HOPEFUL FARMS
Hopeful Farms provides Fry Farms Co-op with its beef, pork and poultry products.
We were driven to grass-based farming by our desire for a healthy family, and our desire to provide others with truly healthy food. Our farm has been operating chemical free since 1974. We bought it from Dad in 2004 and continued in his footsteps. Our animals are raised on pasture, eating greens and soaking in the sunshine. Since they are fed a natural diet, our animals don't need medications. On our farm, genetically modified products and other prepared feeds are a strict no-no.
Our biggest focus is on our littlest livestock, the microbial life in our soil. Animals can only be as healthy as the plants they eat, and the plants they eat can only be as healthy as the soil they grow on! At Hopeful Farms, we emphasize taking care of the soil. One way we do this is by applying the correct balance of minerals to enhance the microbial life in the soil. Microbes, in return, work for us by helping the plants absorb nutrients. We don't use herbicides, insecticides or chemical fertilizers since they kill the life in the soil.
Beef
Our beef are heritage breeds. They are grass-fed and grass-finished and are moved onto fresh pasture daily, except for the coldest months of the winter. Hay is harvested for them to feed on during the winter.
Pork
Somewhere behind the barn or in the wood lot, you can find our pigs grunting happily as they rustle about plowing with their noses. Like the cows, they are rotated routinely across their grazing lot. Along with their diet of grasses, roots and grubs, they are given organic feed consisting of corn, spelt & oats, and peas. They do not receive soy.
Chickens
Our broilers are raised in floor-less, portable pens which protect them from predators and give them plenty of sunshine! The pens are partially covered to provide some shade and refuge when it rains. The birds are moved to fresh pasture daily, so they can eat plenty of grass and bugs along with their organic, soy-free feed.
Turkeys
Our turkeys are raised in the same way as our chickens, except they have access to the whole field after they outgrow their pens.
Eggs
In the same fields as our cows is our egg mobile surrounded by laying hens and a few roosters. We rotate the hens on a regular basis to make sure they have fresh pasture and lots of good grubs to eat. In wintertime, the egg mobile is parked inside a shed, but the hens still have access to the outside and they are free to roam.
Want to know more?
Contact Colleen Obergfell Fry Farms Co-op Manager, at fryfarmscoop@gmail.com or (260) 402-1828.