Featured Farm: Brun Ko Farm

Emily & Nathan Paulsen, started Brun Ko Farm in 2015, with a milk cow and a few bottle calves. Since then, they have relocated twice, and finally landed at their current location east of Elk Horn in 2017. They started with 6 acres and have scaled up to 15. Unfortunately due to regulations and restrictions, they realized a dairy farm would be extremely difficult and have pivoted their focus to meat and vegetables. Brun Ko means Brown Cow in Danish, a nod to the area’s Danish heritage.

Emily & Nathan currently have a small herd of Aberdeen angus, along with pigs, laying hens, and broiler chickens.

They also graze sheep for Harrisdale Homestead periodically through the summer.

​Their beef, pork and lamb is processed at Anita and Minden lockers, while their chickens are processed at Duncan Poultry.

During late winter/early spring, Emily starts her seeds in a heated greenhouse but for fall crops, she uses a carport with shade cloth. Emily uses soil blocks as an alternative to plastic containers. Brun Ko prefers to use Beautiful Land soil c3 when making soil blocks.

In addition to starting vegetable transplants, Emily also grows flowers for companion planting to attract beneficial insects to the vegetable fields.
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Brun Ko grows tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, cabbage, onions, beans, peppers, and herbs on about ¼ acre. This year they are growing sweet potatoes for the first time. They have also planted asparagus, fruit trees, and berries, which take a few years to produce at scale. In addition to their meat and eggs, Brun Ko Farm is probably best known for their lettuce and spring mix.

They currently have about 3 cow/calf pairs, 100 laying hens, 200 broilers twice a year, and 4 pigs. Meat can be purchased in wholes and halves and as individual cuts.

Emily & Nathan are finishing up work on a new pack shed that will improve their ability to wash and prepare crops from the field for market. This will also help them scale up vegetable production.

You can find Brun Ko’s products at Produce in the Park on Thursdays from 4:30 to 6:30 at the Atlantic City Park. They also sell through Farmtable Delivery. The Kringle Man in Elk Horn sells their produce, and One Farm Market in Logan sells their meat.

Visit their website and Facebook page to learn more about Brun Ko Farm.