S2, E6: Keven Johnson - Johnson Natural Beef

What happens when a fifth-generation ranch kid earns a PhD in molecular biology and decides to rebuild the bridge between land and table? We sit down with Keven Johnson to unpack how a century-old Wyoming ranch now feeds Utah families and top restaurants through a modern, transparent, and surprisingly intimate supply chain.

Keven grew up branding calves and rolling hay near Lusk, Wyoming, then dove deep into lab life, grants, and postdoc work. Along the way, he noticed what most of us miss: the farther we get from our food, the more we lose in flavor, nutrition, and trust. After his family’s ranch earned a centennial recognition, he felt a responsibility to carry it forward—e-commerce, farmers markets, and direct-to-consumer beef that tells you exactly where it came from. His dry-aged steaks and ground beef quickly earned a following, from Wheeler Farm regulars who text orders to chefs who judged the product by taste, texture, and consistency.

Scaling real beef takes patience and planning. Keven explains the 18–24 month timeline behind every pound, the careful balance between restaurant sourcing and market customers, and the choice to grow without compromising quality. We get into big ag versus small ranching, why minimal processing matters, and how dry aging transforms flavor. Then, a curveball rooted in both tradition and science: beef tallow. Keven leveraged his lab background to create cooking fats, balms, soaps, and more, tapping tallow’s skin-compatible lipids for products that feel as good as they perform.

This conversation is a blueprint for anyone curious about local food, farm-to-table sourcing, and sustainable growth without the buzzwords. If you’ve wondered whether you can taste the difference when you shorten the food chain, this is your sign to find out. Subscribe, share this story with a friend who loves great steak, and leave a review with your favorite cut—we might help you discover a new one.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Kevin’s Origin
• 2:38 Why Local Food Chains Matter
• 6:03 Big Ag vs Small Family Ranches
• 7:53 Growing Up In Lusk, Wyoming
• 11:38 From Ranch Kid To Molecular Biology
• 14:13 Career Realities And Moving West
• 17:13 Settling In Utah And Perspective Shifts
• 19:13 The Farmers Market Spark
• 23:01 Launching Direct-To-Consumer Beef
• 26:01 Restaurant Partnerships And Validation
• 28:41 Scaling Pains And Long Planning Cycles
• 31:21 Family Capacity And Sustainable Growth
• 32:41 Entrepreneur Mindset And Legacy
• 35:41 Kids, Markets, And Tallow Products
• 37:41 Balancing Biotech Career And Ranch Biz
• 41:11 First Market Nerves And Learning Curve
• 42:56 Where To Taste Kevin’s Beef
• 44:41 Cuts, Dry Aging, And Processing
• 47:41 Market As Launchpad For Small Brands
• 50:41 How To Buy: Sites, Products, Phone

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:53

The best childhood anyone could could experience. While I was living in Chicago, I I had meat from the from the ranch that I would I would keep in the in the apartment. Here's some hamburger, have a couple steaks, Merry Christmas, kind of a thing. And they would always come back to me and say, Can I buy more of that from you? Uh that that's like the best meat I've ever had in my life. I saw, you know, a beef vendor at the Wheeler Farmers Market. I wonder if I could do that. What would it take? And that that centennial recognition for the ranch really really lit a spark under me. I'm like, I've got to do something to expand the business, kind of bring it into a next century kind of mentality.

Why Local Food Chains Matter

SPEAKER_01 1:28

What is up, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of the Small Lake City Podcast. I'm your host, Eric Nielsen. Now, what do you do if you're born in a ranch in Wyoming? Then go get your PhD in molecular biology, and then find your ranch, having its centennial anniversary and wanting to contribute it. Enter Kevin Johnson. Now, this is Kevin's story as he was born and raised on a ranch, but then pursued a very different career. Now, as he came to Utah, settled, and had a family, he wanted to support his ranch and the beef that they produced. Now that's why he created his own business here in Utah, sourcing more of this amazing beef from Wyoming and brought it here. Now he started the farmer's market and now sources a lot of the beef for some of your favorite restaurants. Now it's a great story of how to support your family business, uh, have a side hustle, and also be a great example for your family. So let's jump into it and I'm excited for you more about Kevin's story. Oh, but yeah, no, Kevin, I'm excited to talk today because it's it's interesting to learn kind of of all of the various like rabbit holes and industries and verticals in Salt Lake and kind of the intersection of them all. There's some that kind of don't necessarily get like the visibility I think that they're deserved, especially when you think about people that I mean, literally by the sweat of their brow and I mean work and breaking their back to do it. And so it's been fun as I got more curious about local farms, local produce, how it feeds us via like our favorite restaurants we go to, the farmers markets we go to, um, where we shop. I mean, especially with I mean co-ops opening up, and I just wanted to learn more about it because when you think of Utah, it's not necessarily like the agricultural state, but there's still a lot of people that that do a lot of that work.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Yes, there are. Um, and it's uh yeah, you you touched on a very important point there. So um and this is some so I I grew up on a ranch in in eastern Wyoming, and one of the things that I had always missed um moving from a ranch into larger cities was being removed or the the the possibility of being removed from your your food source. Um farmers and ranchers have access to it, you know, firsthand all the time, and getting that um kind of supply chain shortened is beneficial on on so many different levels. Um just minimal processing for one, the the preservation and the distance between source to consumption, um all of those things play into the the final nutrient value and the health of the you know in consumers. And so it's it's something that over the last several years I've I've really you know kind of taken to heart. Like I say, it was something in my my youth that I took for granted because it was growing up on a ranch, that's you ate steak. Steak and hamburger was always there, and uh you know, you got fruit and vegetables from the uh the local grocery store. But um as I you know kind of went through different career paths uh and avenues, is seeing how the majority of of people are removed from the from the food chain, it just kind of ends up in the in the grocery store and that's what they have options for, um, really kind of drove the the focus on providing you know the best quality, what what I you know always ate as a child, what I considered you know being top quality uh meat as as far as beef and pork um and providing that to a broader consumer base.

