Healthy soil first
Wilsey Ranch shifted from a traditional ranch into grass fed and finished beef because the family believes ethical food starts with healthy soil, water, and pasture rotation.
About the ranch
Fourth generation ranching, rebuilt around soil health.
Wilsey Ranch is a family owned and operated Idaho ranch over 50 years old. Debby now runs the ranch with Lisa, Rachel, Jake, and Hayden from their base near Marsing and the Owyhee Mountains.
Family and stewardship
Healthy food starts with healthy land.
Debby and her late husband purchased the ranch in the Owyhee Mountains and built a conservation-minded operation around water projects, no-till planting, and pasture rotation. In 2010, Debby was recognized as Owyhee County Conservationist of the Year.
Debby is also a founding member of The Boise Farmers Market, which prides itself on being a producers market. Her family ranched on Kidder Ridge in Idaho County, where she learned calving and animal husbandry.
The people
Everyone has a ranch job.
Lisa studied Culinary Arts at Boise State and spent years in restaurants before deciding that producing food was the right place to be. On the ranch she works across irrigation, feeding, cattle movement, social media, and soil management.
Rachel and Jake help with branding, cattle drives, and the daily work of the ranch while also raising Hayden and leading local 4-H life.
Ranch practices
Raised with respect and bred for the Owyhee range.
Their meat cattle are Devon mother cows bred to Akaushi bulls for a tender American Wagyu product. The cattle are adapted to desert soil, rangeland, grass, and forbs.
Owyhee adapted cattle
Their beef cattle are Devon mother cows bred to Akaushi bulls, a red Wagyu line selected for tender beef and hardiness on desert rangeland.
More than beef
The ranch has expanded into heritage chickens, free range eggs, pasture pork, CSA boxes, and tallow skin balm made with local herbs and plants.
Mission
Nutritious food with minimal impact.
Wilsey Ranch handles animals humanely and works to provide them with a low-stress life. Their mission is to produce healthy, nutritious, sustainable food with minimal environmental impact and pass the land on to future generations.
In 2023 the family launched a tallow skin balm line using grass fed beef tallow, local herbs, wild berries, plants from the Owyhee Mountains, and local honey.