He didn’t live long enough to make the final payment. His wife, Charity Ross, finished what he started and completed the purchase several years after his death. Because of their sacrifice, the land stayed in the family and became a place where future generations could farm, raise families, learn, and build something of their own.

More than 120 years later, the Ross family still cares for those same 120 acres. Fourth-generation farmers Phil, Ken, Ronda, and P. Wade Ross continue the work started by their great-grandparents. They honor the traditional practices passed down through the family while using regenerative methods such as soil layering, crop diversity, rotational grazing, natural fertility, and whole farm resource management.

The tools may have changed, but the responsibility hasn’t. At Hoaganie Farms, the work is still grounded in patience, care for the land, and a belief that healthy soil is the foundation for everything that follows. As the family often says, it’s farming with a pitchfork and the blessings of nature.