About Us
We started this journey with a few chickens for ourselves, and fell in love with the ability to control where our food comes from and the act of farming itself. Since then, our operation has expanded greatly. We now do multiple batches of White Rock chicken, Heritage pork, and have our own breeding operation for our Katahdin/Dorper sheep for lamb.
We like to say our food is ‘beyond organic’ (thanks Joel Salatin), because organic feed doesn’t mean much. There is more to be said in creating a nutrient dense product that can regenerate the soil. Beyond organic to us means that we practice regenerative agriculture. Regenerative agriculture methods build top soil, sequester carbon, and create polycultures.
We do this through holistic grazing, which simply means that we rotate our animals constantly! By rotating them, this allows the manure to be spread, their grazing to be maximized, and for the pasture to regrow naturally – which sequesters carbon, builds top soils, and remineralizes the soil.
There are no shortcuts at Sage & Shepherd Ranch. We aim to be as transparent as possible, and want to answer all of your questions! We love to keep a meaningful, honest, and quality relationship with our customers. You should have the whole picture behind the food that you put in your body. We raise happy and healthy animals, 100% guaranteed.
Eating meat that is raised in a regenerative manner is super healthy for you! We hope that you will put the same passion and responsibility in deciding what food you eat as we do raising it for you.
Our Guiding Principles
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Pasture Based
Our animals are consistently moved to new pasture or forest. This keeps our animals happy, reduces the parasite load, and allows the grass to get ample regeneration time.
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Nutrient Dense
Animals that consume what they were made to eat (grass and other natural forages) are richer in omega 3 fatty acids, beta-carotene, vitamin b6 and CLA (conjugated linolic acid).
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Beyond Organic
Our pigs are fed a supplemental non-gmo, soy-free feed. Our sheep are 100% grass fed and finished. All our products are hormone and antibiotic free!
100% Grass Fed & Finished Beef
Our beef is 100% grass fed and finished. In the summer they graze native grasses and legumes and in the winer they are fed hay. We raise longhorn cattle. We choose longhorns becuase of their grazing abilities, parasite resistance, good mothering instinct and ease of calving. They also have superior flavour and are generally leaner than most breeds. We rotationally graze our cows so they are getting fresh pasture weekly! They also have access to mineral lick to keep them healthy and remineralize the soil. They are hormone and antibiotic free.
100% Grass Fed & Finished Lamb
Our lamb is 100% grass fed and finished. In the summer they eat native grasses and legumes and in the winter they are fed hay. We raise a mix of Katahdin/Dorper sheep. We chose this breed for their parasite resistance, good mothering instincts, and their ability to thrive in our climate. They are a hair breed so their meat is mild, and tender! We rotationally graze our sheep so they are getting fresh pasture weekly! They also have access to mineral lick to keep them healthy and remineralize the soil. They are hormone and antibiotic free.
Heritage Pasture Raised Pork
Our heritage Berkshire cross pigs are quite the workers! They are rotated in electric net throughout our pasture. They till up the ground for grubs, worms, roots and whatever else they can find. Our pigs are so happy outside as they find leaves, roots, bugs, grasses, legumes, weeds, nuts, grubs, etc. They are fed a supplemental feed that is non-gmo and soy-free. They are hormone and antibiotic free.
Pasture Raised Chicken
Since we are no longer raising our own chickens, we have teamed up with another great farm. This is how they raise the chickens:
In the Summer our chickens are raised free range on pasture with shelters that are moved daily onto fresh grass. The birds have lots of room to run while still having the shelters to give them shade from the sun and protection from the rain. In the winter the birds are raised inside to protect them from the cold Alberta winters. They are given ample room to move around and express natural behaviors in barns that have lots of windows to provide natural sunlight.