Big Ag vs Small Family Ranches

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Totally. I mean, especially when I mean if you're the one working in the farm and then subsequently is the one eating the steak and the beef, it's like, oh well, I know what it was fed because I fed it. I know what's happening. Exactly. And I think, I mean, especially as like the majority of consumers, because I mean, I would say high 90s percent of people buy most of their groceries from a grocery store. I mean, all you see is the product itself. You don't see where it came from, you don't see it in comparison to anything else. It's just kind of take what you're given. Right. And as I mean, adjustments to our food quality start to happen little by little over time, I mean, those little increments make for big changes over long periods of time. Yes. And so, as I mean, in the la I mean, this decade, I would say we've had this huge shift in priority of health. I mean, especially when I mean a lot of consumers look externally outside of the US and are like, well, why do all these countries have better protections against the things that we eat every day? And I mean, there's a lot of very strong opinions on it, and don't want to get into the the the minutia of that, but I think everyone can agree the the less steps in that supply chain, the less hands in it all, the less like financial engineering to make it all work, everybody benefits.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Yeah, absolutely. And you can you can tie big another term that I you know never really knew because I wasn't a part of it until recent years where I learned more about um the broader industry is is the influence of big ag and big farming, um, you know, industrial agriculture, how um a majority of you know grocery store meats are processed from from large um uh large kind of confined operations or uh monocrop agriculture, things of that nature that aren't necessarily the best for the environment, you know, create a lot of uh pollution and runoff issues and also decrease the the the nutritional value and the the health quality of the animals and plants involved in the entire process. So um being a part of a smaller family-owned um you know ranching operation and as you said, you know, kind of removing the the steps between um production and consumer uh has been a great experience.

Growing Up In Lusk, Wyoming

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Totally. And I love like and you can taste the difference. Like, I mean, if you go to somewhere that just peddles uh modified Cisco of how you decide to do the modification compared to, I mean, it's a term that a lot of people have used over the times and kind of lost a lot of its values, like that farm to table of being like, this is where this came from, this is how it was treated, this is how what it ate, into now of like realizing the same thing because you can't make something quality from bad ingredients, no matter how much you think you can, or uh but I'm also really curious about because I always loved this, because a couple other farmers I've talked to have had this same sort of career path that you alluded to, where it was a part of your youth. You're like, okay, like I grew up doing this. There's probably a couple of people that's like, go do something else, or I don't want to be here, I want to get off the farm. But then somehow you find this coming full circle and coming back to it. But I mean, talk to me what that was like. I mean, growing up on a farm in in eastern Wyoming and kind of whereabouts that was.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Yeah, oh gosh. So it was um just the the best childhood that I um I'm so blessed to have been through it. Um the best childhood anyone could have could experience. So it's uh the the ranch is outside of a little town called Lusk, Wyoming, and Lusk has, I think last time I checked population around 1600, it was maybe 1500-ish when I was a kid going through school. You know, there were 34 kids in my graduating high school class. That blows a lot of folks' minds. Um, but yeah, it was just everything that I ever knew uh you know, up until going to to college. And so it was it it was it was hard work. Um I was always trying to get a way to get into town to hang out with friends or play baseball or basketball or whatnot. But um always summers were full of you know branding calves and um running hay equipment, uh feeding calves in the in the winter, um you know, rolling bales, throwing out cake. Uh it's like a supplement that we we feed during the winter. And so it was it was nonstop and it was it was a lot of hard work. Um had a lot of formative experiences on um work at work ethic and what you know what it really takes to really devote yourself to to something. Um and it you know, after so I went to uh college, University of Wyoming, um, in in biology and just kind of I'm not really sure how, but just kind of stayed in the path and ended up in in graduate school and then did.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

And at that point were you're like, oh, I'll go back to the farm, or were you thinking, what else is there out for me, or what do I want to go do?

SPEAKER_00 9:27

Yeah, it was it was still I it hadn't even occurred to me at that point. So all the way through my 20s, I was you know science focused and in uh academic research, which is kind of an odd path for a country kid. But um yeah, went through graduate school, did the postdoc thing, got a job in the state. Which way would you get your PhD in? I'm like a biology.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Okay, because my so my girlfriend's getting her PhD in chemistry, so I'm like I'm now like learning about this work. Because like I as soon as I was done with like my undergrad, I was like, we're good. Like I I can I can take it from here. And so the thought of like geez, I mean, coming on, I mean, four years of undergrad, and now it'll be about five, six years of postgrad, and I'm just like good to be done. So I was curious about kind of what that was, but yeah, molecular biology and I mean that whole grind to do it. I mean, that's I mean, it's a lot to learn, but it's so interesting to see how much work it takes, but then also like and agree if you can agree with disagree, I'm curious your take on it, but like there's so much of it that's just like heads down in school and work that it's it's hard to have like like pull your head up and being like, oh well, this is where I want to go next, is this it's just so focused on what you're doing at the time.

