County: Rowan
Years in Firsthand Foods Network: 2018-2021
Eric Deal & Family
Circle D Beef • China Grove, NC
OUR FARMERS
COUNTY
Rowan
Rowan
YEAR FOUNDED
1842
1842
FARM SIZE
400 acres
400 acres
FARM OUTPUT
Beef Cattle, Lamb
Beef Cattle, Lamb
Circle D Farm is truly a family affair with three generations living and working the farm. Oscho manages the herd on a daily basis and Eric & Sherilee and their young children, Guy and Maggie, help out after work and on the weekends. Agriculture is their livelihood in more ways than one.
Eric has a degree in Poultry Science and works full-time for Purdue Farms Inc. and Sherilee has a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Education and teaches agriculture at a local high school. Their shared passion is building a high performance rotational grazing system. During the winter months, cattle graze on stockpiled fescue and then in the summer, they move to fields planted to warm season grasses including Bermuda, Switch grass and Indian grass. The addition of sheep to the rotation helps to further suppress weeds and build soil fertility.
