Not a Factory. A Family.

In 2021, we bought 153 acres in the East Fork Little Barren River Valley in south central Kentucky. We'd never raised a single animal. Not a cow, not a chicken, not a thing. But we could no longer trust the food at the grocery store, and we decided to do something about it.

The land drew us to it — we could have gone anywhere. This valley felt right.

We started with four cows and one bull. The learning curve was brutal. But we got it dialed in, and today we run 43 head of registered Dexter cattle with projections to grow the herd to 145 by 2030. The fact that you're reading this website is proof that we've turned a corner — we're no longer just surviving. We're building something that lasts.

England Ranch is my youngest daughter and her husband working the land full-time, my oldest daughter and her husband and their two young children pitching in part-time, and me (PaPa) and my wife (Do Dah) tying it all together.

The England Ranch family Newborn Dexter calf Harvest day at the ranch Feeding the flock

Our Approach

Why We Do Things Differently

'-Cide' Free. As In Death-Free.

No insecticide. No herbicide. No fungicide. No commercial or artificial fertilizer. Nothing that ends in '-cide' — which literally means death — touches this land.

That's what regenerative farming actually means. It's hard. You can't just spray a problem away. You have to work with the land and with nature — rotational grazing, building soil health, letting the ecosystem do what it knows how to do. It takes more time, more labor, and more patience than conventional methods.

It's also what makes the meat worth eating.

From Our Pasture to Your Freezer

Every animal we sell was bred, born, and raised right here on England Ranch. Not a single other entity ever laid a hand on them. No middlemen, no feedlots, no mystery. From pasture to freezer, one family controlled every step.

That's not a marketing line. That's just how we do it.

Working the land at England Ranch

Our Animals

Heritage Breeds, Raised Right

Dexter Cattle

Dexters are one of the few real heritage breeds left. They're gentle, they make great mothers, and they marble up beautifully on grass alone — no grain needed. It takes a minimum of three years to get a steer ready for processing. We're not in a hurry. Good beef takes time.

Every animal in our herd is registered with the American Dexter Cattle Association. We know each one by name.

Berkshire Hogs

Berkshires are a heritage breed considered one of the best pork breeds for eating — rich, well-marbled meat with a flavor that commercial breeds lost a long time ago. Ours are pasture-raised on certified organic, soy-free feed.

Pastured Poultry

We raise Cornish Cross broilers — these birds go from chick to processing in eight weeks and are an important part of what we offer. They're raised on pasture with room to roam and fed 100% certified organic, soy-free feed.

Turkeys are a smaller but growing part of the ranch. We'll be selling limited quantities for the holidays this year.

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