Today we’d like to introduce you to Sabrina Cope
Hi Sabrina, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
We are a 4th and 5th generation farm that has been in Truxton for over 150 years. We are a regenerative farm, meaning every year we strive to improve our farm (whether its planting native grasses or grazing practices, etc) and follow the natural model as closely as we possibly can. The products that we offer from our farm includes grass fed grass finished beef, acorn fed and pasture raised pork, grass fed grass finished lamb and no corn no soy chicken, duck and turkey. We currently sell our products at the Lake St. Louis Farmers and Artists Market where we have been a vendor for 7 years.
Part of why we are not afraid to step outside of the box is that we are always willing to try something new. One aspect of our farm that makes us different is that we supplement our cattle with micro greens fodder.
Because of our efforts towards conservation, our farm won the 2023 Leopold Conservation Award.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road to where we are now. Farming presents many obstacles, but to overcome them you have to realize what isn’t working and then adjust for the future. There are many farmers who do not change (mostly due to habit) and then continue to eat their losses.
One issue that we have had in the past has been parasite issues. There was a time when parasite’s were rampant in our sheep herd but once we changed their grazing patterns, our parasite problem was essentially eradicated.
Another issue we have is the demand for our product. Since the pandemic, the demand for local food has skyrocketed. Which is great! But as a small farm, it is difficult to manage an increasing demand for local, nutrient dense products. Exceptional time management and management of the harvest books has helped greatly.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a 4th and 5th generation family farm that is located in Truxton, MO. We are a regenerative farm, meaning we follow the natural model as closely as we possibly can. We found it easier to work with Mother Nature, rather than working against her. She always wins in the end. Being a regenerative farm means we strive to improve every single year. One way we are doing that is converting all 300 acres of pasture we graze on to native grasses. These grasses are more resilient than fescue, and provide a grazing stockpile through all months of the year and even in droughts.
What we offer is regenerative, nutrient dense meats. We offer grass fed grass finished beef, grass fed grass finished lamb, acorn fed and pastured pork and no corn no soy pastured chicken, duck and turkey.
What we are most proud of is that we were awarded the 2023 Leopold Conservation Award. We are extremely proud to showcase the fruits of our labor in soil health and share that with others.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
The role of luck has been instrumental in our farm. The luck that I am speaking of here is the luck in meeting like minded farmers and they’re more ambitious than ever. We had the luck of meeting a close friend of ours who introduced us to micro greens fodder and presented the benefits of feeding the fodder to our livestock. Since then, fodder is now a daily role in our feeding routine and we are expanding that our other enterprises.
We are very lucky to learn from others and also to be able to share our knowledge to other farmers just starting in their regenerative journey.
Pricing:
- Ground beef; $10/lb
- Ground beef bundle; $47 for 5 packages
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.copegrassfarm.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/copegrassfarm
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/copegrassfarms
