Our story
We are Dara and Byron Burns. Born and raised in the mountains of Colorado, we are Virginia transplants. Buds since meeting in 4H at the age of 12, we’ve known each other practically forever. We got married shortly after high school, at the wise age of 19 and Byron joined the Army. After hopping on the first train leaving Colorado, Clarksville, TN became our first home away from home while Byron was stationed there.
After 8 years of Army life and the birth of our favorite son, Jackson, we headed back to Colorado, for a stint. While there, I earned a degree in zoology and Byron completed his degree in engineering. Then it was on to Virginia where we’ve been ever since. After falling in love with the friendly folks, mild climate, and lush, beautiful vistas from Virginia Beach to the Blueridge Mountains, we decided it felt like home to us. Though we’ve lived a fast-paced, suburban life for the last couple of decades, our roots called out to us. We’ve always daydreamed about returning to the country and starting a farm.
We are all way too aware, early in 2020 life quickly began to look a lot different. The outside world began to shutter its doors, suddenly, we no longer recognized our neighbors’ covered faces at the store while scavenging empty shelves, and working from home and having the necessities delivered to our doors became the new norms. While all of this was overwhelming and scary, it also offered some unique opportunities, one of which we jumped on. This was the ability to live virtually anywhere while working remotely. After 8 years right outside of Richmond, we packed up our stuff and drove until we found solitude on an empty, clear-cut, piece of heaven in the middle of central Virginia.
Now a couple of years since making that momentous decision, we are laboring away to bring the Purple Mockingbird Farm to life. Though a labor of love, a farm sure doesn’t happen overnight. It is difficult but fulfilling, sweaty but soul-feeding, back-breaking, and often stressful work. This is a project that will be evolving for a long time, probably the rest of our lives. However, our dream is to produce happy, healthy, nutrient-dense, and delicious grass-fed beef and poultry, lamb, goat, eggs, pork, honey, and lots of other delicious, clean foods using regenerative agricultural practices. We go to great lengths to ensure everything we are doing will allow us to bring the best products possible to your family and ours while improving the environment around us.
You see, contrary to much of the anti-agricultural, eliminate-the-meat hype that seems to be having a moment right now, when farming is done in a way that mimics what nature intended, (e.g.: the ecosystem created by the bison which once roamed the American plains), it can heal the damage caused by many of the industrial agricultural practices that may currently bring the food to your table. Don’t get me wrong, it is true that MASSIVE damage has been done, and it is imperative that something change. However, eliminating meat is NOT the right answer, and in fact, may do additional damage. Regenerative agriculture isn’t going to save the entire planet from certain destruction but…actually, it just might! ;).
We believe that there is a sweet spot where a healthy ecosystem and environment exist in harmony with agriculture. We think that producing and eating healthy meat and having a healthy, balanced ecosystem are not mutually exclusive. Though it seems a popular notion right now, we don’t think you have to choose helping the environment over enjoying a delicious, nutrient-packed steak. The truth is that, when agriculture is practiced without the use of synthetic chemicals and while replenishing depleted nutrients to the land (of course it is a bit more complicated than this), agriculture and a healthy ecosystem rely on each other. Our purpose here at Purple Mockingbird Farm is to produce meat you can feel good about putting on your table while improving the land and environment it is produced on.
Whatever your opinion on the current state of the planet and what should or shouldn’t be done about it, there is a heck of a lot of data out there to indicate that food raised this way is just plain better for you and most, including Byron and me, will tell you it tastes better too!
Sign up to receive our newsletter and updates and be the first to know when our products hit “the shelves”! Also, if you want to find out more about our wild journey, including the hilarious inspiration behind the Purple Mockingbird Farm’s unique name, follow our ridiculously entertaining blog at midlifecrisisfarmchronicles.com. We are also on Facebook and Instagram @purplemockingbirdfarm.