For years Janelle Huffman dreamed of having a farm store of her own. Now, in Amissville, she has one — stocked with beef tallow balms and scrubs, homemade soaps, sourdough breads and baked goods, as well as beef, pork and lamb raised on the family farm.

The Hoof ‘n’ Feather Farm Store is the newest addition to the farming operation that Huffman runs with her husband Mark —  Huffmans Cattle and Hay. Their businesses include registered and commercial cattle, pigs, lambs, chickens, ducks, dairy goats, horses and sheep. 

The store is an outlet for Huffman’s own interests: agriculture, baking and making value-added products to what the farm already produces.

Huffman wears a lot of hats — mother of three, bonus mother of two, grandmother to 10, nonprofit program director, FarmHer and now store owner.

The farm store is the more homegrown side of the operation featuring homemade goods and eggs from their chicken and ducks, while Huffman Cattle and Hay raises grass-fed, grain-finished cattle and sells beef by the share and in individual cuts, along with pork and lamb.

“My husband and I work side-by-side caring for the animals and managing the day-to-day operations of the farm,” Huffman said. “While we share responsibilities, the dairy goats, horses and sheep are especially close to my heart. I also focus heavily on developing and producing value-added products which has become a true passion of mine.”

That passion led Huffman to an ingredient she had in abundance: beef fat. As the farm increased its beef production, Huffman found herself with more fat left over from processing and began researching uses for it.

“We were already rendering the beef fat for personal use in cooking,” she said. “I did some research and discovered tallow skin products.”

Fresh cookies and cinnamon rolls for sale at Janelle Huffman’s Hoof ‘n’ Feather Farm Store in Amissville. (Photo/Ireland Hayes)

Tallow is rendered and purified animal fat that contains high levels of vitamins and fatty acids, perfect for a variety of skin conditions. Driven by clean beauty trends, tallow skin care is a $270 million annual industry and growing, expecting to hit $403 million by 2032 according to Forbes Business Insights.

Huffman said she wasn’t aware of how popular tallow skin products were until she began researching. With a natural inclination and enjoyment for baking, she began experimenting with different tallow recipes until she found one she liked. 

“Having sensitive skin and eczema, I loved how my skin felt, and using simple ingredients,” she said. “I began sharing with friends and then selling to customers. When we added pork to our  lineup, it was just natural to then add dairy goats and make soap. I began making both lard soap and goat milk soap with tallow.” 

At the farm store, Huffman offers body balms, face balms, lip balms and sugar scrubs, all utilizing tallow. 

For Huffman, opening the store is the realization of a dream that started when her children were young.

“Even when my kids were little and all I had were dairy goats and chickens, I loved sharing eggs with neighbors and baking,” she said. “When Mark and I started selling cuts, a farm store seemed like the next step.

Janelle Huffman on her farm holding one of her turkeys. (Photo/Camden Littleton)

 “The experience has truly been a fun adventure,” she said. “Opening the farm store has given me an outlet to share what I love whether it’s educating about the animals we raise, skin products I make or about the treats I bake. 

“[The store] is a way to contribute to the farm Mark and his dad built, but in my own way doing what I love,” she said.

Huffman said she hopes customers walk through her doors and feel welcomed and encouraged to ask questions. Above the front of the store she wrote: “Enter with gratitude and leave with abundance,”  hoping all who enter feel that.

“I love being able to share a part of my life and a passion for agriculture,” Huffman said. “I also have a lot of future plans to not only support our farm, but to be able to be a place to support the community and other farms.”

She’ll be able to do some of that when the store is a featured stop on the annual Rappahannock County Farm Tour on Sept. 26 and 27. In addition to offering her products, Huffman will host dairy goat milk demonstrations both days of the tour, have hay making equipment on display with discussions and allow visitors to make take-home tallow or lard suet cups to feed their birds or chickens.

The Hoof ‘n’ Feather Farm Store is located at 129 Hinsons Ford Road, Amissville and is open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1-5 p.m. For the most up-to-date offerings and information, follow the store on Facebook at rappnews.link/t6x

Janelle Huffman speaks to a customer in her new Hoof ‘n’ Feather Farm Store at her farm off of Hinsons Ford Road. The store will be featured in this weekend’s Farm Tour. (Photo/Ireland Hayes)