From Ranch Kid To Molecular Biology

SPEAKER_00 10:32

Right. It is, and it's yeah, an incredibly uh focused field, um, very niche. And once once you kind of get into that groove, it is, as you mentioned, kind of hard to look around. You're very focused on the on the next step, you know, either experiment-wise or papers, um, grant submissions, things of that nature. So it's you you really you can get lost, uh get lost in the minutiae.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

It's like two very different, like hard work, head down, like such an interesting like pendulum swing in the opposite direction from hey, there are no holidays for animals and they still gotta eat and we still gotta go put on our and go muck the stalls. But on the other side of the pendulum swing, it's like, oh, I still gotta do this experiment and like this this grants do by this time, or I have to like there's just so much.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

Long hours and and weekends are are involved in in in both fields, and so it was you know easily transferable. They seem like from a distance, you're like, they could get more opposite what happened there. But the the transferable um skills and and work ethic definitely applied to to both areas. Yeah. And so, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

Um so you so you do postdoc for a little bit. Uh-huh. I mean, and then I mean, as you kind of wrap up PhD and kind of think about what that phase looks like, I mean, what were some of the opportunities you were looking at and where did you end up settling?

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Um, so I I I'd gone into kind of the the research field hoping to be one of those um kind of reclusive professors that had a had a had a house in the in the country and you know owned horses and maybe some cattle, but went in to teach uh you know different biology courses because it that that was just so fascinating to me. Um that that was kind of that was the uh kind of uh uh disillusioned or a delusion.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

I mean it sounds like a fantastic life. It does, it does.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

And I saw so in Wyoming, that's who I that's who I saw. Like all the all my favorite professors, that was their life. I'm like, well, I can do I want to do that, you know. I can bring in the ranch life that I I always loved and um explore like the intellectual curiosity and and uh keep challenging myself in in the you know biology field. And so that was where I wanted to go. Now, after postdoc and I was I was at UAC in um in Chicago, those prospects seemed really, really thin. You know, grants, uh the funding levels were were getting thinner and thinner. Um the transition into specific areas that you know geographically that would allow that were really thin. I knew I wanted to go back west, and the opportunities were just not really there. And so it it kind of started started the path of opening my eyes.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

I mean, especially going from eastern Wyoming to Southern California to Chicago. I mean, that's gotta get you all sorts of unique perspectives from the whole gambit.

Career Realities And Moving West

SPEAKER_00 13:17

It it was. Notre Dame is in South Bend, Indiana, then Notre Dame to to U uh University of Illinois, Chicago. Um but yeah, it was an incremental step up in um population and you know densities and and different um cultures, which was a bit of a bit of a growing period for me personally. Like I said, growing up on a ranch, that was um uh very multiple eye-opening experiences along the way. Um and then finally got to the point where an opportunity opened up here as a you know for a research scientist with the University of Utah. Okay. Uh department of medicine, and just jumped at it, came out you know, closer to family. Um and so it's really yeah, it was a it was it was a great move, and that's what kind of brought me to to Salt Lake.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Yeah. I mean it's always interesting to hear, like I there's a lot of people from Wyoming that move here because it's like, oh, I want to, I don't want to be outnumbered by cattle, but I also don't necessarily want that full pendulum swing of a of a Chicago or like a bigger city, and it's nice Salt Lake is like I mean you're not this lost in this huge wow, metropolis, metropolitan area, whichever one. And it's anonymous, exactly. But it's also kind of like this nice intermediary of like, because there's only so many opportunities in Wyoming, a great place, but there's just limited opportunities, but that opens up exponentially for here. And then to your point, like you're still close to home. And I mean, drive through, uh, I mean, I mean, take the windy 80 as we were talking about, and and you're back. So it's kind of like, I mean, because everybody wants to be closer, especially in that like late 20s, early 30s. Yeah, you realize life is a lot easier with your family nearby.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Yes, yep. You you can't wait to leave, and then once you're out, you're like, you know what, that was really the good life. I want how do I how do I get back there? And so um, yeah, what uh and then after I mean, I I didn't start doing farmers markets until about around 2020.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

How did that start? Or is it mostly just kind of like a side thing as you were doing I mean your research at the Yo?

Settling In Utah And Perspective Shifts

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Yeah, it it did. It started off as you know, kind of just a a side weekend gig. Um the the seed had been planted a couple years prior um with folks, you know, while I was living in Chicago, I I had meat from the from the ranch, you know, that I would I would keep in the in the apartment, um, and you know, give out to somebody to in the lab, like here's some hamburger, have a couple steaks, Merry Christmas, kind of a thing. And they would always come back to me and say, Can I buy more of that from you? Uh that that's like the best meat I've ever had in my life. Um can I buy more hamburger? Can I buy like a uh a cow portion or a cow share? Um I'm I'm like I sorry, thank you, but no, I I don't have, you know, I'm not set up to do that. Uh but it it planted the seed that maybe that was an avenue and one that the the business hadn't um explored yet for sure. It is primarily a what's known as a cow calf operation up to that point. So raising raising calves, selling them in the fall, and then kind of repeating the the process over you know over the years. But the direct-to-consumer aspect of of the beef of a beef business um you know really started kind of building around 2018, I would say, when um the ranch was recognized as a centennial um operation by the state of Wyoming, so they've been in business or been incorporated since 1903. I'm you know I'd be fifth generation. All of those things never really hit me. They were there, but just not in my face, and I it it didn't really occur to me how special it was. Um and then it was just like a random stroll with the kids through Wheeler Farm and around 20, you know, 2019-ish. And I saw you know a a beef vendor at the um at the Wheeler Farmers Market. I'm like, I wonder if I could do that. What would it take? I know, just maybe a five head or so I could use for use for beef. And then I I started kind of started started from there. I started with five. Um applied the next season, fortunately got in. It almost didn't happen because that was the COVID summer and we didn't know that they were actually gonna allow the market to take place until maybe a month or two before it opened. So um but yeah, I've been there doing their um summer market for the last five years, um, and then the winter market uh for the last three, I believe. Uh when they started doing the winter market, it was my first year, so I think that's been three years. Uh and they're just kind of branching out into you know the Sandy City farmers market, um the different holiday markets, um, expanding beyond beef and and incorporating pork and doing tallow and tallow products, um uh dog treats, you know, all the all the different things you can do from uh you know from from cattle and ranching operations.

