A fifth-generation farmer practices regenerative agriculture and provides quality beef and pork to restaurants and the community.
Written by Leslie Criss | Photographed by Joe Worthem
For a decade, Marshall Bartlett has tended a portion of 1,800 acres that have been in his family for more than 150 years. The land, first owned by his great-great-grandfather in 1871, is situated in Panola County — Mississippi hill country that borders the Delta.
From the age of 13, Bartlett was schooled in the ways of farm chores like harvesting cotton, using farm equipment and more.
He later studied anthropology and environmental science at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. While in college, Bartlett finished an internship in St. Croix with the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute.
It was in St. Croix that Bartlett began to feel a hankering for home — and the farm. He became a voracious researcher of regenerative farming. But before he returned to the family farm, Bartlett spent time in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, working with AmeriCorps in the Ninth Ward.
Then he found a job selling meat to New Orleans restaurants, and through his interaction with chefs, Bartlett learned local meat had a high demand.
Combining his research and experiences, Bartlett began planning for his return to his family farm.
Today, he manages 300 acres in Como known as Home Place Pastures, and it’s still a family farm. Though Marshall Bartlett is majority owner, his brother Jemison of North Carolina and sister May Leinhart of upstate New York are part of the farm. There’s also Bartlett’s wife and their 18-month-old daughter.
“I’m the only one here on the ground,” Bartlett said. “But my brother and sister have put in a lot of time, energy and money.”
Their dad Mike Bartlett, 82, just retired from running the cotton gin.
“He’s officially retired,” his son said. “But he is very active and doesn’t mind helping me out.”
Unlike the generations that preceded him, Bartlett is not a farmer of row crops. The 35-year-old has transitioned from row crops to a regenerative grazing operation.
Rather than growing cotton and other crops, Bartlett and his 25 employees produce grass-fed beef and pastured pork.
But Bartlett does much more than raise pigs, cows and laying hens from which they get pastured eggs.
“We harvest and process all our pork and beef products in our own USDA facility on the farm,” Bartlett said. “We do our own shipping and distribution, as well.”
Home Place Pastures also boasts its own butcher shop and a restaurant.
“We opened the restaurant in 2020 — just before COVID,” he said. “I know — a great time to open a restaurant. But we lost our wholesale business overnight — selling our product to restaurants. We did a quick pivot to provide meat to folks in our community instead of to restaurants during the pandemic.”
Bartlett rehabbed an old house on the farm, using salvaged material from four other old houses on the property. The result houses The Home Place Farm Store.
The restaurant is open for lunch Wednesdays through Sundays, and for Steak Night dinner on Fridays.
“I’ve learned a lot with the restaurant,” Bartlett said, laughing. “Good and bad. I might not have done it if I knew what it entailed.”
In addition to the restaurant on the property, other restaurants in Mississippi, New Orleans and Memphis now also source meats from Home Place Pastures.
In yet another of Home Place Pastures’ missions to be involved in the community, Bartlett throws an annual party on the farm — and everyone is invited.
A boucherie, as it’s called, has its roots in Louisiana culture. Defined as a social event at which people gather to butcher and make food from an animal, especially a pig.
For eight years, missing a couple thanks to COVID, Bartlett has hosted the Boucherie at Home Place Pastures, inviting about 20 chefs who prepare something from a specific cut of pork.
“Somewhere in my crazy chicken brain, I decided this would be a fun thing to do,” Bartlett said. “We harvest an animal, serving food in the picnic tradition and after the meal, we move to another section of the farm for live music.
“The Boucherie is always the weekend after Labor Day, but the planning starts well before. My dread starts to build every January. It’s a big undertaking, but lots of fun for folks.”
The dinner is a ticketed event — tickets must be purchased in advance. A ticket for dinner includes the music. Those who just want to listen to the live music pay $10 at venue gate.
Bartlett is excited about one of the farm’s most recent additions: a website for shopping online. Offerings include holiday bundles, corporate gifts, animal shares and a la carte shopping. See what’s offered and learn more at homeplacepastures.com.
After 10 years of hard work and continued growth of Home Place Pastures, Bartlett chuckles when asked if he still enjoys what he does.
“It’s complicated,” he said. “It has been way more challenging than I could have imagined. But I very much believe in our mission. I’m invested in what we’re doing, and I look forward to the next decade.”
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