Wayne Balkcom is the fourth generation of his family to farm in Blakely, Georgia since his great-grandfather established the farm.  Acreage has been added and divided as the family grew and now Wayne raises a primarily Angus herd on 1300 acres, while his family members own adjoining farms.

Balkcom family cattle have always been raised on pasture, so Wayne was happy to be recognized with the Animal Welfare Approved certification for what he was mostly already doing. While Wayne’s family had always taken care of their cows, marketing his beef as grassfed allowed him to finish his cattle on  pasture on Balkcom Farm, rather than selling his animals to be finished elsewhere. In addition to raising cattle using high-welfare husbandry practices, Wayne grows row crops using a method of conservation tillage that minimizes erosion and soil compaction.

Like many other farmers, Wayne’s biggest challenge is the increasing cost of inputs. Relying on grass for his animals’ feed without the use of fertilizers sometimes requires the purchase of additional grass and the market for grassfed beef doesn’t always reflect the increased cost of buying feed. While he sometimes worries about the continued strength of the grassfed beef market, consumer interest in high-welfare, sustainably raised, healthy meat has kept them buying. Wayne’s beef is sold through the White Oak Pastures label, run by a neighbor and fellow AWA certified farmer, Will Harris.