Our Practices

At Rucker Farm we raise pastured beef, pork and poultry through regenerative agricultural methods. Our mission is to steward the soil and grass to work in relationship with mother nature allowing the animals to play their role and do what they do best! We are committed to raising quality, ethical food for our family and to have a lasting positive impact on the land for our children.

Our Animals

Our cornish-cross meat birds are rotated on fresh pasture daily; closer to their harvest--the birds are rotated two times a day. Our cattle herd is moved every 1- 4 days with a goal of only a 50% grazing impact. Our pork is moved typically once a week, or as needed, with overseeding practices behind them. Pigs have access to pasture and wooded areas and are free to root as much as they like- no ringed noses here!

We do not believe in hormones for our animals, nor do we routinely administer antibiotics or vaccines. However, as stewards, we believe if an animal is in distress or pain it is our responsibility to doctor and provide relief. It should be stated that if an animal is showing signs of infection or disease, this largely reflects on the environment that it is being raised. We believe it is the farmers responsibility to ensure that animals are in a clean environment ALWAYS. If an animal is ever injured, we would not hesitate to provide an antibiotic, though we would be transparent about how we managed that animal moving forward, especially for consumption. We do castrate our male piglets and band bull calves. We do this as young as possible and allow them to be with their mothers immediately to help sooth and decrease the effects of any trauma.

Our Feed

We are not certified organic. We supplement with a local, freshly milled grain for our meat birds, pigs, and a few hand-selected cattle for finishing purposes. We are hopeful to transition to an organic feed in the future, though we seek to avoid supporting deep tilling farming practices as we believe they are not inline with our regenerative practices. ALL animals are given access to fresh pasture their whole lives and are never confined to eat only grain.

Our Chicken Harvesting

At Rucker Farm we operate under the Exempt Public Law 90-492 with a 20,000 bird limit. Garrett and Isabelle typically harvest 165 birds in a single processing across two days. We love when people come to the farm to learn and participate in this final stage of the life cycle, this ties into our ideal customer...

Our Ideal Customer

We are here for those who want a relationship with the food, farmer, and land. As a multigenerational family farm, we want to grow with you and your family. We value legacy, transparency, and honesty, so ask the hard questions and let's have the conversation. Our ideal customer want's a full chest freezer of meat that will provide them with the peace-of-mind in knowing they are feeding their family food that had a positive impact on the environment, is deeply nourishing, well cared for, and who's life was honored and respected. We appreciate those who use as much of the animal as possible, use ancestral wisdom to learn how no part of the animal goes to waste.

We do not claim to be experts; we are learning and evolving, and have set-backs like everyone else. Though we invite you to participate in the Regenerative Agriculture movement. We believe everything you eat will either help you or hurt you, that food is medicine, and that nature is our greatest teacher.

In Health,

Isabelle, Garrett, Toren, and Sigrid