Finding freedom in farming

LONG PRAIRIE — The search for better health in food and farming led Ben and Gwen Hackett to buy StoneBridge Beef over five years ago, and as they grow their business, the family looks to share the benefits with others.

“Good, quality, clean beef is a high priority, and it’s not easy to find,” Ben said. “We do our best to provide beef that would be something we would want to eat — and we do eat.”

Both Ben and Gwen are Minnesota natives, but Ben grew up in southern Minnesota while Gwen was raised in the north. Initially, after the Hacketts married, they lived on and ran Ben’s grandfather’s farm near Morristown for about seven years. However, they could not stay on that farm; Ben tried custom spraying for a couple of summers, and that kind of chemical exposure on top of other agronomic farming practices led to health challenges for both Ben and Gwen.

“We ended up wanting to get away from the pesticides, insecticides, fungicides and herbicides,” Gwen said.

The Hacketts knew that, if they were to pursue more holistic farming, they could not stay on their farm with the spraying of nearby corn and soybeans.

“They’re spraying more and more all the time,” Ben said. “We wanted to do something different and also create a place where we could have a little more flexibility in how we farm.”

Through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Gwen found out about Mike Stine and his farm near Long Prairie. Stine founded StoneBridge Beef and was looking to transition the farm and business to a new owner; the Hacketts met with him in late 2019 and purchased the business and farm in late 2020.

Ben grew up farming beef, but after years of growing corn and beans, returning to the practice took some getting used to — especially with holistic practices and a preestablished business.

“We are doing the rotational grazing, which is a lot of cattle handling,” Ben said. “Then, the marketing and distribution to the customers in the cities, we’ve got a handle on it now, but that was quite a learning curve to learn how to do that efficiently.”

When the Hacketts acquired StoneBridge Beef, they saw a huge uptick in customers and often sold all the beef they had on hand. They attribute this to a lack of beef in stores, as well as consumers becoming more interested in and aware of where their food comes from and wanting something less processed and corporate.

“There was a lot of uncertainty, so I think they were looking for something that was more certain,” Gwen said. “Everybody had had COVID at least once, and … they were looking for something that was going to boost their health.”

Since then, StoneBridge Beef has not seen the rapid growth in customers as it did at the height of the coronavirus pandemic years, but it has seen a steady increase compared to where the business was when the Hacketts bought it. By Ben’s estimate, they have been gaining about 30% more customers per year, coming from all over the state. They are also getting a few customers from Wisconsin and North Dakota. While they occasionally get requests to ship their meat, they do not offer that service.

The business’s name, StoneBridge Beef, comes from a stone bridge that is visible from the farmhouse, the point where 290th Street crosses Turtle Creek. According to the Hacketts, the bridge has been there for nearly 100 years.
Shortly before they moved in, there was talk of replacing the structure with a modern bridge, but thanks to the advocacy of the Stines and other neighbors, the original bridge was redone and strengthened.

The Hacketts’ farmhouse, built in 1917, predates the stone bridge.

“This is over a century farm — however, not in our family,” Gwen said. “There’s interesting stuff we find all the time. … It was all cropland when Mike bought it, so ever since it’s had cattle on it, there’s never been a field crop.”

The Hacketts raise mostly South Devon crossbred cattle, and they do not feed them grain; the cattle are grass-fed year-round and optimized for grass finishing. No hormones or chemicals — including herbicides or synthetic fertilizers — are used on the 100-acre property.

“It takes longer to get a grass-fed animal fat,” Ben said. “Our animals are going to be 22 to 30 months or so in age when they’re processed. One of the things that happens when you process an animal when it’s older is that it has higher nutrient density because it’s more of an adult. Also, the fat in our beef … is balanced more toward omega-3s instead of omega-6s, so there’s not as much fat as there would be in grain-fed, but the fat that is there is actually good for you.”

In Ben’s experience, grass-fed beef is more flavorful than grain-fed, and his customers appreciate that as well.

StoneBridge Beef has also been raising broiler chickens and selling their meat, handling the processing itself. The birds are also taken out to pasture when possible thanks to a chicken tractor Ben made to move them around. The chickens are a hybrid of Cornish Cross and Freedom Ranger breeds, which are usually finished in about six weeks, but the Hacketts finish theirs at 10 weeks.

“They’re still tender and juicy and good, but they are older, which increases the nutrient density a lot — and the flavor,” Ben said.

The Hacketts also raise geese, ducks and cats on the farm. The family’s dog, Copper, watches over them and helps herd cattle.

Then, there are the Hacketts’ four children, who also assist at StoneBridge Beef.

“They’re arguing about who’s going to have the farm when they grow up,” Gwen said. “They’re very much invested.”

While there have been challenges, Ben and Gwen see StoneBridge Beef as more than a business; it is a life with the freedom to raise their family and products as naturally as they can.

“It’s a good life,” Ben said. “You keep busy, doing things that are really wholesome and enjoyable.”