If you ask Lillie Beringer to describe herself, she’ll tell you she’s a female farmer passionate about agriculture and sharing the farm to plate story. 

A 25-year-old, third-generation farmer from Cascade in northeast Iowa, Beringer is helping carry her family farm into the future.

Along with raising her own cattle herd and feeding cattle for another farmer, she owns Beringer Family Farms (BFF) Beef, an exclusively online business. She sells individual cuts of Angus beef like ribeye steaks and roasts.  

“Our beef is single-sourced, born, raised and finished on our farm,” she explains. 

“All of my marketing and sales come from my presence on my farm page through Instagram and Facebook.”

Beringer initially started social media pages for BFF Beef in September 2019 to educate consumers and showcase the daily ins and outs of what’s going on around their farms. 

“I love sharing about agriculture and how important the farming lifestyle is to me,” she says. 

As a result, people began asking Beringer how they could purchase her beef. After some research, she created BFF Beef, which officially launched in January 2021. 

“The beef business was started because of requests from people following my pages, and I also wanted to create a niche market and diversify my income to help make my farm payment for the ground I purchased in March 2020.”

That farmland includes 110 acres of pastureland, where her herd grazes in the summer. She’s also renting another 100 acres from her parents and plans to expand each year. 

Beringer offers on-farm pick-up and ships beef to all 50 states. She also runs a weekly special, offers beef bundle options for order and recently launched a farm club subscription box that allows customers to get a box of beef automatically shipped to them every 30 or 60 days. 

Beringer, who won Iowa Farm Bureau’s 2021 Grow Your Future Award for young rural enterpreneurs, has numerous goals for the future. They include purchasing a walk-in freezer, which would drastically increase her freezer storage capacity. 

She also hopes to start a YouTube channel and offer speaking opportunities for various agriculture-related events. She’s considering adding pork and lamb cuts for purchase someday, too. 

For all her business needs — from the printing of brochures to designing of apparel, Beringer uses local services. 

“I love supporting small businesses that help me grow my business,” she says. 

That commitment stems from Beringer’s ultimate goal for BFF Beef and why she loves what she does. 

“I am proud to offer a local source of quality beef to my community to feed their families,” she says. “I am proud to offer the full farm to plate story and offer a product consumers trust and know where it came from.” 

She adds, “I love being able to carry on my grandpa’s farming legacy, and I love the connections, networking and friendships I have made with my customers through my beef business. I am so grateful for the support from so many.”

Giardino is a freelancer from Polk City.