Answers to Producer Questionnaire
| Victory Hill Farm PRODUCTS & PRACTICES |
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| Question | Answer |
| List what you intend to sell. (if applicable) (e.g. meats, grains, jellies, crafts; also note if you have any heritage breeds) |
Farmstead artisan goat cheese in a few varieties will be available: Two aged goat gouda style cheeses, goat feta, and frozen chevre. |
| Describe your farming, processing and/or crafting practices. (if applicable) | Artisan Cheese is handmade in small batches. Everything is done by hand in our small cheese plant. The milk is poured into the vat using good, old-fashioned muscle power. The culture and enzymes are measured and stirred in by hand. Curd is cut by hand, stirred by hand and then hand-packed into moulds to drain the whey. Then, the cheese is hand-packaged for sale. Farmstead means that the milk used to produce cheese must come from animals milked on-site. Because we have both a dairy and a cheese making operation, we can claim the rare title of farmstead cheese. This means that we control the quality of the milk from the animal to the cheese. Factors such as barn cleanliness, feeding practices, animal husbandry, and milk handling are all monitored by the cheesemaker because good practices produce great cheese. |
| Describe your pest and disease management system. (if applicable) | We keep deep bedding to a minimum to reduce flies in the summer, as well as utilize fly predators. Our herd is closed (no new animals added) and is CAE and CL free. |
| Describe your herd health and productivity management. (if applicable) (i.e. do you use any hormones, antibiotics, and/or steroids) |
While not certified organic, we manage the goats as naturally as possible. We do not feed antibiotics or hormones prophylactically. We only treat animals with conventional medicines when they show symptoms of illness and then withdrawal times are doubled before adding them back into the milking line. |
| Describe your feeding practices. (if applicable) (grass-fed only, free-range, feed-lot, etc.) |
We do not have enough pasture to grass feed our animals full time, but we do give them access to range around whenever possible. |
| Describe your soil and nutrient management. (if applicable) (Do you compost, use fertilizers, green manures or animal manures?) |
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| Describe your water usage practices. (if applicable) (If you irrigate, describe how - e.g. deep well, surface water, etc., and explain how you conserve water or use best management practices. Describe how you are protecting your water source from contamination/erosion). |
Cheesemaking uses a lot of water, but living in a dry climate gives us a deep appreciation for our water. We catch as much of the grey water as possible and pump it out to water our tree line and pasture. We also catch all the whey and pump it out to use as a feed source for our pigs. |
| Describe your conservation/land stewardship practices. (if applicable) (e.g., do you plant windbreaks, maintain grass waterways, riparian buffers, use green manures for wind erosion, plant habitats for birds, improve soil quality, etc.) |
We have planted trees nearly every year we have lived here using a drip irrigation system to help them get a start. The pasture has benefitted from the composted manure produced on the farm. |
| Describe any additional information and/or sustainable practices about your operation that
would be helpful to a potential customer in understanding your farm or operation better. (e.g. if you are raising any heritage animals you might list breeds or list varieties of heirloom seeds. List the percentage of local ingredients in your processed items). |
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| List your food liability insurance coverage, both general and product-related, as well as any licenses and tests that you have available. (if applicable) | The Dairy and Cheese-making facility are covered under food liability insurance. The facility is certified through the State of Nebraska Department of Agriculture as Plant #31-132. An inspection performed by the Dairy inspector in April 2011 yielded a score of 100% and a comment from the inspector that his other dairys could learn a lesson if they toured our facility. |
| ORGANIC PRODUCERS | |||
| List which products you are selling as organic. (if applicable) | |||
| List certifying agency's name and address: (if applicable) |
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| Certifying Agency's Phone: (if applicable) |
Certifying Agency's Fax: (if applicable) |
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| Do you have available for inspection a copy of your current organic certificate? (if applicable) | Yes No | ||
| I affirm that all statements made about my farm and products in this application are true, correct and complete and I have given a truthful representation of my operation, practices, and origin of products. I understand that if questions arise about my operation I may be inspected (unannounced). If I stated my operation is organic, then I am complying with the National Organic Program and will provide upon request a copy of my certification. I have read all of the producer standards and fully understand and am willing to comply with them. | |||
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I agree
| Monday the 16th day of April, 2012 | ||