Charles Sydnor
In 1963 I faced the dilemma of whether to get an MBA and run a ranch or whether to go to medical school. Because of certain financial considerations, it was thought that medical school was the better choice. For the next 12 years heart and soul went into finishing medical school, internship, and a residency.
In 1975 the dream of the ranch resurfaced, and a small farm was purchased in Snow Camp, North Carolina, in the spring of that year. This was the beginning of Braeburn Farm, which for the next 25 years was engaged in a cow-calf and stocker operation, producing calves for the commodity market.
In the spring of 2000 I attended a conference on stocker cattle, given by Allan Nation and was introduced to the ideas of multi-specie grazing, presented by Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm. It was also at this time that a growing body of evidence showed that cattle raised exclusively on grass were a healthier product than those fed grain.
The following year I attended the Ranching for Profit course, given by David Pratt, and began to network with a group of ranchers in the West, who demonstrated many innovative practices. I came to believe that I had the wrong cow, producing the wrong product, in the wrong way, and injuring my environment along the way.
Consequently, a total remake of the farm began. It was decided to use the New Zealand Red Devon cow, because of a history of one hundred years of grass-fed genetics. The product of these cows could not go to the commodity market, but had to be sold as a 100 per cent grass-fed product.
To accomplish this we created a conservation easement on 8,000 feet of the creek through the farm. This led to the development of a water system being installed and the farm being divided into 27 pastures. This allows the rotation of cattle on a daily basis to enhance the growth of grass.
This led to the development of a system where cows were grazed 365 days a year to produce an all-grass product, processed and sold locally. In 2004 I joined the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and found a large number of farmers interested in sustainable agriculture.
Discussions with Eliza MacLean started in a casual way at that time, but eventually led to the merging of Cane Creek Farm and Braeburn Farm under the banner of Wells Branch LLC. We are currently in the process of integrating sheep, pigs, goats, layers, broilers, and turkeys into a cohesive system, such that each specie produces a product and a service. Products are being marketed to restaurants, individuals, and through farmers’ markets in Piedmont, North Carolina. It is our goal to produce high-quality products for the people who live in Alamance and surrounding counties and to support Company Shops Market in their growth.
Eliza MacLean
Deeply affected as a vet technician in her early teens, Eliza MacLean has always known her life would find her ever engaged with animals. A senior project in high school lead her to farming, as she worked side by side with a Amish family of 8 and was inspired by their love and commitment to each other and the land. It would take many years for her to return to farming, but she never lost her desire to live that holistic family lifestyle.
MacLean has had a long history with animals, from work rehabilitating seals and sea lions in Sausalito at the Marine Mammal Center to songbird/raptor and small mammal rehabilitation at a wildlife center in North Carolina. After graduating with a degree in Environmental Toxicology from Duke, MacLean studied fish and their relationship to detrimental environmental impact. She also cultivated a hobby farm at home for years before becoming a career farmer, with a herd of registered goats, heirloom chickens, and miniature donkeys.
After the birth of her twins in 2000, MacLean volunteered part-time with the ALBC in Pittsboro, NC. There she met Chuck Talbott, then the Swine Specialist at NC A & T University, who would become a friend and mentor. She decided to go back to work part-time, and Talbott hired her to manage his hog herds at the university. MacLean immediately fell in love with the pigs, and soon starting working full time in partnership with Niman Ranch, Heifer, A & T university and with the Gold Leaf Foundation - focusing on transitioning long time tobacco farmers across the state into family pig farms. After launching the program with Gold Leaf, Niman Ranch hired MacLean to be their representative, evaluating farms and meat quality for their fledgling North Carolina hog production.
In 2003, author and NY Times writer Peter Kaminsky contacted Talbott about finding someone to begin a herd of a rare breed of hog known as the Ossabaw Island Hog - a descendent of the Iberian hogs left by Spanish settlers off the coast of Georgia in the 1500’s. Talbott immediately suggested MacLean - she had the desire to begin her own farm, deeply rooted in her experiences as a youth, and an abundance of knowledge and enthusiasm about veterinary medicine, hog farming, and the conservation of rare breeds. Her herd of Ossabaw Island Hogs, Ossabaw Crosses, and Farmer’s Hybrid hogs has grown - hovering at 250, all free ranging on pasture land and grown without antibiotics or animal byproducts.
Eliza is now seen as a mentor and “go-to” person among other small-scale pasture farmers across the state and regularly serves on panels at Pastured Pork and Poultry conferences. She is the only farmer to continually provide fresh pork products at the venerable Carrboro Farmer’s Market; Eliza is known locally for providing a superior pork product to local restaurants, as well as respected venues in New York other Atlantic coast locations. MacLean is truly unique in the area and the nation, and has become a leader in the local hog farming community.
