Transitioning Farmers & Ranchers

Read about ranchers and farmers who are transitioning from being a ranch where animals were exploited to either a sanctuary, or other model.

Rowdy Girl Sanctuary

Rowdy Girl Sanctuary

A Message From Rowdy Girl Sanctuary’s Founder It all started with Rowdy Girl, a little 2 month old baby calf that my husband wanted me to care for, hoping I would start wanting to be a “good” ranchers wife.  I bought her for $300 having no idea that she would take me...

The Traylors

The Traylors

We are Richard and Cindy Traylor, from New Waverly, Texas. We own 20 acres and raised cattle on it since 1997. I always hated that Richard would take the babies to market. It made me sick, yet this was our life since we moved to the property. In late 2018, one of my...

Bradley Nook Farm

Bradley Nook Farm

Jay Wilde’s family bought the farm in 1956 and Jay helped his father run it as an organic farm until his father’s death in 2011. As a long term vegetarian, Jay found taking the cows to be slaughtered to be very unsettling and was always on the lookout for...

Northwood Farm

Northwood Farm

Death informs our relationship to life. Between 2017 and 2019, Laurence Candy of Northwood Farm in Dorset experienced numerous catastrophic events. It began by the loss of almost the entire dairy herd to bovine tuberculosis. Life-threatening family illnesses followed,...

Halley Farm

Halley Farm

At age 14, Texan Bo Halley began his career in chicken farming alongside his twin brother, Sam—they learned the ropes from their father. As growers for Pilgrim’s Pride, the Halleys raised six batches of chickens per year—192,000 birds per batch—for 30 years in 12...

Carolina Mushroom Farms

Carolina Mushroom Farms

Carolina Mushroom Farm began in 2016 by Steve Carroll, who worked as a turf research scientist at the time. Steve grew up raising hogs on the farm, but the old hog barns became vacant over time. He cleaned out the barns and put them through an intense sanitization...

Farmhouse Garden Animal Home

Farmhouse Garden Animal Home

Mike Lanigan was a multigenerational farmer and cattle rancher who, in the summer of 2016, turned his life around. After spending lots of time with a calf who was just born, he realized how hypocritical it is for him to give so much love to these animals, only to...

Broken Shovels

Broken Shovels

Broken Shovels is a sanctuary for homeless, abused, neglected, used, slaughter-bound animals, a place of healing, growth and education for all people who wish to see the world become a better place for all animals, human and non-human. They host events to connect farm...

Mike Weaver

Mike Weaver

This Farmer Started Growing Hemp Instead of Killing Chickens Former chicken farmer Mike Weaver is growing hemp now. Mercy For Animals Transfarmation Project helps farmers move from animal agriculture to vegan crops. Former chicken farmer Mike Weaver is growing hemp...