Finding the best local farms near you is easier than you think.
I. Introduction
So you have decided that you want to get your meats and vegetables directly from a local farm, that’s great! But how do you find the best one? And how do you know which farm is the best for you?
In this article I will help to locate a farm that is in your area which can supply you with the meats, eggs and produce you are looking for. In addition, I will give you come tools for how to narrow down your final list of farms, so you don’t waste your time figuring out if they are growing the food the way you want.
Just FYI, if you are looking for a regenerative farm, depending on where you live, you may have just found the farm you are looking for!
II. What Is Your Goal?
Support Local Farms
Is your main goal to support your local community, and you do not mind if the farm uses conventional farming practices, like spraying with roundup or using antibiotics? If this is the case than you should have no trouble finding a farm near you.
Keep in mind that the main benefit you are getting is supporting the local farmer by cutting out all the middle men. This is wonderful by the way! You will also see more variety in what is available and the animal welfare will be much better in most cases, as the animals will not be going to a feedlot. The freshness of the produce will also be better as it will be picked ripe and will not have shipped across the country or in some cases the world.
Find Non-GMO Foods
Another great reason to shop from local farms, especially for your produce is they tend to not use GMO seeds. However, for those of you shopping for meats and eggs, if the farmer is feeding grain (most do) and does not use Non-GMO (or Organic) feeds they are almost certainly feeding GMO corn, soy and other products.
Also keep in mind that Non-GMO does NOT mean chemical free, they still use all the same chemicals as the conventional farmers do when producing the grain that is fed. For more on the differences between conventional, Non-GMO and Organic see our article here. This same thing applies to local vegetable producers, make sure and ask what kinds of chemicals they use to control pests within their operation.
Buy Local Organic Products
If you want to find local producers who do not use chemicals, it will be a bit harder. But they do exist! Most small farms will not be certified organic as the hassle to get and keep the certification along with the costs are just to steep to make it practical on a small scale. Also, the people who buy from small farms have a direct relationship with the farmer, so the label is not necessary.
Therefore, you will need to search around and ask farmers exactly how they raise their animals or grow their produce.
Some good terms to use when looking for a small organic farm are:
- Regenerative (more on this down below)
- Chemical-Free
- No herbicides
- No antibiotics
- No fly sprays
- No dewormers
Locate Regenerative Farms
Have you heard of regenerative farming? If not here are some articles I wrote on the topic, here & here. But in general it is the idea of producing food in a way which mimics nature’s natural processes. Some key farming practices are:
- Rotational grazing
- No-till
- Not using synthetic herbicides and pesticides like Roundup etc.
- Promoting biodiversity
- Valuing animal welfare
- Building soil
- Biologically appropriate diets (no grain to cows and other ruminants etc.)
- Working with nature
- Improving water quality
You can use the above terms to help you search for local farms which are producing food with the health of you, the plants and animals & the environment in mind.
III. Locating A Farm
Google Search
Generating a list of local farms near you is super simple. Just type the search term “local farms near me” into a search engine like google or bing and as long as you location settings are on, a huge list will pop up.
The issue with this is that this list is probably not the one you want. Many of these will be farms which might be large commercial farms or businesses which have “farm” in their name etc.
The trick is to narrow down your search by using some of the terms we listed above. If you want to find a farm which sells grain-finished beef, add that to the search term. So search something like “local farm grass-finished beef near me.” Or if you want grass-finished beef (our article on the difference between grass-fed and grass-finished) add that to your search.
Websites With Listings
Another option is to use some of the websites where local farms advertise themselves. The best are Eat Wild or Local Harvest, though there are others. Of the two listed, Eat Wild is probably the best and this is because you must pay to advertise there, so it tends to be farms which are a bit more committed to running a business. In addition, Eat Wild has criteria which limits farms that do not follow some basic good farming practices.
On Eat Wild you select your state and then use the map at the top of the page to zoom in on your local area. There will be pins you can click on within the map to get the farm names, information on their farming practices as well as contact information etc. You can also use the webpage ctrl-f search function to search the page for what you are looking for.
Farmers Markets
A fantastic way to meet local farmers in your area is at farmers markets. The best way to locate farmers markets near you is via google, just search “farmers market near me” and you will have a list to work through.
The trick is many “farmers markets” are really artisan or resale markets, with little value put on limiting the sale of non-agricultural products. Additionally, many of them also re-sellers, which means many of the vendors will be selling products which they themselves did not grow or make.
To narrow down which markets to visit, look at the vendor rules and see if they exclude re-selling. If they do not, you might want to avoid those markets. Additionally, they should have a list of vendors on the market website. Follow the links from the market website to the farmers website and see if they are growing the type of food you are looking for.
Social Media
I myself would not be on social media if it were not for my business, but if you have an account it is good way to find local farms. Most farms will have a social media account even if they do not have any other online presence.
The are even Facebook groups for local farms which you can join. The great thing about social media is the farmers will tend to put their farm on display so you can see if you agree with how it is run. You can also contact them directly via the various platforms.
Word of Mouth
If you are looking for a local farm to buy from, chances are someone in your circle is already doing so. The best thing about this is they have already done all the legwork to find and vet the farms around you. Just start asking the people in your social group and im sure someone will point you in the right direction.
IV. Questions To Ask
Many local farms will not have a marketing person, therefore much of the information on how they raise there animals or grow their produce might not be obvious on their website. Be prepared to send them and email, a text or give them a call and ask them some questions before purchasing from them.
If you visit the farmers market this is less of an issue, but you still need to be prepared to ask some questions to see if they are the right farm for you.
Here are some great questions to ask:
- Do you feed grain to your cows, sheep or goats?
- How do you control for flies on your animals?
- Do you deworm them?
- Where do you buy your feed?
- Do you rotate your animals?
- How do you control pests on your crops?
- Do you buy compost? Where from?
- Do you till? Is it with a tractor?
- What kind of fertilizer do you use?
V. Conclusion
From all the local farms to you, thank you for your interest in shopping local and for taking control of the foods you consume. I hope this gives you some great ideas on how to locate the best farms in your area. If you would like some more help locating a farm or have an other questions, ask us via our contact page.
