17 years in "reefer' trailers: The wait is finally over... Welcome to our New Farm Store!

I have exciting news for you Family Cow tribe members! The temporary 'insulated reefer trailers' we've used as our Family Cow facilities since 2008 are now replaced by an actual building! We are thankful for how well our 'reefers' served us for the last 17 years, but it was past time for this improvement... It only took two or three families shopping at once to make that farm store trailer feel quite crowded! :)Our long-awaited NEW Family Cow farm store is ready to welcome you all.We opened for local folks a couple months ago to give us time to figure out the checkout flow and get our small farm café set up and going. Now we are ready to welcome you all whenever you are in Chambersburg, PA!We are now serving Organic Guatemalan Coffee, hot sandwiches with farm ingredients, sourdough soft pretzels, kombucha on tap, and much more alongside all of our other specialty farm foods available like usual. More café details coming in a future email... And of course we couldn't help but offer a few new items exclusively at the farm store now that we have plenty of space... Things like Sourdough Hotdog Buns, Chocolate Bark, Fiber Balls, Einkorn Bagels, and inspirational hand-lettered mottos by my Mom and water-color cards by my wife, Kaylita. More Than Just a Store This construction project was about more than just a beautiful space to welcome our community. A large part of it took care of the critical need to replace our 15 aging reefer trailers we had set up as our temporary facilities to keep us running since 2008.Now, we are finally able to operate in a proper building with a much more efficient layout. But this isn't just about our convenience... it's about securing your pastured food supply.What does this mean for you?- Expanded Freezer Space: We can now stock our freezer with more premium meat raised during the peak pasture season.- Year-Round Food Supply: Our goal is to keep summer specialties, like pastured chicken, in stock all winter long. You can eat nutritious protein year-round even if you don't have a chest freezer at home.- Serving the Community: Efficiency means we can welcome more of your friends and family who are ready to reclaim their health with clean, regenerative farm foods. The Family Cow Promise As we grow to serve the broader community, our 10 Core Principles remain unchanged. Our family continues to raise regenerative feed so our livestock are ensured to have a chemical-free diet while they live the best life with plenty of green grass, fresh air and sunshine.- A2/A2 Raw Milk: Our grass-fed milk is produced with extreme care and rigorous lab testing. We bring you the same high-quality dairy you’d expect if you had your own family cow in a private pasture.- Clean Meats: We respectfully harvest our livestock in our own USDA butcher shop, providing you with citric-acid free meats delivered directly from your family farmer.- The Best Diets: You are what you eat... or what your food eats. Our livestock thrive on soy-free & corn-free diets in the environment God designed for them. No Chemicals, No Antibiotics, No GMOs. We Need Your Help to Grow the Tribe Consumers everywhere are waking up and searching for clean, nutrient-dense, pastured foods to add in their diets. They just need help to find a trusted farm to supply these real foods.Our local farm community already has extra land converted to certified organic pastures. We are ready to step up and provide more people with the premium foods our ancestors enjoyed over many generations. We offer all the benefits of pastured farm food—without you having to do any of the hard farm work! :)The only thing we ask is that you help us spread the word.Share this post and link to Our Farm's 10 Core Differences. We are here to help any friends or family looking for a clean food source they can trust.The more people who choose our organic farm community over industrial "organic" grocery stores, the bigger the impact we can make. Your support allows us to expand our storage, secure pastured food supply, and offer mini-bundle savings year-round.You are the driving force behind the Regenerative Food Movement.It's our pleasure to treat you like friends and feed you like family.All the best of food and blessings!Your farmer,Wesley... for the Shank Family and farm team. P.S. Feel free to swing by and check out the new farm store & café.We are open Mon-Fri from 8:00 – 5:00 and on Saturday 8:00 – 4:00 so we’ll be very glad to serve you during those hours. More café details coming in a future post... Stay tuned! :)

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Pork now CORN-FREE as well as free from all Soy, Chemicals, GMOs, Antibiotics, etc.

