| The Story Behind Proffitt Farms |
Doyle is always helping
dad. No matter what the
task, Doyle is up for the job!
These rolling hills and terraces we work have a story. Mom and Dad, Steve and Diane Proffitt,
changed this land from idle pastures to the lush polyculture of grasses that now provide our
cows with their certified organic daily fare. Mom and Dad raised us three kids, Melissa, Shelley,
and Stuart Proffitt in various homes over the years trying to find a place with more land and
space with each move. They were finally able to realize their dream upon retirement with the
purchase of the Kings Mountain property and built a modest home big enough for their married
children to come and bring their families. Mom and Dad were lured into raising cattle in 2000
by an acquaintance who knew about how to raise beef in the conventional methods. Over the
course of the several years Dad began to realize there could be a better way to raise cattle. He
grew tired of sending weaned calves off the farm knowing they would end up in a feedlot out
west. Having been diagnosed with high cholesterol many years earlier he had been reading
and educating himself on how to control bad saturated fats and many other health issues by
simply altering ones diet. The search for a healthier, more humane method, led him to grass
fed beef. He began reading about how to raise grass fed beef and going to conferences on how
to do it. What he found out was that it means a lot more work! Physical labor and time. Dad,
like the rest of us, is not getting any younger! Moving the cows everyday in addition to the
other tasks of keeping up the farm and then the fact that the beef would then need to be sold
somehow and by somebody was too much for one person to take on.
Brian, my husband,( The Best Husband in the world) and I were witnessing this from afar and
during our family visits since we lived in Colorado during these early years of the farm. After
one visit, which we spent working on the farm, we decided it was clear mom and dad needed
our help. It was a good time for us to move as we had been itching for a reason to get back to
the south and had always dreamed of raising our own 2 children, Dewi and Zoe, on a farm. So,
in December of 2008 we left the burbs of Colorado to move onto the farm and work alongside
my parents. We now live together and our multi generational farm home is always a bustle
with our own kids, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles coming and going nonstop. While
dad is the backbone we all play our part, even the kids, in getting the work done. At every turn
is a family member to laugh, celebrate, play and mostly work alongside. My children now have
the privilege of knowing their grandparents when they are young and spry. They gain values
from them, and their aunts and uncles, now as much as from Brian and me. They work on the
farm in their own ways. Dewi, who is 9, loves the chickens and cares for them as if they were a
beloved pet. He sells the eggs at the Farmer’s Markets and even puts the labels on the
cartons. Zoe rides alongside us, on Bucky the pony, when we need another rider to round up
the cows. She is proving to be quite the cowgirl. Brian and I have taken on the task of selling
our grass fed beef at the markets and finding wholesale outlets to get our beef into the local
community and Charlotte. Brian and I both work alongside dad doing the labor of moving the
cow herds from one swath of grass to another, putting in ear tags, sorting cows and
transporting them to the processor every other week. We also work at 2 farmers markets each
Saturday, being the main sales force. When things get crazy we can always call in my sister,
Melissa who lives across the pasture, to step in and help out at a market. We can always count
on my brother, Stuart, to come down from Charlotte and help be another rider on horseback
when we need to do a full round up or when we need help sorting the cows in the pen. Granny
is the glue that holds us all together. She keeps the home fire burning if we've been out all day
in the rain and she is one fine horsewomen to boot!
We raise our beef this alternative way because it’s what’s best for the land, most natural for
the animals, and creates a healthy product for consumers and our family.
As the cows move across the pasture they eat all the vegetation there (even the weeds),
fertilize the ground with their manure, trample what they don’t eat into the ground creating
more soil, and are then moved to a new swath of ready grass. They won’t be back to that
swath for another 30-60 days, depending on rainfall and sunshine needed to regrow the grass.
We use no chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, chicken liter, or sludge on our pastures. This
allows an amazing polyculture of grasses and weeds to grow. This variety is key for our cows
because like us, they like variety in their forages!
This is a natural existence for the cows as they are herbivores and, like the buffalo of the
American old-west, roam freely to eat a variety of only grasses. They need no corn and no
grain in their natural way. The feeding of corn is completely unnecessary.
The fat on a cow that has eaten only grass will be dramatically different from that of grain fed
beef. There is less fat than on a grain or corn fed animal and the fat they do have is full of
Omega 3 fatty acids and CLA (conjugated linoleic acids) an anti-oxidant identified as an
important cancer fighter. We have no need to give our cows hormones or antibiotics. Cows get
sick when they are stressed. One way they get stressed is by being confined. Our animals are
never confined and they rarely get sick. If one should become ill we remove them from the
herd and treat them to keep them healthy. If that means they must receive antibiotics, we do
so and they are no longer a part of our program. They are never ever fed antibiotics like
feedlot cows. They are never fed corn or grains. This makes them different in many ways.
One month of grain feeding can negate all the advantages of grass feeding for 17 months! The
omega 3s and CLAs that we need are found in the fat of the grass fed cow. There is also less of
the bad saturated fats on grass fed beef. There are in fact, healthy. Good saturated fats in
grass fed beef. Eat the fat on these animals and don’t feel bad about it!
Our goal is to raise animals with no inputs. Raised on only sunshine, rain, and GRASS!
We hope you enjoy our beef as much as we enjoy raising it. If you have questions about how to
cook it just ask, want to come see for yourself, just call. We are always here with the herd.
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| In addition to the beef that we raise on our own farms, we are supported by four other local farmers who are friends of ours, and who faithfully follow the same methods of animal care. 100% grass fed, no antibiotics, no hormones, no penning. This arrangements allows us to bring a continuous supply of quality grass fed beef to you and it helps these local, family farms by providing a ready market for the healthy beef which they take great pride in raising. This is yet another way we, together, can give farming families a reason to keep their cattle on their property, instead of going into the conventional feedlots, and a reason to hang onto their family farm land. Which is disappearing at an alarming rate. |