Five Acre Farms

02/26/2026

A Class A Truck Driver position is available in Salem, NY, offering up to $110,000 annually with weekly home time and comprehensive benefits. The role requires driving into the NYC metro area, 1-2 overnights per week, and assisting with unloading. View the full listing and apply at Indeed.

https://www.indeed.com/job/truck-driver-class-6cd41bc0026a6be9

01/28/2025

Egg Matters - Part 3 in a series

At this point, most Americans have noticed that there is something going on with . Prices have soared and shelves are bare. Many are still blaming Bidenomics, others blame Bill Gates. Some blame questionable chicken feed. The anti-misinformation website Snopes even took the time to refute a story that anti-theft locks have been put on egg cartons. Things feel topsy-turvy with eggs, but what’s actually going on?

The real story is that it’s been another challenging stretch for birds in the United States. The continues to spread throughout the country. It has now raced out of California and is heading east. Most notably, Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio have confirmed cases and euthanized laying hens. Counties throughout Pennsylvania are reporting flu in the wild populations and are doubling down on biosecurity measures.

Some basics:

The typical laying hen population in the United States is usually between 300 and 340 million birds. 340 is pretty high and 300 is pretty low. Before this wave of flu hit the chicken populations, there were 305 million birds, so the bird populations were very low before this started. Since October, 30 million birds have been euthanized, putting today’s egg-laying population at about 275 million: super low.

Within the US, eggs can then be divided into two: conventional and specialty (considered higher quality). Conventional eggs are from birds kept in small cages and specialty are chickens raised by organic standards, cage-free, and free range. Conventional eggs are almost always less expensive and are usually white. A further divide is between the East Coast and West Coast. The coasts normally have a small price differential of .50 cents to a dollar, with the West Coast almost always higher by that amount.

As supplies have dropped and demand has stayed consistent – people still want eggs – prices have spiked. Fear of further spread of the flu, and thus more farms culling sick birds, has sent prices even higher. This part is Economics 101: as supply goes down, price usually goes up.

However, the market has turned upside down: because of the culling from bird flu (particularly hitting the conventional market), the egg market has inverted. Regular white eggs have soared in price and become more expensive than specialty eggs. What happened?

Cafes, diners, restaurants and hotels – places that have a lot of menu items that call for eggs – make up the largest segment of the conventional egg market. With Avian Flu hitting conventional farms in California particularly hard, typical conventional buyers have now started buying specialty eggs to make up for short fall. Bigger demand for specialty eggs has then driven those prices up as well. Because this is a supply problem at its core, prices have continued to spiral up. Typical wholesale prices might be $1.30 to $2.25 per dozen. Today, East Coast eggs are selling for $6.50 and West coast prices over $8.80. So not only are prices sky high, but the spread between the two coasts has widened abnormally.

Here is a basic description of how the egg supply chain works. Within the farm community that raises laying hens, you have three types of farms generally speaking: 1) the incubators and hatcheries. These farms produce chicks and then sell the chicks to …, 2) the farms that raise chicks until they start laying eggs consistently – somewhere between 13 and 17 weeks. Finally, the egg farms (birds 14 weeks and older). These are the farmers that we all get our eggs from. Typically, farms get new birds when the birds get between 55 and 75 weeks old, depending on their operation and then start the cycle anew. Thus, If it takes a chick 16 weeks to become ready for laying, the minimum order time for new layers coming on line would be four months from the hatchery.

And all three markets need to be in sync. Not always so easy when a pandemic makes protecting these birds a bigger challenge.

So what’s the takeaway here?

The egg problem we see now across the US is at its root, a supply problem and the infrastructure that raises eggs is trying to respond. But unless you predicted this was coming and ordered more birds ahead of time and have managed to keep your flocks safe, this problem may last for a few more months.

https://www.fiveacrefarms.com/egg-matters-part-3/

01/10/2025

Milk Matters | Part 2 of a Series: Milk and Avian Flu

Raw milk is in the news these days for a few reasons.

- RFK Jr.
- Avian Flu
- Romanticization of raw milk by legacy media, holistic medicine influencers, and French food lovers (Okay, this is snarky, but kind of true).

First and foremost, is raw milk safe? This question is at the center of the debate. In my mind, it raises a basic question about public health policy. This asks, should the government have laws that protect the overwhelming majority of the population against potential problems with milk? If you say yes, the case for greatly reducing access to raw milk is overwhelming.

Some claim that raw milk, when continually tested, is safe, and because it hasn’t been cooked (pasteurized), it has additional health qualities. Addressing the first point that raw milk is safe sounds good in a classroom but much like an old table saw with no safety features, one would never let the inexperienced near it. Some would let no one near it.

Raw milk proponents extol its healthful virtues, yet as of today, there is no peer-reviewed evidence that raw milk carries greater health benefits than pasteurized milk. This is frustrating to the nontraditional medical community, but it is true.
There is a growing voice in American society that doesn’t want rules dictated to them, and raw milk has fit neatly into this movement. Sadly, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and general distrust of the intentions of the research community underplays the perils in raw milk. The recent findings that avian flu survives and thrives in raw milk only make this point clearer.

