Nestled in the heart of Frederick County, Virginia, Carter Hall Farm is a historic, family-owned and operated farm that has remained in continuous agricultural operation for 206 years. Today, the Brady family is carrying that legacy forward by raising livestock, producing wholesome local food, and helping preserve some of the rarest heritage breeds in the world.

At Carter Hall Farm, farming is about much more than producing food. It is about caring for the land, treating animals responsibly, protecting agricultural history, and preserving irreplaceable livestock genetics for future generations.

The farm operates without herbicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or other agricultural chemicals. Its animals are raised without added hormones and without unnecessary vaccinations…which, as of 2026, means the livestock have received no vaccinations. This deliberately low-intervention approach reflects the family’s belief that healthy soil, open pasture, thoughtful animal husbandry, and close daily observation provide the best foundation for healthy animals and exceptional food.

One of Carter Hall Farm’s most important missions is the preservation of endangered heritage livestock.

The farm raises American Milking Devon cattle, one of the oldest and most historically significant cattle breeds in the United States. The American Milking Devon traces its North American history to 1623, when Devon cattle became the first cattle brought from England to New England. Once prized as a true multipurpose breed, providing milk, meat, and draft power, the American Milking Devon is now critically rare, with only approximately 2,000 animals remaining worldwide. By raising and breeding these remarkable cattle, Carter Hall Farm is helping protect a living piece of American agricultural history.

Carter Hall Farm is also proud to work in partnership with George Washington’s Mount Vernon in the preservation of Hog Island sheep. The breed developed on Virginia’s Hog Island, where generations of sheep adapted to the island’s unique coastal environment. With fewer than 900 Hog Island sheep remaining in the world at the most recent count, every healthy breeding flock plays an important role in the breed’s survival. Carter Hall Farm is honored to contribute to that preservation effort while helping tell the larger story of Virginia agriculture.

The farm also raises heritage Berkshire hogs, a traditional breed celebrated for its richly flavored, beautifully marbled pork. Berkshire pork has long been prized by chefs and home cooks for its tenderness, juiciness, and exceptional eating quality. Carter Hall Farm’s Berkshire pork reflects the farm’s commitment to raising animals carefully and offering customers food with genuine character, provenance, and flavor.

Heritage Nigerian Dwarf goats add even more personality and diversity to the farm, while chickens are raised outdoors on pasture. Together, the cattle, sheep, hogs, goats, and poultry make Carter Hall Farm a wonderfully diverse working farm.  A farm where traditional agriculture remains very much alive.

The farm’s work is truly a family endeavor. Every aspect of the operation, from caring for livestock and maintaining pastures and fences to processing orders, attending farmers markets, and working directly with customers, is supported by members of the Brady family. That personal involvement allows the family to know its animals, understand how its food is produced, and build meaningful relationships with the people who purchase it.

Customers who visit Carter Hall Farm at local farmers markets are not simply purchasing meat. They are supporting a historic Frederick County farm, a local farm family, responsible land management, and the preservation of endangered heritage breeds. They are also gaining a direct connection to the people who raised their food and preserving a local farming tradition that just entered its third century.

Carter Hall Farm offers locally raised beef, heritage Berkshire pork, lamb, and pasture-raised chicken, with availability varying throughout the year. The farm also works with families interested in larger quantities, including whole- and half-animal purchases, and supplies select local restaurants and culinary partners that value distinctive, locally raised products.

The story of Carter Hall Farm reaches back nearly three centuries. The Carter family arrived in the Shenandoah Valley in 1732 and established a prosperous agricultural tradition in Frederick County. That legacy culminated in 1820, when William Carter built Carter Hall in Stephens City and established the farm that he and succeeding generations of the Carter family would operate for well over a century. The Carter family remained stewards of the property into the mid-20th century, before Carter Hall Farm was purchased by Mike Brady’s family in 1960.

After 206 years of continuous agricultural operation at Carter Hall, the farm remains what it has always been: a living, working farm rooted in the land and its history. Today, the Brady family is carrying forward the agricultural tradition begun by the Carter family nearly 300 years ago while also building for the future…preserving rare breeds, producing wholesome, nutritious local food, and demonstrating that thoughtful, small-scale family farming still has an essential place in the Shenandoah Valley.

At Carter Hall Farm, history is not simply remembered. It is cared for, cultivated, raised on pasture, shared with the community, and carried forward - one generation at a time.