Help Save Barrett Family Farm!
Donation protected
Hi, we are Rodney and Jennifer Barrett of Barrett Family Farm. Many of you know our story - former poultry farmers and cattle ranchers who went vegan and left animal agriculture. We didn’t have a plan. We didn’t know exactly what to do. We just knew that we could not raise chickens, sell them and breed cattle for the sale barn anymore. As you can imagine, life got pretty scary. And that fear compounded in the winter of 2018 when our beloved daughter, Taylor, lost her baby eight months into her pregnancy.
Saving 240 cows, 2 horses and a bunch of goats is not a rational act. It’s not a business plan. It’s us - Rodney and Jennifer - living our ethics and our values. We see every soul on this farm as an individual being with personalities and friends and family. Our hearts have changed so much as we’ve grown to know them this way. We love them so much.
When we were at our lowest we thought our prayers were answered with a “farm transition program”. We believed in a group of people who said they were qualified to help us transition our farm. We were given promises of income, business models and a sanctuary plan to save the animals we love and whose lives we spared out of that love. We were told we would be mushroom farmers. Then everyone was told we would be mushroom farmers. And we waited... for a plan we were told was coming, for the help that was promised to us. We waited for the educational assistance needed to learn how to become mushroom farmers and to know how to run our farm. We waited for a sanctuary plan we were promised would heal our soil and support these animals for the rest of their lives. What we received was more delays, and more unfulfilled promises.
We had an awakening in July of 2020 and decided to move on. In August, true help arrived on our farm. And we started our journey to recover and heal from the misrepresentations and the anguish of the delays. It took us another five long months - until the end of 2020 - in total two years and showing up as best we could - forced to comply for the sake of our lives and the lives of our beloved animals and farm before we could completely get away from these individuals who hurt us, hurt our animals, hurt our farm and put us even deeper into debt.
The start of 2021 brought us such hope. We FINALLY have a team in place led by a qualified organizational developer who is helping us heal our soil, solve our water problems, build infrastructure and have a realistic plan to generate revenue. But after the past two years, our debt load threatens our farm, our home and the home of our amazing animals who depend on us and this farm. These animals are whom we have dedicated the rest of our lives to their care and keeping. To allow these beautiful animals to live out their lives on this land they call home, we need to keep ourselves afloat so we can fully implement the new plan.
To start the process of implementing our new sanctuary model and generate outside revenue, we MUST pay down our immediate debt burden that was only made greater during 2019 and 2020. Won’t you help us save Barrett Family Farm? Will you help us keep this land so that we might restore it and create a safe haven that can support these animals for the next twenty years - the rest of their lives. $350,000 will save this land, protect this farm and allow us to continue the work we love.
It would mean the world to us if you would help support the animals and us with all the expenses. We promise to do right by the animals, and by you. The future is bright, and together we can make it happen sooner rather than later.
-Rodney and Jennifer Barrett
Our Goals and How You Can Help
Our first goal is to raise $160,000 by June 1st. This will allow us to pay:
- Our farm note, the mortgage on the land.
- Our tractor payment, critical for keeping up our pastures and delivering hay to the cows twice a day
- Our first hay payment so we can continue to feed the cows.
- Dewormer and fly management for the cows as Summer sets in
- Hi-Magnesium Mineral supplements for the cows.
Our organizational developer is putting together a holistic management plan that includes regenerative grazing and rotation schedule. But first we need to supplement their diets to replace what the land cannot currently give them. Jeri Devereaux is our Farm Transition Organizational Developer. All funds go into the account she set up and she and our Board of Directors are making payments for us on our outstanding debts on behalf of me, Rodney and Jennifer Barrett, and on behalf of our board of directors.
Our second goal is the final push to $350,000 total! This will pay:
- Our outstanding feed store balance
- Hi Protein and Mineral tubs for the herd
- Equipment maintenance and overhaul that is almost two years past due
- Supplements and ferrier for the horses
- Hay for the rest of the summer and the chance to buy and store hay for the winter when prices are at their lowest
- Fuel and diesel for the tractor and other farm equipment
- Necessary fencing and aerator for the fields so we can start restoring the soil and implementing our holistic management plan for the health, nutrition and well-being of our entire herd - cows, horses AND goats!
It’s an ambitious goal and we can only do it with your help!
Please donate.
