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Crown S Ranch: Washington's Finest Pasture-finished Beef, Poultry, and Pork

Our family raises grass-fed cattle, pigs, laying hens, chickens, and turkeys on our Certified Organic pastures in Washington State's Methow Valley. We care for our animals as nature intended: with an abundance of lush green grass on rotated organic pastures, with plenty of clean water, sunshine, and fresh air.  We use no hormones, steroids, pesticides, genetically-modified feeds, or unhealthy grains.  We are proud of the high quality beef, pork, eggs, chicken, and turkey we provide our customers. 

We combine traditional animal husbandry with new technology to create sustainable farming practices. We farm this way because it's better for the animals, better for the environment, and better for you!!

 
 
Latest News From the Ranch

2009 Thanks and Accomplishments

Thanks to all of You, who supported our small sustainable family farm in 2009!!! 

By buying our Crown S Ranch products, you are saying YES to local sustainable agriculture in Washington and YES to our motto:

Better for the Animals.  ~  Better for the Environment.  ~  Better for You.

2009 was a tremendous growth year for Crown S Ranch, LLC.  With our production increasing by 50% annually for the last 7 years, we were in desperate need of infrastructure upgrades.  By putting a large portion of our farm into a Agricultural Conservation Easement, acquiring additional local financing and increasing our customer base, we were able to make great strides toward our goal of becoming a completely sustainable family farm:

Up and Running

On-farm Cottage:  Available for weekly and half weekly rentals to Crown S Ranch customers who are interested in seeing where their food comes from and learning more about the farming techniques of Crown S Ranch.  E-mail for more information and to schedule your 2010 family week on the farm!!

New walk-in Freezer:  Our new central farm building contains an energy efficient, spacious 250sf walk-in freezer.  This in combination with our existing container walk-in freezer will accommodate our continual production growth for at least the next 5 years.

Composting Structure:  Composting is a critical part of our sustainable farming practice, it allows for nutrient recycling.  Now our new five bay structure will allow us to enhance and improve our current composting system.  Thanks to a partial NRCS grant, this will be up in running this spring!

Organic Hay and Grain:  With a 70acre lease agreement in place last spring, we are now growing our own organic hay and organic grain. 

In progress:

·    WSDA Poultry Processing facility  – scheduled to be up and running by summer 2010

·          Crown S Store  – scheduled to be up and running by summer 2010

·    Added Value Kitchen  – scheduled to be up and running by Fall 2010

·       Crown S Offices  – scheduled to be up and running by Fall 2010

Thanks again for your continued support!!

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 Preserving Farmland

In February 2009, 42 acres of our Crown S Ranch farmland was put into an agricultural conservation easement.  Thank you to the Methow Conservancy for helping us protect and preserve our farmland.

The Crown S Ranch agricultural conservation easement was made possible by a combination of private and public funding sources including the federal Farm and Ranch land program and the Washington State Farmland Protection Program in partnership with Okanogan County.

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 Stewardship Award

In the fall of 2008 Crown S Ranch was awarded first runner-up for the Vim Wright Stewardship Award from Farming and the Environment.

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Notes from the Farmer

My approach to farming combines my engineering background, and the animal husbandry I learned from my father and gleaned from books before the use of fossil fuel fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.

 

Louis Sukovaty
Louis Sukovaty
The craft of animal husbandry is often disregarded by conventional livestock finishers, who address complex problems with oversimplified fixes that just create new troubles.    Animal husbandry coupled with new technology is our key to creating a small sustainable farm,

Managing an Ecosystem

Spraying broad-spectrum nerve toxins isn't what I think of as organic agriculture. But when I wanted to buy a virus that attacks coddling moths, the seller suggested that what I really wanted was Entrust, an "organic" insecticide. He was wrong, I don't want to treat my land with a chemical toxic to a broad array of insects - beneficial and pest alike - regardless of whether the origin of the chemical is natural or synthetic. While a species-specific parasite exploits a niche and its use can help to check an out-of-balance proliferation of one pest, a broad-spectrum insecticide creates greater imbalance in an ecosystem. The intent of Entrust isn't to carefully manage an ecosystem, it's to make things easier for the grower. And to make a profit for the chemical company, of course.

Our trouble as a society comes from trying to make a buck so we can buy something so the next guy can make a buck and buy something, and so on, especially when the things we buy are supposed to make things easier for us - to make less work. There's nothing wrong with work. Our quality of life depends on it. Think about it: are you happier sitting for hours in front of the tv, or when you have a meaningful task you can take on? Being an artisan is about knowledge and work. I believe proper animal husbandry requires the care of an artisan.

 
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