Welcome to Knob Hill Farm. We are Mike and Janine Robertson and we appreciate you as our customer. We know that many of our customers like to know who they are buying from and their farm practices. We hope this story of our farm helps gives you a little insight about us.
Know your farmer. It's a phrase that is used a lot. But, it's easier said than done, isn't it? Let us give you a little insight into who we are. I guess the best place to start is where we come from.
Both Mike and I (Janine) come from agricultural backgrounds. My parents farmed and both of their families farmed, and so did the generation before them. Mike grew up helping on his uncle's farm, where his mother grew up farming, and four generations before her farmed the same land. (The land was homesteaded by his family around the Civil War.) Mike's father's family has roots in farming as well, going back generations. We aren't following in their footsteps exactly, but we have farming in our genes. We love it and we want to raise our kids knowing where their food comes from.
We both attended Iowa State University and Majored in Agriculture, but this is not were our paths crossed. Our paths first crossed at Living History Farms were I was working and Mike did some volunteer work on the 1900 farm site with the draft horses. Mike left for South Dakota to teach Agricultural Education. He then came back as the Supervisor for the 1900 farm site at Living History Farms. So it only makes since that I left for Jackson Hole to work on a guest ranch. To make a long story shorter we keep in touch and eventually got married in 2007.
Fast forward, Mike and I moved to Knob Hill in 2013 and immediately began transforming it to meet our vision. The land was originally homesteaded back in the 1840's and was called Knob Hill due to the lay of the land where the building site is located. From the research we have done the homestead was not built until the early 1900's. The Barn which was build around 1910 and the House which was built in 1915 were the only two buildings left when we moved onto Knob Hill Farm.
We immediately began transforming Knob Hill Farm to meet our vision while preserving the past. First, we built fence to have a place for our team of Belgian cross horses . Mike uses them to make hay, along with other work around the farm. Then Mike built our early 1900s-style hog buildings (with a few modern upgrades!). Mike also built a small hen house for our laying hens and converted some pasture for broilers, sweet corn production and a garden.
We also started transitioning the whole property to Organic. In 2016 we began selling USDA Certified Organic Heritage Berkshire-cross hogs. Since then we have added Pasture Broilers, Free Range Laying Hens for Eggs, Hay, Small Grains, and Sweet Corn,. All USDA Certified Organic.
Along the way we added the best part... our 3 children. Together, the 5 of us are enjoying raising food the way we believe it should be done. As a family-owned and operated farm, we pour our hearts into everything we produce. We take great pride in the quality of our products and are always happy to help, so please don't be afraid to ask us any questions. Be sure to follow our journey and updates on Facebook and Instagram. We truly appreciate your support!