I have nothing against raw milk, per se. I do take issue with any attempts to minimize its potential problems. Access to raw milk is regulated on a state-by-state basis and anyone who buys it should do research to gain absolute certainty about where it’s from, how it has been handled, and the temperatures at which it has been stored. RFK Jr. may personally like raw milk, which is his choice, but his ideas have no place in public policy, and show an astounding disregard for public safety.

Government food safety laws should continue to protect the majority of the population against potentially dangerous bacterial infections in milk. Avian flu survives and thrives in raw milk. It dies in pasteurization. TB, Listeria, EColi all thrive in raw milk. They die in pasteurization. No matter how much holistic “wellness” influencers, possible incoming Administration members, or the media ignore this with romanticized ideas of pre-industrial farming practices, pasteurization maintains milk’s nutrition and makes milk safer. We need to move past this subject in public policy discussions.

01/10/2025

Milk Matters | Part 1 of a Series on Milk and Avian Flu

The public health story here should be that the heavily regulated milk industry and all its attending milk processing laws are working incredibly effectively. There are no known cases of a person getting sick from the avian flu from drinking pasteurized milk. Testing began six months ago and since then, no pasteurized milk has been found to have the flu variant.

Recently, the avian flu H5N1 has been found in cows in California, and the governor has declared a state of emergency. The avian flu has also been found in birds and some mammals in many parts of the country. The variant’s destruction of the bird population has been immense, but not widely reported, in my view. The variant’s appearance in milk is a valid concern to NIH researchers and food safety groups because when milk is left raw – unpasteurized – H5N1 remains alive. Dairy is one of the essential foods of the US and in fact the world.

However, how concerning is this for American consumers of milk?

Three questions:

How safe is milk and can we monitor for contamination?
What happens to farm workers who come into contact with the strain?
What happens to the cows?
Quick answers:

Pasteurization works. Pasteurized milk is safe
The number of workers infected is low and thus far treatable
Cows can be treated and unlike birds, not euthanized
Thankfully, because of pasteurization, despite the presence of H5N1 in some dairy cows in California, our milk supply to date has been proven safe. Pasteurization works. There are no known cases of a person getting sick from the avian flu from drinking pasteurized milk.

Pasteurization works for many dangerous pathogens. E.coli ran through apple juice and cider in the early 1990’s and the resulting safety response was to pasteurize cider. The problem disappeared. Some special-interest groups don’t like pasteurization laws; However, personal choice is made for one’s body or on behalf of one’s family. Public policy is about the best health outcomes for a wide population. The two are not the same. Conflating personal choice and public policy makes bad public policy. Good science and plans that can be implemented across varied demographics and behaviors make good policy.

When reporting on public health issues, the media must put aside biases for and against farming practices like large-scale operations. Their reporting needs to include context like raw milk is a tiny fraction of milk consumed. Responsible coverage should also include systemic risks and contingency plans. In this particular instance, the milk industry is well positioned. Milk is under rigorous and continuous testing, which makes adding variants to the test not difficult and easily executed.

Takeaways from this topic: There should be no panic. Pasteurization has shown to be effective against H5N1 and the US system of processing and monitoring milk is good public policy. The subject and science are complex and headlines that blur other agendas with this topic are decidedly unhelpful. Over 99% of all milk consumed in the US is pasteurized.

09/17/2024

Sunday, September 22nd from 2-5 p.m. at
Waldingfield Farm in Washington, CT

Savor local food, enjoy a special cocktail from Litchfield Distillery, and join the farmers on a tour of Waldingfield Farm's organic vegetable fields with a scenic view of the Litchfield Hills. Love the Land is a memorable experience and fundraiser to support CT farms and farmers. Bring a friend or two!
https://ctfarmland.org/site/love-the-land/

08/08/2024

What an incredible time at Bozzuto's 2024 Merchandising Marketplace Trade Show at Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino! 🎉 Congratulations to the Bozzuto’s team and fellow food suppliers for making this an excellent event. 🧀🌱 Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth to learn about high-quality buttermilk and kefir and made the event a success! Special note to our partner RDD for their assistance.🙌

07/04/2024

We're honored to be part of The White Hart Inn experience! 🌟

Chef Paul Pearson at The White Hart Inn highlights our Five Acre Farms dairy products, praising our milk's rich and sweet flavor. Our commitment to quality and sustainability makes every sip of his cappuccinos truly exceptional. Support local farms and enjoy the best in dairy with Five Acre Farms, where every product is crafted with care and sourced within 275 miles.

See what else is on Chef Pearson's radar here: https://litchfieldmagazine.com/onourradar/paul-pearson-of-the-white-hart-inn/

My name is Paul Pearson, and I’m the chef at the White Hart Inn on the Green in Salisbury. I’m originally from York, England, where I trained in various hotels and restaurants before setting sail for Bermuda, and from there to the U.S. I landed a job at Blantyre in Lenox, where I met my wife. Ev...

12/13/2023

https://issuu.com/themountains/docs/the_mountains_3e132e07567a54/8
Check Out the latest issue of The Mountains with a profile on our CEO, Dan Horan
See Pages 52-53

11/10/2023

Could this be the best chicken recipe ever?

This recipe, adapted from Samin Nosrat's "Salt Fat Acid Heat," is inspired by the Southern grandma method of marinating chicken overnight in buttermilk before frying it.