Featuring Joyce Shafer of Shafer Heritage Farms and Darwin Stemple of Stemple Brothers Farm, both members of the Preston Growers Co-op. Also featuring Tom McConnell from West Virginia Extension, Small Farms Center.
Shafer Heritage Farms is 315 acres of fertile, rolling hills where Bob and Joyce Shafer raise cattle and vegetables. They are founding members of the Preston Growers Co-op, a cooperative of five farming families located in Preston County, West Virginia. The coop was started by farmers who saw great promise in producing good food for the local school system. Joyce says each farm alone couldn’t grow enough to meet demand, so joining forces became a great way to access new markets created by Farm to School programs that bring farm fresh food into school cafeterias.
