Little Caney Creek Homestead Honored as Chamber’s Business of the Month

The Hancock County Chamber of Commerce Breakfast held its monthly breakfast on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at the Lewisport Library, where Little Caney Creek Homestead was recognized as the Chamber’s Business of the Month.

Owner Aaron Veach accepted the beautiful wooden plaque and spoke about the family business’s history and goals. He said he first started the venture by growing sorghum, and has been cooking sorghum for more than 20 years.

“We’re working on adding processed beef and pork to what we offer,” Veach said. “The last two years have been tough because of the weather. We had a decent vegetable crop last year, but this spring’s heavy rains followed by drought kept anything from growing this year.”

He said his long-term vision is to create a farmers market at the homestead that would offer USDA-processed beef and pork, along with vegetables and sorghum.

“We are also raising sheep and goats because some people prefer them for their barbecue, etc., so that is what we are looking at trying to do as well,” he added.

Located on Highway 69 past Mount Eden Church on Truman Young Road in Hawesville, the homestead promotes products mainly through Facebook, word of mouth and area farmers markets. They regularly sell at the Hancock County Fairgrounds and the Lewisport Farmers Market, and participate in Friends & Family Farmers Flea Market events at the fairgrounds.

A 22-by-48-foot greenhouse is used for starting plants, and Veach is working with Nutrien Ag Solutions in Owensboro to refine fertilizer mixes and select herbicides to better control crabgrass and Johnson grass.

“With how dry it’s been, those grasses have really taken over,” he said. “They’re going to help me get that under control, and that will make a huge difference.”

Looking ahead, Little Caney Creek Homestead plans to plant wildflowers and sunflowers for visitors to purchase for arrangements. Veach said his daughter, Emily Maffia, will oversee that part of the business. He and his wife, Michelle, manage daily operations.

The family also hopes to create a small petting zoo with their cattle, sheep and goats to offer local students a closer look at farm life and food sources.

“We’d like to have schools come out for tours,” Veach said. “That way, the kids don’t have to travel so far, and they can learn more about the animals and where food comes from.”

The past year has brought personal challenges for the family as well. Veach’s mother-in-law passed away in March, followed a week later by his brother-in-law, who had been one of his biggest helpers on the farm.

“He worked with me on the sorghum. It’s hard, back-breaking work, and he helped me tremendously,” Veach emphasized. “It’s been a tough year, but God doesn’t give us more than we can handle… Right now, we have nothing available. We put out over 300 tomato plants and nothing grew. We put out cabbage, broccoli, everything we could possibly put out. I have a well that I irrigated with and nothing lived. This is the second year, really and truly, that we have had a hard time with it. I gave myself five years to get this going. I have three more years to keep investing. It’s going to turn around for us because I’ve just got that feeling. We’re going to make it work one way or another.”

For updates, like and follow the Little Caney Creek Homestead Facebook page or contact Veach at (270) 922-0461.

Ole South Barbeque of Owensboro catered the breakfast. Attendees also heard from Owensboro Community and Technical College (OCTC), which sponsored the event and provided the morning’s guest speaker.

OCTC has strong partnerships with Hancock County Schools in workforce training and career pathways that prepare local students for jobs in high-demand fields.

For more information about OCTC, visit the main campus at 4800 New Hartford Road, in Owensboro, call (270) 686-4400 or explore programs and resources online at owensboro.kctcs.edu. Stay up-to-date with OCTC news and events by following the college on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.