Located near Pincher Creek in Southern Alberta, Fishburn Ranch has a passion for raising happy beef, riding good horses, and making healthy vibrant soil and grass.
What is your business called and what does it do?
We are called Fishburn Ranch. We are a working family ranch practicing regenerative land management and raising high-quality grass-fed and finished beef.
What made you want to do this work?
Working with nature to heal the land and provide top-quality Alberta beef for our friends in Southern Alberta.
What problem did you want to solve with the business?
We feel many people want to know how and where their beef is raised. The beef in the supermarket has a lot of question marks. We love our lifestyle working directly with animals and soil and we want to offer that connection to our customers.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
We largely sell to people in the southwest corner of Alberta. We offer delivery options into Calgary but love it when people drive out to see the ranch!
How does your business make money? How does it work?
We sell by the quarter half or whole beef. This is by far the most economical way to purchase top-quality beef and the luxury of always having meat in the freezer is amazing! We also try to keep our freezer stocked to sell by the individual cut.
Where in Calgary can we find your profession?
We frequent the Hillhurst-Sunnyside farmer’s market.
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.
What does grass-finished mean? This is a great question. The labelling of beef is very loosely regulated. Since nearly all bovines eat grass at some point in their life there is a lot of beef that is marketed as grass-fed fed but in reality, spent the last part of its life in a commercial fattening lot eating corn or grain.
The terms “100% grass-fed” or “grass-finished ” mean that the beef ate nothing but grass its entire life. We prefer the term grass-finished because there is a lot of sub-par beef out there that is sold under the grass-fed label. To truly finish an animal on grass alone takes time, patience, and a variety of nutritious forage. Our beef consistently finishes with high grades and excellent tenderness and marbling scores.
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
We love connecting people to beef that they can feel proud about with a program that benefits the environment, the animals, and them!
Long cold windy winter days when stuff breaks down and animals suffer. That’s tough.
What is your favourite joke about your own profession?
What do you call a black cow that just gave birth? A: deCALFeinated
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?
