LeeAnn and Bill Cherry founded Bear Creek Farm in 2007 with the vision to provide the community with sustainable, pasture raised cattle and hogs. Our cattle and hogs are raised on 2,000 scenic acres near Leipers Fork, Tennessee, in pastoral valleys of rich farmland amid gently rolling hills. Bill Cherry has a long history here; he has raised cattle and hogs on this land along Bear Creek for more than 30 years. Our adult children are filling in the footsteps to grow our company and supply the community with an outstanding beef and pork.

At Bear Creek Farm, we graze our animals on land that we know like the back of our hand.

When LeeAnn married into farming, she saw a need in their community to raise cattle and hogs using sustainable farming practices combined with the superior genetics. So, in 2007, they did just that!

After the ’07 drought the first task was to complete an integrated watering system throughout the farm to ensure fresh, clean water even during times of drought. In addition to continuous clean water, we take great care of our pastures raising superior hay, which is the key component in our feed. We will put up 4000 round bales of hay during hay season to feed our cattle and hogs during the winter, thus working from sun up to sun down.

Upon tasting our first steak that Bill brought home we know we had something special we wanted to share that with our community. Our family went out and participated in 4-5 farmers markets weekly, we cooked our burgers at community events and even cooked at Bonnaroo for three years! The hard work, the long hours, and sometimes missed family meals all paid off.

At Bear Creek Farm, we graze our animals on land that we know like the back of our hand and we feed them hay grown on that very land. We strive to push our genetics to produce some of the best beef and pork for your family and guests. As our momma says, “don’t rest on your laurels”.

In 2012, we purchased a USDA meat processing facility in Chapel Hill, TN that our daughter Paige manages. Your farmer is there at every step to ensure humane treatment of every animal! Cherry Meat Co. is vital to the growth of our business.  We invested in state of the art dry aging equipment and in 2021 a major expansion of Cherry Meat Co will enable us to help other local farmers grow their business as well.

We are so thankful to our community and to the Chefs that have supported us.

When the farm-to-table movement was swiftly entering local communities, we began supplying chef-driven, independent restaurants. We also started providing our meat at the Franklin Farmers Market for families and individuals to come and get our fresh, local meat for their home. Now we supply over 50 independent restaurants where talented chefs get to work with our fresh, locally-grown beef and pork. Hearing people tell us they will “never go back to the grocery again” or “my family can only eat meat from your farm now” is what motivates us every day to continue growing for the community.

In 2012, we purchased a meat processing facility in Chapel Hill, TN that our daughter manages. Cherry Meat Company is a USDA inspected processing facility and has been a vital step in the growth of our business. Bear Creek Farm is vertically integrated as we control birth to harvest of our livestock. Owning our own processing facility has allowed us to be involved in every step of cattle and hog farming that way we can ensure the humane treatment of our livestock.