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The Story of High Desert Small Animal Feed
The Idea: Coffee and a Broken Fence
It was a coffee meetup gone awry. Early one summer morning, before the sun’s radiant beams began shining from behind the mountain peaks, while the birds were still asleep and the worms were busy working through the soil undisturbed, George, Tania, and George’s dad Phil were already up enjoying the first pot of coffee at the local coffee shop arguing over whose turn it was to fix the fence where the cows got out…again.
Naturally, the conversation spilled over into a discussion about why the cows would want out in the first place given the lush pasture full of delectable grass that they were already grazing in. It was agreed upon that the cows were lured through the fence by the magnetic pull of the refreshing aroma of the deep green, freshly-cut hay in the alfalfa field. If we didn’t grow such great hay, the cows wouldn’t risk the occasional sharp bite of the electric fence in order to get to it.
Heck, for that matter, the hay crops were constantly being shared with the local mobs of deer, transient flocks of migratory waterfowl, scurrying field mice, and tunneling moles, not to mention the hordes of insects and bugs who love feasting on it too. All of these magnificent creatures preferred our hay fields to the surrounding pastures, marshes, ranges and wetlands. And to be fair, why wouldn’t they?
Also, the numbers ruled 2 against 1 that it was definitely George’s turn to fix the fence.
The Dawn: High Desert Small Animal Feed
“Our hay is so darn good that we could box it up and sell it,” uttered Phil, deep in thought planning out the day ahead.
“Yeah, right, who would buy it?” George thoughtlessly retorted in between burning sips of coffee while staring blankly into space.
“Plenty of people!” said Tania excitedly, clutching her coffee with both hands as the caffeine finally kicked in. She related a recent story of her dad who had recently lamented about how hard it was to find quality feed for Mr. Pig, his cherished pet guinea pig. With that, Tania set her coffee down, pulled out her smart phone, and ordered a box of Alfalfa Hay right then and there.
A few days and one patched fence later, the UPS delivery driver made the long trek out to the farm to deliver a box of Alfalfa Hay. Inside was a sorry mess that could barely pass as alfalfa hay even to a school of blind tuna fish. It came from somewhere in the humid and muggy Midwest, which is better suited to growing corn and what they should have stuck with.
It was then when we decided that the rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, and all of the small pets of the world deserved better. Our family has been growing premium all-natural hay for generations, and today we grow it for you. We decided that small pets and their owners deserved to know what truly great hay looked, smelled, and felt like when it was grown in a place where it grows the best. That place is the High Desert of Northern Nevada.
High Desert Small Animal Feed was born.