Basin Ridge Farm may be in West Virginia, but the owners, Pier LaFarge and Jess Majno who reside in Mount Rainier, hope their first organic beef-share customers will be on the Route 1 corridor.
The couple were married on the farm, located in Romney, W.V., in 2019 and have spent the last year and a half restoring a historic 1920 cabin while getting it ready to expand the cattle operation in partnership with their two neighboring families at Whitacre Family Farms and Royston Farms.
Though not USDA Certified Organic, their beef comes from cows that are both grass-fed and “grass-finished” — meaning that they aren’t turned over to “finishers” who feed them corn for the last months of their life. They also use no pesticides and follow natural pasture management techniques to keep the soil healthy.
Inspired by operations like Sylvanaqua Farms in Virginia, they decided to sell their meat through beef shares, which operate somewhat like a community-supported agriculture subscription, since it allows them to sell quality meat at a lower price.
The first beef share offering is coming in April and they’re promoting it to residents of the Route 1 corridor first.
“We see beefshares as a way to stitch the two together even a little bit, providing good food for our neighbors here in the city, and opportunity for our neighbors in West Virginia to benefit from the demand for high-quality, affordable local food,” LaForge said.
To learn more about their beef shares, click here.
