Aces of Trades: Grass Powered Poultry & Meats is a first-generation regenerative family farm
HILLSBORO – She’s living her lifelong dream.
“I knew from the time I was in preschool I wanted to be a farmer,” said Dana Workman Stacey. “As a toddler, my parents said I watched ‘Terrific Trips: Day at the Farm’ over and over and over, so that was probably my first exposure to farming. But without growing up in a farm family I wasn’t sure I’d ever find a way into the industry, so for a long time, I gave up on that dream. My sister and I showed horses, and I worked on farms in high school and college, but after college, I spent nine years working in the agriculture lending industry as a loan officer.”
Well, today Workman Stacey is in fact a farmer. She and her husband Jesse own a 45-acre farm near Hillsboro and operate Grass Powered Poultry & Meats.
“We’re a first-generation regenerative family farm,” she explained, “raising 100-percent grass-fed and finished beef, pasture-raised and non-GMO fed chicken, turkey, pork and eggs. Our goal is to provide our community with quality food and a connection to the farm and family raising their food. Our products are available at the Chillicothe Farmers Market, our farm store near Hillsboro, multiple local farm markets, and we ship our products across Ohio and surrounding states every Tuesday.”
“It’s always fun when I run into people who have only ever known me as the chicken lady at the farmers market!” she added.
Workman Stacey grew up in Zanesville, graduated from West Muskingum High School, then earned a degree in agriculture from Wilmington College and a master’s in agriculture from Murray State University.
“FFA in high school, showing horses, studying agriculture in college and working on multiple different farms let me experience lots of different styles of farming,” she said. “But working at Gorman Heritage Farm in Cincinnati was where I fell in love with pasture-based farming and sharing farm life with others. I loved raising food that went directly to families in the community, plus being able to connect the land and people raising the food to the people it was nourishing is such a rewarding feeling.”
“In 2012 I started having health issues we couldn’t find a clear explanation for,” she continued. “One thing I found that helped was eating higher quality foods, so I started shopping more from local farms. We raised a small batch of meat chickens in the yard for our own freezer, then over the years we added lots more meat chickens, beef cattle, hogs, Thanksgiving turkeys and laying hens. In 2018 my husband and I purchased our farm near Hillsboro.”
Briana Hood is a friend and customer.
“The quality of their products is incredible,” assessed Hood. “Their meat is a staple in our home and their monthly meat share program is amazing! It takes the hassle out of preparing your grocery list and makes meal planning so much easier.”
“Most people probably see Dana simply as a farmer who loves her family and her work,” Hood continued. “I see her as someone who critically looks at the world and takes the time to see how she can make it better and how she can empower others to do the same.”
“If I didn’t love what I do, I would have given up a long time ago,” responded Workman Stacey. “Farm life is incredibly rewarding, but can also be physically, emotionally and financially tough. I took a pay cut when I left my off-farm career and we work really hard, but it has been so worth it. We’re surrounded by the most incredible supportive people, we love hearing the stories of how we’re helping families eat better and feel better, and I’m so, so thankful I get to spend this time with my kids. I truly feel called to this work and I’m so grateful for all the things that have fallen into place for me to be where I am now. We’re truly living our purpose.”
Grass Powered Poultry & Meats is located at 6789 Carper Lane in Hillsboro. For more information, log on www.grasspoweredpoultry.com.
About the Series
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at gaznews@nncogannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Aces of Trades: Dana Workman Stacey became the farmer she always wanted to be
