Join Our Journey: Better Farming, Better Flavor

Here’s the weekly roundup from Watson Farms and your direct connection to your farmer. Enjoy the latest edition of Pasture Posts!

Hi Friends,

If you’ve been following our farm for a while—specifically if you remember Pasture Posts #244—you know that we’ve been pretty vocal about the “labeling circus” in the meat industry. For years, big meatpackers could take a steer born and raised in South America, fly the beef to a U.S. facility, repackage it, and legally slap a “Product of USA” sticker on it.

It was misleading, it was unfair to American ranchers, and it was confusing for you.

The Good News (and the Catch)

As of January 1 of this year, that loophole is officially closed. The USDA’s new rule is finally in full effect. Now, if a company wants to use the “Product of USA” claim, that animal must be born, raised, slaughtered, and processed right here on American soil.

However, there’s a catch: this rule is voluntary. Big corporations aren’t required to tell you where the meat comes from—they just aren’t allowed to lie about it being American anymore. If you don’t see that specific label, you’re still often left in the dark.

Beyond the Label: The Working Farm Difference

While we’re glad the labels are catching up, there’s something a sticker can’t tell you. There is a world of difference between a “meat brand” that sits in an office and aggregates boxes, and a working family farm.

At Watson Farms, we aren’t just moving product; we are stewards of the land.

• Legacy & Conservation: This isn’t just a business plot; it’s 350 acres that my grandparents, Jim and Anna, started, and that we recently placed into a conservation easement to ensure it stays a farm forever.
• Hands-on Production: When we talk about our pastured poultry and pork, we aren’t just buying commodity feed from a corporate mill. We are milling our own non-GMO grain right here to ensure our animals get exactly what they need.
• Boots on the Ground: Whether it’s me fixing fences, my dad checking the herd, Kelly managing the office, or her parents helping out on Farm Days, we couldn’t do it alone. We are incredibly lucky to have 8 dedicated team members who might as well be part of the family. They are the ones out here with us every day in the pastures, the fulfillment room, and the Farm Store, making sure every animal is cared for and every order is handled with the same pride we have.

We do source cattle from a handful of trusted partner producers throughout the Southeast to keep up with demand, but these aren’t faceless corporations. These are fellow farmers we know personally who meet our strict 100% grass-fed and grass-finished standards.

When you buy from us, you aren’t just buying “Product of USA”—you’re supporting a local ecosystem that puts the health of the soil and the soul of the farm first.

Product Spotlight: Spring Into Savings with Bulk Beef

With the spring grass finally coming in lush and plentiful, it’s the perfect time of year to stock up on 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef. We are excited to announce that we have officially brought back our Half Beef Bundle, which offers the ultimate value with a $250 savings over individual retail cuts.

Here’s the weekly roundup from Watson Farms and your direct connection to your farmer. Enjoy the latest edition of Pasture Posts!

If you’ve visited us lately, you’ve likely seen the wide, flat stretches at the front of the farm. But as you go back toward the York County line, those flats give way to rolling hills leading to the creek bottom. This land has been the heartbeat of our family since my grandparents, Jim and Anna, first purchased it in 1979.

Today, as Noah and Abby grow up here, they represent the fourth generation of Watsons to call this soil home. But as we’ve watched the skyline of the Charlotte-metro area grow taller and the subdivisions of York County creep closer over the last 10 years, we realized that their future on this land wasn’t guaranteed by tradition alone.

A little over a year ago, our family—my parents, Gary and June, and Kelly, and myself—made it official. We partnered with the Farm Bureau Land Trust to put our entire 350-acre farm into a conservation easement.

What “Forever” Really Means

This was not a decision we made lightly or quickly. It involved a mountain of paperwork and a long, often laborious process with appraisers, attorneys, and our bank. But the result is simple: this land can never be anything but a farm.

By choosing this path, we were able to access conservation funding that helped us address “legacy debt” from our old turkey operation. But in the world of farming, the financial engine is always turning and requiring constant reinvestment. One of the greatest benefits of the easement is that it has allowed us to make needed investments—like the broiler expansion that we discussed last week—that will allow us to heal more land with your partnership.

The Truth About Farm Security

Many farmers avoid dealing directly with consumers, but we embrace it. (See the section below about Spring Farm Day!) We know that without your willingness to step out of the normal grocery store routine and shop with us, Watson Farms would cease to exist—with or without a conservation easement on the land.

In fact, as grateful as we are for the conservation easement, we know that customers like you provide more farm security across our country than easements ever will.