February 21, 2024 0 Comments
The Joyce Farms team celebrates its achievement of an AA+ rating, the highest possible score, in their latest BRC (British Retail Consortium) food safety audit.
May 04, 2022 0 Comments
For 60 years, you have trusted Joyce Farms to provide you with safe, high-quality meat and poultry products. Our USDA-inspected plant in Winston Salem, NC has multiple HACCP plans in place to ensure safe practices, and we have continually received high marks on third party GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) audits. Now, we are thrilled to announce that we have achieved British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Food Safety Certification at our poultry processing plant.
The BRCGS Global Food Safety Standard is a leading global quality and food safety certification program that is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). It provides a framework to manage product safety, integrity, legality and quality, and the operational controls for these criteria in the food and food ingredient manufacturing, processing and packing industry. Certification is only awarded to organizations that have embraced a top-to-bottom food safety culture and approach throughout their company.
To achieve this, our team undertook a rigorous third-party audit against certification requirements. The audit examined an extensive list of our company programs related to food safety, including, but not limited to, sanitation, pest control, recall and traceability, allergen control, pathogen/salmonella testing, and supplier approval.
Pictured above, from left: VP of Operations Stuart Joyce, Quality Assurance Supervisor Brittany Freeman, Quality Assurance Manager Jennifer Hamby, VP of Finance Ryan Joyce, and President and CEO Ron Joyce.
While this was truly a company-wide effort, our path to certification was led by Joyce Farms’ Quality Assurance Manager Jennifer Hamby. Her enthusiasm, guidance, and attention to detail were invaluable as we worked together to reach this goal.
At Joyce Farms, we always want to offer our customers the very best, and the BRCGS Global Food Safety Standard is what we believe to be the best and most respected food safety certification in the world. With this certification, we look forward to offering you an even deeper level of trust in our products.
February 01, 2021 0 Comments
Check out the moving moment when we surprised him with the news!
Despite the unprecedented events of the COVID pandemic and the unforeseen shift in our business within the industry, Ron Joyce and the team came together to stay ahead of the curve. Under his leadership and bold philosophy, we continue to support and practice Regenerative Agriculture, protect animal breeds and their welfare, and provide healthy meat and poultry that packs delicious natural flavor to our local communities.
While we took time to celebrate his achievements, Ron Joyce pressed on getting the word out about Regenerative Agriculture's impact. He hopes to continue restoring land, raising healthy animals, and providing customers with nutritional and flavorful products.
Thank you, Ron for your hard work, passion, and dedication. While you may tell us that you'll rest once you've retired, and that you'll retire once you're at rest, we feel it imperative to take this moment in and congratulate you for your contributions - not just to the poultry industry, but to the lives of everyone at Joyce Farms!
Thank you Ron Joyce and congratulations!!!!
May 10, 2019 0 Comments
We can talk about our products, our heritage animals, and our regenerative practices all day, but nothing makes the impact of customers seeing and tasting for themselves on a farm tour.
Transparency is paramount for us at Joyce Farms, so we’re always happy to take customers out to the farms whenever we can. But last year we began hosting larger 2-day farm tour events that not only show the farms and animals, but really educate about why we do what we do, how we do it, and how our practices impact the bigger picture of human, animal, and environmental well-being.
Last week, we had our first Farm Tour event of the year. The 2-day event began with dinner, drinks, and a short introductory presentation at Ashley Christensen’s Bridge Club in downtown Raleigh.
There’s a reason Ashley was the James Beard Foundation’s pick for Outstanding Chef this year! The custom menu featured many of our Heritage products. It was a delicious way to kick things off!
Bright and early the next morning, we headed to the farms. Our first stop was in Kenansville, NC where we visited farm partner Adam Grady. Our guests were able to learn first-hand about his transition from sustainable to Regenerative Agriculture, and the incredible changes he has seen in only a few years.
We partnered with Adam a little over 2 years ago to begin raising animals for our Heritage Pork program. At that time, he was running a sustainable operation. Adam was willing to transition to Regenerative Agriculture, something we require for all of our Heritage farms, but it was not without a little healthy skepticism. After all, industrial practices are still the mainstream method that his neighbors and most farmers practice; they’re even still taught in agricultural school.
In a calculated leap of faith, Adam agreed to transition 30 acres to regenerative management- enough for us to begin our pork program. He worked closely with Dr. Allen Williams, our Chief Ranching Officer, to put regenerative practices in place.
Here’s what happened in less than one year:
After that first season, he said, “I wish I had just done it all!” The results were so incredible that now, he’s farming 100% of his land (over 1200 acres) regeneratively.
