Paul Strobel Farm

Newfane, NY

Paul Strobel has been raising natural beef for over 20 years on his family's farm which has been in operation for 45 years. His parents chose to begin raising beef in order to provide beef without added hormones. Paul maintains a cow herd of around 90 head and raises about 40 head annually for beef. All stock which are raised on the farm are rotationally grazed. His farm is located on 350 acres in Newfane, NY. Paul and his wife, Marjorie have two children: Emily (2 years) and Sara (8 months).

Forty-five years ago, Paul Strobel's dad wanted to give his family meat that was not injected with hormones, so he began farming with one lone beef cow. Today, Paul and his family tend as many as 80 brood cows and 225 additional animals on their 300 acre farm. Paul's herd is entirely Angus, after 15 years of breeding only to Angus bulls. Following in his father's footsteps, Paul has never fed any of their cattle antibiotics or animal byproducts, and he has never used hormones.

The Strobel family farm is located about 40 minutes from the roar of Niagara Falls in upstate New York. The family grows all of their hay for the animals themselves, and they purchase only New York grown, whole grains for feeding when finishing the beef. To the Strobel family this ensures that their beef is the finest it can be.

Dean Richardson

Pulaski, NY

Dean and his two sons operate a small farm in Pulaski, NY. Dean would like to raise more than his current 14 head annually. Dean grazes his steers and cow herd and harvests his own hay.

Sugar Creek Farm

Dansville, NY

John VanHeusen manages 2,100 acres of land for sustainable production of beef, hay and timber. His 90 brood cows produce fall and spring calves that graze on 50 acres of permanent pasture, and eat some of the hay from the 1,000 acres of crop land. Most of the hay is sold to horse owners in the Northeast.

In 1990, John began to phase out of the farm's dairy operation and started raising beef and growing hay. After he sold the dairy herd in 1995, he focused on beef cattle. He's always raised beef cattle without any hormones or the routine use of antibiotics, and feeds them a high forage diet and never any animal byproducts.

The farm forms a portion of the headwaters of the Genesee River in western New York. The 1,100 acres of woodlands are in a timber management program for harvest as a renewable resource. John also fishes in his spare time and is quite proud of the health and quality of the trout stream that runs through the center of the farm.

Hanova Hills

Forestville, NY

For Douglas Bunker "being able to conserve land and build it's prosperity" through farming is important. He is the lead organizer of the New York Natural Beef Cooperative.

Doug practices what he teaches on 500 acres of owned and rented land. His farm sits high on a watershed divide between land draining to Lake Erie to the west, and the Allegheny River to the south. While Doug actually grew up "a city boy," his farming partner Dan Egan grew up working with livestock since he was 11 years old, and began working with Doug after managing a four-family dairy farm. Together they practice the farming art of rotational grazing, where they mimic the natural grazing patterns of herd animals to increase the productive capacity of their land.

Doug started farming on the property with sheep in 1978 and by 1989 had switched to beef production. From the start, he raised his livestock naturally, without hormone implants or routine antibiotic use. Now, he rarely needs to use antibiotics to treat sickness in his cattle and is proud of the health of his herd and his work with the Cooperative. "We're excited to work with Northeast Family Farms to produce the best meats and to help return a fair price to farmers for their livestock."

Gold Den Acres Farm

Hartland, NY

After starting to farm with 10 Polled Herefords in 1972, Dave Denzel now admits that his part-time fun has grown "well beyond a hobby." Together with farmer Fred Leigh, he now manages 120 brood cows and produce more than 100 head of beef animals each year on the 850 acre farm. The Denzel herd is made up of Angus and Simmental breeds and has been "closed" for 15 years. This means no outside animals have joined it other than virgin breeding bulls every two years. For the last 10 years, Dave Denzel has produced beef without the use of artificial hormones or routine antibiotic use.

In addition, the Denzel Farm has produced all of its own feed for its animals, including all pasture, hay, corn, soy and wheat. The Dave Denzel's Gold Den Acres Farm is located about three miles from Lake Ontario. Northeast Family Farms was founded to recreate an efficient supply chain between New England's Artisan Farmers like Dave Denzel who have a passion for caring for their land and livestock and the regions premier chefs, specialty retailers and quality conscious, socially aware individuals. Northeast Family Farms standards are higher than any other "natural" beef brand. Gold Den Acres Farm's cattle are processed at Over the Hill Farm in Benson Vermont. This family owned artisan butcher shop sits on a 300 acre certified organic farm in Northwestern Vermont.

Hill Creek Farm

Wayne County, NY

Leon Callahan and his wife raise beef and hay on 150 acres of open land near the town of Beaver Dams in Chemung County, NY. His cow herd calves between 20-25 head each year. Leon has been working with the Cornell Value Discovery program for the last 8 to 10 years. He is the second generation of his family to operate Hill Creek Farm.

Mill creek Farm

Chemung County, NY

Mill Creek Farms is 15 miles east of Rochester,NY, located not far from the shores of Lake Ontario in Wayne County. It is operated by Durwood "Woody" Adams, who runs a small cow/calf herd of 25 animals on 80 acres of intensively managed pasture. The land is rolling and stony, with Mill Creek running through the property. His breeding herd is composed primarily of Hereford, Limousine and Red Angus crosses. Leon has lived at Mill Creek all his life and is the second generation in his family to farm there.

Adventureland Farm

Lodi, NY

Located in the heart of the New York Finger Lakes region between Cayuga and Seneca lakes, Adventureland Farm has been a partnership between Karel Titus and Anne Derousie since 1976. Seventy acres of intensively grazed pasture is used for a herd of 30 Devon/Angus-cross cows and their calves. Beef produced on the farm is 100% grass fed without hormone implants or routine antibiotic use.

In 1990, Anne and Karel brought home a red Milking Devon calf. This historic breed of cattle makes excellent grazers and fit the goal of efficiently producing healthy, tasty beef from grass. The Devon herd is now large enough to sell breeding stock as well as beef.

Cleason Horst Farm

Lyons, NY

The Cleason Horst Farm is located in Lyons, NY, in the Fingerlakes region. Cleason, his wife and children are Mennonite. They raise pigs and beef cattle as well as several crops. Cleason gets help on the farm from his children with daily chores around the farm.