Meadow Run Farm
Chicken, Beef, Pork, Lamb, Rabbit, & Eggs - All Grass-based and Hormone & Antibiotic Free
Meadow Run is a third generation family farm just outside Ephrata, PA, in Lancaster County. Farmers Philip and Dorcas Horst Landis take great pride and enjoyment in what they do, and their quality products show this difference. They love their animals and are very concerned about environmental issues, which is evident in the caring way they raise their animals as naturally as possible. The farming philosophy at Meadow Run is strikingly different from the norm in conventional animal factory-farming. Philip considers himself a “grass farmer” and draws on a wealth of knowledge about many different kinds of grasses to create an intricate pattern of grasses that sustain the livestock year-round. At the farm, you’ll find a series of pastures, each with a different kind of grass selected for a different microclimate and season. With this method, some sort of grass is green nearly all year, and the farmers spend a considerable amount of time moving their animals from pasture to pasture. Meadow Run’s cattle and sheep are 100% grassfed, and receive hay grown on the farm when grass is not available in the winter or during drought. The pigs and poultry are pastured as well, but are also fed some grain, grown primarily on the farm. The animals never receive hormones or subtherapeutic antibiotics. They are much healthier than their factory-farmed counterparts, outside in the sunshine in an environment where their manure is deposited gradually over an entire field. Their health benefits are also passed on to the consumer, who is receiving a product higher in vitamins and “good fats” and free of dangerous strains of E. Coli.
Philip came to this part of the country in part because our climate is so well-suited to non-irrigated year-round grazing. He began farming on the Horst family farm about six years ago, and now works with his wife, Dorcas, one of her brothers, and two other part-time employees. Earlier this year, they hired someone to focus on the administrative side of the business, so that they might free up more of their time for farming. They now sell their products through on-farm sales (which have doubled in the past year and attract visitors from as far away as Philadelphia and New Jersey), through a year-round buying club, and to restaurants and farm stands such as Greensgrow. (For more info on the buying club, click here.)
One of the challenges for Meadow Run Farm is a problem facing all small farms – the overwhelming amount of work that is always to be done. Even with a loyal customer base, nearly all small farmers find it a challenge to make time for farming, marketing, and selling. It’s necessary to constantly reevaluate how best to spend your time in order to see the most return. Another challenge is the need for education. Consumers, especially restaurants, are used to being able to purchase just one part of an animal in large quantity. This system depends on huge farms out West, and is not feasible or humane on a local scale. However, such adjustments on the consumer’s part are a small price to pay for Meadow Run’s “uncommonly good meat and eggs raised with kindness, whole grains and grass” and to support an endeavor that is accountable to its land and community.
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