Jennifer Rankin of Slate Creek Farm in Remsen has been a fellow farmer’s market vendor for as long as I can remember. We first met well over 10 years ago at the Oneida County Public Market and have referred scores of customers to one another over the years.
As fellow livestock farmers—and specifically as women in agriculture—we’ve commiserated more times than I can count over challenges with our animals, their health (and ours), and the running of our farms. Farming is a big job but finding a friend like Jenn has made it that much more manageable for me!
Jenn raises pigs, beef cattle, chickens and ducks on her farm in Remsen, selling her meats and eggs locally via farmer’s markets, online ordering, and occasionally to farm-to-table restaurants. In 2016, Jenn met and started dating another farmer, Mike Garrett of Simple Farms. Mike raises sheep and plants gorgeous rolling fields of sunflowers. The two have made a formidable farm couple, sharing their hopes and dreams, the workload, and the planning.
Jenn was kind enough to talk a bit about her farm and how she got started:
I started my farm in 2009 as just a homestead, but by 2012 it was closer to a business. I had always gotten such joy looking after my animals, but as I grew, I loved hearing from customers who were truly enjoying my food and how it improved their lifestyle and diet.
I grew up in Northern California in a small (pop. 300) farming town called Grimes on a sheep farm that also raised about 20 head of beef cattle. I was very active in 4-H, raising and showing sheep and beef cattle. As a teenager, I spent a summer working for a cattle ranch that raised registered Shorthorns along with a few other lesser-known beef breeds. We travelled the show circuit, and I had the privilege to work directly with the woman who owned the ranch. Not many women were doing what she was doing at the time–and completely on her own!
Working with Mike has allowed each of us to lean into our skillsets. I am better at the animal care, especially when newborns need extra attention (like piglets who can aspirate very easily when being bottle-fed and require hourly feedings the first few days). Mike is great at taking my ideas for animal housing or holding pens and building them, making lots of improvements along the way.
We recently held the first of what we hope to be many Sunflower Festivals on the farm. We invited area farmers and fellow vendors to set for the weekend and opened our farm to visitors to pick sunflowers or take pictures. We were happy with the success of the event, but even happier to share our farm with the public.
I am particularly proud of the work I’ve done to improve the genetics of my animals. That alone has given us better consistency and quality in the finished product and on customers’ plates. I’ve also spent years breeding for motherly instinct and temperament, allowing me to better spend my limited time on customer service and other pressing farm chores. Mike has been a big help in making many of these desicions.
Looking to the future, I would like to expand my farm product offerings to include some things like stock or bone broth, prepared pate, and other charcuterie items.
You can find Slate Creek Farm at the Chestnut Street Farmer’s Market in Rome, the Clinton Farmer’s Market, the Old Forge Farmer’s Market and the Oneida County Public Market. To place an order, visit her website slatecreekfarmny.com or localfoodsmohawkvalley.com.