Hunter Cattle Company didn't start out to be a magnet for agritourism, but it didn't start out to be an award-winning natural-fed meat business, either.

        Between days when she takes groups of 100 to 150 or more school kids on tours, Kristan Fretwell gave a reporter and his son a short tour and talked about how her family's business keeps developing in seemingly accidental ways.

        "Whenever we started, we started raising the meats just for our family, and never intended on having this business, and sure enough people just kept on asking to buy meats, and we just keep growing and growing," she said.

        Her parents, Del and Debra Ferguson, purchased farmland in the Stilson-Leefield Area east of Brooklet about 10 years ago. The family was in the construction business, with a company called Anthony Unlimited, named for her older brother.

        They had previously done some hobby farming, with critters such as rabbits, llamas and horses, on a 12-acre place at Bloomingdale, but had no actual experience farming as a business, she said.

        Occupying the much larger Bulloch County spread, and starting with some cows, the Fergusons hoped the construction work would support the cattle farming, which in turn would supply healthy meat for the extended family. But demand for the meat grew by reputation, while construction slowed to a stop with the recession, circa 2009.

        "In about four years after we moved onto the property, the real estate business really tanked for us, and I'll tell you, if it wasn't for people asking to buy meats from us and insisting on buying whole cows and stuff, we would not be here," Fretwell said.

        Her parents named the brand for the youngest of their five children, Hunter. Anthony, who operates the meat processing facility; Kristan, who handles publicity; and Hunter are all involved in the farm.

        Neighbors helped the Fergusons learn a lot of what they know about farming, Fretwell said. She told how the family first pulled a breech calf. A neighbor gave some pointers and encouragement by phone but couldn't come to help.

So Fretwell read aloud from what she calls a "Cows for Dummies" book while other family members turned and pulled the calf. They kept cow and calf alive.

        "We say good neighbors, good books and the good Lord have gotten us where we are today," Fretwell said.
Today, the farm occupies about 300 acres, after the family was forced to sell some land during lean years.

        But the Whole Foods grocery chain started carrying Hunter Cattle Co. meats at regional stores, including those in Savannah, Hilton Head and Charleston, about a year and a half ago. To fill the demand, Hunter Cattle has some neighboring farms produce cattle and hogs to be sold under its brand, she said. They must meet Whole Foods' standards - and the Fergusons'. Hunter Cattle Co. is Animal Welfare Approved.

They've got meats
        Starting with grass-fed beef, Hunter Cattle added pastured pork, free-range chickens and their eggs. They raise and sell turkeys and a flock of lambs at times.

        In some ways, these farmers became known for what they don't give their animals.

        "On our farm, we raise grass-fed (cattle) with no hormones, no antibiotics, no grain, so it's grass-fed and finished," Del Ferguson told the judges at the 2015 Flavor of Georgia competition in March.

        With its New York strip steak, Hunter Cattle won top honors in the meat and seafood category of the contest hosted by the Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development at the University of Georgia. This was the farm's second Flavor of Georgia win. Its fresh pork sausage won in 2013.

        Unlike the cattle, the pigs receive grain feeds but are raised in open pastures, and none of the animals receive hormones, steroids or antibiotics, Fretwell said.

        Earlier in the farm's first decade, family members took meat to someone else's facility for processing, until this required multiple trips each week. So Hunter Cattle built its own processing facility.

        Beside it, MooMa's Farm Store sells natural food products, including local ones such as B&G Honey, Freeman's Mill grits, Hunter Cattle's own meats and other items.

        "We put in the farm store just because we needed office space," Fretwell said. "We didn't really think people would come out and buy groceries, and they do."

Agritourists
        Some visitors wanted to stay overnight on the farm, so with a further investment, the family turned the top of a former tobacco barn into loft suites that rent by the night. Each loft has a kitchen and dining area and a bathroom as well as sleeping quarters.

        A stage was installed at the farm for events. By 2011, Hunter Cattle was hosting a Farm Heritage Day, now held in the fall.

        Then there are the educational tours. School groups come from Savannah, Richmond Hill, Effingham, and all around. Right now, two big groups a week are typical, averaging 100 to 115 children each, Fretwell said.

        The family gave tours for fun at first, until they took up too much time, she said. Now they are a source of farm income.

        "That was still part of the accidental business, you know," Fretwell said.

        Volunteers help the family and its few employees lead the tours. Children get to gather eggs, feed pigs, pet a turkey and jump in hay. The incubation station, where 191 eggs can be hatched at a time, is a favored stop.

        Visitors may see ducks, guinea fowl, goats, the family's friendly peacock positioning himself to be admired, and a pond. For the big tours, children ride in railroad car-size wagons.

        "We embrace agritourism," Ferguson said in the Flavor of Georgia news release.

        The release suggested another reason for the openness to visits: "Transparency in the production of high-quality, healthy meat is important at the family-run farm."