Spellcast Farm

Spellcast Farm is a small, diversified farm located in Catawba County, North Carolina.  The Farm is run by Michelle T. Bernard and Walter McSwain and has been in existence since 2008.  We were proud to become Animal Welfare Approved in 2012.  Animal Welfare Approved is a publicly-funded organization which has the most rigorous standards for farm animal welfare and sustainability currently in use by any United States organization.

We raise AGDA-registered dairy goats, Jersey cattle, heritage-breed meat rabbits, chickens and ducks.  In addition to the livestock, we maintain an organic garden using raised beds and French Intensive Methods.

At Spellcast Farm, we strive to be sustainable.  We operate on a very limited budget and maintaining our animals and the garden requires a great deal of management, resourcefulness and creativity.  We believe in keeping our animals in a manner that respects their natural behaviors and diet.  The goats have continuous access to over 50 acres of browse and grass, high quality organic hay and minerals.  They only receive grain when on the milk stand.  Baby goats stay with their mothers until the bucks become sexually mature at which point they are processed for meat or sold as herd sires; doe kids stay with their mothers until they self-wean.  The poultry range over the entire farm foraging for vegetation, insects and worms.  We have our rabbits pastured in movable, bottomless pens or in colonies for most of their lives. 

 We do not raise the commercial breeds of chickens or rabbits.  Instead we’ve chosen to raise dual-purpose, heritage breeds.  Our rabbit breeds are American Chinchilla and Silver Fox.  We keep several different dual purpose breeds of chickens including Delaware, White Rock and Dark Cornish.  Beginning the second half of 2012, most of our replacement meat chickens and layers will be hatched on the farm.

We mix most of our own grain rations using locally-grown ingredients whenever we can source them.  We do not feed any corn, soy or GMO-grains.  We feed organic dairy hay and alfalfa pellets.  We made the decision to continue using locally-grown, non-GMO ingredients over 100 percent organic grains due to the difficulty and expense in obtaining the organic grains.  Alfalfa is a very important component of both the dairy goats’ and rabbits’ diets and unfortunately, much of the alfalfa available via conventional sources is GMO so we feed organic alfalfa pellets. 

 Wally and I are very happy to be able to be present at farmer’s markets to offer our products for sale and more importantly, to education the consumer about farming in a sustainable, humane manner.  Unfortunately, the meat and other products that are purchased in the grocery store and sometimes even at farmer’s markets are a far cry from “real” food.  At Spellcast Farm, we strive to grow “real” food.

Thank you for your patronage and support.  Here’s our contact information:

 www.spellcastfarm.com

704-530-7080