Beef and Our Wild World

written by

posted on

October 2, 2026

Recently we've seen a spiked interest in our awesome, 100% grass-fed, no-antibiotic, no-hormone, no-chemical beef. I don't follow national/international news much, but it seems like this is tracking with the recent headlines about US beef shortages and recalls on compromised, cheap, imported beef.

This has got me thinking...

...My first thought is that the rest of the world and the agricultural world can do all the weird things they do, but you can KNOW that we will NEVER divert from our farming practices that are oriented to healing the land, animals, and people. This is why we exist. In our cattle enterprise, this means we go crazy moving our animals to fresh pasture, never use antibiotics, never use hormones, never feed grain, never wash the carcasses with bleach, and we raise it all here (within a 30-minute radius) and process it all here without any MSG, preservatives, or anything else unnatural. Full stop. That is how we have always done it and that is how we will always do it. So, in short, you can trust us to do thing and provide you with beef that will nourish and heal you and your family. No funny business. No sneakiness. No mystery. You can have confidence in us.

...My second thought is that this spike in interest in our beef is familiar. During COVID, we had a large increase in interest in our food. We had meat and eggs, and the grocery stores didn't. Plus, people were prioritizing the considerations of food reliability and health (Whiffletree's strengths) over the considerations of short-term cheapness and convenience (conventional food's strengths).

In 2025 we had a large spike in interest in our eggs during the bird flu epidemic, and the drastic price increase in eggs. Again, people were thinking about and prioritizing food health and reliability over cheapness and convenience. (Our egg prices at certain points were cheaper than conventional eggs - craziness! But we didn't raise our prices to take advantage of that. As I said then, our prices are based on the reality of our good work, not on whimsical market swings.

Now in 2026 we're having a bit of a run on beef.

Do you see the pattern?

- Vulnerable production and supply chain logistics made COVID times weird.
- Putting millions of hens in buildings and giving them a life that does not fit their nature sets them up for all kinds of pandemics like bird flu. (Plus, there's a chance some egg companies were price fixing--TBD per a Justice Department suit filed June 30, 2026 against 3 of the largest egg corporations.)
- A beef shortage combined with importing compromised, cheap beef has us in a tizzy again.

The political world and the conventional/national/international agricultural world is all over the place, but we prioritize stability and strength - no attenuated, vulnerable supply chains, no animal production systems that are unnatural and prone to the next epidemic, no price fixing.

So here is my proposal to you: GET OFF THE MERRY-GO-ROUND and stick with us!

We have lots of customers who stick with us regardless of what is going on in the rest of the world. They value our farming practices and know that they are coming out ahead by shopping with us. Nutrition, health, taste--they know they are getting the best bang for their buck. Spend your money on food that is raised in accord with nature or hand it over to the ballooning healthcare industry, simply put.

If you've just found our farm due to the scariness of one of the latest conventional food scares, consider sticking with us! Yes, our prices are not what you'd see in the grocery store, and we can't offer door to door delivery, but we work day in and day out to provide your family with food that is raised in such a way as to nourish and heal the land, animals, and your family! Come see for yourself! (really)

We are sticking with our integrity and quality, and we ask that you stick with us! Forget the nonsense and be part of the project of nourishing and healing the land, animals, and people and creating an embedded, local, resilient food system that will hold against the winds of a wild world. Isn't that something to be proud of?

Thanks for hearing me out!

-Jesse Straight

A Tribute to Wendell Berry from a Farmer Who Didn't Listen to His Advice

If you didn't hear, Wendell Berry passed away yesterday. I am indebted to Berry. In 2005 I had just graduated from college, and Liz and I were just married. And I was floundering a bit. Eager to set to some good work and to make a good life, but at a loss as to how to go about that. In terms of work and career I was all over the place--maybe med school, maybe seminary, maybe start a music festival, maybe go into audio documentary, maybe.... A friend of Liz and mine had recently spent a week visiting Berry, and sent us his short novel, A World Lost. We read it and loved it! It bit me. I was hooked. I read all of Berry's fiction that year. I read any chance I got--I remember reading at red lights. It was his vision of the good life and his critique of our modern life that captured my imagination. A big point of his is that fundamentally humans are happiest when their lives are as integrated as possible. I will get into what that means. But in contradiction to that, modern society has us "dis-integrated"--people don't live where they grew up, families don't live near each other, home and work are disconnected, children's lives and adult lives are disconnected, people are disconnected from food production, the work of the home is outsourced--no one makes anything at their home--it is only a place of ready-made consumption. Modernity is about specialization and outsourcing; and therefore dis-integration. And this has been an effective way to generate cash-wealth. If we all max our earning potential, and outsource all the work we can pay someone else to do more cheaply, then our bank accounts are ahead. So while this modern life has generated lots of cash-wealth, it has not done such a good job of making people happy. And Berry's point is that human lives are most full and most happy when they have this level of humane integratedness, rootedness, connection, localized knowledge, intimacy with your people and place; and when all the parts of your life are all intermeshed as possible--children, work, religion, home-making, neighbors, extended family, and your 3rd grade teacher are all mixed up and jumbled up in inter-crossing lines of familiarity and connection. This made a lot of sense to me, and caught me by the heart. I wanted this life of intimacy, connection, rootedness, care, friendship. That was step 1. Step 2 was coming across Joel Salatin's writings. Berry was the poet that wooed me to this idea of a good life. Salatin was the technician who laid out a compelling and reasonable plan for a novice like me to get into regenerative farming, do some good by healing land/animals/people, and actually provide a living for my family. So after doing a bunch of reading, and befriending farmers like Salatin, I decided I want to write a thank you letter to Berry. In my 1st letter I thank Berry for all his writings and let him know how he has benefited me, and let him know that I am making moves to get into regenerative farming. He sends back the below letter which is very kind and all, but essentially tells me to not go into full time farming. Ha! I remember reading that aghast, and a little angry--"this Berry guy thinks I am a fool and naive and have no idea what I am getting into--well, I will show him!" was about what I was thinking. So I take a deep breath, cool off a bit and write him back--pushing back and saying all the ways I have done my due diligence, and how I have a reasonable plan (and essentially, that "I am not a fool and naive, and I am a big grown up boy, thank you very much!"--Ha!). He then sends me back his very Berry-esque letter, which says essentially--"hey if you really want to get into farming, my advice isn't going to stop you." So Berry. Well, fast forward about 3 years from that letter. Liz and I had moved from Charlottesville back to my hometown of Warrenton (a very Berry-inspired move to be back in my hometown and near my family), and we had started Whiffletree Farm. I was working part time doing handyman work, while getting the farm business going. Berry had just published a new book of poetry and was making a reading stop at UVA. A friend involved with his stop at UVA invited us to a VIP reading. We went, and it was great. And then afterwards, there was some time where I could go up and speak to Berry. I went up and reminded him who I was and about our exchange of letters. And I told him how I was executing on this plan to ease into full time regenerative farming, with the handyman business, without going into debt, and how the farm business was growing, and that pretty soon we would be able to go full time. To this day, I can remember his reaction. It is a highlight of my life. He pumped his arm and said emphatically, "YES! This is how you have to do it!" It was my hero slapping me on the back. Major tingles. I was flying so high. My life could have gone in a lot of directions--some not so great. I was a pretty confused young man, and looking for direction. Liz and I are so grateful to Berry for his influence on us--his challenge to resist the current of modernity that prioritizes cash-wealth, and instead to go after an integrated life that prioritizes rootedness, connection, stability, sacrifice, friendship, care. It is still a daily challenge, but worth the fight! God bless Wendell Berry. Jesse Straight