The Farmers Market Spark

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Yeah. Well, I love that you have that experience at school where you're like, hey guys, like try this out. Like, I want more. You're like, well, I actually just gave you my dinner for Friday. Uh there's there's not there's not more that I can just pull. It's not like I just butchered this cow in my apartment. But then I mean it's nice to see because I'm sure like being someone who like grew up on a farm, but then kind of I mean left and understands the supply chain, there has to have been some sort of change to more of like a direct-to-consumer, just because everything during like the 2010s became more direct to consumer, and so much of like kind of like later steps in the supply chain were taken out. But then I like that you had this experience at the Wheeler Farm market where like, oh, like he's doing it. Well, I can do this. Right. Because like there's so many times that people look at something going on of being like, oh, well, I that I see this happening, but I would never do it, or like I could never do it. Yeah. And then little by little you're like, oh, actually I can. And like there was this weird like confidence that came in my 30s is when I learned that there was like I would see people doing something, and I'd be like, I objectively know that you are stupider than I am. And somehow you can figure this out. And if you can figure this out, I can figure something else out, equally as complicated or equally else as hard. Because I mean, I was just always grown up with because I grew up in a family where I mean my mom was a doctor, single mother, and then like there wasn't really I don't really understand too much else. And you just kind of take it in as like, oh, people just go do things and I will go get a job and I'll just keep doing it until there's something you're like, oh wait, I kind of want to do that. And then you're you realize the only thing keeping you from doing it is yourself, so you might as well. And so I imagine there was a call to the family being like, hey, I'm coming with a truck, I'm gonna pick up a lot of meat, and I have an idea. And I mean, it sounds like it worked out. I imagine there's a lot of people that came back every week to be like, I got some beef last time, I need 20 times as notch.

Launching Direct-To-Consumer Beef

SPEAKER_00 20:00

Yeah, it it's it's grown exponentially every every year since. Um and it was, yeah, my I I know they're gonna listen to this, but honestly, they were my my parents were I think a little skeptical at first. So like, well, how do how are you gonna do that? How does that work? And I'm like, I don't know, I'll just figure it out along the way. But it's um you know, it it was something that, and again again, that that centennial recognition for the ranch really really lit a spark under me. I'm like, I've got to do something to expand the business, to kind of bring it into the a next century kind of mentality, incorporate e-commerce and incorporate direct to consumer. There's so many things that we can be doing, but we haven't been. It's a it's a great product. Um somewhere along the line, I I tried grocery store beef just out of curiosity, and it was it was it's a night and day, it was a night and day comparison. I never never did it again. And so um, and it's yeah, the the market's the the customer base. Um I have a regular stream, a large regular stream of return customers that have my you know cell phone number. They they text me, orders, they don't even go through the website, they call or text me. Um I I know their kids, I know their kids' names, what they you know, the sports they play, um, their favorite cuts. Like they walk up like, oh, this is you know, it's Adam. He loves uh you know, Chuck Rose and Flat Irons. And so I I I've loved building those kind of relationships, and it they've just grown every every year since since starting it at Wheeler Market.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Yeah, especially with how I mean I got introduced to you via Minoli. And so it's fun too to be like, I mean, get targeted by people who are like, hey, I have a restaurant, I only use quality ingredients, I want yours. Yeah. Which is like a whole like a different kind of validation, but then also it gives you this confidence being like, oh, like local restaurants are using quality local products, and I get to be a part of this. Again, like, because you get these experience at the at the um farmers markets and everything of literally seeing the faces come back, get to know them, see their kids, and do this, but then also know, like, I mean, while it's one more step removed, still saying, like, oh, like there are people that get to enjoy my product this much better and sit down, and I know that it's all gonna be prepared well and my customers will be taken care of.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

Yeah, and uh that was I'm I'm so glad you mentioned Menoli. It was that was such a uh um as I was talking, I you know, I just dropped off at uh Menoli's and Perea um before coming here. And we today we were just talking about how it was uh just kind of a random occurrence. He was walking through um looking for you know kind of a new local source of uh of ground beef. He just kind of saw the sand before we even before I even opened and said, Hey, uh you know, this is you know like uh Casanavis, I have this restaurant kind of looking for um uh ground beef. Is there can I buy a pound from you? And I just grabbed one of the freezer and said, Here you go. Um enjoy, I think you're gonna love it. And it's that you know that that relationship has blossomed ever since. And it's uh it it's a lot of it's a lot of pressure, because you know it's um but it is valid, it's a lot of validation as you as you mentioned, like that this is a just a tremendous you know, world-class chef, um great restaurants, and they're they're trusting the product that you're putting in their hands to transform that into you know the best food that they or the food that they offer, which is just absolutely fantastic. Um and so there's there's a validation there, and there's a a lot of stress on like, okay, I've gotta keep gotta keep doing what we're doing. And it's um yeah, I I I love that relationship.

