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Farmer Kris (Kris Karl) is the founder and head farmer at Karl Family Farms. He is also the creator of their delicious jerky recipes.
Kris is involved in every aspect of the farm. From nitty gritty, hands-on farming to high-level systems management, Farmer Kris is the head and heart of Karl Family Farms.
Farmer Kris opened Karl Family Farms shortly after his first son came along.
It wasn't easy. The original 19th century barn on the property had fallen. The farm was in total disrepair. But with the help of friends and family, they built out a modern, sustainably driven farm where cows, hogs, chickens, goats and more could roam as free as they wanted.
There are many ways to farm, but Kris always gravitated towards the most humane and sustainable methods. When he was ready to run his own farm, he found the perfect location in Modena, New York, a few hours north of New York City.
It was the perfect place to raise a family and start his farming business.
To get things started, the farm needed to be outfitted for Farmer Kris's sustainable vision. He devised his own rotational grazing and solar power systems all focused on providing the animals as natural an environment as possible.
These days, he spends his time all over the farm tending to its biggest and sometimes littlest needs. As head farmer, he follows three basic tenets:
Karl Family Farms delivers jerky built out of these principals, and you can taste the difference.
From his famous jerky snacks to the free-roaming farm he runs, Farmer Kris is inspired by the love he has for his friends and family. That's how it is when you're a dad who is a farmer. You see the cycle of life in everything, and Farmer Kris wanted to use his skills to provide good, healthy food to those he loves.
Always a fan of jerky, he began making his own smoked meat treats once his kids came along. Delicious and satisfying, jerky was a nutritious treat he could give the kids that he knew did not have additives or chemicals inside.
His kids loved them, and as it turned out, so did a lot of other kids, and their adults.
With a deep-rooted love of jerky going back to his youth, the smokey creations Farmer Kris first made for his kids grew so popular they quickly became the number one selling item at his farmer's market stand.
He followed the demand and now Farmer Kris is excited to be able to offer his delicious smoked meat delights to jerky lovers in all 50 U.S. states. You can try the Original Recipe and Bee Sting Beef Jerky which started it all, but now he makes Pork Jerky, Beef and Pork Sticks, and Beef Bites, with new recipes on the way.
When he's not running the farm, being dad or helping out mom, you can bet you'll find Farmer Kris trying out a new recipe to put into production. The lucky ones nearby get the test them out first.
Farmer Kris wakes up well before dawn and loves it. He gives himself high standards to follow but enjoys the challenge. Driven by family and a passion for sustainable living, Famer Kris is the reason Karl Family Farms continues to offer the best honest-to-goodness jerky the Hudson Valley has to offer.
