{"id":3379,"date":"2009-09-18T03:32:08","date_gmt":"2009-09-18T03:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pheasant1.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=3379"},"modified":"2024-08-02T17:19:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T17:19:30","slug":"running-our-farm-as-a-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pheasant.com\/about-us\/blog\/running-our-farm-as-a-business","title":{"rendered":"Running Our Farm as a Business"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I\u2019ve got an issue that, at times, really frustrates me.\u00a0 But I hesitate to write about it because it sounds whiny.\u00a0 But in today\u2019s game bird market conditions \u2013 the issue is confronting me so often \u2013 I\u2019m writing about it \u2013 here goes.<\/p>\n

We make it so easy for people to get into the game bird business.\u00a0 We sell people chicks and tell them to raise the birds.\u00a0 It’s part of our (and many other game bird farms) business model to get others into the business.\u00a0\u00a0 And if we didn\u2019t sell others their chicks, there still are hundreds other farms that would.<\/p>\n

But many of the very people we assist in getting into business, become our competitors.<\/p>\n

Preserves often tell me that their #1 expense is buying birds.\u00a0 Obviously, preserves want well-feathered, weather conditioned, fully mature birds.\u00a0 Preserves know that we and other long-standing game bird producers can supply what they want.\u00a0\u00a0 But it\u2019s common for a new supplier (one that we helped get into the business) to approach our established preserve customers with an offer to sell birds at a reduced price.\u00a0 As one of these new producers explained to me once, why would a preserve even talk to him about buying birds except if the price was lower?\u00a0 He went on to explain that the preserves are happy with MacFarlane\u2019s birds \u2013 and there is no entry point for a new supplier except for the price.<\/p>\n

I spoke to a new producer last week \u2013 both he and his wife have full time jobs outside of their game bird venture.\u00a0 He has no hired help whatsoever.\u00a0 He buys his chicks from an established game\u00a0bird farm<\/a>\u00a0(one with a good genetic line of pheasants \u2013 well established).\u00a0 He buys his feed from the feed company most well known in our area.\u00a0 His pens are built on specs well known in our industry.\u00a0 And he is selling his mature pheasants at $1.50 less per bird than we are.\u00a0 And he told me he is making a profit. I asked if he included any labor cost in the cost of production calculation, and he said \u201cno, I don\u2019t have any hired labor.\u201d<\/p>\n

I guess it just comes down to us making it clear to the preserves what we can provide, not only with the birds, but support, expertise, extra birds in a good season, etc. etc.<\/p>\n

Like I said an the outset of this days notes \u2013 I\u2019m not sure where to go with this \u2013 but in today\u2019s economic times \u2013 with our farm looking at trying to break even this year (vs. lose money like we did in 2008) it\u2019s frustrating to see competitors spring up selling at cut rate prices \u2013 and realize we can\u2019t do anything about it.<\/p>\n

-Sarah Pope<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve got an issue that, at times, really frustrates me.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-farm-management"],"yoast_head":"\nRunning Our Farm as a Business | Pheasant.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pheasant.com\/about-us\/blog\/running-our-farm-as-a-business\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Running Our Farm as a Business | Pheasant.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019ve got an issue that, at 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