Good morning, Farm Family! This month feels like it has been a flurry of activity as I finally get to share the many long-awaited announcements we've been working on all throughout last year. Today brings this news: Our Pastured Pork is now CORN-FREE as well as Soy-Free! :) Soy-free has been our standard for years. Since we've had so many folks express appreciation for allergen-friendly pork, we decided to push even harder to reach the next level. Our family set a goal to bring you the Corn-Free status without raising pork prices. The task was daunting but the effort worth it. We are committed to raising our own grain to verify our livestock feed is always Chemical-Free & GMO-Free. It would be much easier and cheaper to buy organic grain on the open market but we believe there is too much risk of organic grain fraud considering that around 50% of the organic grain in USA has been imported. So now we not only had to face the hurdle of formulating a new Corn & Soy-Free diet but it also had to be ingredients that we could grow on our regenerative, organic farm in southern Pennsylvania. Thankfully I have two talented brothers, Winfred and Roland, who are dedicated to the difficult work of raising the specialty grains our chickens, turkeys, and pigs require. They also grow the hay to supply our grass-fed cattle during the winter. In a future post I'll share more of the grueling farm challenges they face so you can enjoy foods guaranteed chemical-free & GMO-free every time. After much experimentation to learn what does or does not work we finally settled on a feed blend we've proven over the last year.All our pork inventory is now officially Corn-Free & Soy-Free! As planned, your pork prices remain the same although it does cost us more on the farm... It's our pleasure to do this for you. Our freezer is now stocked with pork raised on lush fall pastures so we are prepared to fill all orders. In fact, February we plan to offer our best deals of the year for all who want clean, pastured pork. The new Corn-Free protocol is exciting, but of course, all our other top-notch standards are still in place as well. Our pastured pork is always Humanely Raised & Harvested, Chemical-Free, GMO-free, Antibiotic-Free, Soy-Free and now Corn-Free so your family can eat nutrient-dense pork with confidence. A picture is worth a thousand words. Because we also run our own butcher shop, this meat is NEVER exposed to Citric Acid, Nitrates or Nitrites, MSGs, preservatives or any kind of fillers! All of our bacon, sausages and ham uses super clean recipes and the butcher shop smokehouse uses real Hickory Wood and NEVER liquid smoke.Order now to enjoy clean, nutrient-dense Pastured Pork direct from our family farm to your family table.Your Farmer,Wesley ~5th generation on the farm God Designed it... We Respect it... That Explains it!   P.S. Grocery store Industrial Organic foods aren't truly pastured. And sadly, too many small pastured farms allow chemicals in the animal feed.Your family deserves chemical-free AND truly pastured foods so you can eat every meal with confidence.That's why our farm is dedicated to only high integrity foods... that taste amazing. We are committed to raising our Pastured Pigs with zero antibiotics or artificial growth hormones. Everything they eat is Chemical-Free, GMO-Free, Antibiotic-Free, Corn-Free, and Soy-Free. We even grow the grain to verify these high standards.It's our goal to treat you like friends and feed you like family.

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Raw Cow Milk now fully A2A2 verified... ALSO Butter, Cream, Yogurt, Cottage Cheese and Sour Cream

We are excited to announce that The Family Cow Raw Milk is now 100% A2A2! This Full A2A2 status for our herd of Jersey cows has been a work in progress for over 10 years.

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Beef Price Freeze for 2 weeks

Good morning Family Cow family! The last week here on the farm has been more like spring than early January, so we are enjoying every minute of it. :) It's the start of a new year and a new season of life for me. I haven't done very well with sharing farm stories in 2025 and so I plan to carve out more time to make it happen this year. A lot of exciting and crazy busy days over the last 12 months, but that's not a valid excuse. You trust us to grow nourishing food for your family and we will do our best to repay that trust by sharing as many farm life details as possible. Be sure to stay tuned for regular farm emails from me or maybe even my dad, Edwin, over the coming weeks... We have a lot of exciting news on the horizon! Today this email brings the one hard fact to announce... Seems the year shouldn't start like this, but I want to get it out of the way so we can save the best for last in coming emails. And this truly is the only negative point of what I plan to share. The next weeks are all full of exciting news and fun farm announcements. :) As we reviewed our 2025 financials, the niggling fears were sadly confirmed. Our beef margins have not kept up with inflating costs.Regenerative, 100% Grass-fed beef farming is beautiful and plays a key role in restoring health to our rescued farm land.But that's not enough. It must also be financially sustainable for family farms to continue from one generation to the next.Beef prices need to go up nearly 5% on average. Some items won't move at all but others, like burger and steaks, will bump more.Our family does not take any price correction lightly.In an effort to help make the change easier for everyone, we will freeze all beef prices at the current rate until January 27. Now is the chance to fill your freezer with 2025 Beef prices.Our family and team truly appreciates your understanding of the need to keep our cattle farming sustainable!All the best of food and blessings, Wesley~ 5th generation on the farm Real farmers. Real Caring. Real Food.YourFamilyFarmer.comP.S. Our frozen meats will easily last a year or more in your freezer. We recommend stocking up now. If a package becomes unsealed just use it first to avoid freezer burn taste.

