The Henderson's Homestead

09/04/2026

3 years of improving the farm- this time using animals.

09/02/2026

We are intentionally raising a slower growing meat chicken because the conventional meat chicken breeds can grow so big that their legs could break.
🐷Same with our pigs, they are a mix of heritage breeds that are slower growing.

08/29/2026

Life on the farm this summer
We are picking out cabinets and scheduling the rough inspection for the house
We got another batch of meat chickens plus olive eggers for our egg laying flock
We pick up our heifer Darla from hanging out with her new boyfriend
Pigs being pigs🙃

08/24/2026

Lots of beef talk recently, perfect time to support local! 🥩🇺🇸 we are currently working on growing our herd to offer beef shares in the future

🥩 American-raised beef is more sought after than ever, yet it is also more scarce and challenging to grow, process, and sell. However, here in South Jersey, we have a plan!

Since the 2026 Farmers Summit, we have engaged with ranchers to understand their needs for successful local beef production. The feedback was clear: ranchers need education, a network, access to affordable supplies and feed, veterinary care, land, and distribution. We set out to address these needs.

Over the past five months, we have consulted and partnered with leading experts and collaborated with various groups that play a vital role in this success formula, including USDA experts, ranchers, processors, fabricators, and distributors.

We are proud to announce the first-ever South Jersey Cattleman’s Co-op! Our co-op will launch on October 8, 2026, with our first Kickoff+Workshop event at Coombs Barnyard in Elmer NJ. We will introduce the cooperative, explain how to become a member, highlight the benefits of joining, and share our vision for South Jersey to become the leading beef producer in the region. Post-introduction, we will also host an open Q&A session with our leadership committee to discuss the plan for success for all ranchers in this region, from education through processing, fabrication, and distribution of their products.

Then, we will continue with the first of many educational sessions; October’s program will focus on bovine nutrition, pasture health, and proper growth led by generational rancher Mr. Grant Harris and nutrition expert Dr. Everett Hopper. Following this event, upcoming sessions will be announced and will cover genetics, finance, marketing (to name a few)!

This initiative allows ranchers to focus on their business and raising healthy, high-quality cattle, while our partners concentrate on distributing the first-ever Certified South Jersey Beef!

Be a part of this movement from Day 1 and attend the official kickoff and workshop event! RSVP here: https://www.southjerseypreservation.com/event-details-registration/the-south-jersey-cattlemans-cooperative

For more program information, see our website here: https://www.southjerseypreservation.com/southjerseybeef

Eat Local. Ranch Local. Support Local.

Be part of the movement.
SOUTH JERSEY BEEF

*South Jersey region includes the following counties: Salem, Gloucester, Cumberland, Cape May, Atlantic, Camden, Burlington, Ocean.

08/21/2026

Earlier today President Trump posted that he will be importing 300,000 tons of ground beef from other countries to sell at a discounted price than current markets.

Cheaper prices sound like a good thing but let’s be clear that American farmers are not thrilled about this.
If Trump really wanted to lower beef prices he would support legislation that allows local slaughterhouses to butcher and sell individual cuts of meat directly to consumers, restaurants, and grocery stores. Instead there are four meat processors that control 85% of the market in America.

Some background about why beef prices have sky rocketed. In 2023, there was a Ponzi scheme that involved hundreds of millions of dollars and “ghost cattle”. Look up https://www.wsj.com/finance/cattle-empire-ponzi-scheme-3d245791 Cattle take 2 years to reach market weight so that’s why we are now feeling the effects of lack of supply.
There is also a screw worm outbreak in Mexico so we are no longer importing beef from Mexico.

08/21/2026

No cow-calf producer in America is asking for increased imports. Undercutting American farmers and ranchers with products from foreign competitors does nothing to create market confidence or encourage rebuilding the herd.

For the second time in less than 12 months, the Trump Administration is intervening in markets in an attempt to artificially lower beef prices. Current retail prices are high because of strong consumer demand for the high-quality beef we produce.

Incentivizing additional foreign imports undermines America’s producers at a critical time as they make decisions about rebuilding numbers for next year. U.S. farmers and ranchers need stability. Unlike spur-of –the-moment trading decisions made based on White House social media posts, the decisions and investments ranchers make in their herds are made YEARS in advance, not days or weeks.

The Trump Administration's repeated whiplash on trade policy and beef imports has real impacts on cattle producers in rural America. USDA created and promoted a stronger “Product of the USA” label, only to abandon it and decide that MCOOL was the only option. Today’s announcement is not about helping producers. It’s not about putting their finger on the scale for one cattle industry group or another. It is 100% about the 74 days between now and the midterm elections.

07/22/2026

Those Thai corner food scraps were too good!

Our pigs get kitchen prep food scraps from our favorite Thai restaurant, Thai corner.

Pigs can eat restaurant waste but we choose not to feed it to them for a few reasons.
Restaurant waste is unpredictable because it can contain heavily processed foods and sugary desserts.
In the United States, it is illegal to feed restaurant food waste containing or exposed to meat unless it has been properly heated under strict regulations. These rules exist to help prevent the spread of diseases.

We believe that feeding our pigs a healthy diet, supplemented with fruit and vegetables (literally food we eat ourselves) is one of the best ways to produce delicious pork.

You might be thinking what food a take out Thai restaurant has.
Well, let me tell you that I’ve never had take out like this before. Fried rice garnished with a lemon wedge, fresh sprigs of cilantro, cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices! Don’t even get me started on their soups. You get like 4 seasoning cups, broth and noodles packaged separately so they don’t get soggy. So thoughtful and delicious. All of their food is made fresh with real ingredients. I’m hungry just typing this out.