We Live Here agriculture
The future of farming
Lazy Eight Stock Farm connects community to the land
Words and photography by Blake Vickers
One of the many winding backroads of Paint Lick leads to a very peculiar gate .
It ’ s red in hue , with an infinity symbol adorning the middle of the gate . Go past it and you ’ ll find a farm .
In livestock , the infinity symbol — or lemniscate — is referred to as a “ lazy eight .” It is synonymous with the idea of sustainability . That nickname and the deeper meaning behind it is where Lazy Eight Stock Farm takes its name .
Bryce Baumann has been farming for most of his life . He first began selling produce at the Berea Farmers Market when he was 12-years-old . The owner of Lazy Eight Stock Farm returned to Paint Lick to farm full time after graduating college in 2006 .
“ The farm has kind of grown . We started out with my grandparents and then bought three other farms since 2006 . We ’ ve got about 420 acres now . It ’ s all certified organic . We do community supported agriculture , which is also known as CSA . We ’ ve done that since 2012 . We serve Madison County , Boyle County , Fayette County and their surrounding areas ...” Baumann explained .
Baumann knew he wanted to be a farmer when he was four years old and has seen a lot of changes to the industry throughout his life .
Farming in Kentucky has altered greatly over the last few decades as tobacco has become less prominent . Among other things , this can be contributed to the decline in smoking among the population . According to the Center for Disease Control , 12.5 % of adults ( roughly 30.8 million people ) in the U . S . smoked cigarettes . Fifty years ago in 1972 , that percentage stood at 42 %.
Because of that , many farmers had to pivot to farming other crops , with Baumann among them .
16 Madison Magazine September - October 2022