I heard a new song the other day, and it says, “It’s been 365 record lows and record highs,” and I reaaalllly felt that. 2022 was a year of some serious valleys and mountains - in our personal lives, on the farm, and in the business.
Our year started off in California, where we spent almost two weeks with my family, enjoying the holidays, tackling Disneyland, and recharging our mental batteries. We returned to the farm and focused on keeping our livestock healthy and warm through the coldest winter months. Come March, we started calving - the gift of life is awe-inspiring, no matter how many times you watch and help with the process. Towards the end of March, we attended the Dallas Farmers Market, where we interacted with customers and shared our story plus enjoyed some of our own beef being served at Beyond the Butchers. In May, we truly hit the lowest of lows as we endured a devastating flood. We lost livestock, fencing, equipment, and so much more. At times like this, we lean on our family, our faith, and our durable work ethic to survive. I’d be lying if I said the farm and our hearts are “healed” from this experience, both are still being mended. We couldn’t thank our community (both local and nationwide) for the outpouring of love in one of our hardest times. The moisture led to green pastures and valuable nutrients through the summer months for our herds. I watched our calves and my daughters grow in the summer sunshine- they pushed the boundaries of their minds and bodies, they made us laugh and cry, and at the end of the day - we couldn’t love them more. I am proud of the lifestyle my girls know- women in agriculture, as equals, is our future. As fall approached, the moisture stopped and disappeared entirely. It was like every storm dodged us by mere inches. We watched our pastures and crops wither, become barren, and our next struggles became how to continue to provide for our cattle. Nevertheless, we prevailed. Now, we’ve spent Thanksgiving (once again in California with my family, enjoying the holidays, and at Disneyland) and Christmas right here at home, with our tree from the pasture decorated top to bottom in memories.
Through this all, our beef business thrived. We increased products, shared lots of homestyle recipes, made new friends, and expanded our reach (both in sales and education). We are truly humbled by the continued support of this small, resilient family-owned business. Each order you place, each comment or share on social media, each time you spread the word, you are directly choosing us. So, thank you.
We have some exciting things planned for 2023. We’d like to increase our farming and ranching operation as well as introduce our Membership Program for those loyal, beef-a-holics. Stay tuned for more.
Here’s to the next year of record lows and record highs. Happy New Years, friends.
All our thanks,
Myndi and the Krafft Beef family