CAMELS, ALPACAS, and kangaroos live side by side with cows, horses, and other farm animals on rolling hills that stretch across the Bowling Green countryside. Some live their best lives out in the fields, while some find excitement in traveling to meet children across the state, and others show off their natural charm at local weddings and event venues. One family runs all of it – a family that has worked on that same land since the early 1900s. Westbrook Farms sits just outside Bowling Green in Alvaton, spanning some 2,500 acres of farmland and cattle. Four generations of Westbrooks have worked on the farm, taking it from its humble beginning of a few milk cows to the multifaceted business it is today.
Adam Westbrook is of that fourth generation, and his family, his parents, and two of his brothers and their families currently run the farm day-to-day. Like his father and grandfather before him, Westbrook and his brothers stayed with the farm after graduating high school. It was his great-grandfather who started Westbrook Farms in the milk industry before milking machines — when every cow was milked by hand.
“They did it by hand up until probably [the] ‘60s, and then that’s when milking machines [came] out,” Westbrook said. “Now we’re row cropping about 1,700 acres, and then we have beef cows and hay.”
Every member of the family is important to the farm’s smooth running. While the family has left the milk business, the farm is still alive and thriving more than ever. Westbrook’s sister-in-law built Westbrook Farms’ event and venue business and is regularly involved in the community.
“We had an old tobacco barn on the farm, and she turned that into a venue barn,” Westbrook said. “She stays booked all the time — weddings, events, birthday parties — she has a traveling petting zoo, she can load everything up and bring it to you. She does really good with that, and she does hayrides. I mean, she has a little cart that goes behind a horse — she can do cart rides. I mean, she does a lot.”
Everyone that comes to the events enjoys themselves, Westbrook said. The success there, alongside the farm as a whole, is the result of many years of hard, dedicated work by the whole family. Farming may not be easy or glamorous work, but there is always a visible outcome at the end of a season’s work.
“It is rewarding to watch a crop grow and harvest it by the end of the year and see your hard work pay off,” Westbrook said.
Each year is different, and the success of a farm can depend on events entirely out of a farmer’s control — weather especially. A drought or excessive rain can mean a net loss that year. There is no guaranteed paycheck. Still, Westbrook said, it’s a good way of life.
“It teaches you good values, to respect … the land and animals and taking care of everything,” Westbrook said. “It draws you closer to each other, knowing that [income]’s not guaranteed.”
The Westbrook family aims to keep their farm alive for as long as possible while continuing to serve the Bowling Green and Warren County communities.
Part of that involves respecting and caring for the many acres of land they own.
“You want to stay profitable. You want to keep the land in the best condition — the way you found it — keep it the way you keep it, don’t let it erode, and we do all the no-till practices and stuff like that,” Westbrook said. “We want to keep it profitable and keep it in the family.”
As a local business, Westbrook Farms has kept the community fed for generations, and the Westbrook family plans to continue to do so for generations to come. Who knows? Your next meal may be from these very pastures. GN