Restaurant Partnerships And Validation

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Yeah, no, it and it's fun to see like the tail end of things because obviously it wasn't easy at the beginning where you're like, I'm figuring this out. Okay, how do I get payment? How do I show up at the market? How do I like how do I get people to be interested in this? Um but no, I'd also be worried, like it's always nice when your parents are a little worried because if they're like we believe in you 100%, there's no risk here, you'd be like, Right, am I thinking big enough? Like, or do you think of me high enough? But so you started, I mean, when you did, it sounds like with like five head, and um, but I mean, talk to me how much it's grown since then and and how much I mean how much beef you're pushing through Utah these days.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

Yeah, oh gosh. So yep, 2020 um did about five. No, but that was just kind of like a trial lot, um, and everything went great, so much so that it was I was sold out um maybe midway through the the summer market. And so I had to actually source from a high school friend of mine that does a very similar or has a very similar operation around Lusk, um, Jason Zumbrun and Zumbrun and Ingus bought several head from there just to get through the rest of the market and then tried to you know basically double the numbers um that I was pushing through the next year. And it's one one thing I think people don't really realize about the beef industry, the the pre-planning um you're looking probably you know 18 months, 24 months in advance of when you actually need um greater supply.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

Can't just go to the grocery store and buy more.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

It it takes time to grow. There's a lot of um trait selection involved, there's a lot of quality assurance kind of along the way. Um we you know we have bulls and cows, and that business, you know, gestation takes a long time, and and growing uh you know, steers and heifers to the right size, that obviously takes time. So it things do not turn on a dime. And there was there was a lot of kind of early growth pains. I'm like, well, the demand is definitely outpacing what I can push through and how can I increase numbers to you know certain points to to meet this. Uh and I'm I'm I'm still not there. Um I I still run out of ground beef, I still run out of steaks, um, but I'm I'm pushing to grow you know as much as I can at a return that I can.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

Um it's a good problem. I'd rather I'd always rather have the problem of abundance than the problem of scarcity. True. And I'm sure your dad, like family's happier, you're like, hey, listen, uh, I actually need twice as much. Hey, I need twice as much again. Hey, shocker, I also need twice as much. And then they're like, Well, are you sure? Like, last thing we want to go do is buy, I mean, twice as many cattle at the auction and hoping that it all comes back around.

Scaling Pains And Long Planning Cycles

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Yeah, well, it's and these are I mean, these are cattle that were that are actually growing on the ranch that we're talking about feeding. It's not, yeah, we're not um, I only had to source that one time because I there was I had no other options. Um, but yeah, and so my my folks are still on the ranch and they they handle all the the feeding through the winter. I go back to to move cattle or um you know ship to ship to the processor, um, do the vaccinations and things of that sort. But the the vast majority, like the day-to-day, um, my parents are still running. So they're like, uh I don't know if we want to do like more, you know, because they're you know, in their mid mid and late 70s now. And so I also kind of have to be careful, like I don't want to overwhelm them and and put more, you know, keep uh keep expanding to the point where they uh you know it becomes like a maintenance problem. Yeah. Uh yeah. So obviously you're very, very grateful that they're you know in great health and able to still be involved in in that extent. But yeah, it the whole the whole process definitely definitely takes time and it's you know a very fortunate position, as you said, to be in the the position of of needing more and not having more than you actually need.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Yeah. Yeah, the last thing you want to do is overextend. But I mean, how many cattle do they have on the ranch at any given time?

SPEAKER_00 28:11

Um it it it it varies, um, usually between two two to three hundred um is typically the the running numbers, and that's that's honestly down quite a bit um from where you know, like my my childhood numbers where we you know had multiple ranch hands kind of working out there. Um you know, they've my my folks have kind of downsized uh just by by necessity um over the years. And so it's kind of at that that critical point where it's it's enough to to maintain um and we you know using everything that we we produce, but um yeah, growth. I definitely have a growth mindset.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

I mean it's a good thing to have. I mean, especially when I and I like that you championed yourself about it. You're like, all right, we're about to become a Centennial Ranch. Like I like it's fine if everything keeps going as it is, family ranch growing, provides income, whatever, but like it's also another thing to say, hey, you know what? Actually, I kind of want to make this better, like make this more because I mean I would imagine the amount of work that takes into growing it isn't as much as the growth and the benefit from it. So it's like, yeah, we can keep doing arguably the same thing, or we can change a couple things and do a lot better. And I mean, it does take a little bit of creative thinking because I mean, parents in their late 70s probably, I mean, to your point, like don't want to sign up for more. Right. They're trying to wind it all together.

Family Capacity And Sustainable Growth

SPEAKER_00 29:31

They were not looking for more work. That was that was me. And it's um, I I guess I see it as a responsibility for the next generations, too. What can you um I I don't remember the exact quote, but it's it's something to the effect of you know, where where I am, I stand on the on the shoulders of giants. Yeah, and so this is all built, you know, on on prior generations. And I it it really hit me during that time as a responsibility. Um that this is something that that's much greater than me. Um what can I do to contribute to to help it grow and expand and adapt to the times? So it's um it was something that I I felt was my responsibility. Hopefully, my kids and they they they come to the markets all the time uh with me, and I think it's a great experience for them, uh, business-wise as well. But hopefully it's something that they can um take in the future and and use their own kind of creative power to to grow in ways that I I haven't seen.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Yeah, I mean when you show your kids that this is something that matters, something matters to you, the work that it takes, I mean, it definitely instills some sort of pride in them. Yep. And shows like, yeah, this is like this is what we do. We've done this, you're the sixth generation of doing this. Like we are we handle cattle and we sell beef, and it's like a beautiful thing.

