Explore SC’s only organic beef farm

This is part of an occasional series celebrating and introducing readers to the folks who grow and produce the food that we eat: South Carolina farmers.

Leland Gibson is a third-generation farmer in Westminster. After a career spent in the military and working as an engineer, at age 54, Gibson came back to the family farm in 2010 with the hope of living off the land, a truly sustainable existence.

The first sight you see when approaching the farm along S.C. 11 is the “Organic Farm. No Spraying” sign on the wire fence. Gibson Farm is the only USDA Certified Organic Beef farm in South Carolina and it is also Animal Welfare Approved. This means that Leland does not use pesticides or fertilizers in the pastures ... the natural actions associated with grazing cattle take the place of mowers and chemicals, and the cows are pretty much able to take care of themselves.

In December, Gibson had two herds of cattle wandering over 80 acres of pastureland. The larger herd, the one he says is the “calmer” of the two, was grazing contentedly in the front pasture. Gibson has portioned the land into 15 sections, centered around a water station that the cattle rotate through. Once they have eaten all of the grass (and naturally fertilized the field) on one section, they move to another section of pasture where the cycle starts up again. Eventually the animals will end up back where they started, munching on pastures that are a mixture of about five different grasses.

Gibson has taken me out to meet the cows. They are really curious, he says. They will come right up to you. Just don’t make any sudden movements (it will start a stampede), and don’t turn your back on the bull.

Okaaaaay

He and I have been talking for about five minutes. I’m taking pictures of him petting Big Boy, the 2,000-pound bull, and listening to him tell me about his reasons for keeping the bull with the cows year round (rather than forcing a mating season, let nature take it’s course, it’s actually easier on the cows ... and the bull(s). I happen to glance over my shoulder and, yes, the cows seem to have snuck up on me while I wasn’t watching them. On Gibson’s instruction, I slowly reach out my hand and the closest cow, a near-to-1,000-pound beauty, steps even closer and lets me rub her nose.

Gibson has Black Angus, Black Baldies (black cows with white faces) and Reddings (brown Hereford crosses). It seems that the all-natural grass diet suits them (he will supplement the diet with hay during the winter, when the grass growth slows).

When he started out selling the beef the first year, he was in seven local farmers markets. During this time, Gibson was building his brand, getting known in the community, selling a quality product. After a while, it all became a bit much. Now, his beef is on the menu at Swamp Rabbit Grocery in Greenville and is seasonally available (May through October) at the weekly Greenville Farmers Market and the monthly Earth Market, also in Greenville. Oh, and you can always buy directly from him. Surprisingly, he says, by cutting back on all of the traveling to the seven area markets and just focusing on the Saturday Greenville market, his sales rose after the first year.

Gibson’s idea of sustainability is offering up one cow a week to market and having enough money to pay the bills, grow the herd (he says about 150 animals is the ideal number) and eventually go off the grid with solar energy. He’s also looking into a market for the cow hides.

Gibson is also thinking about taking a portion of his beef and aging it longer (30-45 days rather than 14-18 days), a practice he was encouraged to look into during a trip to last year’s Terra Madre convention (a gathering of Slow Food farmers and purveyors and like-minded individuals) in Turin, Italy. The longer beef ages, the more intense the flavor becomes and the beef becomes more desirable on the market.

In all of this, Gibson has to temper with pricing for the market he is in. With Whole Foods Market at one end and bargain grocers at the other, Gibson has to try and maintain a pricing level that is fair to him as well as his customers. He understands that not everyone can afford organic beef on a regular basis, but he tries to price the meat he sells reasonably and still turn a profit.

He does what he does (maintaining the Certified Organic label and Animal Welfare Approval rating) for the good of the animal as well as for the good of the people who consume his products. He doesn’t want to compromise his integrity or that of the farm to supply a larger market or string of restaurants.

In the farm and with the herd, Leland has found “for the first time” in his life, “less stress and more peace, not having to please or impress.”

And that sounds sustainable to me.

This story was originally published February 17, 2015 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Explore SC’s only organic beef farm."