Griffieon Family Farm is a century farm North of Ankeny, they are long-time Iowa Food Cooperative member selling beef, pork, chicken, turkey, lamb and handmade items. You can shop their products online here. Thanks LaVon for sharing your story with us!
Tell us a little about the make-up of your farm.
Our family has been farming in the Ankeny area since 1871. Our farm was designated a Century Farm in 2002. My husband, Craig, farms conventionally. In 1996 my son, Nick, started raising pastured chickens. That project has grown into a family business that markets antibiotic-free, no-hormone-added meats, soaps, lotions and other farm products. Our four kids have all graduated from college with agriculture degrees and all live within a half mile of where they grew up. Nick and Phil farm with us.
Autumn is married and has a one year old daughter that we watch M-F while Mommy is at work. She has the flock of Katahdin sheep and makes soaps & lotions for us to sell. Nick has just started farming with us after five years of working on a farm near Dike as an agronomist. Phil has been farming with us for a few years and enjoys working with cattle. Our cows continue to have calves with one left to calve this year. Julia has an off-farm job. We have already finished two batches of 225 baby chicks and now have turkeys on pasture.
Can you tell us a few things that make your signature product(s) special?
Our Limousin beef calves are born on our farm, raised on pasture until they are weaned and then are fed in a pen near our silos for about 9 months. They are fed non-GMO corn silage mixed with cracked corn, soybean meal and minerals. We grind and mix our own feed on the farm and the grain is non-GMO.
We also pasture our poultry and supplement it with ground corn and soybean meal that is GMO-free.
Our Katahdin lamb is 100% grass fed.
Chickens and turkeys are raised on pasture and fed non-GMO feed that we grind ourselves from grain we grow.
What is your farm’s biggest season?
We have beef and pork processed year around. Chickens are processed May through October. Turkeys are processed in October. Lamb is usually ready during the winter.
What is the most important thing for consumers to know about your products?
You can tell the difference compared to grocery store fare.