Entrepreneur Mindset And Legacy

SPEAKER_00 30:46

It it is, and they they they talk to customers, especially my daughter. Shout out to to Steph, um, the social butterfly that she is. She just she will go on and on uh with complete strangers, folks that just walk up that are that are new to the business and tell them all about it, to tell them about her favorite horse and uh riding. The important things. Exactly. Most important, yes. Her her favorite horse, Scarlet, um and all the things that they they do at Grammy and Grampy's ranch. And um, this is you know just the best beef they've got.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Sound like the best salesperson you can ever have.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

They are. Oh gosh. Yeah, so I I do that as a as a side note, I started um selling tallow balms, uh, which is a skin lotion moisturizer. Uh I want to say about two years ago. And so being a skincare product, like Steph was all over that. That was her gig. Like the brothers will not touch it. Um, she had, you know, I got her little Q-tips for samples. Any lady that walked by, she just like she she got she she got them in this, you know, adorable, now beautiful 11-year-old girl, um, you know, peddling uh skincare samples. Um she yeah, she's she's one of the probably does a better better job at it than I do. Yeah. So it's it's it's great to see.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

So are you still balancing I mean research up at the U or um PhD work as well on top of that?

SPEAKER_00 32:03

I I do so I've I moved on from uh academics into industry. So I moved into uh kind of the biotech industry uh 20 2018. Okay. Um and gone through you know different uh different companies. Last couple of years that there's been you know a couple of shifts with the that industry kind of being topsy turvy post post-COVID. But yeah, still in the in the in the biotech industry, largely uh sales and support type roles, and still kind of in the molecular biology, biology, and then you know, balancing this uh as as best I can as well.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

Still sharing beef with coworkers for holidays, birthdays.

SPEAKER_00 32:38

Yep, that it makes a great, great present. Um and yeah, they they this time when they come back, I'm like, I have a website and I can I can ship directly to you if needed.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

So man, that's a busy life. But that's but I also love that it's because like sometimes it's like my day job is like very much computer job, like thinking, always have to take work with me. And sometimes it's hard to like compartmentalize it all. But sometimes I wish I just had like, hey, go assemble widgets or go do something that's like very like in your like with your hands doing something that isn't on a computer. And so I love that you have again, like because we've talked about the polarity of I mean being on a farm and uh molecular biology. And so I love that you still have both of these where I'm sure there's days where you're like, I just want to go on the farm and go herd some cattle and just be outside. But there's I'm sure there's time where you're like, I don't want to be on this farm. I just want to go sit in a lab and just like nerd out on molecular biology and then do all of that. So it's nice you kind of like can switch between the two.

Kids, Markets, And Tallow Products

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Yeah, it it is. It's I I I was I thought there was something wrong with me for the longest time because once you're in one world, you want the other. And once you go to that world, you want a piece of the other. So it's yeah, you get you get tired of sitting you know in a computer and and dealing with uh you know um sequencing equipment problems or working on big sales deals, you're like, I I just want to go ride my horse, I want to go out in the trees, um, and and get lost in the pasture and never deal with this again. And then when I have that opportunity, I'm like, I really miss the mental stimulation and the stress, oddly enough to say it, because you you do miss the uh um the the the stress of the whole thing. Like there'll come a day where I don't need or want that stress, I'll I'll be fine on a horse. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

Well, and I also love like because I love that you've got gotten I love that you've had the experience to have both of these where I mean there's kind of like the expected path of a lot of people when you go to college, you understand we want to study, you go do whatever you want to do, you have a job, you get your paycheck, and you keep going, get your promotion. There's I mean value in that. But then there's this whole different experience of like building something from the ground that you didn't have, of like, oh, I think I can do this. And the next thing you know, your first Sunday at Wheeler Farm being like, okay, like you like beef, you like beef. And then all of a sudden you're like, oh, actually, I need twice as much as I thought I did next year. And so I love that you have both sides of that of like the academia, the professional, but then also of building a business. So I mean that's such a unique, like another dimension of the pendulum swing of it all.

Balancing Biotech Career And Ranch Biz

SPEAKER_00 35:14

Yeah, and they that yeah, they they both have fed into each other. That you you captured my Mitchelli of Michelity that first Sunday. I'm like, I don't even know if I'm gonna get a sale. I'd be happy if I got one. And and like, you know, because the I'm not even sure how to run a credit card. Like I I had like tested on my on myself. And um is this you know, thing, is this uh uh my my point of sale software, is that actually gonna start up? And um, you know, do I do I have the prices right? Are are people even gonna stop by? Like the all of the all of the fears. Um but a a lot of what I've brought in from you know kind of the professional side and and research and and uh and and biotech sphere does give you a little more more confidence. And so I I the feed off of both um kind of on a on a continuous basis. But it's it's been uh you know a tremendous experience kind of seeing where things have grown.

