hard when each day is nearly the same: Feed animals, milk cows, move cow poop, break for lunch, then feed animals, milk cows and move more poop.

So no news is good news here at Zweber Farms. To keep our minds nimble, Tim has started a large Tic-Tac-Toe board on the barn door window. Each time one of us passes it, we add an X or O. We will see who wins!

Emily

Cream Chicken and Tomato Soup Recipe

• 3 cups cooked Roasted Zweber Farms Chicken, chopped
• 2 tbsp Organic Valley butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilis
• 1 tbsp sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup Organic Valley heavy cream or whole milk
• cilantro and Organic Valley sour cream for garnish

Melt butter in large dutch oven and sauté the onion and chicken for 5 minutes, until onion is tender.

Add the chicken broth and tomatoes. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the sugar, salt and pepper. Swirl in the cream.

Serve with a spoon full of sour cream and chopped cilantro.

This was super simple. While the soup was simmering, I whipped up a batch of miniature corn bread muffins. The muffins only took 15 minutes to bake, so everything was done at the same time. Creamy chicken and tomato soup and corn bread in less than 30 minutes. Got to love that.

Hop on over to Hunk of Meat Monday to see what others have on their plates this week.

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Organic Milk Shortage Sign

One of our Twitter followers said this:

FoodFightersUS I’ve just been reading @ the organic milk shortage. Had not noticed much until today-I checked 2 DC Whole Foods & found zero organic cream?

This isn’t just an Organic Valley problem, or a regional problem, it is a complete shortage of organic milk from every brand nation wide.

So what is the deal? There is a shortage of feed. We don’t have to look far to know that this is the truth. On our farm we raise about 40% of our feed needs and buy another 60%. In our urban area there isn’t much land to go around. We would love to grow more, but it is a constant battle to rent enough ground.

Currently, conventional crop prices are record highs. This is due partly to demand (ethanol and overseas markets) and partly low supply (drought in the South). Growing organic crops is tough. It is more paperwork, more fees (organic certification costs) and a lot more work. I completely understand when crop farmers switch back from organic to conventional. Why would they want all the hassle when conventional corn is very profitable?

So when conventional crop prices are high, organic land gets switched back to conventional, lowering the organic crop supply and raising organic crop prices. Also, when crop prices are up, more land that would normally be put into hay is put into grain. Again, lowering organic hay supply and raising organic hay prices. Once land goes back to conventional it is at least three years until it can be organic again.

In farming we always talk about margins: what is our net, what will be left after we pay all the bills. Even though our pay price per hundred weight of milk (how milk is priced) is higher than conventional, our margins are lower. ie It takes more money to produce a gallon of organic milk.

So why don’t the organic milk company’s raise pay price? Good question. They are. Organic Valley farmers voted to raise pay prices this fall. But we walk a fine line. Higher pay prices for farmers usually equal high retail price. My mom said  Organic Valley milk is at $7.99/gallon at her local grocery store. How much higher are customers willing to pay? We are just recovering from one of the largest economic downturns. Also just under a year ago, there was an abundance of organic milk. There was so much milk, many regions were still on a quota (only could produce so much without a penalty).

On our farm, we are feeling the shortage of feed. Currently, we are selling cows. Thankfully, beef prices are high right now. That means we are culling (selling for beef) our low producing cows. The goal is to try to make the herd as efficient as possible on the feed we do have. Also, our steers are not being fed organic feed. We have never certified them as organic, but they usually eat the same organic feed as the cows. We cannot afford it now. Saving all the quality organic feed for our cows is a priority. We don’t want to loose our certification.

I think many organic farmers are doing exactly what we are doing. Heavy culling is taking place and the hunt for feed is wide spread. Jon and Tim have been searching for affordable feed since late summer, when we realized we would have a shortage.

So the moral of the story? Keep buying organic milk when you can. If consumers continue to signal that they are willing to pay the price, cooperatives will be able to raise farmer pay price, then more farmers will continue to milk organic cows, which will entice more grain farmers to grow organic grains and hopefully lower organic grain prices.

One our Facebook fans wrote this on our page:

I believe that part of consuming responsibly is understanding that you can’t always get what you want when you want it. Everything is cyclical – there are periods of abundance and periods of scarcity, and if we could get back to an acceptance of that, perhaps we could solve some other problems as well. Hope all is well on your beautiful farm!

We thank everyone for their loyal support! It is you that make farmer owned cooperatives like Organic Valley continue to thrive. Hopefully this organic milk shortage will not last long and the milk, cream and cheese you are looking for at the store is always in supply.

Ingredients:

• 6-bone in Zweber Farms pork chops (about $7.00)
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced (organic $.33)
• 1/4 vinegar (I used malt vinegar, but you can use any kind of white) ($.66)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon honey (organic $.37)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce ($.13)
• 1/2 cup ketchup (organic $.38)
• 1 teaspoon pepper (organic $.88)
• Dash of cayenne pepper (organic $.50)

Mix all ingredients together. To make in the crock pot pour sauce over pork chops and cook on low for 6-8 hours. To make in oven: oven to 350, place pork chops in a 11×15 sheet pan , pour sauce over chops and bake for 30-45 minutes.

