Bull Valley Farm

What Bull Valley Farm does

Bull Valley Farm is a 76-acre multi-generational family farm located in the village of Bull Valley in McHenry County, northern Illinois. The Aavang family has farmed in McHenry County continuously since the late 1840s and purchased the current property from the original Clark family, who settled it in the 1850s. The operation spans McHenry and Lake Counties and is currently staffed by six family members, including Michele Aavang (owner/operator), her son Grant DeYoung (dairy farmer, Animal Science degree from University of Wisconsin-Platteville), her niece Hannah McKee and Hannah's husband Chris McKee (a 6th generation McHenry County farmer), and cousin Spencer Herchenbach (Agricultural Engineering degree from Iowa State University). The farm's stated mission is to provide high-quality farm products directly to consumers while supporting other local and regional farmers and small businesses, with the explicit goal of bringing the next generation into the operation and passing the land on in improved condition.

The company operates the Bull Valley Farm Country Store, a physical retail storefront at 8815 IL Route 120, Bull Valley, IL 60098, open Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 10am-4pm. The product portfolio is anchored by home-grown beef, pork, and poultry (including whole chicken and seasonal turkey), supplemented by protein from two partner local family farms. The store also stocks a broad retail assortment: fresh milk (pints, half-gallon, and gallon; white and chocolate), a selection of Illinois cheeses, fresh local eggs by the dozen, ice cream, yogurt, and butter; baked goods from Riverside Bakery (bread and buns); and pantry items including local honey, salsa, jam and jelly, sauces, spices, beef jerky, meat sticks, popcorn, nuts, and beverages. Branded merchandise (sweatshirts and t-shirts) is also sold. All non-homegrown products are sourced as locally as possible, with explicit emphasis on supporting Illinois farmers. Sustainable practices cited include crop rotation, no-till cropping, cover crops, and integrated pest management.

The business model is direct-to-consumer retail: revenue is generated almost entirely through in-store sales (nearly all SKUs are sold "in store only"). The company uses an email newsletter as its primary marketing channel for customer engagement, and a Squarespace-hosted website (bvfamilyfarm.com) carries product listings. A Barn2Door integration is present and the site indicates an online shop is "coming soon," signaling planned expansion into digital sales. No pricing is publicly disclosed. There is no parent company, no external investors, no funding rounds, no patents or trademarks, and no enterprise customers; Bull Valley Farm is a privately held family enterprise selling perishable local food products to individual consumers in northern Illinois.

Name

Bull Valley Farm

Legal name

Bull Valley Farm

Website

https://bvfamilyfarm.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1840

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bull Valley Farm is a 76-acre multi-generational family farm in Bull Valley, Illinois operating a direct-to-consumer retail store (Bull Valley Farm Country Store) that sells home-grown beef, pork, and poultry alongside dairy, eggs, baked goods, and pantry items sourced from local Illinois farmers to individual consumers in McHenry County.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Farm Products Retail

NAICS

Beef Cattle Ranching and Farming (112111), Hog and Pig Farming (11221)

SIC

Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200), Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Farmers’ Markets & Farm Stands (Fresh Food) (CRAHAHAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Beef Cattle Grazing & Pasture-Based Operations (AFAEABAG), Wean-to-Finish Hog Operations (AFAEAEAC)

Keywords

• Family farm products
• Local beef pork
• Farm fresh dairy
• Retail farm store
• Sustainable agriculture

Headquarters

HQ city

Bull Valley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Store Sales: Revenue generated from direct sales of farm products through the Bull Valley Farm Country Store. The store offers beef, pork, poultry, dairy, eggs, baked goods, and pantry items. Products include both home-grown items and goods sourced from other local family farms.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Bull Valley Farm operates a 76-acre family farm and retail store in northern Illinois that sells home-grown beef, pork, and poultry, along with dairy, eggs, baked goods, and pantry items to local consumers. Products are sourced from the Aavang family farm and two other local family farms, with non-farm items sourced from Illinois farmers and small businesses.

Product overview

Bull Valley Farm operates a 76-acre family farm in northern Illinois with a retail store offering locally sourced and home-grown agricultural products. The product portfolio consists of proteins (home-grown beef, pork, and poultry from the farm and two other local family farms), dairy products (milk, cheese, eggs, ice cream, yogurt, and butter), and pantry/bakery items (bread from Riverside Bakery, local honey, salsa, jam and jelly, sauces, spices, snacks). The farm also sells branded merchandise including sweatshirts and t-shirts. All products not produced on-site are sourced as locally as possible with emphasis on supporting Illinois farmers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Beef

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Crowd Cow: Online marketplace enabling consumers to buy craft meat directly from individual family farms. Comparable on the D2C craft-meat proposition and farm-sourcing narrative, though Crowd Cow operates as a tech-enabled marketplace rather than a single-farm producer.
• Thousand Hills Cattle Company: Lifetime grazed beef brand sourcing from a network of U.S. family ranchers and selling directly to consumers and foodservice. Comparable on sourcing-from-multiple-family-farms model and grass-fed beef focus, though at a more national, brand-led scale.

Direct peers

• Polyface Farm: Multi-generational, pasture-based family farm in Virginia that sells home-raised beef, pork, poultry, and value-added products directly to consumers through an on-farm store and regional buying clubs. Closest comparable on operating model, regenerative practices, and direct-to-consumer family-farm identity.
• US Wellness Meats (Grassland Beef): Midwest-based D2C meat company specializing in 100% grass-fed beef and pasture-raised lamb, poultry, and pork sold online and shipped direct. Comparable on grass-fed/protein-focused D2C catalog targeting health- and sustainability-oriented consumers.
• Seven Sons Farms: Indiana pasture-based family farm selling grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork, poultry, and dairy directly to consumers nationwide via online ordering and on-farm pickup. Comparable on family-farm D2C model, mixed protein portfolio, and Midwest footprint.
• White Oak Pastures: Multi-generational Georgia farm raising cattle, hogs, poultry, and rabbits with on-farm retail, an online store, and restaurant; emphasizes regenerative practices and direct-to-consumer sales. Comparable on multi-species production, sustainability story, and D2C farm-store channel.

Broad incumbents

• ButcherBox: Subscription-based DTC meat company shipping 100% grass-fed beef, pasture-raised poultry, and pork nationwide. Comparable on pasture-raised protein D2C delivery proposition targeting the same 'know your food' consumer segment in Chicago suburbs.
• Niman Ranch: Established premium pork and beef brand sourcing from a network of independent U.S. family farmers and selling through retail and foodservice. Comparable on the family-farmer-network identity and pasture-raised/humanely raised positioning, though at significantly greater scale.
• Vital Farms: Public pasture-raised egg brand sourcing from a network of small family farms and distributing nationally through grocery. Comparable on small-family-farm sourcing model and pasture-raised positioning, focused on eggs as the anchor category.

Others

• Barn2Door: Farm e-commerce and merchant-of-record platform used by thousands of independent farms for online ordering, subscriptions, and local delivery. Already integrated by Bull Valley Farm per its website footer; ecosystem partner rather than competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bull-valley-farm

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bull Valley Farm