Our Philosophy

We’re driven by the desire the leave a lasting legacy that’s rooted in a deep respect for the land and a passion for sharing the exhilarating potential of regenerative agriculture.

We prioritize the well-being of our land and animals to produce high-quality food that you can trust.

We do not use pharmaceutical interventions (we may use a life-saving intervention if necessary but will not breed the subject animal or raise it as food); we do not feed soybeans or their derivatives to any animals; we do not use pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or chemical fertilizers; we do not plant, feed, or raise any GMO-derived products; and we don't feed our cattle anything but grass (and mineral supplement).

Cattle

Beef cattle are the heart of our operation. They are the main tool we use to regenerate our land - their rumen has the miraculous capability of turning grass into biologically active litter, turning dirt into soil, and, as a byproduct, producing a bounty of the most delicious, nutrient-dense food on the planet.

Our herd is comprised of South Poll (some are 50 or 75% South Poll, crossed with Red Angus or similar) cattle - these amber-coated beauties are very heat-tolerant but also winter hardy; they're highly maternal - the mothers can calve at 2 years of age and seldom need any outside help (we have never had to pull a calf!); they're small-framed, allowing for efficient conversion of grass to beef; and the breed was developed specifically for good grass-finishing flavor.

We manage the herd with intensive grazing - although we have some 190 acres available to graze during the year, our herd of 100 cattle will be on a 1- or 2-acre "paddock" at any given time, with movement controlled by portable electric wire. This allows the rest of the farm (the other 188 acres) to rest, while the paddock being grazed is subject to intense grazing. This intense grazing / long rest pattern mimics a natural herd of herbivores (cattle, buffalo, antelope, etc) on a prairie, grazing in a tight bunch to manage pressure from predators, and not returning to previously grazed land for a long time. This is how our grasslands evolved, and thus it's this grazing pattern that unleashes the true life-giving potential of our land.

We feed grass only, including some hay in the winter, and we finish on grass. We do not vaccinate or use any other pharmaceutical interventions - we manage disease and parasites through genetics and frequent movement.

Our typical beef steer grows to an age of 30 months and a weight of 1000 lbs before being slaughtered. The beef is leaner than grain-finished beef, but still juicy and very satiating. We sell beef by the cut and also by the side (currently on waitlist - sign up here).

Hogs

Our hogs spend 100% of their time in forested pastures. Each forest is separated into 6 hog paddocks and populated with a litter or two of weaned piglets from a local breeder. Every two weeks, the group moves to the next paddock, ensuring that the rest of the forest gets 10 weeks of undisturbed rest in order to recover.

The pigs eat all of nature's bounty within their paddocks - shrubs, roots, bugs, larvae, acorns, and more roots, and we feed a supplemental feed consisting only of organic grains and not containing any soy. (In the fall, we also feed our hogs buckets of naturally-grown apples from our orchard!) We process them at a size of 275-325 pounds, at about 7 months after weaning.

The breeds we use are Gloucestershire Old Spots, Red Wattle, and Large English Black hogs - all of these are heritage breeds, prized for the hardiness of the animals and the quality of the meat. Unlike "the other bland meat" you get at the grocery store, this pork is rich in flavor and texture. It is "our other awesome red meat".

We sell pork by the cut and also by the half/whole hog.

Chickens

We raise pastured chickens for meat from April thru October. We use the same breed of chicken you get at the grocery store - Cornish Cross - bred to gain weight quickly and develop a large frame - but rather than keeping them in confinement housing we move them on pasture every day starting at 3 weeks of age.

While on pasture, the chickens are in an open-air enclosure to protect from predators and manage their impact on the land - as with our cattle and hogs, we do not allow "free ranging" where the animals run around and peck at the whole landscape, as this would not provide the needed "intense animal impact / intense recovery" cycle that our grasses and soils require. Instead, the chickens are in a mobile "chicken tractor" moved each day to feed on, fertilize, and scratch the pastures in a tight bunch.

In addition to the bugs and plants they ingest on pasture, we supplement a non-GMO, soy-free grain feed to help them grow to size. At 9-10 weeks of age, we process the chickens and package them for sale as whole frozen chickens. The packaged weights range from 4 to 7 lbs per bird.

Orchard

We purchased this whole 240 acre farm in 2021. It was a conventional cattle farm and in the middle of it was a 3-acre conventional apple orchard. In 2021, we had no experience, and frankly, not much interest, in running an orchard, but it did come with the farm and it had 400 mature bearing apple trees so we couldn't ignore it. However, when we learned about the management requirements of a "conventional orchard" - very heavy chemical use - we immediately realized that we did not want a conventional orchard on a regenerative farm.

So, for our first few years of operation, we let nature take its course on the orchard. In 2021 and 2022 we completely left it alone. In 2023, we ran a dozen pigs in the orchard to provide some non-toxic pest control and produce delicious apple-flavored pork. And in 2024 we began managing the orchard holistically.

Holistic management for our orchard entails pruning and hand-thinning to maximize airflow and sunlight, applying several tons of wood chips to promote fungally active soil, and spraying nutrient-dense foods on the trees and ground to provide vigor and stimulate natural pest and disease resistance. We are *not* a "No Spray" orchard - but we spray neem oil, whey, probiotics, molasses, and liquid fish rather than chemicals (even "organic" chemicals). We don't need to wear a hazmat suit when spraying, and neither do our geese in the orchard (which we use for nutrient cycling and pest control).

From our holistic apple orchard we produce several varieties of naturally grown apples, including Arkansas Black, Mutsu, Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, Gala, Zestar!, Stamen, Royal Empire, and ("the Nickelback of apples") Red Delicious. We sell whole apples and freshly pressed raw apple cider when available.