FARMER’S DREAM MEETS REALITY

l FAMILY FARM MEATS is located at 16061 McGirr Road, Hinckley. The store is open10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. For more information about Family Farm Meats LLC, go to www.familyfarmmeatsllc.com, or call 815-651-5555.

Owen, who is 8 years old, kept track of the feed costs.

“He weighed out each piece of meat and the meat packages had his name on them,” his mom explained. “He really liked it, so I have dates booked in March for our next round of lambs and this time Owen is buying all of them.”

Flint’s animals are processed at Eickman’s Processing Company in Seward.

“When I first started, I sat in Tom Eickman’s office and told him what I wanted to do,” she said. “He helped me with prices and he gives me ideas where to go with my business in the future.”

Demand for Family Farm Meats has grown into a fulltime business for Flint.

“I’m more expensive than the grocery store, but I have to stay reasonable where people can afford our products,” she noted.

“But once people try a package of ground beef, steak or pork chops, they come back and tell me, ‘Wow, it was such a difference,’” she said. “Then they are willing to pay more for the quality and the meat sells itself.”

At first, Flint sold meat from about 15 head of cattle and 25 to 30 hogs.

“I just booked for 2023, 70 head of cattle and 155 hogs,” she reported.

“I’m booking animals that aren’t even born yet, so it’s taken me a few years to master that to make sure I booked enough dates,” she said. “Eickman’s work with me and they are a really good familyowned business.”

Flint feeds about 40 head of cattle and groups of 20 to 30 hogs on her Hinckley farm.

“My parents have a cow-calf herd and now they’re in the process of selling the cows,” she said. “They’re going to start feeding cattle for me because the business is too big to feed all the cattle here.”

Support from her parents, Flint said, has been vital to her business.

“Banks aren’t willing to give a lot of money to young kids, but my parents backed me big time,” she stressed.

“My dad runs a trucking company and hauls livestock, but over the past five years he’s gone through tremendous knee issues so he couldn’t drive anymore,” she said. “But God had a plan for us, because dad has guys to drive for him and now he is transitioning over to farming and raising cattle.”

Her parents, Ron and Rhonda Flint, built a new cattle shed for feeding cattle.

“They are expanding as much as I have,” Flint said. “This meat store is my dream, but they have backed me from the beginning and we are growing together.”

New customers find the meat store, through Facebook or the company website.

“I didn’t just want this to be, ‘We raise the meat, so come and buy it,’” Flint said. “I want you see all the work that goes into it.”

Flint spends a lot of time posting information about her farm and store on her Facebook page, Family Farm Meats, LLC.

“You get to see us chopping silage, feeding the cattle, scraping manure and planting corn,” she said. “So many people say they didn’t realize all these things that we do and I want people to see how a steak gets on their plate.”

Sharing her farming story has been rewarding for Flint.

“People are so appreciative of my family,” she said. “It’s not just me, it’s my boyfriend Jared, my kids and my parents, which customers get to see through Facebook.”

Customers also help Flint with new ideas for her store, like the request for cottage bacon.

“Cottage bacon is from the shoulder instead of the belly and it’s a meatier bacon,” she said. “It is something a customer mentioned to me and now I carry it regularly.”

Another item that was requested by a customer is beef bacon.

“Bacon and ribeyes are the two things I cannot keep up with, but I have amazing customers,” Flint said. “If I’m out, they get something else, so I’m thankful they are understanding.”

Flint remodeled her store last March, but she is continuing to make improvements to her business.

“I just landed a walk-in freezer, so we’re going to expand the store so I can attach the freezer,” she said.

The new freezer will provide easier loadout for customers buying larger amounts of meat.

“I can also start doing more bundles with the added space,” Flint said. “Bundles have a variety of cuts that come pre-boxed at a discounted price, and when I offer them online, they sell in like a minute.”

Continuing to expand her business is important for Flint to provide opportunities for her kids, Owen and Jillian.

“That’s my goal, for the kids to take over this business,” she said. “One of Owen’s favorite things is to check people out and the customers are so patient and good to the kids.”

“I knew starting this business was going to be a neat thing to do, but I never dreamt it would be as cool as it is now,” she admitted. “I’ve built relationships with customers that I would never have met if I didn’t open this store.”

All meat sold at the Family Farm Meats store is frozen. Processing, cutting, packaging and labeling are handled by Eickman’s Processing Company, a USDA-inspected facility.

LEADERS IN AGRISCIENCE

FFA students selected as national finalists for outstanding projects

By Martha Blum • AgriNews Publications

Outstanding work by three members of the Sycamore FFA Chapter earned them the honor of national finalists in the Agriscience Fair at the 95th National FFA Convention.

National winners of the Agriscience Fair were honored during the convention held Oct. 26-29 in Indianapolis.

Allyson Yoakam and Lorelei Darlak worked on a project together.

“We’re very excited that we made it this far,” Yoakam said. “When we won state, we thought it was a good run. Then when we found out we were national finalists, it was crazy.”

The FFA members completed a social systems project.

“We did a survey on the Fair Oaks Farms scandal and how it impacted people’s lives,” Darlak said.

“We had people in our classes and from the community take the survey and we analyzed the data and revenue loss,” Yoakam added.

“We found a lot of people didn’t know about the animal abuse scandal and they really didn’t lose much revenue from the milk,” she said. “They lost a little money in the beginning, but it didn’t affect them much and they went back to regular sales.”

Darlak was surprised with the mixed results from the survey.

“We thought more people would know about it,” she said. “It was a big problem when the video first came out because people were shocked by it.”

This is the first time Darlak has completed an agriscience project.

“At first I thought the agriscience project sounded boring, but when I got into the process of it, it was actually fun,” she said.

During her sophomore year, Yoakam’s agriscience project experimented with the growth of vegetable plants.

“I compared water to watering them with Gatorade,” she said. “They plants actually grew with Gatorade, but they didn’t grow as much and they molded.”

Yoakam attended the convention to be on stage with the other finalists.

“They announced the winners when we were on stage, which was terrifying,” said the high school senior. “I wish we found out before that, but I’m happy we made it this far.”

Darlak was not able to participate in the

Sycamore FFA members Lorelei Darlak (left) and Allyson Yoakam work on their Agriscience Fair project that earned them a national finalist honor.

award presentation.

“The day we walked the stage was the day of my brother’s wedding and family comes first,” she said.

After graduating from Sycamore High School earlier this year, Darlak is now studying for her associate’s degree in art at Kishwaukee College.

“I hope to go into interior design,” she said.

Drake Slutz’s agriscience project focused on his 56 Shropshire ewes. He used artificial insemination to breed the ewes and ewes that didn’t get pregnant on the first round were rebred with artificial insemination a second time.

“I kept data on the artificially bred and naturally bred ewes,” Slutz said.

“I found that natural breeding is more effective than artificially insemination,” he said.

The high school freshman is considering another agriscience project with his sheep.

“I just used fresh semen for this project,” he said. “I will probably do another project with fresh and frozen semen to see the impact of the different qualities.”

Slutz is interested in a career in the livestock industry.

“I want to be a reproductive specialist and work with artificial insemination for a job,” he said.

Drake Slutz (left) works with one of his Shropshire ewes for his Agriscience Fair project that focused on artificial insemination.

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