About Shawn & Beth

Shawn and Beth Dougherty bring decades of hands-on experience to the homesteading table. Farming together since the 1980s, they've spent the last 26 years mastering sustainable agriculture in challenging conditions. Their primary farm, a 27-acre plot in eastern Ohio designated by the state as "not suitable for agriculture," and their management of a 100-acre monastery farm, serve as living laboratories for their innovative techniques.

Their approach centers on intensive grazing, harnessing the power of grass conversion to nourish a diverse ecosystem. They raise dairy and beef cows, sheep, farm-fed hogs, and a variety of poultry, striving to produce the majority of their food and feed on-site.

Deeply concerned about the reliance of modern agriculture on external inputs—feed, fuel, fertilizer, water, and electricity—Shawn and Beth are dedicated to rediscovering and refining traditional, low-input farming methods. Their research highlights the critical role of grass conversion, particularly the daily transformation of grass into milk by dairy ruminants, in achieving whole-farm sustainability. This process fuels their entire farm community, from humans and ruminants to pigs, poultry, and the soil itself.

Through their writing and travels, Shawn and Beth share their expertise on sustainable farming, dairying, farm-raised animal foods, and off-grid captured water systems. They are the esteemed authors of The Independent Farmstead, published by Chelsea Green Publishing, and The Independent Farmstead’s Field Guides to Inputs-Free Farming and Homesteading (Lulu.com).