Chicken Ranchers

written by

posted on

March 4, 2022

We have a huge change coming this upcoming season!

We are bringing our pastured chickens to the home ranch!

Guess we are going to become chicken ranchers 🤠 🐓

Some of you might be surprised to hear that we have not raised our chickens on our ranch. This has been due to several factors: not having enough help on our remote ranch, difficultly of raising the chickens at our elevation and distance from the chicken processor.

Our chicken producer, Brian, has been raising our chickens for the last several years in the Treasure Valley on different pastures over the years. Brian has worked on perfecting chicken raising over the last several years so with the help of our new team member we can now raise chickens here on the home ranch.

This last week, Brian has been working on getting the chick brooder assembled and building the portable chicken houses for the upcoming season. We are excited about the new changes and having our chickens raised in our pastures!

Chicks arrive this next week! We are so excited! 🐣

The other change we are experimenting with this season is raising a slower-growing chicken. The reason for this is that the Cornish cross chicken (which we have been raising all these years) struggles to adapt to outside conditions. These are the same breed of chickens that are at the supermarket. The Cornish Cross have an impressive growth rate unlike any other chicken out there, but it comes at a high cost to their health and stability. They are designed to be raised in confinement situations, with little to no temperature fluctuations, which is not possible when raised on pasture.

Slower growing chickens will look and taste different than the Cornish cross that we currently sell, but we promise it'll be a better tasting chicken!

More on the Big Four: JBS, Tyson, Cargill, and National Beef

🧩 “Who Controls Your Beef?” 🥩 The Big Four: 85% of America’s Beef Controlled by 4 Companies 💬 “When just four companies process most of the beef in our country, we don’t just lose competition — we lose connection.” — Liz Cunningham Panel 1: The Players ProcessorOwnership% of MarketKnown ForJBS USABrazil (JBS S.A.)~25%Largest meat processor in the world; ransomware attack 2021 shut down 20% of U.S. meat supplyTyson FoodsU.S.~22%COVID shutdowns led to mass cattle backlogs; ongoing price-fixing litigationCargill Meat SolutionsU.S.~22%Commodity-driven global agribusiness; joint settlements for antitrust violationsNational Beef (Marfrig Global Foods)Brazil~18%Foreign-owned; major importer/exporter balancing U.S. beef and South American supply 📊 Together: 85–87% of all beef processed in the United States Panel 2: The Hidden Costs 💵 Price Control: Coordinated market behavior drives rancher profits down and retail prices up. 🥩 Supply Risk: When one major plant shuts down — like JBS in 2021 — U.S. beef supply can drop 20% overnight. 🌎 Foreign Influence: Two of the four are Brazilian-owned, meaning U.S. beef production decisions are made overseas. 🐄 Lost Independence: Family ranchers can’t compete with massive volume pricing. Processing access becomes bottlenecked. Panel 3: The COVID Reality Check 🚫 Plant shutdowns → millions of pounds of cattle euthanized 🍽️ Empty grocery shelves → record-high prices 🤝 Small processors couldn’t expand due to USDA red tape “It’s not the cow. It’s the how. Our food system isn’t broken — it’s bottlenecked.” — Liz Cunningham Panel 4: What We’re Doing Differently At Cunningham Ranch & Northwest Premium Meats: Locally processed beef from Jordan Valley, Oregon/Treasure Valley, Idaho USDA inspected, small-batch handled Full traceability from pasture to plate Dollars stay local — supporting Northwest families - Cliff's Country Market is now the home of Cunningham Pastured Meats💚 Food You Can Trust — From Families Who Care Panel 5: What You Can Do 🛒 Buy Local Beef — direct from ranchers and small butchers and locally owned family markets like Cliff's Country Market in Caldwell, ID 🗣️ Ask Questions — know who raised and processed your meat 🤝 Support Legislation — like the PRIME Act that gives small processors freedom 🍽️ Share the Story — because change starts around the dinner table 📍 Learn More at CunninghamPasturedMeats.com

Subscribe & Save 5% Storewide + Free Item with Every Order of $175+!

Subscribe & Save 5% Storewide + Free Item with Every Order of $175+!

Chicken Ranchers

More from the blog

More on the Big Four: JBS, Tyson, Cargill, and National Beef

More on How Grazing Got Complicated- it's a "heated" debate

🪰 The Screwworm Threat: A Silent Stressor on Ranchers

Menu

Follow Us