We manage the ranch for what we want, not what we don't want. For me personally, this has been a big revelation and a very liberating idea — my mind moved out of constantly analyzing and judging everything as good or bad. I'm now able to look at situations more objectively and make better management decisions. Things just are, and from that place, I get to work on creating more of what I want, instead of spending all my energy deciding what's worth fighting. It now shows up throughout the ranch.

This summer, I was driving through a piece of newly seeded ground. The first year or two after seeding, sometimes we get a flush of weeds. I noticed a very large cocklebur, close to five feet tall. My first thought was to get rid of it so it wasn't able to spread its seeds. As I got closer, I noticed there was a perfect little bird's nest full of eggs tucked within its branches. Here's an example of a situation that I had decided was bad and needed to be eliminated. And here it was providing cover and shelter for those birds to survive and go on to do everything they're supposed to do in the world. It's a reminder to always take a closer look.

When you buy beef from us, you're not just avoiding a beef system you don't like — the industrial supply chains, the uncertainty, the disconnect from where your food comes from. You're actively choosing to build something you do want: a connection to the Montana ranch raising your food, support for a place that's regenerating its soil and its community, a meal on your table that came from an operation trying to grow the right things instead of just fighting the wrong ones. That's managing for what you want, too. And we're glad to be part of it.