The Farmer’s Hands: Featuring Blue Grass Farm

Blue Grass Farm, located in Rockbridge Baths, Virginia, is a six-generation farm nestled within the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley. The farm is noted for its breathtaking views, including a beautiful view of Jump Mountain. The history of this land is one of many left untold in modern times, like many other generational farms throughout the Valley. I had the pleasure of spending some time photographing the land and cattle throughout Blue Grass Farm with the owner and operator, Booper Bare, last week. Booper expressed the importance of collecting the photos of his family’s farm over the years, watching as buildings were updated or built, equipment replaced, and was hoping to capture this chapter of the land to look back on and serve as a reminder of the past and progression forward for present as well as future generations. Little did Booper know, this was a calling which I have felt to serve Virginia agriculture since last winter. I am honored that the Bare Family has granted me the opportunity to share some of their story and illustrations for the beginning of The Farmer’s Hand’s series.

A biblical verse, Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.” Farming is successful by a patient but steady hand. These hands have lived through an abundance of weather but have also reaped harvests from their steadfast actions. The uncertainty behind the motions of operating a profitable farm leave a far greater story than callouses. A farmer’s hands are the sole provider in not only our vital food supply, but every opportunity to expand their farm through equipment, acreage, livestock, and more. The grit, legacy, and unwavering resilience that encompasses Virginia farmers is worthy of mention.

In 1882, Booper’s great-grandfather, John Runkle, purchased the roughly 300 acre farm for $3,800 — paying for the farm, in full, with two payments. The farm was passed on to his grandparents, Claude and Ada Bare, who bought the farm for $10,000 in 1945. They expanded the farm an additional 124 acres. The fields were plowed and worked from massive ditches to smooth fields which the family continues to utilize for hay fields, today. The farm was eventually passed to Booper’s father, Thomas (Tommy) Lee Bare who operated the farm until his passing in 2020. Booper worked alongside his father throughout the years and also enjoyed late model racing together, now a sport which three generations of Bare’s continue to excel at as Booper’s son, Tyler Bare, keeps the legacy alive. The farm is now owned and operated by Booper and Lori Bare who have further developed the farm an additional 26 acres and other numerous improvements. Both of their children, Megan Sheets and Tyler Bare, along with their spouses, are also heavily involved in these operations, raising children of their own from tractor cabs and farm trucks — a true generational family farm. The Bare family have farmed the same land for almost 150 years and have placed it within a conservation easement to protect our dwindling source of farmland. Each generation has made their respectable contributions to leave behind to the next, continuing to advance and improve one generation at a time.

The roots of the Bare family are deep within Blue Grass Farm, noticeable through the stories mentioned from barns, cattle, and fields passed throughout driving around in the farm truck. With the hard times which farmers and ranchers are facing today, often consumers ask why they still continue despite the hardships. A moment from our evening that perfectly answers this as Booper reflected on his times as a young boy, helping his father make hay on the farm, eating their lunch under the only shade tree in the field. I mentioned, “I am sure those were long, hot days on open station tractors.” His response was simply, he wanted to do it bad enough it never mattered to him. Despite the hard winters or dry summers, their passion pushes on. Booper mentioned there was one summer his father spoke about on the farm, the drought was so strenuous that 300 acres barely sustained only 35 cows. There were and still are tough years, but it is a lifestyle that has kept each generation treading on.

The origination of Blue Grass Farm came with a price that seems little today, but was a large price in 1882. Booper recalled the prices of supplies, equipment, even the cost of lunches and how much they have increased just over the course of his life. He noted, “it’s scary to think about”, looking at how numerous farming supplies have increased by over one hundred percent in the past five years and the challenges that could be ahead for Blue Grass Farm as well as other farmers in the area.

As the Bare family prepared that evening for hauling their calf crop to the market the next morning, there was a lot going on at the farm. As the tractors cleared snow and prepared for trucks and trailers which would be loading first thing the next morning, Booper requested I photograph those moments. There is no doubt this is a life which he does not take for granted and holds a humble pride for the efforts the generations before him put into the same soil he and his family put countless hours of work into each and every day. The Bare family’s dedication to land conservation and their ancestors legacy is nothing short of honorable. This rich history of a family’s perseverance in agriculture through well over a century is the backbone of America and what family farms are all about. A huge thank you, to Booper and the Bare family, for the opportunity to capture their farm as well as share a piece of their story.

A note on The Farmer’s Hands: This is a beginning series, featuring generational farms in Virginia. Nominate a family farm or inquire to be featured by contacting Ashlyn Clemmer Photography via email at ashlynclemmerphotography@gmail.com.