WHF Herd Recovery Project

Wow.  These two farmers are amazed by all the heartwarming words and love that we received after sharing the tragic loss of our two steers that were involved in a freak accident.  While we are still in shock we feel humbled, thankful and inspired by each person who left a comment or like to let us know they were thinking of us. 

As many of you know, a lot of time, energy and capital have been put into our small herd and although this is a major setback for our small farm we are keeping the faith and taking a moment to ask our community for help.  

After receiving such amazing feedback we have decided to start a donation campaign to do two things:  to replenish our herd and improve the farm’s infrastructure to create new failsafes that better protect our livestock. 


Replenish the herd:  Our fellow farmers at Cascade Farm in Kelso, WA have generously offered us a steer cow from their herd to raise up at our farm.  Their extremely generous gift reminds us of the goodness that is in the World and are deeply honored by their gesture.  We hope you will help us to raise the funds to replace our second steer. 

Improve infrastructure:  Beyond replenishing the herd we feel it is important to improve our farm’s infrastructure.  Our farm is located on a 55mph road that seems to get busier and busier each day.  We always strive to do our best and we believe we can improve upon the farm’s existing permanent infrastructure.  Building the proper infrastructure takes time and capital and we are hoping to create new failsafes that better protect our livestock.  With your help we will be able to accomplish these goals.


Additional funds:  If we reach our goals above we will use any additional money for the insurance bill to cover the accident as well as our vet bill.

Any help is appreciated and we thank you in advance from the bottom of our hearts!  dirty hands, clean hearts

We are a small CSA farm based in Hillsboro, Oregon that is dedicated to feeding our community delicious, organic, safe, nutrient dense and mindfully raised farm fresh food.    Learn more about us here: workinghandsfarm.com

For the backstory, here is the post we made on February 23rd:


“Someone please wake us up from this nightmare. In the dark crispness of this February morning headlights shone down the driveway. The dogs were barking and Brian got dressed. He ran down the driveway to see what was going on...he screamed "the cows" and I grabbed my jacket and ran down the driveway as fast as I could. All the cows were there accounted for but there had been an accident. A terrible freak accident. Three of our seven cows had been injured, two of them could barely walk. Thank the Lord the driver was okay but we suffered an immeasurable loss this morning .. physically, mentally, spiritually and financially... two of our cows - our steers - were badly injured and we had to put them down.

It is just so senseless. Maybe something spooked them in the barn, maybe they just felt like scratching up against a gate until it was bent in two. Who knows? And why would they go to the damn road. It's so far away...

Jess and I are learning that somethings are just out of your control - no matter how hard you work or how much care you can put into something.

This afternoon, after we buried the two cows under the oak tree, Jess said, "there is no amount of magic in the world that can keep us from experiencing such pain, but it is BECAUSE of the magic that we don't give up." And she's right. We hurt and it's hard but we will keep the faith cause it's all we got. I suppose it is these moments that are a catalyst and reminder to truly enjoy the moments in between such horror and tragedy. Enjoy every moment. Be present and love well. We miss our friends already and will never forget.”