Our Story
The choices behind the food matter just as much as the food itself.
Born & Grazed and Iron Springs Ranch are rooted in Skull Valley, Arizona, where the way animals live, the way land is managed, and the way food reaches your table are treated as one responsibility.
How It Began
Born & Grazed began with John and Katie Ross wanting a closer connection to the food on their own table.
We wanted to know how the animals lived, what they were fed, and whether the land was better because they had been there. Raising chickens for ourselves gave us those answers firsthand.
What began on a small scale grew into raising hundreds of birds for families throughout our community. At Iron Springs Ranch, the poultry operation found a place where it could grow alongside regenerative cattle grazing and become part of something larger than either program could accomplish alone.
What We Wanted to Know
That the animals were given a life worth respecting.
That the land could improve because they were there.
That we could feed our community the same food we chose for ourselves.
The Land
It is part of the work, part of the responsibility, and part of the food we raise.
At Iron Springs Ranch, poultry and cattle are managed as parts of the same living system. Their movement across the ranch returns nutrients to the soil and allows each program to contribute to the long-term health of the land.
The goal is not simply to take more from the ranch. It is to raise food in a way that leaves the land more capable of supporting life in the years ahead.
A Living System
Planned movement gives animals access to fresh ground while allowing previously grazed areas time to recover.
Livestock return nutrients to the soil and contribute to the biological life of the pasture.
Every production decision is weighed against the long-term health of the ranch.
The Animals
The way an animal lives is not a detail to explain after the fact. It shapes every decision we make from the beginning.
We believe animals raised for food should be managed with patience, attention, and respect for their natural behavior. That responsibility remains with us throughout their lives, not only when the finished product reaches the customer.
Born & Grazed Poultry
Our birds are selected for active lives on pasture and are given more time to grow than conventional meat chickens. They forage, scratch, move across fresh ground, and express the behaviors chickens are meant to have.
Active life on pasture
Certified Organic supplemental feed
Raised over 12 to 14 weeks
Iron Springs Ranch Beef
The cattle remain connected to the pasture that sustains them. Regenerative grazing decisions are made with both the herd and the long-term health of the ranch in mind.
Grass-finished beef
Regenerative grazing
Raised in Skull Valley, Arizona
From Pasture to Package
The same responsibility that guides how we raise our animals follows every product through processing, packaging, and into your hands.
Our poultry is carefully handled and air chilled to protect the quality developed during its time on pasture.
Each package is vacuum sealed and promptly frozen to preserve the flavor, texture, and quality we worked to create.
We share how our animals are raised, what they are fed, and how each product is handled. Questions are always welcome because trust grows from knowing the people and practices behind your food.
The Partnership
Born & Grazed and Iron Springs Ranch bring different work to the same table, guided by a shared responsibility to the animals, the land, and the families we feed.
Born & Grazed
Born & Grazed is responsible for the poultry operation, including flock management, processing, product development, and bringing those products directly to customers.
Poultry production and daily flock care
Processing and product development
Direct relationship with poultry customers
Iron Springs Ranch
Iron Springs Ranch leads the cattle and land-management work and provides the working ranch where both programs operate alongside one another.
Cattle and grazing management
Long-term stewardship of the ranch
The land where both programs work together
The People Behind the Work
The standards described on this page are not distant policies. They are daily decisions made by the people raising the animals, managing the land, and building these ranches together.
Owner, Born & Grazed
John leads the Born & Grazed poultry operation, combining research, planning, building, and hands-on problem solving to turn an idea for better chicken into food raised for the community.
Livestock & Pasture Manager, Iron Springs Ranch
Katie manages pastures, cattle, and horses at Iron Springs Ranch, bringing her agricultural background to the daily work of keeping the animals and the land moving forward together.
Co-Owner of Iron Springs Ranch
Claire helps guide the vision behind Iron Springs Ranch, from regenerative stewardship to building a place that can produce better food and create a stronger connection with the community.
Co-Owner of Iron Springs Ranch
Troy helps lead the practical work of building the ranch and its cattle operation around stronger soil, healthier pasture, and grass-finished beef raised with long-term stewardship in mind.
Why It Matters
The land deserves to be improved, the animals deserve a life worth respecting, and the people who trust us deserve to know what they are bringing home.
See What We RaiseRaised in Skull Valley, Arizona
