While Lesley Million grew up on a cattle farm, it’s goats that she wanted from the time she was three years old. She finally got her opportunity when she and her husband Barry bought Terrell Creek Farm, 25 miles east of Springfield, Missouri in 2006. The couple bought dairy goats in 2007 to make a profit from the pastures, forage and woods on their land, which was well suited to the browsing eating habits of goats.

Garner and Nancy Klein established Eagle Catcher Farm and Ranch in Southern Texas’s Rio Grande Valley in 2008. The small farm where Garner grew up had raised cattle, but it wasn’t until he had retired as a physician in Harlingen for 40 years that he and his wife began raising cattle for themselves. Garner’s experience advising his patients on dietary matters inspired him to raise healthier beef that is lower in saturated fats and hasn’t been exposed to antibiotics, growth hormones or pesticides.

Meagan Blank raises Animal Welfare Approved beef cattle on pasture or range at Rosie’s Beef, Emsig Farm in Granville, NY.

Philip and Patricia Bennett’s mixed produce and chicken farm grew slowly. In 1992, they left the suburbs to live on 50 acres in McDonough, Georgia, 40 miles south of Atlanta. Patricia, who had grown up with a family garden, started to grow food for the family’s consumption on a small plot. Every year, the garden grew and grew and after a successful trip to the farmers’ market to sell a bumper crop of cucumbers in 2004, the family’s farm business was born.

In October of 2009, Gary and Ranell Bridges left the city life in Raleigh and moved onto 21 acres in rural north-central North Carolina. Ranell, who considered herself a “country girl” and had grown up with horses, shared a dream with Gary of living and working on a farm, but neither had raised livestock. Their dream quickly began to materialize when they bought a herd of goats and a flock of chickens within the first month of their move. For the next year, as Gary and Ranell acclimated to farm life, the groundwork was laid for commercial production and in 2011, after being joined by their son, Austin, Two Bridges Farm began to sell goat meat, eggs and produce.

Fred Liebl of Wagon Wheel Ranch has been farming since 1970. Although he wasn’t raised on a farm, his grandparents were farmers in New York state where he grew up and worked on a neighbor’s dairy farm. His work with livestock continued during his time in the Airforce when he was stationed in Montana cattle country. While there, Fred worked on ranches helping with roundups and took the first pre-requisite courses towards his veterinary degree. After leaving the Airforce he attended veterinary school at the University of Georgia while farming hogs and cattle. Fred has remained in Georgia and settled on raising beef cattle on his 200 acres family farm, Wagon Wheel Ranch, in the Northeast of the state.

Lisa Kaiman raises Animal Welfare Approved dairy cattle and laying hens at Jersey Girls Dairy in Chester, VT. Prior to starting her own dairy in 1999, Lisa had worked on other dairies for a decade before starting her own. Lisa milks a herd of 20 Jersey cows in a “cow-friendly”, as Lisa calls it, intensive rotational grazing system and has a flock of about 250 pastured laying hens.

Landon Farm is a small family run farm located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountain. Farmer Jennifer Sisney strives to provide quality free range meats, vegetables and eggs in an environmentally sustainable, biodynamic manner.

Mark Sacco raises Animal Welfare Approved beef cattle and laying hens at Wm. H. Buckley Farm in Valley Falls, NY. Wm. H. Buckley Farm is committed to using sustainable agricultural practices while raising their herd of Belted Galloway beef cattle. The Belties, as they are called, are only raised on grasses and are never given growth hormones or unnecessary antibiotics.

Evermore Farm is a family owned and operated livestock and produce farm located in Westminster, MD with easy access from Baltimore, MD, Washington, DC, Frederick, MD, and south-central Pennsylvania. Owners Ginger and John Myers are fourth generation farmers whose two children and two grandchildren are also involved in the farm.