During our visit in Kenansville, our guests saw our livestock, but also examples of regenerative methods.
They saw our rotational grazing methods in action. We showed how we divide larger pastures into temporary smaller paddocks using poly wire, rotating livestock between those paddocks daily, sometimes multiple times a day. In fact, we moved some cattle while we were there, just to show quickly and easily this can be done.
We took a close look at the pastures themselves, as Dr. Allen Williams explained the 5 principles of soil health and how Adam implements each of them:
We talked about forbs (aka “weeds”) and Allen explained how they are actually a GOOD thing. They offer medicinal and anti-parasitic benefits to livestock when they eat just a few bites a day (which saves farmers money). They are also excellent microbe attractors because they are deeply and extensively rooted. Those roots send out root exudates or sugars that attract a wide variety of soil microbes, which are critical for soil health.
Adam showed some of his regenerative farming equipment, including the roller crimper he uses to turn live, grazed cover crop into a bed of organic matter that protects the soil. He uses a no-till planter to plant cash crops into that rolled bed of plant matter, for tremendously efficient growth and yield.
As the trolley ride continued, we talked about heritage breeds and how we are working to bring back some of these now-rare genetics that fell out of favor with the rise of industrial agriculture. First we visited the Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs that we raise for our Heritage Pork.
Then, we saw some of the Aberdeen Angus cattle used for our Heritage Beef.
On our last trolley stop, we saw the always impressive rainfall simulator and slake test demonstrations, to further display how land management practices impact the soil’s ability to absorb and hold water.
Our lunch pig pickin' was outstanding thanks to the folks at Original Grills who cooked a Joyce Farms whole hog for the occasion!
After lunch we hit the road for one of our Heritage Poulet Rouge® Chicken farms in Siler City, NC, managed by our farm partner Larry Lemons. Our guests were able to hear more about the steps we take to raise these birds, including bringing in breeder eggs from France and hatching them in our hatchery. They were also able to see multiple flocks of birds at different stages of growth, and get a first-hand look at the amount of space they have to run around and just be chickens!
We are so thankful to our guests who took the time to come out for a 2-day, information packed Farm Tour! All of us at Joyce Farms are incredibly proud of not only the products we produce, but how we produce them, and we are happy to have the opportunity to share more about that with our customers.
See more photos from the tour on our Facebook page!
February 18, 2019 0 Comments
The message is spreading about regenerative agriculture, and more and more farmers, consumers, and medical professionals are realizing the importance of making a big change, now.
One project taking big strides to promote the regenerative message is called Farmer's Footprint and is led by Seraphic Group and Dr. Zach Bush M.D. It's a powerful documentary series that shows how critical regenerative agriculture practices are in reviving the health of our environment and fighting chronic disease in humans. Their mission is to regenerate 5 million acres by 2025.
The first short documentary of the series was released last week and features our own Dr. Allen Williams. It shares the story of a small family farm in Minnesota transitioning from conventional farming to regenerative agriculture. It also presents eye-opening scientific findings from Dr. Zach Bush about the connection between destructive, chemically dependent farming practices and chronic disease.
Please take the time to watch and share this incredibly powerful film, and learn more about the project at farmersfootprint.us
Farmer's Footprint | Regeneration : The Beginning from Farmer's Footprint on Vimeo.
November 15, 2018 0 Comments
As we enter the week of Thanksgiving, one thing we are extremely thankful for at Joyce Farms is the growing community of chefs, food and agriculture industry professionals, and consumers who are increasingly eager to learn about our mission and practices and how they promote animal welfare, regeneration of soil and ecosystems, and more flavorful and nutritious food.
Last month, we brought some of that growing community together for a series of four farm tour events. We welcomed chefs and culinary professionals from all around the country, and we were thrilled to find that they were just as eager to learn about what we do as we were to show them!
Our goal was to provide an educational experience on the importance of genetics, animal welfare, and regenerative farming as it relates to the flavor and quality of meat and poultry, and the effect different farming methods have on our environment.
Here's how it went...
Part 1: Bridge Club Dinners
Each farm tour was preceded with a dinner event the evening before, at Chef Ashley Christensen's Bridge Club in Raleigh.
The Bridge Club loft was a perfect backdrop for getting to know our guests better and enjoying a truly memorable meal of Joyce Farms products, expertly prepared by Chef Ashley and her team.
Each evening began with a few drinks, great conversation, plenty of delicious appetizers featuring Joyce Farms Heritage Poulet Rouge™ chicken and Heritage Bison!