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Bonus Free jar of Pastured Lard for all orders this week 1/12

Good morning, Family Cow friends! I have a special bonus thank-you to announce today. Place an order anytime over the next week and select a FREE jar of our Pastured Pork Leaf Lard! Why free lard?Our family wants every one of you to experience truly clean, pastured lard for yourself. If you’ve been cooking with lard for years and already know the magic it brings to everything from breakfast eggs to homemade French fries, please enjoy this free jar as a heartfelt thank-you for your loyal support.If you are new to lard, consider this is a gift from our family to help start 2026 off on a healthy, wholesome start. With our clean Pastured Pork Lard you can cook with confidence. No need to worry if it is Chemical-Free, GMO-Free, Antibiotic-Free, Hormone-Free, Soy-Free or Humanely Raised.We farm with integrity so you can enjoy real food—and real peace of mind—at every meal.Enjoy the free lard – and thank-you for being part of our farm family! Just be sure to add the free lard to your order so we know to send it along with the rest of your food. We won't send the lard unless you select it because we want to be sure the gift will be put to good use. :) Note: if you are interested in baking with lard as Grandma used for her delectable flaky pie crust, it's the Premium Leaf Lard you want for that. We don't have many jars available, but if they are still in stock when you see, this go ahead and select a FREE Premium Leaf Lard with your order instead of the regular lard which is better for frying eggs. -------------------------------------------------------- Remember, our Pastured Pork Lard is not bleached, deodorized, hydrogenated or altered in any way. It is simply rendered (cooked down) pork fat from our pastured hogs. There is nothing else done to it or added to it. It is ready to be enjoyed and may just become your favorite kitchen fat! Testimonial: I just had to write in to tell Your Family Farmer that your soy free woodland pork lard is the most delicious fat I have ever tasted! As someone with severe food sensitivities, the ability to get pure natural foods from you folks is a true blessing! Expect many more lard bulk orders to come. Thank you! ~Ronald B. Scranton, PA Why use Lard? It's a clean traditional fat like tallow and butter.Has a natural blend of the three types of fats: monounsaturated fat, saturated and polyunsaturated.7 Healthy Reasons to Eat Lard.Here is an article you'll find inspiring: 10 Reasons to Bring Lard Back   The Story Behind our Woodland Pork Lard: We don't waste anything on our farm. Especially when it comes to livestock. We respectfully use every bit of that animal to accomplish the most good possible. What can't be eaten is carefully turned into rich composted and given back to the soil to fuel plant growth and build organic matter.  What CAN be eaten falls into two categories. The first category is LOVED by all and basically needs to be rationed out.... For example, people will "fight" for the chance to eat juicy pastured pork chops, crispy bacon, savory sausages, or BBQ baby back ribs. But not everyone has as much love for the second category which makes up a sizeable portion of each pig. This category includes things like soup bones, knuckle bones, and LOTS of pork fat since we refuse to use the industry standard Ractopamine (Paylean) drug to keep our pigs artificially lean.  The good news is, we are able to render some of this excess fat into beautiful Woodland Pork Lard that now falls into the loved-by-all category! :) Lard is so versatile it's simple to use as a substitute for your everyday cooking oil. It adds pizazz to everything from simple breakfast fried eggs to homemade French fries. Lard is the secret ingredient your Grandma used for her delectable flaky pie crust. With our clean Pastured Pork Lard you can cook with confidence. No need to worry if it is Chemical-Free, GMO-Free, Antibiotic-Free, Hormone-Free, Soy-Free or Humanely Raised. We farm with integrity to give you the peace of mind you deserve at every meal.  Enjoy the lard! Wesley ~5th generation on the farm We carefully manage every step of the process to bring you clean Pastured Pork you can eat with confidence. ✓ Respectfully Harvested at our small USDA butcher shop✓ Always Humanely Raised on Organic Land✓ No Nitrate or Nitrite Preservatives✓ No Celery Juice Powder Cures✓ Artificial Hormone-Free✓ Citric Acid - Free✓ Antibiotic-Free✓ Chemical-Free✓ mRNA-Free✓ Sugar-Free✓ GMO-Free✓ MSG-Free

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The Unholy Family

This is your farmer Edwin and I have a Christmas Story for you. It’s not the typical story, but it’s a Christmas story nonetheless. Stick with me for a moment and I’ll explain.

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Ground Breaking News at Family Cow farm!

After 3 long years of planning, today we literally have ground breaking news to share with you all! :) The temporary 'reefer trailers' we've been using as our Family Cow facilities since 2008 will finally be replaced by an actual building! We are thankful for how well our 'reefers' served us for the last 17 years, but it's past time for this improvement!

