Supplier Spotlight: Rock House Farm & Creamery
Rooted in the Land
Some farms are just businesses. Rock House Farm & Creamery is something more — it's a commitment.
It started in 2005, when Keith Kelly purchased 1,760 acres in Leesburg, Georgia. He named the property for a small rock house that had stood on the land since the 1920s — a tenant and sharecropper home that still sits there today, welcoming guests. It's a quiet but fitting symbol for everything Rock House represents: honoring what came before while building something that lasts.
Keith grew up working on farms, and that upbringing never left him. His vision for Rock House was clear from the start — a Grassfed, Grass-Finished beef operation built on the principles of regenerative animal farming. More than a business, it was a chance to revitalize rural America and create meaningful opportunities for the next generation of farmers.
From the Ground Up: Grassfed, Grass-Finished Beef
Raising great cattle starts with growing great grass. As the farm developed, Keith worked with University of Georgia forage specialists to design a grazing system built around Center Pivot Irrigation and optimal forage management.
The result? Beef with incredible flavor, natural tenderness, and minimal processing from pasture to plate.
There's an important distinction worth understanding here. Grassfed simply means cattle were raised on grass rather than grain, but many animals are only grassfed for part of their lives before being switched to grain to accelerate weight gain. Grass-Finished means something different: the animal ate grass for its entire life, following a slower, more natural growth process without grain supplementation.
That distinction matters beyond the dinner plate. Grass-Finished cattle are never given hormones or antibiotics, and their diet and lifestyle reflect a commitment to humane animal care. At Rock House Farm, those aren't just claims, they're the foundation of how they operate.
The nutritional difference is real, too. Compared to grain-finished beef, Grassfed, Grass-Finished beef offers:
- Higher Omega-3 fatty acids: heart-healthy fats that reduce inflammation and support brain function
- More antioxidants and vitamins: including Vitamins A and E, plus compounds like Glutathione that protect cells from damage
- Lower total fat and calories: a leaner profile that doesn't compromise on flavor
A quick cooking tip: Because grass-finished beef is leaner, it cooks faster than conventional beef. Use moderate heat, let it rest 5–10 minutes after cooking, and consider finishing with a pat of butter or a light herb rub. Your patience will be rewarded.
A Creamery with Deep Roots
As Rock House Farm's beef business flourished, Keith began to see the bigger picture. In 2016, he purchased Rock House Creamery — a 100-acre dairy farm in Newborn, Georgia that had been operated by the Johnston family since the 1940s.
Rather than modernize it beyond recognition, Kelly did something that speaks to everything Rock House stands for: he kept the old-fashioned approach intact.
Today, Rock House Creamery continues the tradition the Johnston family started more than 75 years ago — producing the healthiest, best-tasting dairy products for the local community, the way they were always meant to be made.
What Makes Their Milk Different
At Rock House Creamery, they believe good things genuinely take time.
Their milk is pasteurized but never homogenized, which allows the high-fat cream layer to naturally rise to the top. This is known as Creamline Milk. They also use low-temperature pasteurization which is a slower process that preserves gut-friendly bacteria and the fresh, clean flavor that industrial dairy simply can't replicate.
Then, there's the A2 difference.
Milk proteins come in two genetic variants: A1 and A2. Historically, most dairy cows carried primarily A2 proteins, but over time, commercial crossbreeding shifted the balance, and most conventional dairy today contains a mix of both. Rock House made the deliberate and time-consuming decision to transition their herd entirely to A2A2 cows, based on research suggesting that A2 milk is the most nutritionally beneficial form for our bodies.
There's also growing anecdotal evidence, and some emerging research, that people with lactose sensitivities who've long avoided dairy may find A2 milk easier to digest and enjoy. For families who've felt left out of the dairy aisle, that's meaningful.
The Rock House Promise
What ties Rock House Farm & Creamery together — the beef, the milk, the creamery, the land — is a shared philosophy: do the hard work the right way, and the results will speak for themselves.
From a rock house built in the 1920s to a thriving regenerative farm, Keith Kelly and his team have built something worth knowing about. We're proud to partner with producers who care deeply about what they grow, raise, and put on your table.