#64 From Homesteading to Backgrounding Beef and Meat Business Expansion
“It’s not something that happens overnight, it’s a gradual transition. We started making our own bars of soap, I started making my own tallow, I started doing all these little things gradually that are creating a more holistic home, but it definitely takes time and you appreciate everything you have a whole lot more.”
In this episode, I had the pleasure of talking to Kerissa Payne of Covey Rise Farms. Kerissa shared about her journey building her farm operation with her husband in Ohio and then moving their operation to Kansas. As you can imagine, that process did not come without a few bumps in the road, but Kerissa and her family have settled into their new home and are working on expanding their business. Kerissa also delved into how she started making things from scratch and how going without some things, like their dryer, doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
About our guest: Kerissa Payne, Covey Rise Farms - Kansas
Kerissa grew up in a small rural town in Southern, Ohio. Where she came from farming was a hobby, not a fulltime job. Kerissa wanted to understand the connection between the soil and the food she ate everyday. She began to question ingredients and started searching for a middle ground between healthy and affordability.
Charlie and Kerissa met in April 2018. They quickly became a team and by May they started making farming decisions together. Starting a farmer's market in Westerville and doing farm chores together. Right before they met, Charlie decided to purchase 54 acres of ground after being approached with an only possible by God land opportunity. That winter their dreams of selling direct to consumer grew and so did our aspirations for our future. The 54 acres were blank dirt that had nothing but soil and potential, so it needed lots of money and time to get it functional. A few years later, land prices around them soared and the reality sank in that they wouldn't be able to buy more land in the area. So they went back to the table to brainstorm ideas for their business.
Kerissa and Charlie began looking at farms in Kansas. They knew they needed more land, and Ohio wasn't going to provide it. Kansas not only had great land, but it offered connections to agriculture. Not growing up in agriculture, knowledge was something they really wanted to expand. Charlie went to college with a guy who was looking to expand his grain operation but needed help in a small town in western Kansas. So they began to explore partnership opportunities where they each could grow their own businesses, and Charlie and Kerissa could expand their meat business. In the summer of 2023, Kerissa and Charlie sold everything they owned, and moved to Kansas. Their business in Kansas looks a little different. They are still raising and selling meat directly to consumers, but they have also added some custom feeding for other farmers, and hopefully here soon row crops. Being a beginning farmer means you need income diversification; you can't rely on one single revenue source to support your family.
You can connect with Kerissa on her website or her Instagram.
At a glance:
Moving their farm operation from Ohio to Kansas.
Making things from scratch and making do without.
Backgrounding cattle.
Why Kerissa and her family left Ohio.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts!
You may also enjoy…
#10 When You Have to Wait to Expand the Farm
#16 Building a Homestead with Terra Larsen of Everest Acres
#44 Our Farm Transition Story Part 1
About the Host of Farming on Purpose, Lexi Wright:
I’m your host, Lexi Wright. I started the Farming on Purpose Podcast from a passion for sharing the future of production agriculture. I’m so glad you’re here and I hope you’ll take a moment to join the conversation with me and other listeners on social media.
Connect with me on Instagram @wrightatthemoment, Facebook, and TikTok.
