Nick and Beth Tharp operate LT Farm Meats as a business, but they see the opportunity to provide farm-raised beef, pork and lamb as much more important than dollars and cents.
“There’s a satisfaction in providing a product direct from the animals we cared for to our neighbors, customers and community,” Beth Tharp says. “There’s an intrinsic value for us to help support the community. In fact, through this business, we have been able to partner with local food pantries in Putnam County and donate about 8,600 meals of pork per year for the last few years.”
It’s a philosophy that dovetails with the sustainable, responsible agriculture the Tharps practice every day in raising animals and crops on the land they farm with Tharp’s parents, Mark and Phyllis Legan, in eastern Putnam County.
The four operate Legan Livestock & Grain, raising pigs and growing corn and soybeans. They also have cattle, horses and sheep raised on pasture through a rotational grazing system.
“My parents started farming in the late 1980s,” Tharp says. “I grew up on this farm, and Nick and I have been farming with my parents since 2010, when we married and came out of Purdue. We share the same passion for agriculture and raising animals.”
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Farming in Harmony
Tharp says they feel blessed to have the opportunity to follow their passion. One way to share those blessings is to practice sound stewardship practices.
“We have four core values: integrity, stewardship, relationships and continuous improvement,” Tharp says. “Each of those values work together. In prioritizing top-notch animal care and practicing conservation practices with our land and water, we strive to be good stewards of our God-given resources.”
Corn and soybeans are grown to feed the animals using cover crops and no-till farming practices.
“These practices reduce soil erosion, plus we see the added benefits of keeping healthy microbes in the soil and improving the soil structure for water management,” she says.
Manure from their animals is used for fertilizer, either as compost or liquid manure, at agronomic rates determined by soil tests and nutrient analysis.
“This greatly reduces the amount of synthetic fertilizer we need to use and leads to a much more sustainable or regenerative system,” she explains.
All these stewardship aspects work together. Using the manure, coupled with cover crops and rotational grazing practices, ensures nutrients for the next crop of nutrient-dense corn, soybeans and forages, which in turn is fed to the animals, thus becoming a nutrient-dense protein for their consumers.
“This integrated, harmonized system, along with the high level of animal care, is a unique method to offer to our consumer in the way their food was raised,” she says.
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Generations of Flavor
The Tharps have three daughters: Kate, Hannah and Grace. About six years ago, Tharp thought raising chickens for meat would be a fun project for the girls, so the family purchased 50 broiler chicks.
“Raising the chickens was successful, but I soon realized our family wouldn’t eat 50 chickens’ worth of meat,” Tharp says. “I made a Facebook post that we had some chicken available, first come, first serve, and within an hour, all the meat was spoken for.”
This laid the groundwork for the business to expand to other meat options.
“That got my attention as to peoples’ desire to get their meat from a local farm where they knew who had raised these animals,” Tharp says. “That’s how LT Farm Meats got started.”
The “L” stands for the Legans, and the “T” is for the Tharp family. Today, LT Farm Meats offers beef and lamb cuts from cattle and sheep the Tharps raise, along with the pork the Legan operation is known for.
“Cattle are a growing opportunity for us, and the sheep are kind of a side project,” Tharp says. “Our oldest daughters now have their own ewes for 4-H projects as well as laying hens. The meat business gives them an outlet to market the products they have grown and give them a taste for business management and entrepreneurship.”
LT Farm Meats’ pork has also become a popular request from customers.
“We’re running probably 80 to 100 hogs a year through local processing,” Beth says. “At this point, our customers seek us out for our pork.”
LT Farm Meats primarily sells direct to consumers through its website, ltfarmmeats.com, shipping to customers throughout Indiana. Local customers can pick up their orders at the farm.
LT Farm Meats products can also be found at select retail locations, including Chandler’s Orchard & Country Market, Brock Farms Freezer Beef, and Myers’ Market in Greencastle.
“We’re thankful to partner with these local businesses and farmers,” Tharp says. “We take pride in building relationships, not only with business partners and the team that works with us on the farm, but with our family, our community and our customers. We’re proud to offer a high-quality product we’ve grown and raised directly to the people who want it.”
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