WR Grazing

Curious why this farm is called “WR Grazing” instead of “WR Beef”?

It’s actual a really simple answer: Great meat starts with great plants.

Healthy plants sequester carbon through photosynthesis and trade it with the soil building microbes below ground. Healthy soils return nutrition to the plants creating healthy grasses and ultimately, healthy cattle. It’s all about feeding the bugs and managing the land, in order to capture carbon and raise great beef.

Tim Wray and his wife, Joanne, farm with their children near Irricana, AB. Tim and Joanne are the 4th generation of Wrays on this land, with the 1st generation dating back to their homesteading in 1910. The Wrays enjoy the ranching lifestyle and try to lead by example with their children. They believe that it is their duty to serve as caretakers of the land. Tim further serves as a Pastor at the Lutheran church in Airdrie.

Raising great Grass Fed & Finished Beef starts with feeding the microbial life…

Both in the soil and in the cow’s stomach (the rumen).

What they are really feeding is the tiny bugs. These tiny bugs break down grasses that are non-digestible by people and are even too coarse for many other animals, such as horses. In turn, the prairie grasslands provide all of the diversity and requirements to create flavorful, nutrient-dense beef that we all enjoy. The cows help to cycle that biology back into the soil and feed those microbes all over again.

It starts with photosynthesis, which is why Tim focuses so heavily on green plants. From the leaves, that energy flows into a dynamic relationship between plants, soil microbial life, earth worms, gophers and cows.

Nature is designed to capture sunlight, bind atmospheric carbon and put it in the soil. When it is grazed properly, the ranch can honor and mimic this natural system.

As nature intended…

Nature is designed to capture sunlight, bind atmospheric carbon and put it in the soil. When it is grazed properly, the ranch can honor and mimic this natural system.

Tim’s farm goals are to graze their cattle 365 days per year and use turnips and other plants to increase photosynthesis to 240 days per year. Given the Alberta climate, this is a challenge but one that can be done by selecting the right plants to grow. Greater diversity in the ecological plant life is the key to the farm’s success.