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Behind the Scenes Video of Order Packing

Good morning friends, Today I have a quick video to show you Behind the Scenes Order Packing at The Family Cow farm! The morning work starts at 5:00 so it's often still dark this time of year... but that doesn't keep everyone from arriving promptly to get your food on the way. Watch now to see how we prepare food each week to go from our family farm to the 54 Pickup Locations across PA so you can get real, clean foods delivered to your community. It's our pleasure to do it for you! :) This footage was shot earlier this year, but I thought now would be a good time to show you what a busy packing morning looks like during the holiday season! We've been scrambling (literally) to get all the orders out the door some mornings... Hopefully before long we can do an expansion project and give us more workspace here at the farm so the packing area isn't so crowded! :) All the best of food and blessings. Your farmer, Wesley

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Family Picture Night 2024

It's been two years since our last pasture picture, as our family calls them. Since then, our family has grown by five, so I believe it's high time! But first, just a little nostalgia...

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Rodrick & Jeanette are moving to Colombia, South America

Good morning Family Cow friends, Today I have some news that's a bit personal, but it only seems right that you should know. Our oldest son, Rodrick, with his wife, Jeanette, and family are planning to move to Colombia, South America next month. Yes, you heard right. Colombia South America. Just above the equator. We still can hardly believe it either :) Our church conference is starting a new congregation there at the request of local Colombians asking for a Biblical church and faith community. But it's also located on the border with Venezuela, so a big part of their work will be to help relieve the ongoing Venezuelan refugees crisis. This new congregation, "Amigos del Prójimo" (Friends of the Neighbor), is located near the border town of Cúcuta, Colombia. Jeanette grew up in Guatemala, and Rodrick has spent time there so both of them are fluent in Spanish and understand the Latin American culture. For this reason, Dawn and I were really not totally surprised that the mission board thought of them when looking for families to establish the new church plant. Their combination of skills and cross cultural experiences made them seem a natural fit. But that did not exactly make giving them up any easier! We are still working on that process! Here are a few pictures from the area near Cúcuta. Distributing meals to the homeless...   Música, anyone? 😉 I'm not sure what the point of this car was, but Rodrick said they heard it coming from several blocks away...   Checking out the countryside...   Sofia with a new little friend  Exploring a mountain road (part of the Andes mountain range)  After months of prayer and consideration and several visits to Colombia, Rodrick and Jeanette made the tough decision to answer the call to move there for an indefinite length of time. Though it is hard for us to let them go, we do give them our blessing.One comfort is that Rodrick is not abandoning The Family Cow. With today's technology, he'll still be able to do much of the management work and accounting work that he has done before... so this change shouldn't necessarily impact you, but it will represent some definite changes for our family and team.Rodrick plans to work remotely, doing many of the same business administration duties, but he will turn over the General Manager role to his younger brother Wesley. Rodrick also plans to continue giving management support to the Olde Tyme Meats butcher shop team.The other four brothers tell Dawn and I not to worry about the farm and business management, but I know there will be changes. We'll just need to find our way one step at a time.Dawn and I are not sure who's making the greatest sacrifice—the ones staying or the ones moving. :) I guess it is all of us. And that's ok.As far as Rodrick and Jeanette's Amen Acres farm, if all goes as planned, we'll have one of the other brothers live on that farm to manage the care of the grass-fed beef and pastured pork.There is no doubt about it... we will greatly miss having Rodrick and Jeanette, Andre, Clara, Sofia and Leo nearby. But they remind us that airplanes fly both ways, that they will return a few times a year for visits, and that we of course can come down to visit them too.Who knows—maybe someday Rodrick and Jeanette can grow cacao beans and make single origin organic specialty chocolate for our Family Cow tribe. How neat would that be? Don't think it's impossible. Just last week we introduced single origin organic coffee straight from Jeanette's family in Guatemala. :)In spite of unknowns, some things never change. We do know that "all things work together for good to those who love God." (Romans 8:28) So... we'll just focus on loving God and we'll trust Him to work out the good that only He knows! Faith, Hope and Love,Your farmer - Edwin for Dawn too

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NEW: Organic Coffee direct from family in Guatemala!

