Who are we,

A&C Farms is owned and operated by myself (Buck Adams) and my wife, Shae Adams. We have both been heavily involved with agriculture all our lives. I grew up on a farm raising cattle and poultry and Shae grew up on a farm raising cattle and row cropping. We were both involved with the local 4H group, horse/saddle clubs, FFA, and other such organizations. We also operate an excavating business with our families, which had a lot to do with furthering my interest in soil health. We love the lifestyle with passion, and want our daughter to grow up with the same opportunities we had.

As far as regenerative goes, we chose this path due to many different factors of which would make a book if I started to list them here! The main points are;

1. We believe that consumers should be directly connected to the providers of whatever service or products they are purchasing. We are living in a world that is not truthful. Lies are told in order to make profit. Example; you can go to most major grocery stores and buy a package of “Grass Fed Beef” with a nice package with pretty images of happy cows and grass, and it says “product of USA” proudly stamped on the front. Is that true? How would you know? Did you know there are companies bull dozing down the rainforest in Brazil, growing cattle on the grass that is sprayed with chemicals that are banned in the USA, shipping that beef to the USA, where it is PROCESSED, therefore it can be labeled “product of the USA”. That is untruthful as it gets. This will not happen on our farm. Whatever you want to know or see, is right here for you to see, from the raising to the processing.

2. We believe that consumers should have MANY choices as to where to buy their services or products from. We are dangerously close to basically a monopoly on our food supply. Why on earth would anyone think this is a good idea? Two or 3 companies owning the entire market share is the worst thing possible for consumers. If they choke everyone else out, then who’s to say they wont jack the prices up at will? Rest assured though it will not appear as obvious price gouging, they will blame it on something, a drought, fuel shortage, bird flu, swine flu, etc…

3. We believe in sustainability over efficiency. The industry states efficiency as its crown achievement. They measure the product they can produce within the square footage of barn or CAFO the animals are kept in and the fuel or equipment and labor onsite. That is not the full picture. The square footage needs to include the acres of land required to grow the feed, the trucking operation bringing the feed, trucking to slaughter, the slaughter facility, the grocery store square footage, delivery to the store, etc. Now I will admit, there are always efficiencies of scale, but I would sure like to know what the true numbers are when all of this is factored in, including all of the animals that are killed due to disease outbreak or a break in the supply chain.

4. We believe in knowing the TRUE cost. Commercial meat is not cheap. I repeat, commercial meat is not cheap. Yes you are buying by the pound and a pound of our chicken breast is (at the time of writing this) $11 compared to a pound of the cheapest commercial chicken breast at $4 per pound (how is that even possible!?), but what is within that pound? Do you think the same nutrients are in there? If you bought a pound of fuel for $11 would it be a better deal to buy a pound of fuel for $4 that was 75% water? Let me know how that engine runs for ya. What about the stuff you dont want…you think there is anything in that cheap meat that you dont want? I could write about this for hours but I will wrap it up with a few quick points…You can pay it now on food or pay it later on medical bills. You can pay it now on food or pay it later on destroyed environment.

5. We believe that animals should be treated with the honor and respect they deserve. We may have dominion over them, but how we play that role should be something that is not taken lightly. Life cannot go on without death. It is that tradeoff which makes life so special. Being a good steward of animals is one of the most beautiful things that separates us from the rest of the predators. We don’t eat animals alive while they are stuck in a fence like wild predators do, no, we provide and care for them as best as we can to give them a wonderful life until the day of their death. I know some vegans or vegetarians will think that sounds crazy, but I like to say that it is not I that undervalues the life of an animal, it is them undervaluing the life of a plant compared to an animal. Just because plants don’t have eyes and we cannot hear them make noises, does not mean they are not a magnificent life form that should be valued any less. The more you learn about mycorrhizal fungi and how plants seem to work together and communicate, the more you realize there is A LOT we dont know! Its a humbling reminder to know, that we may have dominion, but we can easily become the short stick in the game of life with the animals we love. My wife and I always let each other know when we are going into the pig pasture….because if something happened and we ended up unconscious on the ground…you guessed it, we would be literally “feeding the pigs”

6. We believe farming should be good for the environment and build the soil. Again, I could write a book on this subject, but I will try to make it short. The whole farming operation should revolve around building and protecting the life in the soil. Animal rotation, multiple plant species, no chemicals, composting, etc. Our soils have been abused and eroded for years. I truly believe one of the biggest factors in wild weather patterns is the fact that rain is not retained in our soils. Rain hits the ground, is not absorbed, runs straight into the ditches and waterways, straight to the river and straight to the ocean, carrying what little topsoil we have left with it due to tillage. Aside from the fact that much of our soils have been replaced with concrete and asphalt and then the rain water is collected by storm drains and sent and directly into the watershed, our soil just simply cannot retain water like it used to due to tillage, compaction, and overgrazing. Soils used to be 5% organic matter and much higher in areas, but now most soils are in the 0.5% organic matter range and cannot retain even 1/2” of rainfall in an hour. I have seen farms that have been regenerated by these farming practices that have raised the organic matter content to over 5% and can absorb 5” of rain within a few hours. How amazing is that? No erosion, and a large reservoir of water trapped there in the soil to be slowly used by the vegetation in the time of need. During a drought, these farms keep trucking along like nothing happened while the lands just across the fences looks like desert waste lands.