Our story

“Regenerative agriculture”, “rotational grazing”, and “pasture-based management” were not part of our vocabulary in 2011. We were two young professionals learning the art, science, and mysteries of pharmacy on the Navajo reservation in the high desert region of New Mexico. We shared a growing faith in God and a deep respect for the diverse people and fascinating natural world He created, but had no idea we would find ourselves down the road on a farm in upstate New York.

We planted a small garden at our rental house, and graduated to a slightly larger garden and our first egg laying chickens when we bought a home in town. A short time later, we raised our first chickens for meat and wrestled through the learning curve of harvesting our tiny batch of birds. Even on our very small scale, we were constantly in awe of the evidence of God’s creative mastery in the processes of growth around us. We added some fruit trees, expanded the garden, and began to look at homes with land, enjoying the process of learning and working together, and eating and sharing the fruits of our labor. Two daughters joined us and we moved to the east coast to be closer to our family.

We were confident that we wanted to apply more of what we had been reading about pasture-based farming. Was it really true that rotating the grazing impact of different animals across grass would rejuvenate an ecosystem? We loved learning, planning, and building on ideas together. We wanted our daughters to grow up with an appreciation for hard work and an understanding of the birth, relationship, and death cycles that maintain flourishing life systems. We wanted to see God at work and to participate in cultivating life.

In late 2017, we settled on our small farm with tired hay fields and a bit of woods, nestled in a valley. Ryan continues to work in healthcare and Julie focuses on home and kids, but the adventure continues to unfold around us. Another daughter, chickens, and American Guinea Hogs joined the farm in 2018, followed by Nigerian Dwarf goats in 2020. Our first Dexter cattle arrived in 2023.

At Wolf Run Farm, we are committed to healthy progress, centered on building soil quality through pasture management. We place a high priority on solid, carefully selected breeding stock and holistic animal husbandry. We endeavor to be God-glorifying in both direction and detail. This process of pasture-based farming is much like conducting an orchestra. Each element of the farm—grass, trees, chickens, goats, cows, pigs, water, wildlife—makes particular and varied contributions to the beauty of the whole. We are stewards, entrusted with the privilege and responsibility to leverage the strengths and mitigate the weaknesses of each, as we cultivate productivity and beauty.

Awe. The details and systems of life all around us are amazing. Simplicity and complexity are both beautifully evident in our world, both microscopically and macroscopically. Life processes flow with the seasons, changing and growing, yet yielding life to others. God’s economy transforms “waste” into new life. We are fascinated by the details we discover as we pause, and learn, and cultivate.

Integrity. God made His world to proclaim His glory. We believe that purpose extends to our lives, too, as part of His creation. Care for His world and for the people around us, then, become opportunities for worship. As we learn more about Him and about the world He has made, it deepens our desire to live intentional and accountable lives, tending to the things under our care with humility and purpose. To that end, we focus on healing our pastures through healthy grazing and natural fertility and on maintaining animal health with grass/hay, minerals, sunshine, and non-GMO feed supplements for omnivores (poultry and pigs). We focus on supporting healthy environments and, therefore, do not depend on antibiotics or routine medications.

Stewardship. Life belongs to the Creator, but He established men and women as caretakers of life on earth. We are to utilize the resources of the natural world in ways that are respectful to existing ecological systems AND cultivate healthy human life. We seek to honor both in how we raise, harvest, and utilize the plants and animals under our care.