Good morning Family Cow tribe! I have exciting news: Organic Coffee direct from Rodrick & Jeanette's family in Guatemala! Yes, this dream is finally happening. 😊 Know your farmer, know your food... taken to a whole new level! This single origin coffee is Chemical-Free, Shade-Grown, Hand Picked, and Small Batch Roasted to create a premium brew. It is a Medium-Dark roast to highlight the delicate coffee notes without the strong "burnt" flavor of many cheap brands. Coffee is often dark roasted to burn away undesirable flavors of low-grade coffee... Definitely not the case with these specialty beans! :) Taste the difference and enjoy with confidence. It's fresh organic coffee direct from a single source you can trace and trust. This specialty organic coffee is always: Single Origin from family in Guatemala (pictured below)Shade-Grown and Bird FriendlyRegeneratively FarmedSmall Batch RoastedChemical-FreeHand PickedSun Dried100% Arabic2,200 foot ElevationRetalhuleu RegionMedium / Dark RoastWhole Bean so you can fresh grind for optimum flavor! :) Meet your coffee farmers: Virgil & Jolene along with Sheldon & Dianna carefully manage each step of the process to bring you the best coffee possible without any chemical contamination. Know your coffee source and enjoy fresh brew with confidence. Coffee farmers: Virgil & Jolene with Sheldon & Dianna   Stay tuned for coffee updates in the future!We plan to share more photos of their regenerative farm along with details of how they use "good bugs to fight off the coffee pests" instead of relying on harsh chemicals the way most coffee is raised.I'll do my best to show the Hand Picking, Sun Drying and Small Batch Roasting in action! :) Blessings on your day,Wesley~5th generation on the farm P.S. If our coffee is sold out when you are ready to purchase, please check back in a few days. We fresh roast a small batch every week or two coffee so it won't be sold out long! :)

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Pastured Chicken is here!

Soy & Corn-FREE chicken parts & whole birds in stock! :) All limits have been removed... stock up as much as you want! If we do sell out of whole birds it will only be briefly between our weekly harvesting throughout this summer and fall pasture season.

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Rodrick & Jeanette's Baby News!

Good morning! There's no food news today... just a few pictures to introduce the littlest Shank. Dawn and I are delighted to welcome our newest grandson, Leo René Shank! He's the second son, fourth child in Rodrick and Jeanette's family. He arrived safely Sunday morning, April 28th.

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Not this man! + New Team Hymn

On this Good Friday morning I’d like to share a true story from the year I taught school. Even though it’s been a few years, the experience impacted me so greatly that I remember it like yesterday.

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See the Difference.... Taste the Difference: Pastured Pork is God's Design

It's your farmer Wesley here to show why our family cares so much about clean, pastured pork. Pigs are designed to live outdoors with plenty of fresh grass and sunshine... and of course a bit of mud occasionally for recreation! :)

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"O Come All Ye Faithful" — girl team singing

For something special this Christmas Day, the girl team at the farm wanted to sing a Christmas hymn just for you! Join us in the celebration of the Best Gift that was given to us all – the gift of Jesus!

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Our family's Whipped Tallow Balm is ready to go! 😀🎉🎈

This has been a long time in the making but now we are nearly ready to give you full access. Looks like we just barely met our goal to have this here in time for Christmas gifts!

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The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

Good morning Family Cow tribe! Something was bothering me. There was a question rolling around in my head. I knew I should dedicate some time to think it through, but... life is busy, so it just kept rolling.

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Photo Story with our Honey Bees – Holistic bee care at its best!

Bees are simply marvelous. They take nutrition from the heart of a beautiful flower and turn it into pure, golden goodness for us to enjoy in the form of honey. Recently I was privileged to spend time with our beekeeper as he checked hives and pulled a bit of fall honey.

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"I Give You Freedom" — team singing

Last week I shared updated team pictures... now this week you get to hear the latest song we sang as a team. :) The words are so true: God could control ever detail of His creation...

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Updated Team pictures from the farm!

This post is in honor of our farm team who works so hard to bring the food from our family farm to your family table. Everyone gathered out in the pasture the other evening to snap some pictures...

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Pastured Chicken is NOW Corn-FREE! :)

We've been soy-free for years and have heard so many folks expressing thanks and appreciation for it that we decided to take our chicken to the next level. Say good-bye to Corn Allergies & Sensitivities in chicken! :)

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Sunrise with the Cows PHOTO STORY

Morning milking ends as a new day dawns. Streams of sunlight brighten the sky while mist rises slowly off the land. Cows eagerly trot out the field-lane to find their waiting breakfast of lush pasture grass.

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"What will it be like?" — team singing

Top of the Day to you, Family Cow Friends! Recently our family and team gathered at the close of a busy farm day to sing one of our favorite songs. We thought we’d share it with you like we did at Christmas.

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The grazing season of 2023 has begun in earnest!

The grazing season of 2023 has begun in earnest! Happy Jersey Cows on lush spring grass give delicious raw milk! Here is a quick 25-second video that Wesley shot a few days ago.

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