About - R & B Farms

R&B Farms is a family owned farm located in Taylorsville, North Carolina. The property we are on was purchased in the early 1960's by my grandparents, Ralph and Betty Icenhour. My grandma has remarked that ‘We didn’t even have a pan to make biscuits in.’ Nevertheless, they set about the work of creating a life for themselves. While at the time the farm was purchased it was not a business, there were many aspects about daily life that are similar to how things are on the farm today.

There was a garden for fresh vegetables, chickens, pigs, and most importantly cows (we are a little biased)! My grandfather eventually got his electrical license and was a full time electrician while my grandmother worked various factory jobs in the area. In the 1970's they decided to build a chicken house and go into business as a grower for Perdue. My grandfather continued his electrical business and worked the chicken house on the side while my grandmother quit her job and worked the chicken house full time. All during this time my grandfather kept cows as a hobby. He simply enjoyed having them.

In 2007 I began looking after the handful of cows that my grandfather had left. His health had began to decline and my grandmother could not keep doing everything, even though she tried. I started in the cows with the idea that I would give it a try and basically make it a hobby of some sort. After graduating college in 2009 I returned home and began working full time as a teacher. During this time I decided to keep the cows going and learned something about myself. I really enjoyed the work! It started to become more than a hobby and in 2012 I bought my first herd that was exclusively mine. It was about 30 cow calf pairs. From here I began looking at this more as a business and less as a hobby. I didn't realize it at the time but there was so much I didn't know about managing a bigger herd!

Through all the changes, here we are today striving to grow and provide quality products. One thing that remains the same is our desire to leave the land better for the next generation. It means a lot to be on the same property that my grandparents bought back in the 60's and to continue what they started. From every new calf born to every pound of ground beef produced, these are things we value.

As always, we hope to help your family enjoy a product that was born out of hard work, sacrifice, and most importantly: love.