Will Gibson walks into the sheep paddock at Sugar Butte Farms in Lowell, Ohio, Sept. 15, 2024. The Gibsons are regenerative farmers following pasture-raising techniques, so they move almost all of the animals' paddocks every day to avoid them getting sick from sitting in their own manure. The work can be strenuous and grueling, but they say it's worth it. 

Will, Eric, and Kayla Gibson ride their four wheeler from the chicken coops back to their home at Sugar Butte Farms in Lowell, Ohio, Sept. 23, 2024. The Gibsons bought their land in the hills of Lowell, Ohio in 2013, and began to grow and farm in 2019. Only in 2020 did they begin to break even and sell for profit, and since then it has been an ever-evolving climb. "It's been a long road, right?" says Eric Gibson.

Eric and Kayla Gibson walk around their egg-layers chicken coop at Sugar Butte Farms in Lowell, Ohio, Sept. 23, 2024. In the last 1-2 years, the Gibsons went from raising 1000 chickens a year to 3000. "The egg layers are moved on pasture every week."

Kayla Gibson pets Spring, a Nigerian Dwarf Goat, at Sugar Butte Farms in Lowell, Ohio, Sept. 24, 2024. The goats at the farm are pets that the Gibsons use as a tool to both heal the land with their manure and clear future pasture. Goats prefer to thrive on trees and bushes rather than grassy pasture, so the Gibsons move their paddocks around regions of brush and smaller trees on the land." Instead of using tools that run by fossil fuels, we use goats!" Kayla says.

Will and Eric Gibson stand in a patch of grass that they are attempting to reintroduce after it was trampled and damaged for decades by tractors at Sugar Butte Farms in Lowell, Ohio, Sept. 23, 2024. The Gibsons are one of the few farms in the Lowell and Washington County area to farm with pasture-raising techniques. Many farms continue to use confined cages and methods for their animals, and don't have as much of a focus on the regenerative aspect of farming. Eric Gibson says, "I don't know if climate change is real. But if it is, I'm doing my part to help it and the Earth."

Eric Gibson holds open the mouth of one of their goats to show off his lack of top teeth at Sugar Butte Farms in Lowell, Ohio, Sept. 23, 2024. Goats, along with sheep and cows, are part of the ruminant family. Ruminants have no top teeth, but rather a bottom row and dental pad. This is so they can rip at the grass and, as Eric Gibson explains, "can create an enzymatic response telling the grass to grow faster." Mowing grass doesn't send the same message, so the Gibsons only mow their grass on their land once every 1-2 years.

A bucket of turkey intestines, heads, and feet with grazing wasps sits in the yard of the Gibson's house at Sugar Butte Farms in Lowell, Ohio, Sept. 23, 2024. Part of the Gibson's mentality through their farming journey is using as much of the animal as they can, and doing it as ethically and fairly as possible. Certain parts of the animals can't be sold due to certain regulations in Ohio laws. Nevertheless, the parts that Sugar Butte Farms can't sell, process, or use they compost and feed back to the soil. "Life starts at what sits beneath our feet. So if the soil is good, the forage is good, the insects' life is good, the birds eat the insects, and we, we're going to live a stronger life."

Will Gibson pets a sheep at Sugar Butte Farms in Lowell, Ohio, Sept. 15, 2024. One of Will's favorite sheep is the bottle-baby they raised. Will says there were times they brought the lamb into the house, "it was just so cute." The sheep paddock is moved every day, as Kayla explains, "what we're trying to do is lay down manure, and allow an animal to trample the forage down so that we build layers of soil so the microbiology can feed off of what our animals have pooped and what they have laid down."

Will Gibson pulls his mother, Kayla Gibson, to share a secret as Kayla makes peppermint soap in their kitchen at Sugar Butte Farms in Lowell, Ohio, Oct. 1, 2024. Part of Kayla's philosophy as a farmer is to use, "the most out of the animal I can use. I don't want anything to go to waste." With this mentality, Kayla tries to make 2-3 soaps a week consisting of Sodium Hydroxide, castor oil, animal lard or tallow, and essential oils.

Will Gibson's portrait of him, his mom, and his dad hangs on the fridge of their home at Sugar Butte Farms in Lowell, Ohio, Oct. 1, 2024. Will was born in 2016 and was only three when the family began to grow and farm their land. The name of the farm, Sugar Butte Farms, comes from Will's pet name growing up: sugar butt. Kayla and Eric realized the name Gibson was too common, and wanted to name the farm something that reflected their family. Spelling "butt" as "butte" (a term for a hill with steep sides) was a decision that was formed from the landscape of the farm. The land their farm lays on is hilly and mountainous, and Kayla explained how other farmers have told her they never would have bought land with its features. Nevertheless, the Gibsons use the land to it's potential as a perfect pasture area for the animals to live as close to how they would live in the wild.

Kayla, Eric, and Will Gibson ride in their 4-wheeler back to their home after a day of working on the farm at Sugar Butte Farms in Lowell, Ohio, Sept. 23, 2024. Kayla says, "this farm isn't just for us. It's for the community, and I want them to know that." Though young farmers and a young family, the three are constantly evolving to make their agriculture more efficient, ethical, healthy, and rich with nutrients and love. "We are not the best farmers but you would be hard pressed to find a family that tries harder than we do. Everyday we are brainstorming to make processes more efficient."