Forty acres sounds like a lot until you try to run it well. A year in, here is what this ground has taught us.
Lesson one, the pasture is the product
We thought we were raising pigs and chickens. We were actually managing grass. Every good thing on this farm, the meat quality, the egg yolks, the animal health, traces back to whether the pasture is thriving. Overgraze a paddock and you pay for it for two seasons.
Lesson two, move animals sooner than feels necessary
Every rotation mistake we made was waiting too long. The right time to move is while the ground still looks fine. By the time it looks bad, the damage is done.
Lesson three, water infrastructure is worth every dollar
We hauled water by hand far longer than we should have. Time spent building better water access pays back within one season, in labor and in animal performance.
Lesson four, small batches beat big plans
We could raise more animals than we do. We choose not to. Batch sizes we can genuinely manage well produce better food than a scaled up operation we would only manage adequately. That is a business decision and it costs us revenue, and we would make it again.
Lesson five, customers want the truth
The single most successful thing we have done is answer questions honestly. Whether the birds are vaccinated. When the meat was frozen. Why something is sold out. Why we do not ship. Nobody has ever gotten upset with a straight answer.
Lesson six, seasonality is not a flaw
Eggs slow down in winter. Chicken comes in batches. Honey harvests once or twice a year. We stopped apologizing for that. It is what real food from one piece of ground looks like.
What we are changing
Thank you
Everything here gets bought by neighbors in Beaver County, Butler County, and around Pittsburgh who decided to buy food from a family instead of a warehouse. That is the only reason this works.
Bryant Creek Heights is owner-operated by Michael Bryant in Conway, Pennsylvania. Local pickup only.