SPEAKER_01 36:09

I hope that at least more than a handful of times that you've stared at something and said, I have a PhD in molecular biology, I can figure this out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:18

You would think when it comes to e-commerce sales rates for uh 50 different states. I I've said that exact same thing. I'm like, dude, you can you can figure this out, right? Wait, and then it comes down to like, oh, maybe there's a plug-in that will do that for me.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

And click add maybe uh we'll try another one, sure. Uh comes together. Um anything else you want to make sure we cover?

SPEAKER_00 36:42

Um gosh. Um I'm not sure. Um that that covers, yeah, I mean, most of it. Um I think that's no worse.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

I mean, sometimes people are like, I actually do want to cover this or this, or some people are like, I have no idea what else I would even cover if I could. But I guess because I I'm curious, Kevin, because I mean obviously you have the website and you have the farmers market, but I'm curious some of your I mean if people want to go try some product without having to I mean buy I mean cow or buy directly from you. I mean, so what are some of the restaurants that supply your beef?

SPEAKER_00 37:23

Yeah, so currently um Minois on 9th, I believe, and then also Perea, uh, which is also on 9th, are the the two restaurants that I I distribute to. Um I I would like to do more. It's just the again, we get back to the the supply. So that's um, and I I actually run a little short um sometimes on on ground beef that I can deliver to them. Um and so I I haven't been able to branch out or distribute to other restaurants to this point. I have to kind of save the the rest of the beef for um the farmers markets because that's that those um those go pretty quick. Um I've upped the the tempo of you know processing and basically the the entire um speed of the supply chain as best I can to better accommodate. Um but again it it a lot of that is dependent on how well I planned you know a year and a half ago as far as um the cattle numbers that I I can actually use. Um but uh a a lot of folks that just want to um try or sample the product get a taste for what um what what what we're all about um we'll just go with a a pound of ground beef because you can use it in anything from from casseroles to tacos and it's a great um uh flavor indicator of the of the quality that you're you're getting. So I've had a lot of folks come by and just do a a pound of ground beef. The next time they come back, they you know buy a half dozen steaks or something. Yep. So it's um that that would be the best avenue. But um do anything with ground beef.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

Like it's always it's always a thing I always have a pound of in my freezer, and I'm like, do I need to make like spaghetti with a meat sauce? Do I need to go make some sort of stir fry? Do I want to make burgers? Do I want to make whatever? Uh also curious, what's your favorite cut of steak?

SPEAKER_00 39:11

Oh gosh. So that's a great question.

SPEAKER_01 39:17

Um if there's nuance to it, I'm also curious about that.

First Market Nerves And Learning Curve

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Yeah. Uh so oddly enough, the kids are not that big a fan of steaks. They'll eat anything with they'll eat anything with ground beef. Um, maybe I saturated them at the at a young age or something, or or roast. They they've gotten a lot of roast over the years, too. Um they they love ground beef tacos. Um, personally, uh if I have a and I I don't do this very often because they usually they usually sell out, but ribeyes are just fantastic. And I'm not sure I mentioned this before, but we or I do a uh a dry aging process through my processor. So it's a 21-day dry age uh makes it incredibly tender, a darker red, more flavorful, tender. Um, everything that you love about high quality restaurant steaks, that's that's what we sell. Um, the same goes with the the ground beef as well. It's a it's a whole carcass uh dry aging process, and so that flavor is transferred into the ground beef.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

Is that done here or is that done in Wyoming?

SPEAKER_00 40:24

Uh it's in Wyoming. So I use a processor in Cody, Wyoming. So there's a lot of road time between between Lusk and Cody, and then from Salt Lake to Cody, and um especially this, maybe maybe not this year so much, but in a lot of winters, um, there's a lot of um dodging snowstorms across southwestern Wyoming and and not getting stranded with a a trailer of you know a ton and a half of beef in the back. So that that's become a thing. But oh gosh, I yeah, ribeyes and and chenderloins um are are my favorite cuts, and they're they're usually the ones that sell out the most, so I I don't um necessarily set them aside for me personally. But if the if the opportunity presents itself, I'd I'd never pass that up.

Where To Taste Kevin’s Beef

SPEAKER_01 41:05

Yeah, don't disagree. I mean, like I think that's probably my favorite cut, either that or fillet. But I'm also like you put a steak in front of me and it will be eaten promptly.

SPEAKER_00 41:16

Yep. And there's a lot of I mean, those are just like probably top two in name recognition as well. Um, but I mean you have Denvers, you have flat irons, um Bavettes, I think I'm pronouncing that right. It it might be a Bavet or uh the English skirt, um, are are all tremendous. And once you have them, you're like, oh, I didn't know what I was missing. But there's yeah, a a variety of different uh different cuts that are just phenomenal. Big fan.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

Um well, lastly, before we wrap up, want to ask you the two questions I always ask everybody at the end of each episode. Uh, number one, if you could have someone on the Small Lake City Podcast and hear more about their story, what they're up to, who would you want to hear from?

SPEAKER_00 41:55

Oh, can I own I I have at least three. Please fire what? Okay.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

One only, that's it.

