White Oak Pastures

LifeCity Visits White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, GA

LifeCity traveled to Bluffton, GA in August 2024 to validate the impacts of AMCREF Community Capital’s New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) investment into White Oak Pastures, a regenerative farm producing beef and other animal products using a carbon-negative production process. AMCREF’s investment will allow White Oak Pastures to expand its processing facilities in a way that helps the company transition to a greater emphasis on direct-to-consumer retail sales. 

White Oak Pastures has been operating in Bluffton since 1866, and is currently led by fourth-generation owner Will Harris and two of his daughters. For much of its history, the farm operated as a typical industrial operation. In the 1990s, Harris became concerned about animal welfare and soil quality, and pivoted his business to an emphasis on regenerative land management and agriculture.

Now, Harris and White Oak Pastures have grown into leaders in the regenerative agriculture space, and demand for White Oak products has increased. White Oak has generally operated as a wholesale business, with clients including Whole Foods Markets and other major retailers. With economic trends shifting toward direct online retail sales, particularly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the business model of White Oak has had to adapt to meet direct online sales demand. 

By helping White Oak meet these changing economic conditions, AMCREF has helped the company retain over 150 jobs and create around 20 others. By increasing its production capacity from 2.7M to 3.5M pounds annually through its carbon negative production process, White Oak is preventing up to 29.2M kg carbon emissions per year compared to the same volume of conventional meat production. 

The NMTC program can benefit a huge range of companies and communities, and White Oak Pastures is the type of community anchor that will create major impact locally through economic and community development and globally through its approach to regenerative agriculture.