Farming Philosophy
Know Your Farmer, Trust Your Food
In our current system of agriculture, no one knows where their food comes from, how it was raised, handled, processed, packaged and what chemicals were added. The food you put in your body shouldn’t be a mystery. You should feel confident about how it was created. You shouldn’t be left with more questions.
We shake your hand, look you in the eye, and answer all your questions – the way it should be. With Dry Branch meat products, you know your food is the highest quality available – with no hormones, no antibiotics, no MRNA vaccines. You know our meat comes from this community and supports Central Kentucky families.
Dry Branch Farm Market is an old spin on this new problem, because you can always get high quality fresh meat right here, locally. Dry Branch Farm Market makes it convenient, as it should be.
Support All Local Farmers
We believe in decentralization and encourage you to buy from ANY small farmer to support your local community, rather than a giant corporation. Doing so benefits those people who put their heart and soul into everything they are producing. They do it because they care.
Some local farmers have limited inventory and that’s ok. They may not be set up to provide the quantity or variety you want. We are here if and when you need us. Farm-to-family is not competitive, it’s cooperative.
How We Apply Our Farming Philosophy
Our philosophy on food and farming are inextricably linked. We can’t honor one without honoring the other. Here’s a little information on how we put our philosophy to work every day in the way we operate our family farm and how we produce the best meat for your family.
Soil First
The goal for us is to create the best soil possible. In our opinion, this is done with grass and livestock. We make our business and management decisions based on what will best enhance soil biology and naturally fertilize forages. We are constantly working toward healthier soil and building organic matter. For us, that means grazing multiple types of livestock and rotating regularly from pasture to pasture. This multi-species approach is a great way to utilize all forage plants to their highest potential while simultaneously fertilizing and feeding the plants and soil biology. Since we do not till our farm, we do not need to plant cover crops; our sod is always working!
Chickens
As a chicken, you’ve hit the jackpot at Dry Branch. Our chickens live on pasture and are rotated to fresh grass daily in mobile chicken coops. Unlike commercial poultry operations, our chickens are able forage on grass, eat bugs, scratch, and just be chickens! This keeps them happy and makes them healthier, which in turn makes for healthier meat and eggs. Pasture raising chickens also fertilizes the grasses and soil in a natural way.
We supplement our birds with a natural, non-GMO grain developed by a local nutritionist. Our chickens are harvested in a small, local butcher shop, the meat is air chilled, as opposed to water chilling, which compares to dry aging in beef. It’s more time consuming and costly, but well worth it in our opinion because the result is a flavorful, tender chicken. It’s simply not possible to get a better poultry product than a Dry Branch chicken.
Turkeys
Much like our chickens, our turkeys live outdoors on green grass and are moved daily to fresh pasture. They love to eat bugs and forage. We supplement our turkeys with a non-GMO grain ration from a small, local feed mill specifically designed with natural vitamins and minerals to keep our turkeys healthy. Raising turkeys this way creates a great tasting, healthy meat for your family. Our turkeys are butchered on the farm in our own slaughterhouse, always with dignity and respect.
Cattle
Dry Branch cattle graze the rolling green pastures of our farm in Danville, KY. As they get older, we supplement (finish) with natural grain made with non-GMO corn. We work with a local livestock nutritionist to create rations that meet our high standards, creating the most flavorful, marbled and high quality beef available. We use our own small, local USDA slaughterhouse to butcher our cattle one at a time. Our beef is dry aged for 14 days, creating a rich beefy flavor that you won’t find in a grocery store. We hand-select the very best cattle for slaughter, so you can be assured of receiving the highest quality beef available anywhere.
Pigs
All pigs are not created equal. We raise Duroc pigs because we think its the best pork anywhere. Often called the “black angus” of pork, the Duroc breed is known for their marbling, tenderness and flavor (which all work hand in hand). The key to Duroc’s exceptional flavor lies in its genetics. The Duroc breed, a result of careful breeding, combines the best attributes of various pig breeds, resulting in meat that is remarkably flavorful, juicy, and tender. The meat’s balanced marbling contributes to a more robust and complex taste, making each bite a sensory journey through layers of indulgence. Our sows live in open pasture with plenty of space to roam and root. These great mothers are full of personality and a pleasure to be around!
Sheep
As Leah’s favorite farm animal, Dry Branch sheep might experience a little special treatment! They live on pasture year round, protected by our two guardian dogs (Pistol and Lola). As our lambs grow older and are weaned off their mothers, they are supplemented with GMO-free grain to create the most flavorful lamb meat on the market. Like with our beef, we use our own small, local USDA butcher shop to process our lamb, ensuring the highest quality standard.
How to Buy
We all want farm-fresh meat, full of nutrients and raised the right way. We understand that’s hard to do with busy schedules, and can be a pain in the rear to drive many miles out of your way or search different websites looking and ordering. We have several convenient options that make it easy to get the best.
Why Decentralize?
Food & Freedom
Decentralization, independence and transparency have always been the guiding principles in building our farm. The current big-ag system, while generating affordable food, is highly centralized, wasteful, and largely hidden from public view. Big Food prioritizes profit and efficiency over health and quality. This system (the laws that govern food, meat production, labeling, taxes, environment, business, employment etc.) was designed to eliminate small family farms and replace them with fewer, but bigger farms dependent on this massive big-ag system (and is therefore controllable).
We do not like this system or agree with it’s structure and special interests, so we had to build something independent. At Dry Branch, we control the raising, slaughter, packaging and retail sales of our livestock and products. In other words, a vertically integrated business model and a direct relationship with our customers. This is the ONLY way to provide our local community with high quality food they can trust.
This is called decentralization, which is the key to food freedom and supply chain resiliency. It also happens to be very expensive to build, but that’s ok because great things often come at a higher cost. At Dry Branch we care about people, health and independence.
We intentionally set out to build a farm-to-family business model with the purpose of restoring trust in food. That being said, this is a team effort; we commit to creating the highest quality food for your family, and we humbly ask for your support in our joint effort to be healthy and free.
– Zach & Leah Gibbs
