Lexington, KY - Douglas Owens starts his day at the break of dawn. He pours a cup of coffee before the sun comes up, kisses his wife, helps their two boys get ready for school and heads out to the pasture to check on the cows. The pasture is not just beyond his front door though. The grazing land for his 100 head of cattle at Brookview Farm is a 30 minute drive from Owens' Chevy Chase home.
"I wasn't raised to be a farmer," he said, "but the family farm needed to figure out how to try and make money or it goes the way most other family farms go. It became important that I go out there and try to figure out a way to make it sustainable."
And that is just what he and his wife, Jenny, have done since 2000. Owens, who grew up only four houses down from where he and his family now live in the Fairway neighborhood, never imagined he would one day farm the land his great grandfather, Jacob "Jake" Douglas Gay, did nearly a century ago.
After college in Texas, a short stint as a band manager and 10 months in Las Vegas working as a film researcher and living out of an Airstream at a KOA campground, Owens moved back to Lexington. Within weeks he met Jenny, who was home from Clemson University, at a restaurant downtown. Around that same time, Owens and his mother, Monnie Gay Long, decided to separate their acreage of land from the large family operation, located between Lexington and Winchester, and Owens stepped in as farm manager.
In 2006, Owens began exploring the idea of raising strictly grass-fed beef on Brookview's land. After learning about the unique Devon breed during a convention in Alabama, Owens came home and purchased 15 registered Devon heifers and a young Devon registered bull from a ranch in Virginia to start his herd and ultimately reshape the farm's business model.
He may have never envisioned being a farmer, but it is certainly in Owens' genes. His great grandfather was a grass-fed steer farmer in the late 1800s, caring for the largest horned Hereford operation east of the Mississippi River on territory given during the land grant days of the late 18th century. Now Brookview's nearly 600-acre farm, off Colby Road in Winchester, is one of the largest Devon cattle farms in the state.
Devon cattle were specifically chosen because, genetically, they are capable of thriving exclusively on grass. Selling grass-fed beef products is a relatively new venture for the family. Just entering its second full selling season, they are optimistic about the farm's progress and the strides being taken to bring top notch beef products to customers. As Owens points out, there can be a significant discrepancy in quality between one grass-fed meat and another.
"Anything can be grass-fed, but the question remains, 'Is it good?'" he said. "Is it an enjoyable process to buy and cook it? That is a priority. If it isn't a good product, then our customers won't buy it again."
Out on the farm, the cows are moved nearly everyday into new pastures to graze. The fields are thick with healthy grass and clover that doesn't happen by chance. Owens and his longtime farmhand, John Morgerson (who has lived on the farm for over 50 years), work diligently throughout the year to ensure the fields are flourishing and nutrient-filled for the animals. "Planting and maintenance of the fields is critical in the taste of the meat and the health of the cows," Owens said. "We constantly have to understand the management of daily rotations for the cows."
Cows birth a calf every year. If there isn't enough healthy grass to feed that cow, she won't be healthy enough to have a baby every year. "The idea for us as a farm is to have cows that have a calf every year, but only on the grass that God gives us," Owens shares.
Brookview Farm chooses to not only grass feed, but grass finish their cows -
meaning they are never sent off to a feedlot. (Sending cattle to a feedlot once they reach about 650 pounds, to "finish" them with a diet of hay, corn, sorghum and by-products prior to slaughter, is a common process, though it is significantly controversial among environmentalists and health advocates.)
"We really want to take our animals from birth all the way through finish. That way we know the genetics and we know the temperament of the animals," Owens said. Those factors affect the overall quality of life for the animals as well as the quality of the meat for consumers.
Owens has also taken measures to create a more environmentally progressive farm. Fencing off the farm's ponds and streams to prevent the cattle from contaminating them is just one way the farm tries to lessen its environmental impact. This also prevents the animals from eroding the stream banks, a large-scale problem that has dire ramifications. Additionally, they rotate the fields the cattle graze on, which evenly distributes animal waste and gives other areas of grass rest for longer periods of time. Finishing animals are not given any added hormones, antibiotics or steroids, providing the consumer with a more natural piece of beef.
Both Owens and his wife are a bit amused when asked about the future plans for the farm. Together they agree that although their strengths are not in future planning, they do share a fundamental mission for what they do. "Long term, our goal is to be in a position where we give our two boys a choice to be farmers or not," Owens said. "If our kids have a viable business to take over, they won't be eager to sell. That is one of the most important things for us. It will be the most valuable thing that they ever own, so we need to figure out how to make it work."
Despite distressing reports of family farms selling around the country, the future of six-generation Brookview Farm looks bright. "We are very small as far as a direct marketing beef enterprise goes," Owens said. "I like to think we are highly specialized. I believe 'boutique' is the term I'm looking for."
As for plans to eventually move out to the farm, the couple gets a little sentimental. "We have a connection to this city. We have a connection to farming and to Chevy Chase. And while we don't have a store front, it is still a way to bring great food to the neighborhood."
And in the next breath Owens adds, "Not a day goes by that we don't consider moving out to the farm; it is where our heart is. But we can't imagine living anywhere but Chevy Chase."