I’m a rancher, not a farmer!

July 10, 2019

Ten years ago, our 11 year old son, Peter, with Down Syndrome started taking adaptive horse riding lessons in Reno, Nevada.  Today, outside of Eugene Oregon, he is 21 and riding his own horse, moving cows around the property, competing in sorting events, and learning to be a rancher on his own ranch.  This website (and business) is the culmination of his desires to “be a cowboy” in his adult life and for us, his parents, to try to provide a lasting career for him and sustainable food for our community. 

Although we both have had agriculture in our families – Paul’s grandfather was a dairy farmer in California and Theresa’s grandfather had a ranch in Wyoming, our backgrounds are not in agriculture.  Paul was a railroad engineer for 42 years until he retired in 2014.  Theresa was a stay at home mom (with an engineering degree) who raised 4 children.  Peter just wanted to be a cowboy.  His siblings grew up to be a veterinarian, an engineer, and an international educator.  Our family motto has always been “Make the World a Better Place”.

It has been a long road to today.  Looking for land to purchase, upgrading the soils, fencing, and buildings, and in general learning on our own how to be ranchers and custodians of the land.  We have started small – at first just selling eggs to our veterinarian son’s neighbors in Eugene, then adding shares of beef and lamb as they were available.

Our hope is that we can provide a sustainable business so that Peter will have a fulfilling life on the ranch when we are no longer here.  Our belief is that we can make the world a better place by providing pasture raised beef, lamb, and eggs locally, that we can sequester carbon in the soil by proper management of our pastures, and that we can provide a place where people can come to re-nourish their souls and their bodies with our food and our ranch.

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