Sunrise Ranch

Our Promise

Although we are not Certified Organic, our practices meet USDA Organic Standards. Come visit our farm and learn firsthand that there are:

• No Chemical Fertilizers
• No Pesticides
• No Hormones
• No Antibiotics
• No Animal By-Products in Feed

And we go beyond USDA Organic Standards:

• Increasing biodiversity and decreasing bare ground
• Increasing the effectiveness of the water that falls on our land
• Ensuring that minerals present in our soil are cycling in our ecosystem efficiently
• Harvesting solar energy in our “living solar panel” of plant species in our pastures
• Building soil and ecosystem health

Our Approach to Raising Beef

We use the approach that building health is better than fighting disease. We finish 1 year old angus cattle on our 120 acres of non-sprayed irrigated pasture.

We ensure that we know the herds that our animals come from and that they are only fed legumes and grasses, have no antibiotics, no steroids and no hormone before arriving on our property. The only supplement they receive besides pasture and water once on our property is salt.

We move our cattle on a daily basis to fresh pasture. We use low stress stock handling techniques, mostly calling the cows so they follow.

Steeving Meats

We have our cows slaughtered at Steeving Meats in Kersey Colorado, a locally owned and USDA approved butchering and packing plant. We have chosen this facility because they butcher only 10 beef animals per day compared to larger corporate facilities that butcher hundreds of animals per day.

Our Approach to Gardening

Our vegetables are grown on 3 of our 7 acres that have been maintained with compost and manure since 1945. We rotate our vegetable patch with annuals, pasture and fallow to ensure proper health of our soils. We are experimenting with some companion planting and no-till gardening, to further increase the health of the biology in our soils and to ensure continuity of habitat for predator species of insects, which help with our pest control. We start our own seedlings in our strawbale greenhouse.

Our Approach to Work

We grow healthy, tasty food using realistic time management, focused energy and attention.

We share with others the rhythms of farming and promote a task oriented approach to work in a time oriented world.

We balance work and rest. We create ways for people to participate in and support the farm.

We profit from livestock and crops. We create a work culture that trusts, welcomes creativity and fearlessness, and honors wisdom and experience.

We invest in teachers for the farm. We create appropriate social activities. We dedicate time to maintain equipment and grounds. We engage in conscious proactive land stewardship.

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