Rooted in Regeneration
Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery is built on a simple belief: agriculture should restore the land, care for animals with integrity, and nourish the communities it serves.
​
On our pastures, goats graze in rotating fields that rebuild soil and strengthen biodiversity. In our creamery, skilled artisans transform that our goat's milk into farmstead cheeses that reflect the seasons and the landscape. In our kitchens, the harvest from the farm becomes meals that reconnect people with the land that feeds them.
​
As part of the Salt Fork Food Works ecosystem, the farm is one piece of a larger effort to build a regional food system rooted in regeneration, craftsmanship, and community.
This is a place where agriculture, food, and stewardship come together on living land.
Our Story
Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery sits on land that was once part of Illinois’ vast tallgrass prairie. For thousands of years these landscapes were shaped by deep rooted grasses, grazing animals, pollinators, and human stewardship. The rich prairie soils that remain are among the most fertile in the world, built slowly by living plants and complex underground ecosystems.
​
Today the farm continues that tradition of stewardship.
​
Founded in 2004, Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery is a regenerative farm where land, animals, and people work together to produce exceptional food while restoring ecological health. What was once conventional row crop farmland has been transformed into a mosaic of goat pastures, fruit orchards, gardens, pollinator habitat, and restored prairie.
​
At the center of the farm is our herd of pasture-raised dairy goats. Nearly one hundred goats graze rotational pastures, browsing grasses, legumes, and shrubs. Their movement across the land helps rebuild soil, cycle nutrients, and increase biodiversity.
​
Milk from the herd travels just steps to the farm’s artisan creamery, where our team of skilled cheesemakers produces fresh and aged goat cheeses that have earned national recognition. Because the milk is produced and crafted on the same farm, each cheese reflects the season, the pasture, and the care of the people who love and rear our animals.
​
Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery is stewarded today by Lauren and Jeffrey Brokish, who continue expanding the farm as both a regenerative agricultural system and a place where people can reconnect with their food.
​
The farm is part of Salt Fork Food Works, a growing network of farms, food producers, and restaurants working together to strengthen regional food systems. Within this ecosystem, farms supply kitchens, kitchens support farmers, and organic materials return to the land to nourish soil and future harvests.
​
Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery exists to show that agriculture can do more than feed people. It can restore landscapes, care for animals responsibly, support skilled artisans, and reconnect communities with the sources of their food.
The Land
​​
This region was once part of the tallgrass prairie that covered much of Illinois. These prairies supported extraordinary biodiversity, including native grasses, wildflowers, birds, insects, and grazing animals.
Long before the land became farmland, Indigenous peoples lived in relationship with these prairie landscapes. Historical records indicate that the Potawatomi and Kickapoo traveled through this area, with Potawatomi groups moving south through the region in summer from lands near the Kankakee River. Earlier, the Peoria and Miami peoples were also part of the broader cultural landscape of central Illinois.
​
Like many prairie ecosystems, these landscapes were shaped not only by climate and wildlife but also by careful human stewardship, including the use of fire and seasonal movement across the land.
​
Today Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery works to restore pieces of that ecological heritage. Native prairie plantings, perennial pastures, orchards, and pollinator habitat help rebuild biodiversity on land once simplified by conventional agriculture.
Restoring prairie soils and ecosystems takes time, but each season of grazing, planting, and stewardship strengthens the land.
​
Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative agriculture focuses on restoring soil health, rebuilding ecosystems, and strengthening natural cycles.
​
At Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery these practices include:
​
• Rotational grazing that allows pastures to recover and build soil fertility
• Perennial plant systems such as orchards and prairie plantings that stabilize soil and support wildlife
• Diverse cropping and pollinator habitat that increase biodiversity across the farm
• On farm food production and processing that connects the land directly to the food we eat
​
Healthy soil holds more water, stores more carbon, and produces healthier crops and animals. Over time regenerative farming can transform farmland into thriving ecosystems that support both people and the environment.
Animal Welfare
Animal care is central to life on the farm.
​
Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery is proud to be Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World, one of the most rigorous certifications for humane livestock management in the world. This certification ensures animals are raised on pasture, treated with dignity, and allowed to express natural behaviors.
​
Our goats live outdoors, grazing and browsing in rotating pastures throughout the growing season. Their well-being supports both the ecological health of the land and the quality of the milk used to craft our cheeses.
The Salt Fork Food Works Ecosystem
Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery is part of Salt Fork Food Works, a regional network connecting farms, food producers, restaurants, and food businesses.
​
Within this circular system:
​
• Farms steward land and grow ingredients
• Creameries, kitchens, and artisans transform those ingredients into exceptional foods
• Restaurants, markets, and food hubs connect communities to regional agriculture
• Organic materials return to farms to nourish the soil
​
By linking agriculture, craft, and hospitality, Salt Fork Food Works helps build a food system that is ecologically resilient, economically viable, and rooted in place.
​
Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery is one of the living landscapes within that system. Visitors experience how regenerative agriculture, artisan food production, and thoughtful hospitality come together on a working farm.
