Double K Ranch

Dillon Kouf

When I was growing up, my family had a cattle ranch. It wasn’t big, just a hundred acres, but it had horses and cattle, a few pigs and chickens, barns, sheds, tractors, a monstrous barn cat, lots of mice, a field of alfalfa and another of corn, and a Chevy truck with a three-gear-shift on the column. It’s where I learned to ride horses, drive trucks, and explore. This ranch was paradise for me--an adventure just waiting out the back door. And this was also where our family’s beef came from. It was a lot of meat, all wrapped up in white paper which filled up a freezer in the garage. I grew up thinking all beef came that way; from a ranch. As I grew up, I discovered that wasn’t so. Most beef came from a grocery store, wrapped in plastic, without connection to a place or the people who raised it. And somehow that didn’t seem right.

I was sixteen when the ranch was sold and I was devastated. A big part of my youth was gone with it. I had the memories, but memories are tough to share. I vowed that if I ever got married and had kids, I also had to have a ranch. Not for me, but for my unborn future kids. I wanted them to learn what I had learned, that meat comes from a ranch, from an animal, not from a store. So how that animal is raised and cared for is important. It needs to be done right. And caring for the land is important, too. It’s all connected. So, I decided I better get a ranch first, before anything else, so I’d be ready if and when those kids ever showed up-which they did-four of them. And they’ve all learned to respect the land and the animals. And to ride horses, drive trucks and explore. And along the way, they also found out beef does not come from a market, wrapped in plastic, it comes from a ranch with a connection to the land and the people who raised it.

Double K Ranch was established in 1985 and founded on respect for the land and the love of a great steak. This along with the desire to teach our children where their food came from is what drives us to produce the highest quality beef that is ethically and sustainably raised.

Our Angus beef is all-natural, hormone and

Agriculture Magazine, June 2020 - Page 11

antibiotic-free. The cows are bred, born, and raised on our ranch and grass-fed or corn finished with the highest quality grain. Their meat is aged in our coolers for a minimum of 30 days and up to 90 days, then custom cut in our own butcher shop.

We offer high-quality sustainable meats, from steaks and ground chuck to sausage and pastrami. And now, through Fifth Season Montana, we are excited to be the only curing shop in the state producing old-style Charcuterie meats including Salumi, Bresaola, Pancetta, Coppa and more, all made by hand.

Our dream has always been to provide healthy and delicious food for our friends and family. So please come visit us in the beautiful Bitterroot Valley and you too can see where your meat comes from. You can find us at www.doublekranchmt.com.

Today

The Double K Ranch was established in 1985 and founded on respect for the land and the love of a great

Steak. This along with the desire to teach our children where they food comes from is what drives us to produce the highest quality beef that is ethically and sustainably raised.

Our Angus beef is all-natural, hormone and antibiotic-free. The cows are bred, born, and raised on our ranch and grass-fed or corn finished with the highest quality grain. Their meet is aged in our coolers for a minimum of 30 days and up to 90 days, then custom cut in our own butcher shop.

We offer high-quality sustainable meats, from steaks and ground chuck to sausage and pastrami. And now, through Fifth Season Montana, we are excited to be the only curing shop in the state producing old-style charcuterie meats including Salumi, Bresaola, Pancetta, Coppa and more, all made by hand.

Our dream has always been to provide healthy and delicious food for our friends and family. So please come visit us in the beautiful Bitterroot Valley and you too can see where your meat comes from. You can find us at www.doublekranchmt.com.