By Cami Froneberger
Commitment to a sustainable planet through supporting farmers is a key company value here at Harvest Returns. By connecting agriculturists with passive investors, we believe we can build a resilient food system and help farmers stay in the business of farming. Our team is excited to bring a new blog series to highlight some of our sponsors every quarter. We are proud to share in their success stories and continue to watch them grow.
Deep Creek Cattle Company
Deep Creek Cattle Company, located in Arabi, Georgia, is owned and operated by Derek and Amy Bailey. Currently in the first year of their Harvest Returns raise, the Bailey family has seen continued success through determination and hard work despite the increasing costs of feed, fuel, and labor.
The Bailey’s also run a successful farm-fresh business, Bailey Meats LLC. This additional business began out of the desire to provide consumers with an alternative way to purchase beef through processing finished cattle from their own operation. They are working with JBS and Mid-South Packers for their farm to table beef with plans to scale the farm to table beef through internet sales throughout the rest of the year.
“We continue to strive to be a solid and reputable source for cattle in the Southeast,” Derek Bailey expressed. Deep Creek Cattle Company was also able to meet their goal of building more receiving pens at their main facility and are now looking to expand on their commodity barn.
Raptor Ag
Raptor Ag, LLC is currently managing and operating a hazelnut orchard in Oregon’s Willamette Valley between the cities of Corvallis and Albany through funding with Harvest Returns. Founded in January of 2016, Raptor Ag has successfully continued their mission of pursuing hazelnut development projects in Oregon, along with other permanent crop opportunities.
The Willamette Valley is the prime location for hazelnuts with exceptional soil and growing conditions that the trees have responded well to. The Raptor Ag team stated that the young trees, now at the second leaf age, leafed out at the expected time in the spring. This year, rainfall amounts have been above average with cooler temperatures, but this has not affected the production of the trees.
Global Ag Investing recently reported Raptor Ag is now the largest hazelnut grower in North America. Globally, the tree nut market expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.1 percent between 2022-2030, while the U.S. tree nut market forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 8.3 percent. Chris Eubanks, CEO, stated they have high expectations for the property as they continue to see success and plan for the future expansion of the operation.
Harvest Farmacy
Dedicated to bringing wellness from the inside out, Todd and Grace Vranac set out to build the largest elderberry farm in Texas. Together they founded Harvest Farmacy. They launched their Elderberry Wild Cider in 2020 and haven’t looked back since.
With a growing demand for fresh elderberry, the Vranac family decided to partner with like minded American Elderberry Growers to increase their supply. This partnership is bringing new opportunities for Harvest Farmacy to flourish. There are also several projects in the works to drive the progress of the business such as an in-row irrigation drip system and bed preparation.
As of the first of June, the Vranac’s were preparing to plant new elderberry plants with 3,000 plants being stored in their irrigated greenhouse and 2,000 more elderberry plants awaiting transplant from their nursery. The new concrete slab for their processing facility was recently poured with plans for the building structure to go up in the coming weeks.
Local Coho
With the rise in popularity of aquaculture, Local Coho is seeing an increase in the production and distribution of their Coho salmon stock. Utilizing land-based facilities near major cities has allowed Local Coho to bring healthier, fresher, and more sustainable fish to consumers starting with their first location in upstate New York. Since beginning sales from their Auburn facility in February they have been distributing their product to Northeastern wholesalers including Yama Seafood and Blue Ribbon Seafood.
Along the way, Local Coho has also gained a new CEO. Michael Fabbro succeeds Phil Gibson who had previously been CEO since 2020 and will continue to serve on the company’s Board of Directors. Michael joined the company in April with years of experience in aquaculture including most recently as North American Vice President of the New Zealand King Salmon company. “I joined Local Coho because I saw the future of aquaculture was land-based due to climate change and I also appreciate Coho’s measured approach to growth,” Michael stated.
The company is hitting benchmarks for fish growth and grow out rates. They have seen more success with the later cohorts as the fish have been and will continue to be bigger.