Category: Farm Profile

FARMER: The Hatleys LOCATION: Oakboro, NC SIZE: 110 Acres JOINED OUR PORTFOLIO: 2022 FARM STORY Shawn and Jennifer Hatley are fourth-generation farmers in Stanly County who raise sheep, pigs, cows, ducks, and chickens with their sons, Blake and Eli. The Hatleys apply sustainable and regenerative farming principles and work within a perennial pasture and forest-based farming system (also known as silvopasture) in Oakboro, a suburb of Charlotte. We...

FARMERS: Rick & Corey Johnson LOCATION: Will County, IL SIZE: 1,430 Acres JOINED OUR PORTFOLIO: 2021 FARM STORYRick and his son Corey are fourth and fifth-generation farmers in the heart of Illinois corn and soybean country, just south of the expansive Chicago suburbs. Together, they manage 1,430 acres of row crops, with 940 of those acres financed in partnership with Iroquois Valley. Of that, 420 acres are organic, while 520 are transitioning to...

FARMERS: The Wepkings LOCATION: Ridgeway, WI SIZE: 700 Acres JOINED OUR PORTFOLIO: 2018 FARM STORYJohn and Halee Wepking of Meadowlark Organics are young farmers committed to cultivating a regenerative ecosystem by growing real food. Mentored by the late Paul Bickford, John and Halee focus on specialty grains like spelt, rye, and milling wheat, and are building a mill to process grains in-house.  Paul Bickford farmed with John...

FARMER: Jacqueline Smith LOCATION: Lawrence, KS SIZE: 80 Breeding Sheep JOINED OUR PORTFOLIO: 2022 FARM STORYJacqueline Smith founded Central Grazing Company in 2015 on the premise that all livestock deserve a good, peaceful, humane life. After working for many years co-running a sustainable sheep dairy, Jacqueline pinpointed gaps in restorative land management supply chains. While the ewes raised for milking and breeding were treated humanely, there was...