Appetizers included picnic-style Poulet Rouge™ chicken with hot honey, Poulet Rouge™ chicken liver mousse, bison tenderloin tartare, deviled egg topped fried green tomatoes, and Poole's pimento cheese with saltines.
Next, we shared a mouthwatering family-style feast that featured our Heritage Beef and Heritage Pork. Main dishes were Chateaubriand of beef tenderloin and braised pork shanks with ramp chimichurri.
And while it doesn't look like it so far, we did more than eat and drink during our Bridge Club events! Before the meal, our guest saw a special screening of A Regenerative Secret, a recently released mini-documentary project that Joyce Farms sponsored and that features our Chief Ranching Officer Dr. Allen Williams along with Finian Makepeace of Kiss the Ground.
After each evening's dinner, we talked more with the groups about our mission and products, our unique heritage breeds, and our regenerative agriculture practices. We told our guests about the things they would see an experience on the farms the following day, including the recent damage from Hurricane Florence, which hit only two weeks before our first tour.
We prepared our guests to see real, working farms - not "show farms" like some producers use to put their best foot forward (and to hide their worst). We believe in full transparency, and in showing our customers the real story, including successes and challenges. Mother Nature can be unfair, and as farmers and producers, we have to learn to deal with, and recover from, those times. It was unfortunate that the pork farm was heavily flooded with rainfall from Hurricane Florence, and a lot of our pastures were damaged. Rather than canceling our tours, we chose to view the storm damage as a great opportunity to share more information about our regenerative farming practices and how they are helping the farm to recover more quickly.
Part 2: Days On The Farm
Our farm days were full ones with plenty to see and learn. We covered topics like animal genetics, soil biology, and regenerative agriculture, to name a few.
Each farm day started with a visit to Dark Branch Farms, owned and operated by our farm partner Adam Grady. Adam and his family primarily raise the Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs for our Heritage Pork, but the farm is also home to some of our Aberdeen Angus cattle. Our tour guests learned about the history and characteristics of these two old-world breeds, and how we are helping to revive heritage breeds like the Old Spot from endangerment or extinction.
Next, Allen Williams gave a powerful in-field lesson about regenerative agriculture practices and their potential to transform not just the food industry, but our environment overall. He spoke about desertification and the unhealthy state of most of the world's soil. He stressed the importance of healthy soil as a fertile growing environment for flavorful, nutrient-dense food for livestock and for us. With help from Adam Grady, he used real examples from the Heritage Pork farm to cover key regenerative principles like no tilling or chemical use, planting cover crops, and integrating livestock with planned grazing techniques to restore the health of the soil.
The regenerative lesson continued with a Rainfall Simulator demonstration led by a representative from the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Our guests saw how different kinds of land and grazing management affect soil health. For this powerful demonstration, samples of soil are used from different pastures that have been managed in different ways - some with degenerative practices like tilling or chemical use, others were managed using regenerative practices like livestock integration and rotational grazing without tilling or use of chemicals. These samples are placed in trays side to side under an overhead sprinkler, with clear buckets underneath.
When the demonstration begins, the overhead sprinkler simulates a rainstorm. When the water hits the soil, the samples that have been subjected to degenerative management produce much more runoff into the buckets below, indicating the soil is unhealthy and has poor water infiltration. This runoff causes erosion and carries away nutrients and sediment with it. The samples from pastures with regenerative methods in place are able to take in more water, which decreases runoff.
After the rainfall simulator, our guests had plenty of time to "digest" what they learned and ask questions while enjoying a Pig Pickin' on the farm! For all of our farm tour lunches, we teamed up with Original Grills in Raleigh, and they did an outstanding job cooking up one of our Old Spot hogs with all the fixins.
After lunch, we headed to the small farm where our Heritage Black Turkeys and some of our Heritage Poulet Rouge™ chickens are raised by farmer Larry Lemons.
Coming to the farms, seeing our practices, meeting the farmers, and hearing our story first hand is the very best way to get to know our company and understand the care that goes into our products. Thank you to all of our farm tour guests - it was truly an honor to host such passionate and talented groups chefs and culinary professionals!
Another big thank you to the following groups and individuals who helped make our fall farm tours a success!
October 15, 2018 0 Comments
It was early September 14, 2018 when Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, and very few were prepared for the wrath she would bring. Heavy rain and extreme winds pounded the coast and swept inward through the Carolinas causing a widespread emergency for the state.
Right in the path of the storm sat our Heritage Pork farm in Kenansville, NC.
As the cone of uncertainty became more certainly pointed in the direction of the pork farm, we were in constant communication with Adam Grady, the farmer who raises our GOS Heritage pigs and lives on the farm with his family.
