Our Living Water Ranch Story

 

Our family has a passion for healthy living.  We have always tried to eat healthy, striving to buy fresh, organic, and of course non-GMO foods.  Loving to buy and support local farmers and merchants when we could. Finding natural grass-fed meats that are antibiotic and hormone-free has usually been a challenge.  When we bought our ranch in Livermore, Colorado, and started raising our own beef on just the sweet foothill mountain grass, hormone and antibiotic-free of course, we realized what we had been missing all this time.  The meat tasted so much better than any of the natural meats we had bought before.  Wanting our friends to enjoy the same good-tasting meat as well, we started sharing it with them.  They were surprised at how amazing it tasted too.  Because of their encouragement, we decided to offer a selection of our grass-fed beef at our local farmers market.  We were pleasantly surprised by how well received it was.  It was hard to keep up with the demand that first summer!  We want everyone to be able to eat as healthy as possible and eat food that tastes good too!  Something we were dismayed to have learned about this all-natural meat industry is some of the self-proclaimed all-natural grass-fed beef companies are not totally telling the whole truth.  While some claim the steers are grass-fed, what they don’t tell you is that they are grain-finished.  This is done to add weight to the steer fast toward the end of their growth cycle so the hanging weight is heavier at butchering time.  It does add weight but also fat which adds marbling.  We don’t want more fat, lean meat is better for us.  What we are also not clear on is if the grain fed to the cattle is genetically modified or not, or has been treated with pesticides.  So… many cannot compete with our beef, which is totally grass-fed and finished and is definitely hormone and antibiotic-free, which we think is so important.  Boy, can you tell a difference in the taste!  I don’t know if it is the altitude where our ranch is located which is in the foothills of Northern Colorado or what, but the grass our animals eat is sweet and sure makes our meat just taste better!  The gorgeous Rocky Mountains are the backdrop to this breathtaking landscape.  Our cows and steers roam freely over the rolling fields and enjoy the sometimes waist-high grass that we grow during the summer months.  The reason we have such success in growing this lush green grass is because we are blessed with having an abundance of water rights which we use to run our two pivots to grow hay as well as flood irrigate.  Because of the water, we are one of the only green areas in Livermore.  You can look on Google Maps and see a satellite picture of our ranch and see the only green acres are where we are located. 

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I love to tell the story about why we decided to buy our ranch in the first place.  We are happy to have three young sons.  A few years ago, we really struggled with the boys having we believe, addiction to video games.  We tried everything, limiting time for the gaming, setting a timer, allowing it only on the weekends, etc.  We found that no matter how much time we allowed, the boys were never satisfied, they always wanted more.  It caused disharmony between the boys and between them and my husband and I as well.  We found when they weren’t playing the games they were thinking about them and talking about them.  When we realized something was really wrong was a pattern of the boys not really wanting to do family activities like boating, biking, and hiking together because they would rather stay home and play their video games.  We knew we had to make some major decisions and take charge and mainly act like a parent!  Rex, my husband decided to take away the PS3 and the personal hand gaming devices.  They were of course devastated and a little rebellious for a few days.  God’s timing was perfect though, we had just bought the ranch and mostly because we wanted our boys to learn how to work hard and to be able to work as a family.  It was the best decision we have ever made!  The boys absolutely love working out at the ranch, their whole demeanor changed after they started getting their hands dirty and learning how to build fences, clean out irrigation canals, or throw hay bales.  Some of the sweetest family memories are being made out there.  I am very grateful we took a leap of faith and purchased this incredible piece of heaven.  Our boys are growing strong not only in stature and strength but also in character and work ethics. 

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Our ranch name is Living Water Ranch.  The abundance of water is so evident in the green lush land.  We are blessed to have the North Poudre River running through the property as well as a fresh spring-fed pond that provides a home for an abundance of trout.  The water rights provide enough water to have two hay cuttings and enough grass for a large herd of cattle.  It reminds me of the scripture John 4:13 where Jesus says “If you drink of living water you will never thirst again”  He is talking about Himself.  Anyone who accepts Jesus will satisfy the innermost desire for a savior that God gave us a yearning for. We were created to seek after a higher being. Jesus is the answer.  We pray everyone will experience this peace that passes all understanding.  We feel humbled and blessed to have this ranch and want to honor God by naming our ranch after His Son Jesus Christ, The true Living Water.  

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Blessings,

The Stahla Family