Today we’d like to introduce you to Liz Riffle.
Hi Liz, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I never planned to become a bison rancher.
My career started in healthcare. I served six years as a Navy Nurse Corps officer after commissioning through NROTC, caring for service members and their families at military hospitals across the country. While I loved serving, I also felt a growing pull towards my roots as an equestrian, back outdoors and to the land.
That curiosity eventually led my husband and I to purchase a farm in the mountains of West Virginia, where we began raising grass-finished bison. Like many first-generation farmers, we started with more determination than experience. We learned through trial and error, long days, and a willingness to ask hard questions about how food is produced, marketed, and sold.
What began as a small ranch gradually evolved into something much larger. Today, I own and operate Riffle Farms, an ecologically-verified regenerative bison ranch, and Riffle Farms Market & Co-op in Norfolk, Virginia. The market was created to help connect consumers directly with local producers while giving small farms a place to sell their products year-round. We now work with dozens of local food businesses and artisans while continuing to raise and market our own bison.
Along the way, I’ve become deeply involved in agricultural leadership and advocacy. I currently serve as President and CEO of the Eastern Bison Association and represent veteran farmers on the Farmer Veteran Coalition Board of Directors. Much of my work now focuses on helping farmers build profitable businesses, navigate regulations, connect with consumers, and create resilient local food systems.
Looking back, the path from Navy nurse to bison rancher probably doesn’t make much sense on paper. But at its core, it’s always been about the same thing: serving people. Whether through healthcare, food, education, or advocacy, I’ve found that helping communities thrive is the common thread that connects everything I’ve done.
Today, my mission is simple: help build a future where farmers can make a living, consumers can access local food, and rural communities can prosper.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not.
Like most entrepreneurial journeys, mine has been equal parts rewarding, exhausting, and educational.
When we started raising bison, we were first-generation producers with no family ranch to inherit and no roadmap to follow. We learned by making mistakes, asking questions, and figuring things out one challenge at a time. Agriculture has a way of humbling you quickly. Weather, livestock losses, equipment failures, regulations, cash flow, and markets all have a vote in your day.
One of the biggest lessons has been realizing that producing food is often the easy part. Building a sustainable business around that food is much harder. Over the years I’ve had to learn marketing, retail, accounting, leadership, public speaking, grant writing, advocacy, and countless other skills that had nothing to do with raising bison.
There have been setbacks along the way. We’ve experienced livestock losses, large equipment failures, regulatory challenges, and plenty of moments where the numbers didn’t seem to work. Like many small business owners, there were times when I questioned whether the risk and effort were worth it.
At the same time, those challenges forced me to grow. Every obstacle taught me something I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. They also helped clarify my mission. Today, I spend as much time helping other farmers navigate those same challenges as I do running my own businesses.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that success isn’t about avoiding problems. It’s about developing the resilience to keep moving forward when they inevitably show up. Looking back, the struggles have shaped me far more than the easy wins ever did.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
At its heart, our business is about connecting people to real food, real farms, and the real stories behind each business.
Riffle Farms began as a grass-finished bison ranch in the mountains of West Virginia. We raise bison using regenerative grazing practices and market our products directly to consumers through our farm, farmers markets, and our retail store, Riffle Farms Market & Co-op in Norfolk, Virginia.
What makes us different is that we don’t just focus on our own products. We believe thriving local food systems require more than one successful farm. That’s why we built a marketplace that helps connect consumers with dozens of small farms, food producers, and artisans. Our goal is to create opportunities for local businesses to grow while making it easier for customers to shop locally year-round.
Over time, our work has expanded beyond agriculture. Today, we also provide consulting, educational programming, and industry leadership focused on helping farms build profitable, resilient businesses. Whether it’s teaching regenerative agriculture, helping producers develop direct-to-consumer sales, or advocating for the bison industry, we’re constantly working to strengthen the connection between producers and the communities they serve.
What I’m most proud of is that we’ve built a business that reflects our values. We didn’t set out to create the biggest ranch or the biggest store. We set out to create something meaningful—a place where regenerative-minded farmers are supported, consumers know where their food comes from, and communities have opportunities to thrive around real food.
If I want readers to know one thing, it’s this: every purchase from a local farm or food business has an impact far beyond a single transaction. It helps preserve farmland, supports families, strengthens communities, and keeps local food accessible for future generations. We are proud to be a part of that growing movement.
What makes you happy?
The simple answer? Watching things grow.
As a farmer, that’s easy to say because I literally spend my days watching grass grow, calves hit the ground, and pastures recover. But it’s bigger than that.
What makes me happiest is seeing people succeed. I love watching a customer discover local food for the first time. I love seeing a vendor have a record sales month. I love watching another farmer gain the confidence to start a new venture or finally make their operation profitable. I love seeing my children experience a life connected to animals, nature, and hard work.
Some of my proudest moments have nothing to do with my own accomplishments. They’re the moments when I realize something we built helped someone else move forward.
I also find a lot of joy in creating things that didn’t exist before—a ranch, a market, a conference, a partnership, a new opportunity. I enjoy the challenge of taking an idea and turning it into something real that serves people.
And, of course, there are the simple things: a healthy bison calf, a busy farmers market, a full dinner table, a mountain sunset in West Virginia, or a day spent outdoors with my husband and two boys.
At the end of the day, I think happiness comes from purpose. The work is often difficult, but it’s meaningful. Knowing that we’re helping connect people to food, land, and community makes all the challenges worthwhile.
Pricing:
- Ground Bison – $18/lb
- Bison Hotdogs – $25/lb
- Pig Lard Face Cream – $25/jar
- Raw Milk – $12/half gallon
- Local Coffee – 1$8-$24/bag
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rifflefarmsmarketco.com
- Instagram: @rifflefarmsmarketco
- Facebook: @rifflefarmsmarketco
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/countryroadscowgirl
- Other: https://www.rifflefarms.com