Adam sprung into action to make preparations. Thankfully, because of our small scale operation and close relationship with our farmers, we were able to move quickly to safeguard the farm and livestock as much as possible.
In the week before the storm made landfall, the pigs were moved to a sacrifice pasture on higher ground where they would be safe from rising floodwaters. Normally, the animals are rotated to fresh pasture every 2-3 days to keep the pastures in good condition and to prevent excessive rooting, which helps regenerate the soil.
During the first day of the storm, we saw wind damage to farm houses as strong gusts peeled back the rooftops. Water rose rapidly in the pastures. As heavy rain continued overnight, water continued to rise, rivers overflowed, and fields and roadways were completely submerged.
By September 15th, the winds were subsiding, but rain totals were reaching 24 inches, putting much of the farm, and Kenansville, under water. At this point, we could not be completely sure that the livestock were ok, but conditions were not conducive to safely check all areas.
Two days after landfall, on September 16th, floodwaters in the area had already risen past the historical highs of Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
The rain had stopped, and we were thankful to find that the hogs were ok. Most areas were only available by boat at this time.
In a very short time, Hurricane Florence brought significant damage to the Heritage Pork farm, particularly our pastures and farm houses. We are, however, extremely thankful that our farm partner, Adam Grady, and his family are safe, and that we were able to protect the animals. This was our top priority as we braced for impact.
Now, we are beginning recovery efforts to rebuild our pastures and farm houses. Unfortunately, by having to keep the pigs in a sacrifice pasture for an extended period of time, we lost a great deal of our healthy soil and forage in that particular pasture. Others were damaged by extreme storm surge that engulfed the farm.
Keep an eye on our blog over the next few weeks for updates and more information on our recovery efforts. Thank you to all of you who contacted us during and after the storm with well wishes and offering support!
August 20, 2018 0 Comments
"Strive for perfection in everything you do." - Henry Royce
Several months ago, we were approached with an invitation to appear in an exclusive publication for the Rolls-Royce Owners Club (RROC) called Strive for Perfection. This hardback coffee-table celebrates Rolls-Royce’s unceasing pursuit of excellence – an ethos that earned Rolls-Royce the status of “best car in the world.”
It also serves as a carefully curated guide to some of the most must-have luxury products and experiences in the world, including Joyce Farms all-natural and heritage meat and poultry!
We are honored to be among the elite brands and products featured in Strive for Perfection. From our president and CEO Ron Joyce:
“Rolls-Royce is synonymous with quality and the ultimate in luxury. It is rewarding for our company to be recognized for the values we share in pursuing a higher standard for meat and poultry production. We want people to enjoy food the way it used to taste.”
On August 18, 2018, we joined over 1,000 Rolls-Royce owners and their guests at the RROC's Annual Meet in Lake Tahoe where the official book launch for Strive for Perfection took place.
March 28, 2018 0 Comments
Dr. Allen Williams, Joyce Farms’ Chief Ranching Officer, is part of a team of scientists involved with an exciting new study of Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing. The study will collect data to analyze how this grazing technique increases farm resiliency, contributes to carbon sequestration, improves soil biodiversity, and impacts animal wellbeing and productivity. Joyce Farms cattle are raised using AMP as part of our commitment to Regenerative Agriculture.
The study is funded by a $1.25 million grant from The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), a nonprofit established in the 2014 Farm Bill with bipartisan congressional support. The grant was awarded to the Arizona State University Foundation for A New American University, and has been matched with funding from McDonald’s USA for a total $2.5 million investment.
Principal Investigator Peter Byck, of Arizona State University, had this to say about how the research will be conducted and the role of participants like Dr. Williams: “We will study what these innovative farmers and ranchers have been researching for 10 to 20 to 30 years on their own land. We feel these producers are the original scientists with AMP grazing – and they put their livelihoods on the line for their research. We will simply measure their results.”
October 03, 2017 0 Comments
We're re-branding our beef (no pun intended)! Joyce Farms Naked Beef is getting a new name: Heritage Aberdeen Angus Beef. Don't worry, though — it's the same top-quality beef you've come to expect from Joyce Farms.
To answer some of the questions you may have about this change, here’s a brief Q&A:
Absolutely nothing. Only the name has changed.
Our beef program will remain exactly the same. The cattle are still 100% grass-fed and grass-finished, raised on open pasture to GAP 4 Animal Welfare standards. They are never, ever given any hormones, antibiotics, animal by-products, artificial ingredients, corn, or grain (no grain silage, no DDGs - dried distillers' grains).
Joyce Farms beef has always been Naked (as in, nothing added ever), and it always will be, but the new name better conveys the unique heritage genetics used in our grass-fed beef program. It’s a critical component in producing flavorful, well-marbled beef using cattle fed and finished on grass.
