Elizabeth Collins - Becoming a Farmer At 40 | #77

Elizabeth Collins is a first-generation farmer co-running Otter Creek Farm with Brad Wiley. Originally from Cincinnati, she moved from Lexington, KY, and now leads the farm’s livestock, regenerative operations, and Graceful Acres Farmstay.

Otter Creek Farm is a 440-acre multigenerational farm in Pittstown, NY, with 200 tillable acres, 100 pasture acres, and 140 woodland acres. A former dairy farm (1937–2018), it now raises pastured poultry, pigs, grass-fed cattle, and turkeys, and hosts a 20-acre chestnut orchard run by Breadtree Farms.

Alrighty, ranch 3!

Today we speak to Elizabeth Collins. Elizabeth has an amazing story of how she battled the odds to become a farmer at age 40. We discuss:

• How Elizabeth became a farmer in her 40s after a life in business and food advocacy
• The role of grants and how they enable regenerative agriculture to survive
• Why she opposes USDA slaughter rules and advocates for humane, on-farm kills
• The legacy of Temple Grandin and how autism helped redesign slaughter systems
• Why she nearly became vegan—and how Cowspiracy gets regenerative farming wrong
• Are co-ops viable, and what lessons she learned from working with one
• What regenerative ranching really means to her, and how she's living it

Timestamps

00:00:00 Why Elizabeth rejects USDA slaughter and does on-farm kills
 00:00:30 Her awakening to food, fat, and the broken health narrative
 00:11:15 Selling a business and moving north: the midlife pivot
 00:15:30 Lessons from a failed co-op and how the system is broken
 00:19:40 The visceral moment she knew she needed to farm
 00:26:15 Interning at 40 and what the 22-year-olds taught her
 00:40:30 Grants as a lifeline for regenerative farms—and why they're vanishing
 00:45:00 Legal barriers and values behind her small-scale slaughter model
 00:50:40 Temple Grandin and the redesign of humane slaughter
 01:09:00 'Cowspiracy' and why it's irrelevant to regenerative farming
 01:20:30 Why she can’t legally sell her own meat in her farm store
 01:26:15 What regenerative ranching truly means to Elizabeth

Connect with Elizabeth!

Website
Come Stay At Otter Creek...
Instagram

Follow the tour on YouTube