Jason Butler and his family raise AWA-certified beef cattle and sheep in the Coastal region of North Carolina. Jason has been farming since 1996, when his father purchased the family farm after serving in the Army. The Butlers – including Jason’s father, Billy, his wife, Crystal, his grandfather, Mearl, and his brother-in-law, James Spivey – now raise 140 Black Angus cattle and a flock of Katahdin sheep on approximately 500 acres of pasture. Jason says that the benefits of pasture-based management are that the farm is more sustainable: “We’re not over-utilizing acres somewhere else to grow grain for our animals. We’re using what we have here.”
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Animal Welfare Approved | December 11, 2012
Joseph Baxley is the fourth generation of his family to farm the 80 acres where he and his wife, Melissa, raise Animal Welfare Approved hair sheep and hog breeding stock with the help of their children, Jonathon and Megan. Situated outside of Samson, Alabama, JMB Farms has been in Baxley family for almost 100 years.
Barbara and James Berry raise laying hens and dairy goats on 15 acres at Wildest Dreams Farm near Clinton, in the sand hills of North Carolina. They both felt a passion for sustainable agriculture early in their careers. Following inspiration from Barbara’s paternal grandfather, who often said a person will be happiest while working with the land, the two farmers created Wildest Dreams Farm together.
Jeneen Wiche and her husband, Andy Smart, took over at Swallow Rail Farm in 2003. Since then, they have focused on developing and marketing a diverse range of foods direct to consumers. Starting first with fruits and vegetables, the couple has now mastered raising a healthy flock of AWA laying hens, and is in the process of branching out into meat production, too.
With over three decades of ranching from north to south Florida, the Sampson family knows beef. Jeff and Janet Sampson, along with their son, Jared, and daughter, Jessica, raise a growing herd of 70 Animal Welfare Approved Black Angus momma cows on 200 acres in north-central Florida. The farm sits on top of the Suwannee Valley River Basin and natural springs feed its ponds, providing some of the cleanest water around.
Working with a staff of technicians, farm workers, temporary employees, and fellow scientists, Dr. Joan Burke leads the small ruminant livestock research at the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in the Ozarks region of Arkansas. The research center is approved to supply Animal Welfare Approved sheep and goat breeding and feeder stock.
Fox Squirrel Farm is a 13-acre patchwork of pasture, woodland, vegetable production and silvopasture (woodland grazing) in the Sandhills of North Carolina. The property was originally designed and operated in the early 1920s as the Routh Pines School, a private boarding school for girls. In 1989, however, the Smith family bought the property and converted the old school into a successful bed and breakfast.
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Animal Welfare Approved | September 27, 2012
Although they didn’t grow up farming, Chuck and Lou Ann Neely have raised and direct-marketed beef in Highland County for years – “before it was in anyone’s mindset,” explains Lou Ann, who farms full time. Eschewing grain completely for the past two years, the Neelys have now established a grassfed, grass-finished Animal Welfare Approved protocol for their beef cattle that results in tender, high quality beef – earning them a loyal customer following.
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Animal Welfare Approved | September 5, 2012
Debby’s Organic Farm is situated on five acres of south Florida land, originally part of a large cattle ranch. Located on the state’s east coast, the region experiences a tropical climate and is known for its diverse agricultural offerings.
Heather Laudie is proud to say that the Laudie family has farmed in southern Missouri for generations, although she admits they “skipped a few generations” when her grandmother decided on city life instead. That farming tradition, however, is what inspired Heather to start Sage Croft Farms six years ago in Higginsville, Missouri.