Our grass-fed beef comes from cattle descended from the original Aberdeen Angus of Scotland. Unlike the modern Angus, bred to consume a grain-finishing diet, the Aberdeen Angus used by Joyce Farms has an unaltered digestive tract, allowing it to thrive on a 100% grass diet. It’s that trait that allows our Heritage Beef Aberdeen Angus to develop naturally and eat the right foods, producing the best tasting beef in the world.
We’ve already changed most of the content on our website to reflect the new name. We will be phasing in new packaging and incorporating the change into promotional materials over the coming months. During this transition, you may see or receive some products and materials that say Naked Beef, and some that says Heritage Beef. Rest assured, they are exactly the same.
For more information on our Naked and Heritage product lines and how they compare, check out this blog post: Naked vs. Heritage — What's the Difference?
Have any other questions? Feel free to send us a message!
May 17, 2017 0 Comments
We are excited to introduce you to the recipient of the 2017-18 Joyce Farms Poultry Science Scholarship, Lacinda Prevatt!
Lacinda is a Poultry Science B.S. student at North Carolina State University with an Associate’s Degree in Livestock and Poultry Management. She is Native American, and she has had quite a bit of hands on experience with animals already.
Lacinda is supporting herself financially through college and aspires to be a veterinarian. She hopes to travel the world to provide medical care to animals in foreign countries while educating animal owners on proper animal care. Lacinda is also passionate about food sources and educating the public regarding facts and myths about agriculture as a whole.
The Joyce Farms Poultry Science Scholarship was established in 2007 to support students pursuing careers in agricultural science at NC State University.
Each year, students from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences submit applications and essays for consideration. One outstanding applicant is selected to receive $1,000 from Joyce Farms to help fund his or her education.
Find information on how to apply for future scholarship consideration here.
March 10, 2017 0 Comments
We all know fast food is, by its very nature, more about convenience than nutrition. But when faced with the necessity of getting fast food, you may think opting for chicken is the lesser evil. Chicken, after all, is touted as a healthier type of meat. A recent study, however, shows that even chicken can be made unhealthy when it’s subjected to fast food’s “flavorizing" techniques.
Last month a CBC Marketplace investigation did DNA testing on the meat in a variety of fast food meals containing chicken. Amazingly, none had chicken that was 100% chicken DNA, and in one case the “chicken” was found to contain only about half chicken DNA. The restaurant in question is disputing these findings, but whether it was 50% chicken or 90% chicken isn’t the point of this post. The fact that it wasn’t 100% chicken is the point.
How does chicken end up not being 100% chicken? Well, it isn’t because they mix in other types of meat. No, what brings the percentage down is all the stuff they put in for flavor. As the article linked above says, “An unadulterated piece of chicken from the store should come in at 100% chicken DNA. Seasoning, marinating or processing meat would bring that number down, so fast food samples seasoned for taste wouldn't be expected to hit that 100% target.”
In other words, 10% or more of fast food chicken is usually made up of other ingredients that are added for taste. And they do add more taste, but they also add calories and carbs and lower nutritional value. To quote the CBC article: “Marketplace's testing revealed that once the ingredients are factored in, the fast food chicken had about a quarter less protein than you would get in its home-cooked equivalent. And overall, the sodium levels were between seven and 10 times what they would be in a piece of unadulterated chicken….Nutritionist and registered dietitian Christy Brissette notes that most [added] products…are simply variants on salt or sugar, the latter of which can elevate the carbohydrate level of a chicken breast to well above where it should be: zero percent.”
Why is it necessary to add all this stuff to chicken to make it taste good and be less healthy? Because, sadly, our food is no longer developed for taste or nutrition, but for commerce (e.g. low cost, fast production, ease of shipping and storage). It has no taste, so we add more seasonings, sugar and salt. The result is chicken that’s not really chicken, whether you get it from the local fast food place or your local grocery store and add all those things yourself.
That’s why we do what we do at Joyce Farms. We set out to produce the absolute best tasting chicken possible, and we have. Our Naked Chicken is the finest all-natural domestic chicken for sale in America, with the flavor nature intended (much more flavorful than factory-farmed commodity chickens). Our heritage Poulet Rouge Fermier® chicken, meanwhile, raises the bar even higher – we believe it’s the best tasting chicken in the world.
So if you’re looking for chicken that you can cook and eat as it is, 100% chicken, not loaded down with stuff to give it some kind of taste, we have it. Don’t settle for “chicken” that’s not really chicken. The real thing is so much better!