Hidden Gems: Meet Kayla Gibson of Sugar Butte Farms

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Gibson.  

Hi Kayla, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After a great deal of digging and research, we developed many pain points within the food and agriculture system. Our food is falsely labeled, and producers greenwash their customers left and right. We began searching for farms to buy from, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find one that was quite as rigorous as our standards. 

We decided it was time to learn how to farm! We began simply as a homestead. We raised a few laying hens, meat chickens, 3 turkeys, and built gardens. Quickly, word spread about our farming techniques, and we accidentally developed customers. 

In spring 2020, people took more interest to local foods than ever. In fact, they needed local foods more than ever. The vertical integrated industrial farming system failed us as many predicted. (Remember when the grocery store shelves were empty?) 

As our community spent a lot of time at home, I spent time educating them over social media and my email newsletter. Our following grew. Quickly, we came to realize that the Mid-Ohio Valley needed a transparent and trustworthy farm like ours. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It could have been. 

However, we didn’t know how to farm. We did however have experience with customer service, fostering a community, and guiding customers through products and services. 

This became very advantageous because it allowed our customer base to grow alongside us. They, along with us, experienced the journey of watching our farm grow. Because we aspired to be the most transparent farm with some pretty alternative farming techniques, this created a customer-driven quality of product. 

I should also mention that farming is expensive and laborious. We were not prepared to incur the start-up costs. Because we did not want to borrow money and wished to grow our farm organically, it was simply myself and Eric (my husband) stewarding the land for the first 3.5 years. Needless to say, the labor and our drained accounts almost broke us. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Sugar Butte Farms is a little farm settled on 80 acres full of diverse biology and greenery. After many years of research, we decided it was time to conquer our pain points that exist in the current food system. Using our innate instincts, combined with knowledge from niche market farmers and ancestral food experts, we created the farm where animals can thrive outside. 

Our pursuit for nutrient-dense meat and humane management of animals spread into the hearts and onto the plates of the Mid-Ohio Valley. What was once a personal dream has now become a mission to revive the local food system. 

We do not believe in many conventional farming techniques. Our animals are moved on pasture, away from their pathogens, and on to new forage. They are fed a biodiverse diet and are allowed to act like the animals they were built to be. No confinement or barns – all on pasture! 

We pasture the following animals: laying hens, meat chickens, turkey, duck, lamb, and pigs. We are also starting a market garden and will have produce in summer 2023. 

Our transparent farming techniques and animal management strategies set us apart from other farms. Our customers specifically come to us because they want to fund a farm that promotes animal welfare, regenerates the soil, and promises a high-quality product. 

We are most proud of our transparency; can you tell? The farming and food system is full of secrets and lies. We want our customers and community to know every step that we take on this farm. We want them to be reassured that we are doing the best for the animal, the soil, and the customer. 

We want readers to know that their product is what sits on their plate at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but our product is the soil that the pastured animals built under their very own feet. We are regenerative farmers with a mission to create the most biodiverse ecosystem possible. 

We serve many families in the Mid-Ohio Valley with our eggs, pork, chicken, duck, and turkey. You can find us on most Saturday mornings at the River City Farmers Market or at our weekly “meat-ups.” We offer both farm-to-front-door delivery and on-farm pick-ups. Come see us! 

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Share our story and join my weekly newsletter at www.sugarbuttefarms.com/subscribe. I log on weekly to teach my readers more about regenerative farming, our farming practices, and special offerings. 

Customers can place orders through our website at www.sugarbuttefarms.com/store. You can choose to receive home delivery, on-farm pick-up, pick-up at River City Farmer’s Market, or Wednesday “meat-ups” at Scot’s Marketplace (Vienna) and Movement Fitness (Marietta). 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sugarbuttefarms.com
• Instagram: @sugarbuttefarms
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sugarbutte.farms

Image Credits
Michelle Waters
Jill Kirkland