WALL SPACE: Woollysteer Ranch

When Jason and Rachel Audette purchased an old 800-acre homestead outside of Nolalu in 2012, their goal was simple: grow food for their family. But since buying their first nine cows and a bull in 2019, their goal has evolved into a passion for growing food for their community.

The couple raises Scottish Highland cattle as naturally as possible, and knowing what is in their beef is part of the goal at Woollysteer Ranch. “So when we wanted cows, we wanted to do it the way we wanted it for ourselves, which is grass-fed, grass-finished— not that we’re against the other way,” Rachel says.

Because the breed of cattle is hardier, they’re more disease resistant, the couple says. “So you don’t have to give them antibiotics to prevent things from happening. We’ve never given any of our meat cows any antibiotics or any shots or anything, which is nice,” Rachel says. “A lot of people have to do preventive stuff just because they’ve been bred more to get fat fast.”

Jason emphasizes that they’re not against other practices of raising animals. “We just do things differently because we wanted an end product, kind of like when you shoot a moose. For us it feels good eating it. It's as natural as possible,” he says. “When you butcher a beef, it feels the same way. Just to raise it naturally here… it nourishes our whole family and then that extrapolates to the community and then that also feels good. And there seems to be a demand for it.”