I worked on this post for like five days. I came up with a dozen different numbers.
And I gave up.
It is almost impossible (well, at least with my shoddy and haphazard accounting methods) for me to figure out exactly what it costs for us to have fresh milk and eggs. Oh, I know how much we spent on animal feed, medications, vitamins and supplements (more than I thought). And how much the MILE of soon-to-be installed Red Brand Goat & Sheep fence costs (you don't want to know). I know how much I sold in milk, eggs and the sale of kids (not as much as I'd like).
We "made" about three hundred bucks last year off the sale of milk, kids and eggs. I know it's not a true profit / loss kind of number because I didn't amortize the equipment and facilities, didn't factor in what milk and eggs we consumed or gave to family/friends and didn't count spilt milk or dropped eggs as "Loss of Inventory".
If I were really keeping good records, or had I used GAAP or IFRS and didn't change from LIFO to FIFO and back again on the chicken scratch, I may have a better grip on things. I suppose if I did all those things, I would be able to come up with the magic money number. But I don't. Mostly because I don't have to. Should I? Maybe. Will I in the future? Probably not.
As long as I'm relatively sure we're not hemorrhaging money from keeping the goats and chickens (the mule and mini-horse is a whole 'nother story), we will continue to keep them. There is a profit that cannot be calculated into any accounting spreadsheet:
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| Nettie and her first kid, April 2007. |
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| My first kid, playing goat herder. |
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| Healthy, wonderful, fresh raw milk! |
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| Snuggly goat kid. |
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| We always follow safety protocols when feeding the livestock here at Krazo Acres. |
I hear you. And I LOVE that last photo!!! Too cute...
ReplyDeleteWe've always thought of the trouble, hassle, work, expense etc., etc. of keeping animals and growing our own food as our health insurance. Nope, you can't show what putting natural, organic, non-adulterated, fresh food in your body counts for on paper or with the calculator, but how much is doing all you can to insure your good health worth? Priceless! (It's especially worth it for that cute little munchkin you're raising.)
ReplyDeleteOh my! I laughed out loud at the last picture! Too cute!!!! I love the "There is a profit that cannot be calculated into any accounting spreadsheet" so true!!! Love the pic of Netties first baby and Rhiannon looks like her dad :)
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