The last few weeks have been crazy ones on the farm, so I need to let you all know how things stand on inventory and ordering.

But before that, I want to thank you all for your orders. It is good to know that so many people turn to us to put food on their family table. In times of quarantine, food is probably the third most important priority for folks, at least according to my informal surveying. Apparently the new Maslovian hierarchy for people stuck in their houses looks something like:

1. Toilet paper
2. Netflix
3. Food

If we can’t be number one, at least we’re in the top three.

Order volumes have been running about five times higher than they were this time last month. We’re doing everything we can to keep up with the pace of orders, and we’ve been putting plans together to ensure that we can keep you supplied.

The rush to get orders out the door has exposed some weaknesses in my setup. Some of the weaknesses are just due to the cramped packing space that prevents me from being efficient. But most of the weaknesses are the ones I bring. Too much of the system depends on me being sharp while focusing on too many details. If my customer service responses haven’t been spectacular, or if I’ve made stupid errors in packing orders, I apologize. The past days have given me some good ideas for ways to do things more efficiently and more effectively, and I expect that the lessons learned will continue to help improve the order packing and delivery system.

Here are a few notes on inventory:

1. Beef inventory is the strongest. Pork is also in pretty good shape. Different cuts may go in and out of stock temporarily. We sometimes have more in our second freezer, but we don’t always have the time to pack orders while also ensuring that all the shelves in the packing freezer stay fully stocked.
2. Chicken may run out this week. We have more in cold storage, but we haven’t yet been able to schedule a time to retrieve it. At the current sales pace, even after we restock, we will eventually run out of chicken before the 2020 batches are available. We raise chickens on pasture for their health, and in order for them to get the benefit of green grass, we can’t raise chickens year round in our climate. We are planning on ramping up the number of chickens this spring.
3. Ground turkey supplies are strong. We hope to have some turkey breasts listed online within the next week (just as soon as we get them back here in our freezer), so even if we are out of chicken breasts there will be some turkey breasts as an alternative.

Thanks. Be well.