Barr Farms

We're a seventh-generation family farm in Rhodelia, KY. We raise organic produce, 100% grass-fed beef and pastured chicken on our 260-acre farm. A seventh-generation family farm We're Adam Barr and Rae Strobel of Barr Farms. Adam's family has stewarded this land for seven generations (our kids are the eighth). We recognize this is the ancestral lands of the Cherokee, Osage and Shawnee peoples. It’s important for us to maintain the land to honor both our direct family lineage along with the heritage of those who tended to the land for generations.‍We're one of the first farms in the area to offer customizable CSA farm shares. We see our farm as part of a larger community-- a network of people who are interdependent with each other.  We grow healthy food for our family, friends and farm community. Caring for the land and soil for the next seven generations is in the forefront of our farming practices. We nourish the soil with compost from our farm and other natural ways to bring nutrients and minerals back to the land to improve the health of the soil, land, and crops. 

We do not use chemical fertilizer, herbicide, or pesticide, but instead work to maintain a balanced, healthy soil to help grow healthy plants and food. As part of our commitment to caring for the earth, we are implementing alternative energy systems when possible. In 2011, we installed a solar-powered water pump for irrigation from our pond. In 2021, we made the leap to solar for our house and the main business location... our pack shed and meat freezers! We received a REAP grant for the business portion to help offset the cost. The system was installed in Fall 2021, and should cover most of the energy needs for the business! Our farming practices center water flow and conservation. We've dug and maintain ponds, invest in drip irrigation, use water harvesting systems from our high tunnels, plan the layout of our fields, including both the use and direction of raised beds, to maximize water for crops without flooding or runoff. We set up systems thinking about how water flows on our farm to prioritize clean water.‍‍ Compost, Cover Crops and Biochar We're always working to improve the quality of the soil. Healthy soil grows healthy people. Cover crops help bring nutrients into the soil and prevent runoff. We make our own compost on the farm and are working with a neighbor to make "biochar" which is basically nutrient-infused charcoal which brings nutrients into the soil and stabilizes them for generations to come. While some tout it as a “new technology”, the principles are based in multiple African and indigenous communities worldwide. Adam grew up in Lexington, coming to the family farm on weekends and in the summer.  After graduating from Case Western Reserve University with a dual degree in Biomedical Engineering and Spanish Literature, he lived abroad for a few years working as an intern at the State Department in Argentina, and in environmental nonprofits. Adam first became interested in sustainable agriculture after reading Wendell Berry while living in South America.  Adam moved back to the US and spent a couple of years apprenticing and working on other small, family farms.  This helped Adam decide to continue farming his family's land, to preserve the heritage of the farm, and contribute to developing a local food infrastructure in Kentucky. He is involved with the Community Farm Alliance, a nonprofit that uses grassroots organizing to affect policy change at the state and local levels.  He is also President of the board of Sustainable Agriculture Louisville, which helps educate young farmers.  He is passionate about developing ways for young people to get on land and begin to farm. Outside of farming, he enjoys playing and watching soccer, speaking Spanish, and traveling. Rae grew up in Louisville, where she loved being in the outdoors.  After graduating from UK, she spent time living in the mountains of New Mexico, and in Portland, OR, where sh