By Hunter Kennedy | April/May 2009 | Features

The Smartest Farm

Almost thirty years ago, one forward-thinking Virginia family decided to make a life out of going green. Today they're still breaking new ground

Two hundred years later, farmers in Virginia and across the country have found themselves on the front lines of critical issues ranging from suburban sprawl and watershed protection to alternative fuels. True to Jefferson’s vision, Sandy and Rossie Fisher carry on his tradition of innovation and enlightened stewardship in every facet of farming practice at Brookview Farm as well as in the surrounding community. And it all began with a wild idea: grass-fed beef.

When the Fishers bought the farm in 1981, they had just returned from Colombia, South America, where Sandy had served two years in the Peace Corps and worked another nine years on a cattle ranch ten hours southeast of Bogotá. Rossie had grown up on a cattle farm just down the road from Brookview, so when the opportunity arose to buy property nearby, they jumped at it. Drawing on their experience in South America, they started raising grass-fed cattle about twenty-five years before most Virginians knew there was a difference. Unlike American cattle, which are typically fed corn and soybeans, South American cattle are raised solely on grass, which provides a leaner beef with a higher percentage of protein. The Fishers were convinced that this diet also made the animals less prone to illness, thus eliminating the need for antibiotics. (The total vet bill for all 300 cattle and 400 chickens on the farm last year was less than $400.) The 250 cattle now at Brookview Farm are a sturdy mix of breeds such as Angus, Hereford, and Brahman. Because of their diet of hay and grass, they are smaller and thinner than typical grain-fed cattle, taking much longer to fatten. For years, the Fishers took their cattle to market and sold them with all the rest, gaining no additional compensation for the extra care they put into naturally raising their beef. Finally, in the mid-1990s, they started advertising that their beef was certified organic. Initially there was little demand for it. They opened the farm store shortly afterward, offering the beef for sale to the farm’s Saturday morning visitors. After more than a decade of educating customers, coupled with the growing popularity of organic foods, people now drove to Brookview Farm from Richmond and Washington, D.C., to buy grass-fed beef directly from the farm. Filet mignon sold for over $18 a pound, but the real profit came from $5-per-pound hamburger, which earned about $2,500 per cow.

Industrial Revolution
“The flavor of the meat is unbelievable,” says Sandie Warwick, a Goochland resident and longtime patron of the farm store. But that isn’t the only reason their customers drive hours to the farm. The clientele, which Sandy jokingly describes as “one-third foreign, one-third ex-vegetarian, and one-third Northern,” come to Brookview to buy fresh food straight from the source of production and educate their kids at the same time. Children can pet the cows and go on hayrides.

“Brookview Farm is really a thriving agro-tourism business,” says Lisa Dearden, executive director of Goochland’s Center for Rural Culture. “People go there to experience rural culture.”