Back on the Blog!

The great thing about blogging is that you get to pick the most exciting thing about what you do and tell others about it - and hope that they find it exciting as well.

Coyote Acres Ranch is a family run ranch and without the family it doesn't get done. When people ask me what I do, I tell them I feed people. The next question is what is the difference between a farmer and a rancher. Here's what I have come up with. I am a rancher because I don't grow any plant based crop. I am strictly a meat producer. I have found that most people who say they are farmers also grow a plant based crop - hay, grain, market gardens. Farmers can also raise livestock, but you won't find many ranchers who grow commercial crops. I am sure that now I have stated this I will find many examples otherwise, and some people will argue that the size of the operation also helps to define farm vs. ranch; but for me, the distinction between what is grown works well.

As meat producers we focus on the five food groups - beef, pork, lamb, chicken and llama. We focus on producing a quality product and we are more interested in getting it right than in producing the most that we can. This means that sometimes when our customers want something, they have to wait a bit until it's ready. As a meat producer I have a duty to make sure I've done the best I can for our animals.

Our animals are wonderful and being a rancher is a great way of life. Through this blog we hope to share some of our daily experiences of life with animals and how we are making it work on the ranch. Thanks for joining us!