We’ve been thinking a lot lately about what profit really means. Not the financial kind — though, of course, that matters when you’re trying to keep tractors running and feed bills paid — but the kind of profit that doesn’t show up on a spreadsheet.
On a farm like ours, real profit looks a little different. It’s the deep smell of healthy soil. It’s chickens chasing bugs in the sunshine. It’s families gathering around a meal that actually nourishes them.
That’s the kind of return we’re after.
The Cost of Cheap Food
For decades, our food system has measured success by one thing: how much we can produce, and how cheaply we can sell it. The trouble is, that kind of “cheap” comes with hidden costs — to the soil, the water, and the animals that live here.
Industrial agriculture doesn’t have to pay for those losses, but someone eventually does. Usually it’s the land itself, or the next generation who inherits it.
When you buy food from a small, regenerative farm, you’re paying the true cost — and getting the true value — of food raised the right way.
When Land Becomes an Investment, Not a Home
All across the country, farmland is being snapped up by investors who see it as a financial asset, not a living landscape. Prices go up, and new farmers get shut out.
We think land should belong to the people who work it, live on it, and care for it. Because land only stays healthy when it’s treated like a partner, not a product.
Why It’s Harder Than It Should Be
Here’s a little-known fact: the systems that process, package, and move food around the country weren’t built for farms like ours. They were designed for big, uniform, high-volume operations.
That means regenerative farms often have to create their own path — from finding processors to building markets to explaining what “pasture-raised” actually means. It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it when we see people connecting the dots between how food is raised and how it makes them feel.
Rethinking Profit
So when we talk about profit here at Maple Wind Farm, we’re not talking about squeezing every last cent out of a chicken. We’re talking about the good stuff that grows when you do things right.
- Profit is soil that’s richer every year.
- It’s animals that thrive on open pasture.
- It’s clean water flowing through the valley.
- It’s healthy food that actually tastes like something.
- And it’s a community that’s better fed, better connected, and better off because of it.
That’s our bottom line.
A Better Way Forward
If we want to fix agriculture in this country, maybe we start by changing what we mean by “success.” Bigger isn’t always better. Cheaper isn’t always smarter.
A truly profitable farm leaves the land, animals, and people stronger than before. That’s the kind of business we want to be part of — and we’re grateful you’re part of it, too.
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