Please share our GoFundMe and our goals with your friends and family on social media:
- Barrett Family Farm on Instagram
- Barrett Family Farm on Facebook
Please subscribe to our newsletter ! We will share updates on the fundraiser and updates on the farm.
Thank you! We appreciate you so much!
Saving 240 cows, 2 horses and a bunch of goats is not a rational act. It’s not a business plan. It’s us - Rodney and Jennifer - living our ethics and our values. We see every soul on this farm as an individual being with personalities and friends and family. Our hearts have changed so much as we’ve grown to know them this way. We love them so much.
When we were at our lowest we thought our prayers were answered with a “farm transition program”. We believed in a group of people who said they were qualified to help us transition our farm. We were given promises of income, business models and a sanctuary plan to save the animals we love and whose lives we spared out of that love. We were told we would be mushroom farmers. Then everyone was told we would be mushroom farmers. And we waited... for a plan we were told was coming, for the help that was promised to us. We waited for the educational assistance needed to learn how to become mushroom farmers and to know how to run our farm. We waited for a sanctuary plan we were promised would heal our soil and support these animals for the rest of their lives. What we received was more delays, and more unfulfilled promises.
We had an awakening in July of 2020 and decided to move on. In August, true help arrived on our farm. And we started our journey to recover and heal from the misrepresentations and the anguish of the delays. It took us another five long months - until the end of 2020 - in total two years and showing up as best we could - forced to comply for the sake of our lives and the lives of our beloved animals and farm before we could completely get away from these individuals who hurt us, hurt our animals, hurt our farm and put us even deeper into debt.
The start of 2021 brought us such hope. We FINALLY have a team in place led by a qualified organizational developer who is helping us heal our soil, solve our water problems, build infrastructure and have a realistic plan to generate revenue. But after the past two years, our debt load threatens our farm, our home and the home of our amazing animals who depend on us and this farm. These animals are whom we have dedicated the rest of our lives to their care and keeping. To allow these beautiful animals to live out their lives on this land they call home, we need to keep ourselves afloat so we can fully implement the new plan.
To start the process of implementing our new sanctuary model and generate outside revenue, we MUST pay down our immediate debt burden that was only made greater during 2019 and 2020. Won’t you help us save Barrett Family Farm? Will you help us keep this land so that we might restore it and create a safe haven that can support these animals for the next twenty years - the rest of their lives. $350,000 will save this land, protect this farm and allow us to continue the work we love.
It would mean the world to us if you would help support the animals and us with all the expenses. We promise to do right by the animals, and by you. The future is bright, and together we can make it happen sooner rather than later.
-Rodney and Jennifer Barrett
Our Goals and How You Can Help
Our first goal is to raise $160,000 by June 1st. This will allow us to pay:
- Our farm note, the mortgage on the land.
- Our tractor payment, critical for keeping up our pastures and delivering hay to the cows twice a day
- Our first hay payment so we can continue to feed the cows.
- Dewormer and fly management for the cows as Summer sets in
- Hi-Magnesium Mineral supplements for the cows.
Our organizational developer is putting together a holistic management plan that includes regenerative grazing and rotation schedule. But first we need to supplement their diets to replace what the land cannot currently give them. Jeri Devereaux is our Farm Transition Organizational Developer. All funds go into the account she set up and she and our Board of Directors are making payments for us on our outstanding debts on behalf of me, Rodney and Jennifer Barrett, and on behalf of our board of directors.
Our second goal is the final push to $350,000 total! This will pay:
- Our outstanding feed store balance
- Hi Protein and Mineral tubs for the herd
- Equipment maintenance and overhaul that is almost two years past due
- Supplements and ferrier for the horses
- Hay for the rest of the summer and the chance to buy and store hay for the winter when prices are at their lowest
- Fuel and diesel for the tractor and other farm equipment
- Necessary fencing and aerator for the fields so we can start restoring the soil and implementing our holistic management plan for the health, nutrition and well-being of our entire herd - cows, horses AND goats!
It’s an ambitious goal and we can only do it with your help!
Please donate.
Please share our GoFundMe and our goals with your friends and family on social media:
- Barrett Family Farm on Instagram
- Barrett Family Farm on Facebook
Please subscribe to our newsletter ! We will share updates on the fundraiser and updates on the farm.
Thank you! We appreciate you so much!
Organizer and beneficiary
Jennifer and Rodney Barrett
Organizer
Wickes, AR
Rodney Barrett
Beneficiary
