Ray Jeffers has transformed his family’s century-old tobacco farm into a thriving, market-driven operation that produces pasture-raised pork and a wide variety of vegetable crops.
Ray Jeffers
B.R. Jeffers Farm
OUR FARMERS
COUNTY
Person
Person
YEAR FOUNDED
1919
1919
FARM SIZE
200 acres
200 acres
FARM OUTPUT
Hogs, Vegetable Crops
Hogs, Vegetable Crops
- Ray Jeffers
Ray Jeffers is a farmer, policymaker and community leader who has dedicated his career to the advancement of small-scale, historically-marginilized farmers and rural communities. Since 2023, Ray has served in the North Carolina House of Representatives, representing the 2nd district, which includes all of Person County and part of Durham County. Ray serves on the Board of the Piedmont Progressive Farmers Cooperative, which provides resources and market opportunities to small-scale farmers in the Piedmont, including contracts for pasture-raised egg prodution. Ray is an avid dog trainer and his farm hosts the Raleigh Schutzhund Association’s training grounds.
Ray’s farm is a model of resilience and innovation. To make it through the pandemic, Ray downsized and diversified, adding a mix of of vegetable crops in response to demand from local markets scaling up to address supply chain shortages. Through his connections with statewide, non-profit educational organizations, Ray was able include his farm in a climate-smart grant that provided funding to implement silvopasture, an approach that integrates land and livestock management for mutual benefit. More recently, Ray (along with his farming partner, Eric Blackwell) began scaling up their hog inventory, adding heritage-breed hogs to designated woodlots and pastures where they wallow, nest and feed. We are excited to add Ray to our network and grow the market for local, pasture-raised pork in ways that empower community and support environmental stewardship.
