Member Spotlight- Wester Farms
For Natalie and Jason Farmer, farming isn’t just a job, it’s a legacy.
Natalie is a fourth-generation farmer at Wester Farms in Louisburg, North Carolina. Together with her husband Jason, they run a diverse operation that includes tobacco, cucumbers, corn, soybeans, wheat, and a herd of about 500 cows. But farming is just one part of their story.
In 1978, Natalie’s parents opened Wester Feed Service, a local feed store that’s still going strong. Inside the store, Natalie and Jason launched Farmer’s Mercantile, where they sell their own locally raised beef and other North Carolina-made products.
“Growing up, I was always with my dad on the farm,” Natalie recalls. “That’s where my love for agriculture started. He taught me everything he knew.”
After graduating from NC State University with a degree in agriculture, Natalie returned home to farm alongside her father. Three years later, she married Jason, who joined the farm the following year. With a background in turf grass management, Jason had a steep learning curve, but he embraced it.
“My father-in-law told me, ‘Look, all I can tell you is to learn and learn fast,’” Jason laughs. “Now, I love it. Especially tobacco, if you didn’t love it, you wouldn’t deal with it.”
After Natalie’s father passed away and her mother retired, she and Jason took over full operations of the farm, feed store, and mercantile. As the landscape around them continues to change, so does their approach.
“One of our biggest challenges is development—people moving out to the country and buying up farmland,” Natalie explains. “So we thought, if we can’t farm the land, we can feed the people who live on it.”
That mindset led to the creation of Farmer’s Mercantile, a way to stay connected to the community and continue sharing their passion for agriculture.
Natalie and Jason also credit AgCarolina Farm Credit for being a key part of their journey.
“AgCarolina is farmer-focused,” Jason says. “They’re easy to work with and always just a phone call away. Not all banks want to lend to agriculture anymore because it’s risky. But AgCarolina gets it.”
As a cooperative, AgCarolina also gives back to its members through patronage, which makes a big difference for seasonal operations like Wester Farms.
“With farming, most of our income comes in the fall,” Natalie adds. “So that patronage check in the spring really helps us plan and keep things moving.”
At Wester Farms, farming is more than a business, it’s a way of life. Through growth, loss, and change, Natalie and Jason remain committed to their roots: agriculture, community, and family.
“We spend a lot of time together,” Natalie says. “Because we’ve learned firsthand, time is short.”