Farming has been a long tradition for Doug and Beth and their families. Doug grew up helping his dad, uncles, and Grandpa McConnell with the family farm where they had row crops, hay, and livestock. Beth was raised next door to her maternal grandparents’ farm that sat on 120 acres.

In 2017 after going through what seemed like the most challenging year of their lives, they decided to step back and reevaluate the way they were farming. They started to look at how they could raise the same crops each year without spending thousands of dollars on overhead. That sparked a decision to explore regenerative farming practices. Over the past several years Doug and Beth have learned more about regenerative farming practices such as using cover crops and inter-seeding corn crops with different forage mixes.

The goal of the McConnell Family Farm is to take care of the soil, which allows them to grow better crops that feed their livestock. They intend to leave the earth in better shape than what they found it in. They want their animals to be happy and healthy while in their care. They want you as their customer to Eat Well, Eat Local.

Regenerative Agriculture refers to using farming practices that focus on improving soil health by moving carbon from our atmosphere into our soils, where it can be a net positive for our planet instead of a net negative as a greenhouse gas. Taking a holistic look at the land, regenerative farms apply various principles with the goal of making the land more productive and biodiverse over time. These principles include minimizing the disturbance of the soil and integrating cover crops and animals. This improves the organic matter (anything living or that once was living) in the soil which reduces soil erosion, and improves water retention, plant health, crop yields, biodiversity and more!

Appalachian White Wheat is a hard winter wheat developed at NC State in 2009 to withstand the humidity in the eastern United States. While it is a modern wheat, it is non-GMO and not a hybrid. White wheats taste slightly less bitter than red wheats, making them an appealing option for some bakers who want to use more whole wheat without the extra strong flavor and darker color.