i raised hogs last year because i lucked out and scored 4 tons of organic granola. a friend's gluten free food company had to dispose of the cereal because it turned out to be contaminated with some chunks of plastic from a broken piece of equipment at the manufacturer. fortunately i had the means by which to unload and store half ton bags of granola...a mini excavator and a barn. i'm back in the hog business!
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the reason i stopped raising pigs years ago is the cost of feed. ideally pigs get really big really fast. you just have to keep them bathed in feed. but if you're buying bulk feed for small scale hog production the #'s just don't pencil out when you can go to the supermarket and buy $2/pound pork. recently i saw locally raised lamb for sale at over $20/pound and whole local frozen chicken for @$35 a bird. i know these local farmers aren't getting rich. but if i can buy seven skagit valley raised chickens for the price of one san juan island raised chicken...i'm just not going there farming-wise if the #'s don't add up.
my li'l buddies piggin out on granola
which brings me to the subject of san juan county and the critical areas ordinance (CAO). see i would like to raise hogs again without having to spend an arm and a leg for feed (4 tons of free organic granola is most likely not in my future but my fingers are crossed). so i have this somewhat moronic idea of raising free range hogs. i'd like to take one of our horse pastures, plow it over and raise a crop of something that will fatten up a half dozen hogs fast...like maybe soybeans. just let the piglets go out there and eat up the whole crop.
pigs on horse pasture. they need something with more protein... maybe soybeans???
on page 30, table 3.8, section 'e' of the latest draft of the CAO it says concerning "activities allowed in wetland buffers..."
"...New and expanding agricultural activities which are consistent with appropriate best management practices (BMPs) as determined by the Director..."
there's more but i think i get the point. the proposed CAO is going to give the county discretion over my farming decisions. they are proposing that if i want to change activities the county will have to approve it...or not (my property has lots of wet land). i can see it now...'so that crazy farmer ibold comes in and wants to plow/grow soy beans/raise hogs within a wet land buffer...haha...dumb idea farmer ibold, the county says stick with horses...'
i say bullshit. my wife and i worked our asses off in seattle for years, listened to the hum of I-5 traffic 24/7, built a successful business and sold it so we could buy a small farm on san juan. a dream come true!!! now some bureaucrats want to scrutinize my (maybe dumb) farming decisions? hell no. absurd. make it right or you're all fired. sincerely, jay ibold
ps also absurd... there's a public comment meeting 8:45am this coming tuesday at the grange. if you have a comment to submit the county would like you to submit no less than 14 COPIES of your comment. it is indeed a return to the dark ages. Steve Jobs RIP, your device of wonder never made it to our local gov.
"...New and expanding agricultural activities which are consistent with appropriate best management practices (BMPs) as determined by the Director..."
there's more but i think i get the point. the proposed CAO is going to give the county discretion over my farming decisions. they are proposing that if i want to change activities the county will have to approve it...or not (my property has lots of wet land). i can see it now...'so that crazy farmer ibold comes in and wants to plow/grow soy beans/raise hogs within a wet land buffer...haha...dumb idea farmer ibold, the county says stick with horses...'
i say bullshit. my wife and i worked our asses off in seattle for years, listened to the hum of I-5 traffic 24/7, built a successful business and sold it so we could buy a small farm on san juan. a dream come true!!! now some bureaucrats want to scrutinize my (maybe dumb) farming decisions? hell no. absurd. make it right or you're all fired. sincerely, jay ibold
ps also absurd... there's a public comment meeting 8:45am this coming tuesday at the grange. if you have a comment to submit the county would like you to submit no less than 14 COPIES of your comment. it is indeed a return to the dark ages. Steve Jobs RIP, your device of wonder never made it to our local gov.
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