Farming Like the Future Depends on It

I'll be straight with you: there's always that moment this time of year when I question my sanity.

It's peak season, and we're out here juggling flaming pitchforks. We're moving 12,000 chickens across our pastures – that's a lot of mobile coops to shift to fresh grass every single day. We've just received a group of young heifers who need settling in. We're cutting hay (praying the rain holds off). And if that wasn't enough, our first flock of sheep arrives in late summer, which means 60 acres of fencing and water lines that need finishing yesterday.

It's that time of year when we farmers sync up with the circadian rhythms whether we like it or not. With the summer solstice bearing down on us, the daylight just won't quit. There are days when I'm covered in dirt, sweat, and things I'd rather not mention, wondering why I traded a steady paycheck and climate control for this beautiful chaos.

But then I remember – this isn't just a career. It's a calling.

Here's what really gets me:In the last 42 years, we've lost 91% of pig farmers. NINETY-ONE PERCENT. Gone. Along with 89% of dairy farmers and half our cattle ranchers. The average farmer left standing? Nearly 60 years old.

Maybe that's why we bite off more than we can chew. We're not just farming – we're fighting to prove there's another way. A way that doesn't end with empty barns and corporate monopolies.

Despite everything on our plate, I've been traveling these past few weeks, visiting other regenerative farms across the country – learning their techniques, sharing what works, building the networks that Big Ag destroyed. Because here's the truth: we only survive this by sticking together. And while I'm out there building these connections, Sam and Eliza, our kids, are back home moving chicken coops at dawn, stringing fence lines, keeping everything running. They're living proof that the next generation can farm differently. They're the revolution Big Ag never saw coming.

But it wouldn't be possible without you.

This incredible community of farmers, customers, and believers in better food – you're the ones who keep us going when the work feels endless. You're not just buying groceries. You're fighting back against a system designed to eliminate small farmers. Every order you place, every meal you share, you're voting for a system where soil gets healthier, not sicker. Where chickens can be chickens. Where young farmers have a fighting chance.

The daylight won't quit this time of year, and neither will we.

Your (slightly sleep-deprived but defiant) farmer,
Cody