A Week of Heat, Hope and Hard Lessons

This week at Berryton Home Farm, we’ve been reminded how quickly life on the ranch can shift from triumph to trial. With my full-time job at the City of Topeka and Sally keeping our family grounded as a full-time mom and homemaker, every hour we spend here has to pull double duty. In the high summer heat, we harvested a batch of chickens, welcomed two new Black Angus heifers, upgraded our honey operation, and faced a heartbreaking loss. Each moment, though, teaches us how to keep this regenerative ranch moving forward, lean and purposeful.

Saturday was a long day. The thermometer pushed past 98°F, but a steady breeze kept us sane as we processed our latest batch of pasture-raised chickens. We’ve streamlined this task over the years, setting up a shaded station with simple tools to make quick work of it. The chickens, raised on grass and bugs in mobile coops, embody the kind of efficiency we learned from studying multi-species systems—letting animals do what they do best with minimal intervention for modern feed. By noon, we had the birds resting in the walk-in freezer, ready for customers who value meat raised with care. It’s labor-intensive, but knowing we’re feeding Topeka families makes it worth every sweaty minute.

Thursday, we took delivery of two Black Angus heifers, the newest members of our herd. They’re smaller than we’d hoped, a sign of the times with market prices hitting record highs—live cattle are fetching $353 per cwt (100 lbs), and grass-fed stock even more. We chose these heifers for their potential to thrive on our pastures, where we move livestock daily with portable fencing to mimic natural grazing patterns. This approach, honed through grazing school insights, saves time and builds soil health without artificial fertilizers. The heifers are settling in, nibbling clover under the Kansas sun, and we’re already planning their rotation to keep our land lush. It’s a small investment in a big future, one we’re building one efficient step at a time.

Another bright spot was the arrival of our new uncapping tank for honey harvesting. Until now, we’ve uncapped frames by hand into a small tub that restricts space and the amount of bodies we can use, a slow, sticky process that eats up hours we don’t have. This tank, with its clean design, will let us uncap combs faster, draining wax and honey straining the two for less honey “waste”. It’s a game-changer for our beekeeping, which fits our lean operation: quick hive checks, simple wooden boxes, and bees that pollinate our clover to feed the cattle. The next batch of honey—rich with the taste of wildflowers and prairie—will be easier to bring to you, and we’re excited to share it soon. It’s a small upgrade, but on a farm where time is as precious as money, it feels like a victory.

But not every moment this week was a win. On Thursday night, we suffered a devastating loss. Predators—likely raccoons, a challenge we’ve faced before—wiped out this years turkey flock. It happened fast, and by morning, we knew there’d be no turkeys for sale this year. It’s a gut punch, especially after watching them grow. We’re new to trapping raccoons as there aren’t any on England, but using live cages baited with marshmallows, I think we have a solution. It’s a stark reminder that nature doesn’t bend to our plans. We’re already rethinking our predator defenses to protect next year’s flock. For now, we’re leaning on the resilience that regenerative ranching demands: you mourn, you learn, and you rebuild.

These days test why we do this. Ranching isn’t just about food; it’s about stewarding land for the long haul. Our bees, cattle, chickens, and pigs work together, each playing a role in a system that’s greater than any one loss. The clover our bees pollinate feeds our heifers, whose grazing enriches the soil for next season’s chickens. It’s a cycle we’ve built to fit our busy lives, drawing on lessons from farmers who’ve shown us how to work smarter, not harder. When I walk the pasture at dawn, moving fencing or checking hives, I see a piece of something lasting—a farm that feeds our community while healing the earth.

We’re grateful for you, our customers, who make this possible. Visit www.berrytonhomefarm.com/farm-store to pick up our latest honey crafted with the same care we put into every task. Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on new products, like the chicken we just harvested. If you’re in Topeka, call us to visit the farm—see the heifers, the hives, and the land we’re working to preserve. Together, we’re building something that endures, one efficient, thoughtful step at a time.