We're a family farm (I'm the 5th generation, my brand new niece is the start of the 6th generation to live here) and we're lucky enough to be able to look over that history to help decide for our future. Like most farms, we were self sustaining until about the 50s: all of our "fertilizer" was from the horses and cows on the farm, which only ate what we grew (out of said fertilizer) or could get locally from other farmers we knew. We treated sick animals with mostly farm remedies or, if they were valuable, treated with medicine. We wouldn't have passed organic certification, but we were as "natural" as we could get.
And then, like most farms, we changed with the times to "modern" farming practices such as herbicides and pesticides and preventative antibiotics and commercial feeds and hormones. Sure, we ended up saving some money by boosting production. But it became increasingly obvious that there was a cost to all this. Even with crop rotation, the soil just didn't provide the way it had before. Our biodiversity was almost destroyed. No healthy insect populations meant no frogs in the pond which meant we had fewer and fewer birds. Government subsidies went to modern farms, which meant that you did it their way or you couldn't survive. Most didn't.
We feed all organic now, but that just started a few years ago. Basically it came down to deciding exactly what things were important to us. It was important for us to know we weren't overloading the soil and water table with chemicals. And that what we fed, and consumed, was clean food. I wanted to know that my generation wouldn't be the last to live here.
Now, that might all sound like the poetic ramblings of a farmer's daughter, but the point is that farms like ours are what is at stake every time someone decides that cheaper is better. Natural and organic is more expensive, as someone already pointed out, because we aren't getting subsidized. You are paying the difference already, but instead of putting that money in a farmer's pocket, you are giving it to the government to give to factory farms.
Many of the reasons you probably raise chickens at home are the same reasons you should be buying organic feeds. You know that home grown, small flock chickens are tastier and healthier. There is a big difference between your chickens and a Tyson frozen chicken shipped from half-way across the country. Feed is no different.
Sorry for the long-winded soap box moment, but it's something that is very important to me. The more people willing to pay the little extra up front will mean that more of us can keep doing what we do, which means the prices will come down and actually give us a chance to compete with BIG AGRIBUSINESS. I won't think badly of you if you don't agree with me, I just hope you see the value in what I've said.
