Do you want to know where your meat comes from? If you shop at the grocery store, you don’t know how the animals were raised before they were slaughtered-- if they were healthy or treated right. Scott Gove of Price Creek Farm wants you to know that he raises his animals right, and has the photo albums to prove it sitting on his market table.
Like hundreds of other farms around the country, Scott modeled Gainesville Natural Meats off of Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm, after touring it in Virginia. Scott uses rotational grazing methods on his 33 acres to raise chicken and cattle, which means his cows feed on certain sections of pasture, then are moved to another section to prevent overgrazing. After the cows are moved, he brings in the chickens eat the bugs left behind in the cow patties. “It’s free food for the chickens, and helps break the parasite cycle and spread out manure,” Scott said. And Scott’s pigs run out in a half acre of woods where they eat all the vegetation they like before they’re moved to fresh forest.
Scott has raised livestock since he was in high school, and he says free range products just don’t require the same amount of work. “The pigs can take care of themselves, and with the chickens we collect the eggs, feed them twice a day, and then automatic door closes as soon as it gets dark.”
Scott and his wife operate the business by themselves now that their kids have left home, and it’s been a fun journey to get to this point. “I like growing my own stuff so I know what’s in it,” Scott said. “An egg that you grow yourself tastes a lot better.”