We began our ranch with milk cows, selling cow shares. The excess milk led to raising pigs and eventually beef cattle. We have had good success offering what we call the "whole market" concept, wherein we could bring the missing ingredients back to the local farmers market, so people could begin to plan their menus from a larger selection at the local farmers market.
Our Cows, pigs and Chickens operate in a rotational micro-ecosystem that demands very little from the outside environment besides water pumped from our deep wells. We use no fertilizer, or pesticides of any kind and our cows are antibiotic free. Most importantly, we feed only grass, or alfalfa hay to our cows (no corn - ever!). They produce a rich, delicious milk in very large quantities; this excess milk is fed to our pigs. The hogs live in pastures, not on concrete, so they don't require a constant flow of medication to stay alive like the conventional system. Milk-fed pork, raised humanely on open spaces produces an excellent taste. Finally, our chickens roam free during the day and stay in portable chicken tractors at night - they too add nutritional value to the ground that helps our native pasture grass grow resulting in... you guessed it... grass fed beef.
