What in the world is this?! A 9 inch “hay bale” of fake looking straw at Walmart is $7. Meanwhile, farmers have been busting their butts all summer to farm hay, and are selling their 40×20 inch homegrown straw bales for $5.

An ear of corn is $1 at the store, and 50 cents from the farmer down the road who grows them organically and picks them by hand.

When you’re decorating your porch this fall… think small. Skip the big box stores and drive down your local dirt road. Driving one mile down mine I can find raw honey, farm fresh eggs, organic vegetables, peppers, corn, local grown plants and trees, bales of hay, straw, pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks, etc etc.

I guarantee your dollar is so much more appreciated at your local farms. And it feels much better to spend it when you know you’re feeding an actual family with it.

(The editorial was written by Shelly Anderson, a local farmer who cares passionately about Hancock County.)