Cuts, Dry Aging, And Processing

SPEAKER_00 42:03

I was gonna say, am I restricted to to one? Um, so being in the farmers market uh atmosphere, you get exposed to um small business owners of multiple different varieties, and they're they're salt of the earth, that just great people that had a dream, and this is where it's it's manifesting in their in their business ideas. They started at farmers markets. Um probably the the first person that came to mind, I I think I mentioned this in an email a while ago, but um, raw eddies. So I have a uh a diabetic son, he's 11. He was he was diagnosed last year, and so that really kind of gives, I mean, fortunately, meat is is gluten-free, and that's a you know a great protein and nutrition source for him. But he loves raw eddies um uh snacks. They're they're gluten-free, they're incredibly healthy, all natural ingredients. Um, so Caitlin um is the the owner, young businesswoman, does a fantastic job, um, just works her tail off all the time. I everywhere I go, she's she's basically doubling my efforts in in whatever sphere we're both involved in. So I I speaking with her, I think would be um a fantastic opportunity. Um another very popular vendor at uh Wheeler Farms would be um oh don't space on her name. Uh she started Green Jar uh Smoothies.

SPEAKER_01 43:34

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:36

Laura, Laura Begent. Okay. As her name.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

Um because that's the one where you go and you can bring the jar back. Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

Yep, the big mason jars. The best stinking drinks. Oh my gosh. Um, it's it's magic in a jar. I absolutely love her smoothies. Um, so Laura would be another fantastic guest.

SPEAKER_01 43:55

Um But it's it's fun to see because I like how you mentioned about how the farmer's market is kind of like the platform for people who who are like, oh, I have an idea. I created something, I grew something. You guys interested? But then it's also fun to see how many of like people I've had on the podcast also know that turned into like a full-fledged business. I mean, people like Baby's Bagels, people like uh the dough lady, people like uh, I mean, there's so many different uh bakeries that even just like mentally walking through the farmer's market downtown, and like it's been so it's fun to see these people say, Hey, I've made something, I think you'll like it, and be like, Oh, you do like it, I can make this a whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

Yeah, and so the market test, it's the ultimate market test because it's um you you don't know you you can advertise, you can market the best you can. Um, folks will show up and you know, hopefully you you get a couple, and then if if it takes off from there, you know you've you've got something and you can build on that. Um and I I I've known a couple folks that started at the market and then they moved into brick and mortars. That would that would be the next step for for this business as well. Um, but it's yeah, it's it's a great market test and it's a great launching pad. And the the Salt Lake area is just phenomenal with all the number of of different uh markets, not just downtown Salt Lake, but you know, Wheeler, obviously, and then Draper, uh Mill Creek, Mill Creek Commons, um Ogden, you know, every I I I'm not gonna be able to name them all, but there are uh you know many, many, many different uh market opportunities. And it's a it's a great launching pad um for those for those small businesses. ideas.

Market As Launchpad For Small Brands

SPEAKER_01 45:34

And I'm this like I'm the person who because I lived in Seattle for almost three years, like a block and a half away from uh the market. And it was fun because like there are places I would go. It's like, oh look at like weekly or monthly place I would go go get my bagel, my flower, like whatever it could be. Right. Because if you go enough you kind of like refine your your priorities. But then people who go to markets and farmers markets like they want they they're there for good things. It's not like anything can make the cut. Right. And so it's fun to see how like oh you think you have a good idea like go to the market. And especially if it's like a produce like you're head to head against other people who think they have good produce and in unless you do have good produce then it might not work.

SPEAKER_00 46:15

Yeah exactly it's it's a it's a great test there's there are other beef vendors there. There's um you know multiple different produce vendors different bread companies as you as you noted it it's all there. So it's a it's a great way to to refine your product as you said or or get a better feel of of how you can expand and if that's a real opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 46:36

Totally. And then lastly if people want to find out more information about I mean the farm or uh want to buy beef online what's the best place to find information?

SPEAKER_00 46:46

Yeah Johnson Naturalbeef.com is the website for for all things beef. I as I mentioned you know started doing tallow a couple years ago I launched a tallow website uh I believe that was last spring it's called thetallowworks.com there's there's so many different things that you can do with with beef tallow. It's not just a a cooking oil a very healthy cooking oil um although I I have that there you know regular and seasoned like a garlic and herb tallow um but multiple different tallow balms infused with different essential oils soap uh bath bombs deodorant it's um it it's it's fantastic for your skin mirrors the the lipid content of your of your skin in a very um very close magnitude and so the the tallow trust him he's a molecular biologist well yeah again it wasn't you know it was something that that kind of came up along along the way somebody had asked for um gosh several hundred pounds of of beef fat and I'm like what in the world are you doing with that much fat and come to find out they had a a tallow company and they were making tallow bombs and I went oh well I can do that yeah and so I started you know kind of dinking around and and made you know numerous different formulations that um have been refined you know as much as I can and it turned into really really good products that the folks keep coming back for. So the the tallowworks dot com um direct line 801 9539442. Like I said there are many many folks that just call or text me directly and I I I love that we can talk beef we can talk tallow we can talk dog treats um so I make you know beef beef ground beef biscuits um liver treats for dogs you know all the all the different things so more than happy to to talk about what we're what we're about and and get to know folks on a on a personal level and I think that's important to know where these types of products are coming from.

How To Buy: Sites, Products, Phone

SPEAKER_01 48:46

So call Kevin talk beef he's got a lot of beef yes um but now Kevin this is great thanks so like thank you for doing that like it's such a fun story to hear I mean the journey along the way where you've s ended up all the different kind of like side quests of of tallow and in farmers market but no thank you.

SPEAKER_00 49:05

I'm excited I'm excited to have some beef. Well th thank you no I I really appreciate it. This is a a fantastic opportunity and so it's it it sounds less convoluted maybe to to spit it out than it does in my head but it it's been a real it's it's been a real journey and and one that uh you know I'm very very grateful for no keep doing it