Producer Profile: Mossycup Farms

A Small Farm that Is Happy Being Small

Mossycup Farms is a beginning farm that sells pasture raised and organic fed pork, cattle, and poultry proudly raised in Clear Lake, Iowa. They recently expanded their offerings to include value-added products including lard-based “old lady soaps” and spice mixes. Owners Laura and Jesse, along with their two daughters, work hard to bring quality products to their customers, and are active in the effort to build the local food system in North Iowa.

We were fortunate to host a field day on their farm in July, and caught up with Laura Tidrick to get some insight into their operation and what farming means to them.

Why did you start your operation? Being connected to the food we eat is important to us. When we purchased our farm in 2015, our goal was to raise the highest quality food possible for our family and to teach our kids the importance of knowing where their food comes from.

How would you describe your farm? Mossycup Farms is small, and we like it that way. It has produced well, and we are now happy to be able to offer our products for sale. Our 10-acre farm just north of Clear Lake, Iowa, was originally a dairy farm. We’ve restored the pasture, buildings, and fencing and constructed a new home for our family.

What is your vision for your farm? Constantly evolving! Always centered around organic practices, happy animals and good food.

What products do you currently offer? Using certified organic feed and pasture grazing, we raise heritage breed pork; free-range geese, ducks, quail and chickens for meat and eggs. We produce amazing, pure-white lard for cooking and handmade lard soaps using my grandmother’s recipe. Mossycup Farms offers products direct from the farm, online, and wholesale through restaurants and grocery stores.

What is your biggest farm success? Probably that we really truly enjoy eating what our farm produces – makes it easy to sell to others.

What are the biggest barriers you have encountered? The numerous rules surrounding meat processing and sales, and just figuring out all that goes into selling meat.

What has helped your business attempt to overcome challenges? So many things! All of the connections we’ve made through Healthy Harvest, PFI and other networking for sure.

What resources do you recommend? PFI, Healthy Harvest, and finding a farmer with more experience than you and time to tolerate your questions.

Explain the name of your farm: Mossycup Farms takes its name from the huge, old mossycup oaks covering the property. Also known asbur oak, the trees drop plenty of acorns with fringed caps that look like“mossy cups.”