Farmer : Valerie SamutinLocation : Shelbyville , Ky. Specialty : grassfed , foraging - Federal livestock
It all start with a pegleg of lamb . When Valerie Samutin and her husband , George , decided to embolden their wedding feast — lamb marinated in pomegranate juice , ail and herb , roasted on an exposed blast by the ostler himself — they found that they could n’t find the lamb they were looking for : 100 - percentgrassfedand Certified Organic . That ’s when they realized they call for to upraise the lamb themselves . The Samutin family ’s making love of ready with refreshed , calibre element conduce these former city - indweller to move to the land full - time so as to call down their own livestock , produce and bees .
Owned and operate by Valerie Samutin , with help from fellow farmer Claudia Montes Shreve , Freedom Run Farmhappens to be entirely run by women ( though Samutin ’s husband will , on function , step in when she takes a Sunday off ) . While they sometimes face physical challenge that might be easier for male farmers , Samutin says that what they miss in muscularity , she and Montes Shreve make up for in brainpower and cleverness .
Today , Freedom Run Farm holds the distinction of being the first farm in Kentucky to be 100 - percent grassfed certified byAnimal Welfare Approved , a label that means that the animals are raised concord to stern well-being and environmental standard . They make up one’s mind to raise theirAngus cattleandKatahdin sheepcompletely on pasture and grass because , as Samutin put it , “ We believe that the wellness of land , creature and our food provision are deeply tie together . ”
Freedom Run Farm is dedicated to maintain a “ harmonious and sizeable food chain , ” play with the natural cycle of their livestock and manage their land in a way that profit the animals , the dirt and the fields . Freedom Run Farm
Biggest Success
When we first started out , many people tell us that we would n’t be able to raise sheep in a manifest Organic system or that we would n’t be able to get lambs to marketplace weight unit on grass alone . We have finagle to do both and develop a very healthy , tasty product ! Our big agriculture success has been to be able to bring friends and home together around an amazing repast that we have grown ourselves , to share the high quality nutrient we can get to the table .
Biggest Challenge
The biggest farming challenge by far is to be pay a survive wage . Compared to other industrialized nations , the United States ’ consumer spend the smallest percentage of their budgets on intellectual nourishment . As a society , we have to start to place more value on our intellectual nourishment and correspond to pay more for sizable , quality food .
Firsthand Advice
The honorable advice I could give would be to drop time in the pastures with your brute . Your livestock will separate you what they need if you choose to heed . Watch which forage they choose to consume . Close observation of their behavior , body condition scores and pastures will give you invaluable information .
Freedom Run Farm
