Whispering Hills Farm Turns Overgrown Kentucky Property into Award-Winning Operation

Mike Wilson says years of hard work and stewardship helped transform the farm for future generations.

LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. (National Cattlemen’s Beef Association) — As National Beef Month continues, one Kentucky cattle operation is being recognized for turning neglected land into a productive farm focused on stewardship and sustainability.

Whispering Hills Farm, owned by Mike Wilson and his family, was named a 2025 regional winner of the Environmental Stewardship Award Program.

Wilson purchased the original 75 acres in 1999 after the prhttps://www.beef.org/operty had sat largely untouched since the early 1970s. He says that improving the land and keeping the farm sustainable have remained priorities ever since.

“If you don’t take care of the land, it’s not going to take care of you,” Wilson says. “So I’m a firm believer in taking care of what you have.”

He says transforming the property took years of work, but he is proud of what the farm has become.

“I’m grateful for what I’ve got,” Wilson continues. “I’m grateful for what I’ve managed to accomplish — getting it cleaned up — but it took a lot of sweat and blood to get it to where it’s at now. But I can look back on my accomplishments, and I’m very satisfied with my results.”

Wilson says he hopes the farm will continue being passed down through future generations of his family.

All month long, RFD News is highlighting beef producers who help feed families across the country and around the world. To find more stories and recipes that celebrate beef, CLICK HERE: May is National Beef Month!

Knoxville native Neal Burnette-Irwin is a graduate from MTSU where he majored in Journalism and Entertainment Studies. He works as a digital content producer with RFD News and is represented by multiple talent agencies in Nashville and Chicago.


LATEST STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR:

Autumn Lankford Higgins with the Farm Bureau joins us to discuss data center expansion on farmland, rural policy considerations, and the role of agriculture in emerging digital infrastructure.
The country artist’s “Stand By Your Pan” blends vintage-inspired recipes with stories, humor, and Southern hospitality.
New data from the Illinois Farm Bureau show that farm financial conditions are stabilizing, even as debt per acre and borrowing costs continue to climb.
New trade access, tariff concerns and international negotiations are reshaping the global beef market.
Waylon NeSmith says continuing the operation is a way to carry on the lessons and legacy his father left behind.
Officials say no additional spread has been detected as containment and monitoring efforts move forward.
Agriculture Shows
For the latest information on how to take your operation from good to great, tune into Ag PhD. The program includes a wide range of agronomic information from how to maximize your fertilizer program & tiling to stopping those yield-robbing insects and crop diseases and more.
RFD Network is always creating new ways for rural America to educate and to be educated. RURAL AMERICA LIVE, the network’s longest-running self-produced program, is certainly no exception.