I paired this meal with organic long grain white rice ($.50/serving), organic mixed veggies ($1.88/serving) and of course a glass of Organic Valley milk ($.50/serving).  Total cost was: $4.50 per serving.

This meal was super simple, super yummy and super inexpensive. Now that is Affordable organics!

We had a record of over 60 inches of snow. The cows could walk right over the fences. Remember when they took for a walk in the woods?

When we had all that rain! We never thought we would get corn planted. In the summer came the extreme temps and sever storms. Remember when Tim took this picture minutes before a tornado touched down?

Sam winning Grand Champion at fair

The summer was filled with exciting events. Hannah was born and Sam won Grand Champion at our county fair. She then went win Honorable Mention at the State Fair.

BigFoot At World Dairy Expo-The Boy's Favorite Stop

Hannah being a beach bum on vacation this year

It wasn’t all work and no play. We went on a short vacation and then headed to World Dairy Expo in October.

Don’t forget all the funny stories about our pigs and chickens throughout the year.

It was a very memorable year. Thank you for making it so wonderful.

Happy New Year!

The Zwebers

click for source

This year Organic Valley is celebrating the International Year of Cooperatives. The United Nations has designated 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes,

“Cooperatives are a reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility. “

That is exactly what Organic Valley set out to do 25 years ago. Back then, the cooperatives founders wanted to make organic farming both economically viable for its members while at the same time improving the community and world around them. Now with over 1600 plus farmers owners in the United States and Canada, I think OV is doing a great job on both accounts. It is the number one reason we chose to go with Organic Valley when we first went organic. A company owned by farmers and for farmers is important to us.

Would you like a free Organic Valley 2012 calendar, coupons and swag? The prize is a $30 value ($15 in coupons). Tell us how you work or play cooperatively or support cooperatives in your area . Do you carpool to work? Have a community garden? Support local farmers working in cooperatives? Teach cooperation to your children or students?

Rules:

• Leave a comment on this page about how you work or play cooperatively or support cooperatives in your area. Comments should be no longer than 20 words in length.
• Comments need to be received by 11:59p.m. central standard time on January 2nd.
• Winners will be chosen on creativity and originality.
• Winners will be chosen by our family.
• Winners will be contacted by January 3rd, by emailing the account associated with the comment.
• Disclaimer: Yes, we are OV farmer owners, so we have an interest in Organic Valley and its brand. Please void where prohibited.

Pretty certain there were not any Holsteins bunking up in the manager with our Lord, but Erik looks pretty cute during dress rehearsal.

taken on my crummy phone camera

Set in the 1950′s, the story is about a dairy farm family celebrating Christmas Eve. The family must go to the barn to do chores and milk the cows, so that Santa has a chance to visit their house. The children are quick to do their chores and are greeted with simple, but meaningful presents when they are done.

I smile at all the ways Santa finds his ways to farm families. We are still trying to figure out how Santa is going to visit us this year. Will he visit our house? Or the farm (since Daddy will be doing chores and we open presents there)?

Two years ago, I learned that the author of this book, Gordon Fredrickson, was going to be doing readings at our county fair. Tim and I decided to take the boys to go meet the author. We instantly connected with Gordon and his wife Nancy. We learned that they do not live too far from us and they went to high school with some of Jon’s sisters.

I now consider the Fredrickson’s friends. They even have taken pictures of our pigs to use in one of their latest books. Gordon’s “If I were a Farmer” series books are actuate, educational and fun books about modern agriculture.

Farm book lovers both young and not so young with enjoy Gordon Fredrickson’s books. He even signs all the books he sells and has free shipping. Do  you live in Minnesota? Invite Gordon to your school, church group, library, etc for a reading. His presentations are perfect for children. Visit his website for more information.

Disclaimer: I was not paid or compensated for writing this blog. I just love these books.

click for source

Ham on Christmas has always been a tradition of ours. Everyone comes back to the farm for Christmas. And by everyone, I mean EVERYONE. Aunts, uncles, cousins, children of cousins all come; about 50 plus people gather to celebrate. Hams are a fuss free and delicious way to feed a large (or smaller) group. If you ordered a smoked ham from Zweber Farms, it is already cooked and you could eat it cold. If you would like to reheat it before you serve, visit the USDA website for details. USDA Ham and Food Safety

Here is a great video from eHowfood. The video shows how to prep the a ham for cooking, shows a simple glaze recipe and how to carve a ham.

Our family wishes you and your family a Merry Christmas.

The boys goofing around in front of tree

The Zwebers

Two weeks ago I made an amazing, but simple recipe from her Everyday Italian cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Chicken, cut into 6 pieces (I used Zweber Farms of course)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Whisk the first six ingredients together

Pour over chicken pieces. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast the chicken uncovered until cooked through, about 45 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Carefully pour the cooking liquid into a small, heavy saucepan and spoon off the excess oil from atop the cooking liquid. Boil until the liquid reduces by about half and thickens slightly, about 8 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle parsley and lemon zest over the chicken and serve.

This was fabulous!! Serve with mixed greens salad, brown rice and a cold glass of Organic Valley milk.