Rain for the Grass, a Big Birthday, and Keeping it Cool

We hope you’ve had a wonderful week!

We just caught a beautiful, much-needed soaking rain here near Lowrys! We measured about 2.5 inches of rain between Friday and Saturday. Around here, we don’t just see rain as weather—we see it as the fuel that drives our entire regenerative system. This moisture is exactly what our summer grasses need to kick into high gear, ensuring our 100% grass-fed beef cattle have the highest quality forage to graze as we make our daily paddock shifts.

Speaking of those daily cattle moves, today marks a massive milestone for our family. Our son, Noah, is turning 10 years old! If you’ve ever been out on a wagon tour or seen our updates, you know Noah is a huge part of the crew around here. He’s a tremendous help on the farm, especially when it comes to shifting the herd to fresh grass every day. Happy double-digits to our hardworking 10-year-old!

Cool to the Touch: Our Summer Shipping Standard

As the southern summer heat starts to rev up, we often get asked: “How do you safely ship frozen, pasture-raised meats to my doorstep when it’s 90 degrees outside?”

It’s a great question, and the answer lies in our Cool to the Touch shipping standard. We partner with UPS to deliver across the eastern United States, and we have engineered our packaging to withstand the summer heat through three specific layers of protection:

• 1.5-Inch Thick Eco-Insulation: We don’t use standard styrofoam. Instead, our boxes are lined with 1.5-inch thick, high-performance insulation panels made entirely from upcycled shrimp casings from the North Carolina shrimp industry. They provide world-class thermal protection and are completely biodegradable.
• Reflective Foil Barriers: During these hotter months, we add an extra layer of defense by placing your orders inside a specialized foil bag. This reflects radiant heat away from your meat, creating a vault-like environment inside the box.
• Calibrated Dry Ice: We carefully calculate the exact amount of dry ice needed based on your specific geographic zone and the predicted days your package will spend in transit.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful moms who are often the ones doing the daily work of sourcing healthy food for your families. We are truly honored to be the farm you trust to help nourish your loved ones. We hope you have a beautiful day filled with much-deserved rest and celebration.

10 Differences Between Grocery Store Pork and Watson Farms Pastured Pork! 🐖

Welcome to this week’s edition of Pasture Posts!

Tomorrow will be the weekly “moving day” for the two groups of pigs we have in the paddocks right behind the Farm Store. It’s a busy morning for our team. We head out with two tractors: one equipped with a loader to move the heavy self-feeder and the drinker, and another pulling the Grain-o-vator. If you’ve never seen one, it’s basically a tractor-powered feed truck that we use to refill the feeders with our non-GMO feed once they’re settled in the new paddock.

Here I am filling a feeder back in July 2019. 

The pigs are always excited when they see the crew; they know fresh pasture is coming! Once we do a final check on the perimeter fence to make sure everything is just right, we open the gates. They run through into the new grass. 

That paddock has had about 4 weeks rest since the last time pigs were on it, which is the “secret sauce” to our operation. That rest time allows the grass to recover and the soil life to thrive—it’s the core of how we regenerate this ground that was once starved for fertility.

The Great Pork Comparison

We believe all pigs should be raised like that. Unfortunately, that is not how 98-99% of U.S. pigs live today. While we work with a small network of trusted partner producers for the farrowing (birthing) side of things, they adhere to the exact same regenerative standards we do.

Here is the stark contrast between how we do things and the industrial “norm”:

Innovation in the Broiler Field + Ag+Art Tour 🐓☀️

Hello friends,

April is wrapping up here in Chester, though it’s looking a little more dusty than vibrant lately. We are staring down a significant drought, so the pastures aren’t exactly the lush green we’d hope for this time of year. That said, the grass is holding its own and the cattle are doing just fine. We’re just staying observant and hoping for a good soaking rain as we head into May.

🎨 Mark Your Calendars: The Ag+Art Tour is Next Saturday!

We are thrilled to announce that Watson Farms will once again be a featured stop on the South Carolina Ag+Art Tour for Chester County!

The tour takes place Saturday, May 2, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

If you aren’t familiar with the tour, it is the nation’s largest free, self-guided tour of farms and markets that features local artisans at every stop. It’s a wonderful opportunity for you to see first-hand where your food comes from, watch artists in action, and enjoy a day in the country with the whole family.

What to expect at Watson Farms:

• Wagon Rides: We’ll be running the tractor and wagon to give you a front-row seat to our regenerative grazing practices.
• Meet the Animals: See our grass-fed cattle, pastured pigs, and our newest flocks of broiler chickens in action.
• Local Artisans: We will have several talented local creators stationed at the farm showcasing their work.
• Farm Store: Our store will be open and fully stocked with your favorite pasture-raised meats, honey, and more.

It’s a “rain or shine” event, so grab your boots and come see us! You can find the full map of Chester County stops on the official Ag+Art website.

🏠 New Chicken Houses: From Construction to Deployment

If you remember back in Pasture Posts #264, we shared that our team was in the middle of constructing two brand-new pasture broiler houses. We are happy to report that these houses are officially finished and deployed!

Our team did an incredible job with the assembly and setup. Seeing these structures out on the pasture—especially knowing they travel through fields that are just a stone’s throw away from the old, empty confinement turkey barn—is a constant reminder of why we transitioned to this regenerative model.

The birds are already moved in and are loving their “salad bar” of fresh grass and bugs, with the houses being moved to a fresh patch of ground every single day.

🚿 High-Tech Comfort: The Solar-Powered Sprinkler System

The Pinnacle of the “Spring Flush” Even During a Drought

The air in Chester is crisp and the sun is hanging a little longer in the sky each evening, but this spring feels a bit different. We are currently navigating some of the driest conditions on record, with the U.S. Drought Monitor classifying nearly 94% of Chester County in a Severe Drought (D2). Year-to-date, our local precipitation is down about 4.25 inches from normal, and South Carolina just came off one of its five driest Marches in the last 132 years.

While the drought has certainly put some pressure on the “Spring Flush,” we are still at the height of it, and I’m happy to report that our cows are doing great. We would love to see some rain to help things along, but our decision to not overstock our pastures is paying dividends right now. By keeping the animal-to-acre ratio low, we are maintaining plenty of stockpiled forage to carry us into the warmer months. We are hopeful the weather pattern will change soon, but in the meantime, the work we did back in November is providing exactly what the herd needs.

The 6th Grazing Milestone: Biomimicry in Action

If you’ve driven by our farm store lately near Lowrys, you’ve likely seen the cattle working their way through the pasture right beside the building. Believe it or not, that specific piece of ground is currently on its 6th grazing event since we planted it last fall. The hard work of getting those winter annuals into the ground in early November is now at the absolute pinnacle of paying off.

This isn’t just about feeding the cows; it’s about a process of biomimicry that feeds the soil. When the cattle “prune” the tops of the plants, the plants respond by pruning their root mass to match the biomass remaining above ground. This phenomenon, famously documented by researcher Franklin Crider in 1955 (USDA Technical Bulletin No. 1102), shows that when a significant portion of the top growth is removed, the plant sloughs off a portion of its roots. This “root sloughing” creates a massive, instantaneous pulse of organic matter and carbon directly into the soil profile—feeding the microbes and building topsoil from the bottom up.

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.