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2016 Farm Tour
  • May 16, 2016
2016 Farm Tour

The 2016 Heritage Foods USA Farm Tour kicked off May 4th with a historic meeting at the Memphis airport headlined by a 15-passenger van, which was at the ready for a 5-day chef tour. Since 2005, an annual farm trip provides the chance for chefs and curemasters to meet the people and animals behind their center-of-plate ingredients..

Highwood Farm
  • Sep 28, 2015
Highwood Farm

uce Guanzini and Mark Baustian have been raising Boer crosses on their farm since 1994. While neither come from farming backgrounds, Mark and Luce connected years ago over their shared love of animals while pursuing degrees in Biology and Animal Science at Cornell, respectively.

Behind the Scenes | Asgaard Farm
  • Oct 29, 2014
Behind the Scenes | Asgaard Farm

If you have ever met a goat, you might have noticed their lively and boisterous personalities. The herd of goats at Asgaard Farm exemplify the rowdy persona we love about the goat.

Meet Frank Reese, the most respected American poultry breeder alive today.
  • Aug 5, 2014
Meet Frank Reese, the most respected American poultry breeder alive today.

Frank Reese of Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch is considered the godfather of American poultry. He is a fourth generation poultry farmer from Lindsborg, Kansas. For nearly all his life, Frank has maintained a keen interest in American heritage turkeys.

Crossing Cultures
  • May 9, 2014
Crossing Cultures

Every year for the past decade the Heritage Foods USA crew takes a bunch of chefs on a tour of the slaughter facility and farms that we work with in Kansas. What is most remarkable about the experience each time is witnessing the crossing of cultures: chefs mostly from the coasts who work at some of the best restaurants in the country meet, greet and share a meal and drinks with farmers and processors from the Midwest who raise the best meats in the country on their farms.

Ben and Grace Machin of Tamarack Vermont Sheep Farm
  • Apr 8, 2014
Ben Machin & Grace Bowmer of Tamarack Vermont Sheep Farm

Ben Machin grew up in Vermont on a small organic homestead where his family grew their own food and produced apple juice, apple cider vinegar, and maple syrup for market. After some years working for the US Forest Service as a Smokejumper, Ben came back to Vermont to study and work on various natural conservation projects. Eventually he rekindled his interest in farming. The post Ben Machin & Grace Bowmer of Tamarack Vermont Sheep Farm appeared first on HERITAGE FOODS USA.

Metzger Farm
  • Feb 13, 2014
Metzger Farm

Doug Metzger works his 1500-acre farm, which grows corn, sorghum, wheat, alfalfa, oats, barley, Reese turkeys (he has worked with turkeys since 1951) and pigs with wife Betty, son Mark, daughter Marilyn, son in law Stan and their three kids. Farming has become more challenging for Doug in recent years as he struggles to remain independent in an era of commercialization. “The chicken industry and the turkey industry went the way of industry,” Doug explains, ” and I’m working hard so that the same doesn’t happen to the pork industry”. Doug has raised purebred, certified Berkshire pigs since 1954 and learned the art from his grandfather Fred, father Wilhelm and father-in-law Japhet. These elder statesmen also taught Doug how to raise the now endangered Tamworth pig (as of 1961) and the Hampshire pig.

Larry and Madonna Sorell
  • Feb 13, 2014
Lazy S. Farms

Larry and Madonna Sorell have been farmers since 1970 when they purchased 200 acres of land in Cloud County, Kansas. Larry Sorell continues a family tradition that was passed down from his grandfather to his father and then to him. Today, the farm is a bit smaller but they still maintain true biodiversity. Madonna fondly recalls how Larry would often return home with a surprise in his truck – once a few lambs, another time a beautiful horse. The couple raises numerous heritage breeds including a handful of Highland cattle, Katahdin and CVM-Columbian crossed lamb, work horses and several pig varieties including Red Wattle, Berkshire, Gloucestershire Old Spot, Mule Foot, and a few Large Blacks.