Growing Strong: The Fischer Farms Network Reaches 35 Farmers

Fischer Farms Natural Foods has spent the last 20 years forming relationships with area farmers and producers to help them expand their market for their local and sustainably raised products. Recently with the support of the Climate Smart Commodities grant from the USDA, the number of farmers has grown to over 35 with plans to assist over 70 farmers by 2028.

One of the goals of Fischer Farms through the Ultimate Beef Research Project is to provide a local market for our partner farms for livestock, as well as technical and financial assistance to implement regenerative agriculture practices.

We recently reached out to several of our network farmers to learn more about their experience and how the regional meat and food system we are building is impacting their own family farms.

Glenn Hoover, a farmer in Pembroke, Kentucky shared, “I’ve been selling cattle to Fischer Farms for 1.5 years. Prior to Fischer Farms purchasing my cattle I would only have 1 buyer that would offer to buy my cattle, and I would have to pay larger trucking bills to ship to a packing plant thousands of miles away”.

Jerry Lambright, the Bishop of a nearby Amish community recently shared with us, “We have found Fischer Farms very trustworthy and good to work with and we hope this partnership can continue”. Fischer Farms has purchased over $1,500,000 of products from this Amish community to date.

Tyler Gehlhausen, a southern Indiana farmer who is younger in his agriculture career wrote, “They have shifted my thinking from what I have always known to a new way of farming. Fischer Farms is leading this revolution in southern Indiana that will keep impacting cattle farmers in a positive way”.

Bernie Gutgsell is a third-generation farmer in Dubois, Indiana who focuses on raising hormone-free, antibiotic-free, natural beef and pork.  “After the pandemic, we had a lot more customers who wanted that transparency - wanted to know where their food was coming from and how it was being raised”, Gutgsell said. “The customer relationship that formed as a result means a lot to me. I have people coming up to me saying ‘That’s the best steak that I ever had.’ The quality matters and using climate-smart practices is another way to set our product apart from the rest”.

Gutgsell is already seeing a difference with some of the practices that he’s implemented, including planting an approved cover crop mix.

“The rye cover crops hold more moisture in the ground and the root system is deep, which helps keep the soil on the field”, he said. “We also feed it to the cattle along with the kelp which is supposed to reduce emissions. With the better feed, we expect healthier cattle, which results in a more flavorful product”. 

“A lot of little farms are disappearing”, Gutgsell said. “Dave’s project has been good for the whole community and the premium keeps us in business and keeps our family farm going”.