The Grey Barn Farm

Animal-centered farming, pasture-based management, and practical stewardship.

Goats

Pasture Recovery & Rest

Forage is managed with planned recovery periods that protect soil structure, encourage plant diversity, and prevent chronic overuse.

Poultry and Waterfowl

Species-Typical Behavior

Animals are given space and stability to express natural behaviors such as grazing, browsing, flocking, and social resting.

Hogs

Low-Intervention Systems

Systems are designed to function with limited mechanical input, relying instead on observation, timing, and animal adaptability.

About Grey Barn Farm

Family Ownership & History

Grey Barn Farm is a family-owned farm that has remained in the same hands since approximately the early 1800s. Over more than two centuries, the farm has adapted to changing land use, regional conditions, and agricultural practices while maintaining a continuous commitment to long-term stewardship.

The farm's roots are in Bollinger County, Missouri, with later expansion into Montgomery County, Ohio. Today, operations span three locations across two states. Each site is managed with attention to its specific soils, climate, and constraints, rather than attempting to impose a single model across very different landscapes.

Land Use & Crop Integration

For much of its history, the farm's work centered on field production and forage management, with careful attention to soil structure, drainage, and seasonal conditions. In recent decades, the operation has shifted toward livestock as the organizing focus of the farm.

Field production now primarily exists in support of animal systems. Crops such as corn, soybeans, hay, and grain sorghum are grown to meet feed and forage needs, creating an integrated relationship between land, crops, and livestock. This approach reflects a practical, closed-loop system in which each component supports the others rather than functioning in isolation.

Livestock Philosophy

Livestock at Grey Barn Farm are kept with an emphasis on ethological best practices - designing systems that allow animals to express natural behaviors appropriate to their species. In practical terms, this means letting a cow be a cow, a goat be a goat, and a flock behave as a flock.

Animals are maintained on large pastures with rotational movement and planned rest periods. Stocking density, movement timing, and infrastructure are shaped by observation and adjustment rather than rigid schedules. The goal is sound animal condition, reduced stress, and systems that function with minimal disruption.

Land Stewardship

Land stewardship at Grey Barn Farm is approached as an ongoing responsibility rather than a fixed set of techniques. Management decisions are informed by soil structure, forage recovery, weather variability, and animal behavior, with an emphasis on restraint and long-term outcomes.

Mechanical and chemical inputs are used sparingly and deliberately, favoring biological processes, time, and recovery whenever possible. Pastures are rested, not pushed. Fields are managed with an eye toward resilience rather than maximum short-term output. These choices are intended to preserve both productive capacity and ecological function over generations.

Continuity & Practice

Across multiple generations and locations, Grey Barn Farm has remained guided by the belief that good farming is practical, observational, and patient. The farm's systems are shaped by experience, adjustment, and respect for limits rather than by scale or speed.

By aligning land use with animal needs and working within the constraints of each landscape, Grey Barn Farm continues a family tradition of stewardship focused on durability, continuity, and responsible use of land and livestock.