Here are some responses to questions and concerns over the years...

 We are being inspected for organic standards, by MOSA http://www.mosaorganic.org, on 7JUL10 for our yearly visit.  Harmony Organics WILL POST the entire report.  This is a warts and all report.  What we're doing well, what we need to fix, and suggestions for the future.  It is, no kidding, pages and pages of information about us, our practices, our suppliers, our distribution - EVERYTHING.  I can't say it enough.   We have nothing to hide. You should know where your food comes from!!!  In our case - bulk and cartons all come from our farm.  The birds are fed here, the eggs are picked here, the eggs are washed and packaged and refrigerated here, and they come to you as fresh as can be expected.  Look at other farm's egg packaging.  Is the address on the package the place they live?  11020 245th Street West, Morristown, MN  55052.  Why is an address so hard to find on a package?

Where do we get the feed for our birds?  Hy View Feeds, MN http://hyviewfeeds.com We purchase by the truckload and have it mixed especially for us.

What are your fields like? Four main paddocked fields (fenced off areas for the birds): 70x100ft, 170x100ft, 94x40ft, and 60x100ft rotated so we don't burn the grass out (birds can be wicked on grass). All planted grass with certified organic seed from Albert Lea Seed, MN http://www.alseed.com and mowed once weekly to keep it in check. Surrounded by chicken wire fencing.  Take a look at "Picture This" - we keep the before mentioned areas mowed but we also allow the birds to explore the greater fields.  They have acres to roam.

How do you protect from air assaults? The enemy = Cooper's hawks. The solution? This is good... When we first started the farm we were told, “you can't mix natural birds and domesticated birds together, you'll get disease.” Well, that first year, we took that advice to heart and knocked down all the barn swallows that had made their nests around the barn. What happened? Cooper's hawks swooped in and started eating our birds!!! We consulted experts and they said you need to put poles up with guy wires to trick the hawks and/or put up aerial netting to keep the hawks out. You know what the solution was? An all natural defense. Don't knock the barn swallow nests down – it was like calling in an air strike. When hawks show up to the farm the swallows assemble in groups and attack the hawks. We have not lost a single bird to hawks since we made this change and it is so fun to mow the fields now. Because the mowers cause the bugs to jump and the swallows fly all around us to eat them up. Nature. Simple and effective... PS: We still don't give our birds shots and they've been just fine living together.

What's the size of your barn and what's it like inside? Our barn is 30x150ft and we maintain white light for sixteen hours per day. At night the lights switch from white to red (which has a calming effect on the birds). We use the Owatonna, MN “JOLLY” brand of nest boxes which allows the eggs to roll forward into a metal protective area to be picked twice daily. Unfortunately, Jolly is no longer in business. We're actively asking around for more of these jewels so if you know someone selling them – please let us know!!! We still feed by hand, which means we come through once a day to refill the feeders. The watering system is an automated string of tubes with “nipples” on them. The birds touch their beaks to the watering units and it dispenses water.

Roosts? Yes, the birds are afforded the ability to sleep either on the floor or on roosts. We connected dozens of roosts to the ceiling throughout the barn. The roosts are then extended down either to the floor of the barn or suspended three feet up. Some birds like being high in the air, others in the mid-section, and some on the floor. They pick where they want to sleep.

Pest control? Send in the wasps.  Yes, wasps.  Flies can be a problem on any farm so we introduced wasps to the farm - they don't sting just eat, flies...  It was an amazing reduction in our fly population.

* Our birds are outside enjoying the great outdoors whenever the temperature is above 40 degrees and there isn't rain.  Though we don't have exact numbers, they are outside a lot.  We believe this makes for great eggs.  We hope you agree.

* Cage free living.  Our birds can freely roam ACRES of land.

* No antibiotics.  There has NEVER been an antibiotic application at Harmony Organics.  NEVER.

* Vegitarian fed.  Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Oats, Barley, Oyster Shells, well, you get the picture - no company's names are represented here.   We feed our birds what generations ago fed their birds - all natural -  common sense foods.

* Eggs hand picked twice a day.  Yes, can you believe it?  No robots - no automation - just dedicated people walking through the barn picking eggs.

* We allow not only for our organic certification inspection but arrangements are made with any of our partners to review the farm.  There is nothing worse than not knowing what it is you are eating.  Give us a buzz at browneggs@harmonyorganics.org to talk about anything on your mind.