Meet the Transfarmation Farmers

Our mission is to build collective power sufficient to realize a just and sustainable food system. We achieve this by assisting farmers in transitioning from industrial animal agriculture to crop-based farming for human consumption. By creating models of alternative economic opportunities, building solidarity with other movements, and shifting societal narratives to change culture, we will realize a just and sustainable food system. Read on to learn about the incredible farmers we’ve had the pleasure of working with. 

The Halley Family 

For 30 years, Bo and Sam Halley raised hundreds of thousands of chickens a year on their family farm in Cookville, Texas. But the family experienced years of financial hardship as contract farmers for Pilgrim’s Pride. The large loan they had to take out to get their operations up and running proved hard to pay off with the unreliable income from contract chicken farming. 

When they finally came close to paying off their loans, Pilgrim’s Pride informed them they would have to make expensive upgrades to keep their contract. The Halleys found themselves in the “debt treadmill” of poultry farming. 

Bo and Sam decided to give up raising birds for good. They teamed up with their sister, Devvie Deany, and her partner, Evan Penhasi, to switch to growing hemp. 

With the support of Transfarmation^™, they successfully completed their first hemp harvest.

Craig Watts

The Watts family has been farming for generations. When Craig Watts took over the family farm, he began raising chickens under contract. Chicken farming was presented to him as an opportunity to earn a good living. But he experienced many injustices as a contract grower. After 23 years, he left the industry. 

Craig has been brave enough to speak out against industrial chicken production and the ways companies force their contract growers into a cycle of debt. In 2014, he began working with Leah Garcés, now CEO of Mercy For Animals, to tell his story. This unlikely partnership inspired Leah to found Transfarmation and work with farmers to find alternatives to factory farming.

Now Craig is working with Transfarmation to build his family a new kind of farming operation—one that contributes to his community and land instead of exploiting them. 

Tom Lim 

Tom Lim raised chickens for 20 years before the company he contracted with terminated him without warning in 2018. Since then, he and his wife, Sokchea, have been working multiple jobs to try to pay off the debt they are left with from raising chickens.

Exiting chicken farming was difficult for the Lims, and it has forced them to reevaluate their farming operation. As part of Transfarmation, they are reconnecting with what brought them to farming in the first place, to care for the land and provide food for others.

The Faaborg Family 

Tammy and Rand Faaborg began hog farming over 30 years ago after adding a few pigs to their family’s farm. Over the years, their operation expanded until eventually they found themselves entering a contract with an integrator. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the family began to see issues with the industry. They started exploring alternatives when they came across The Transfarmation Project^®. After a year of working with Transfarmation, the family made the bold decision to end their 30-year tenure as pig farmers and pursue a full farm conversion.

The Faaborgs dream of creating an operation that is an example in their community, showing other farmers that farm transitions are possible. “We feel change is coming, and we’re excited to be a part of it,” Tanner Faaborg said. Deeply involved in the Des Moines and Ames communities, the family is committed to making Iowa a better place.

Paula and Dale Boles

Paula and Dale Boles felt like failures as poultry farmers. Working within the contract system, they were isolated from other farmers and had no say over how their chickens were raised or what they were fed. In 2015, they decided it was time for a change. 

They wanted to maintain the family land, which was gifted to them by Dale’s father, Jim Boles. Equipped with Dale’s expertise in construction, the pair set out to convert their poultry houses to greenhouses where they could grow a variety of plants.

“Having the greenhouses, the vegetables, and the flowers is just a better way of doing the land for us,” said Paula.

The Barker Family 

Phillip and Dorathy Barker purchased the land for their farm in 1981. When they bought the property, it was a cattle farm for beef. Seeking to enter the dairy industry, they soon added cows bred for milk production and built a dairy barn. But the Barkers were dissatisfied with the industry, and Phillip felt that his relationship with the milk company and factors outside his control heavily influenced his decisions: “I couldn’t get away from the farm loan debt. They had control of everything, really.” Phillip began exploring other options, including farming vegetables.

Five years later, Hurricane Fran tore down the Barkers’ barn. Recovering from this would have meant investing in another barn and 100 more cows, which Phillip estimated would have been about half a million dollars. Instead, the Barkers decided they were done with dairy. 

The Barkers continue the transition of their dairy barn to a greenhouse as recipients of the Bo Halley Research and Innovation Grant. This will enable season extension and add income to support their fruit and vegetable operation year-round.

Paul and Paula Hamilton 

Paul and Paula Hamilton ran a dairy farm together since they’d been married, an operation that had been in Paul’s family for three generations. They maintained their dairy farm until 2022, when they were forced out because of the small size of their operation. 

After their dairy closed, Paula attended Farm Aid to tell their farm’s story. There she observed a mushroom-growing demonstration. Paula had grown mushrooms for fun but now felt that mushroom farming could be a viable option for supplementing their income. 

Paula found Transfarmation through her mushroom research and connections made through Farm Aid. In 2023, she applied for the Bo Halley Research and Innovation Grant for their pilot project idea, Hamilton Farms Mushrooms.