STURGEON BAY (NBC 26) — At 57 Farm Store north of Sturgeon Bay, where a variety of fresh foods are offered at affordable prices, NBC26 spoke with the farmers behind the business about how they're managing these challenges while keeping costs low.
- Craig Nellis, the co-owner of 57 Farm Store, explains how they decided to turn farming into a full-time career.
- Clay Nellis, Craig's son, explains how customers have been reacting to their egg prices amid rising prices in other stores
- Customer Dan Higgins explains why he continues to shop at 57 Farm store
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Craig Nellis said it all started on a hobby farm.
"We had a couple cows, my son Clay had a bunch of chickens and then we decided we wanted to up that and actually make a living farming," Nellis, the owner of 57 Farm Store, said.
So they created a farm to table store with quality food.
"They got the best tasting eggs," Nellis said.
Prices at the store are more affordable than many are seeing at major chains right now, allowing customers like Dan Higgins to get the most bang for their buck with fresh, high-quality food.
"Now we don't buy them in the grocery store even if they're a dollar a dozen," Higgins said.
Craig's son Clay Nellis is in charge of the chickens at the farm.
"My customers say 'You should raise your price the eggs are a lot more expensive at the store,'" Clay said,
But the price has remained steady at $6 for a dozen eggs. It's something they say they are able to maintain due to the sustainable practices they use at the farm, like sourcing their feed locally.
For their beef cattle, the feed comes from hay bales in their front yard, which were fertilized by the cattle themselves.
"We'll take those feeders and we'll put them over the next set of bales and as they manure, they're fertilizing our garden for 2026," Nellis said.
It's a practice they use to reduce fertilizer costs amid rising prices.
"With the Ukraine war and everything people say that fertilizer, that causes fertilizer to rise," Nellis said.
Nellis believes that, given the ongoing challenges from wars to tariffs, it's better to be self-sustaining... than sorry.
"There could be a day when you can't just go buy fertilizer or the price is just unreasonable so we wanted to make sure we had our own source," Nellis said.
57 Farm Store says they will continue to focus on self-sustainable practices in the future, all while keeping prices consistent for their customers.
