The Promised Land — Daniel Sarch

Fog sets in during sunrise over the farm in Rockholds, Ky., on Oct. 24, 2024.

Taulman Jackson rests in the utility terrain vehicle after feeding the cattle on his farm in Rockholds, Ky., on Oct. 23, 2024. Farm work helps keep Taulman spry despite his arthritis. "As long as I can get out and fiddle or walk up a hill or something, I'll try to do a little something," he said.

Taulman and his grandson, Jericho Petrey, 10, escort a calf while feeding the cattle on the farm in Rockholds, Ky., on Oct. 24, 2024. Baby calves can be skiddish around people, and often are assisted back to their pens.

Jericho reaches for a loose square bale to feed the cattle on the farm in Rockholds, Ky., on Oct. 24, 2024. At 10 years old, Jericho often performs tasks on his own. Some tasks were hard until he was older and a little bigger. "I like it a lot more now that I can actually see over stuff," he said.

Jericho fills buckets with cattle feed at the farm in Rockholds, Ky., on Oct. 24, 2024.

Cattle crowd the trough during feeding time at the farm in Rockholds, Ky., on Oct. 23, 2024.

Jericho feels the wind driving a utility terrain vehicle to the farm in Rockholds, Ky., on Oct. 24, 2024.

Jericho and Taulman take a break with some sweet tea in Taulman's home after feeding the cattle on the farm in Rockholds, Ky., on Oct. 24, 2024.

Jericho and Taulman talk about their cattle on the farm, in Rockholds, Ky., on Oct. 24, 2024. “Me and the grandkid hand feed these. It gives him something to do," Taulman said. "He likes doing it.”

Taulman Jackson is a farmer trying to come to terms with an unwanted but all-too-common reality: the prospect that his family farm might end with him and his wife, Eudeana.

Four years ago, Taulman tended to about 400 beef cows on his more than 100 acres in Rockholds, Kentucky, then watched as his herd dwindled to about 50 cattle. The drop in cattle numbers means Taulman’s farm realizes much less income than when he began farming this land in 1984, 20 years after his parents bought it. Taulman also struggles with his health. He suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, an auto-immune disease for which there is no cure. The arthritis increasingly compromises his ability to get around and tend to his farm.

He had hoped some among his six children and 11 grandchildren would take over the farm. That may not be happening. 10-year-old grandson Jericho Petrey works on the farm and shows promise. But Taulman believes he is currently too young to make the decision to take on the farm’s legacy.