Covenant Pastures is a family farm nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains outside of Bakersfield, CA. Our mission is to produce great-tasting, high quality 100% grass-fed beef, pork, eggs and vegetables using regenerative farming principles and holistic planned grazing.
We started the farm in early 2014 because we wanted to grow our own grass finished beef and organic eggs and produce. We were very dissatisfied by the quality of California grassfed meats, having ate very high quality beef in other states and knowing what excellent grass finished meat should taste like. The majority of grassfed beef in California are just range cattle left to graze freely whatever poor quality range grasses may exist, or are just fed low quality hay (none of it organic and most of it laced with pesticides). This meat is usually tough, and even can be extremely grassy or gamey, even tasting like bad fish. High quality grass finished beef should be tender, flavorful, and not have an "off" smell and taste. Even worse, many so-called grassfed beef sellers sneak in grains to finish or use non-organic vegetable processing waste to finish. No one appeared to know the art of finishing cattle on California rangeland down here, except for a few experts out of state and in northern California.
We visited dozens of farms across the country and contacted grass finishing experts around the world including Argentina and Australia. We knew grass finished beef could be better than what we were eating. In 2014, we bought land and a house and started raising cattle and grazing them holistically. Eventually as word spread and we needed to grow fast, we picked up some nearby ground to rent. But there's more to the story.
Owner Jerel and his son Jake have both had various health issues over the course of their lives. Both realized that they are highly sensitive to grains and any food that had trace amounts of pesticides. Both exhibited autoimmune disorders, and Jake suffered from developmental disorders within the autism spectrum during the first 6 years of his life. When they moved to a grain-free, pesticide free, pastured-meat based diet, many of their symptoms lessened or disappeared. One of the things that separates us out from practically all other grass finished beef operations is that we do not use chemical dewormers, vaccines, fly controls, processed salts, or additives. Also, all our hay is both certified organic and tested for glyphosate residues. We can promise you won't find a cleaner meat anywhere else than here, and that's because our very lives and health depends on it! And, because we pay attention to mineral content in our soils and feeds, we have cattle so healthy that they don't need wormers, vaccines or antibiotics, resulting in sweet tasting beef.
We are not a certified organic operation, but we 100% fully adopt organic concepts. One concept we've adopted is "beyond organic," coined originally by the legendary grass-fed rancher, author and conference speaker, Joel Salatin. Today, organic can mean almost anything as long as registered "Organic" materials are used. "Beyond Organic" means we are a step above typical organic farming. Some of the ways we achieve this is by using frequent pasture rotations to make sure the cattle don't overgraze the native grasses, by focusing on soil health which results in improved cattle health, and by never using any grains to finish the cattle. We strive to use resources in the most natural way possible.
We have four kids whom we homeschool, and they are an integral part of our family farm. Our name "Covenant Pastures" reflects the covenant we have with each other as a family, with God as good stewards of the land, and with our community to provide local, sustainably and ethically raised animal and vegetable products.
For more information on the sustainable techniques we practice, check out the following links:
Video on Joel Salatin's Polyface farm
Allan Savory's website on what is holistic management
Allan Savory's widely popular TED talk on holistic grazing
We started the farm in early 2014 because we wanted to grow our own grass finished beef and organic eggs and produce. We were very dissatisfied by the quality of California grassfed meats, having ate very high quality beef in other states and knowing what excellent grass finished meat should taste like. The majority of grassfed beef in California are just range cattle left to graze freely whatever poor quality range grasses may exist, or are just fed low quality hay (none of it organic and most of it laced with pesticides). This meat is usually tough, and even can be extremely grassy or gamey, even tasting like bad fish. High quality grass finished beef should be tender, flavorful, and not have an "off" smell and taste. Even worse, many so-called grassfed beef sellers sneak in grains to finish or use non-organic vegetable processing waste to finish. No one appeared to know the art of finishing cattle on California rangeland down here, except for a few experts out of state and in northern California.
We visited dozens of farms across the country and contacted grass finishing experts around the world including Argentina and Australia. We knew grass finished beef could be better than what we were eating. In 2014, we bought land and a house and started raising cattle and grazing them holistically. Eventually as word spread and we needed to grow fast, we picked up some nearby ground to rent. But there's more to the story.
Owner Jerel and his son Jake have both had various health issues over the course of their lives. Both realized that they are highly sensitive to grains and any food that had trace amounts of pesticides. Both exhibited autoimmune disorders, and Jake suffered from developmental disorders within the autism spectrum during the first 6 years of his life. When they moved to a grain-free, pesticide free, pastured-meat based diet, many of their symptoms lessened or disappeared. One of the things that separates us out from practically all other grass finished beef operations is that we do not use chemical dewormers, vaccines, fly controls, processed salts, or additives. Also, all our hay is both certified organic and tested for glyphosate residues. We can promise you won't find a cleaner meat anywhere else than here, and that's because our very lives and health depends on it! And, because we pay attention to mineral content in our soils and feeds, we have cattle so healthy that they don't need wormers, vaccines or antibiotics, resulting in sweet tasting beef.
We are not a certified organic operation, but we 100% fully adopt organic concepts. One concept we've adopted is "beyond organic," coined originally by the legendary grass-fed rancher, author and conference speaker, Joel Salatin. Today, organic can mean almost anything as long as registered "Organic" materials are used. "Beyond Organic" means we are a step above typical organic farming. Some of the ways we achieve this is by using frequent pasture rotations to make sure the cattle don't overgraze the native grasses, by focusing on soil health which results in improved cattle health, and by never using any grains to finish the cattle. We strive to use resources in the most natural way possible.
We have four kids whom we homeschool, and they are an integral part of our family farm. Our name "Covenant Pastures" reflects the covenant we have with each other as a family, with God as good stewards of the land, and with our community to provide local, sustainably and ethically raised animal and vegetable products.
For more information on the sustainable techniques we practice, check out the following links:
Video on Joel Salatin's Polyface farm
Allan Savory's website on what is holistic management
Allan Savory's widely popular TED talk on holistic grazing