Our Beef

At Phat Pheasant Pharms, we raise our cattle in Kuna, ID on a rich mixture of grasses that we sow on our 60-acre farm. The blend of grasses we grow includes teff, alfalfa, triticale and others, which not only provide our cattle with a rounded diet, but also together create a healthy soil and ecosystem for other critters living on or passing through the farm.

We raise Australian Lowline cattle, a smaller breed of Aberdeen Angus, originally bred in New South Wales, Australia in the early 20th century. These are a unique breed of Angus that are shorter in stature, but otherwise indistinct from their better-known cousins.

Our cattle enjoy the mix of greens—we have thus far registered zero complaints! Prior to butchering, we finish our cattle on a grain diet. This gives our beef more marbling and better flavor. Lowline cattle are a high meat-yielding breed; this means that when butchered a greater portion of the animal’s gross weight is delivered as butchered meat.

We pride ourselves in how we raise and care for our animals and the product delivered to your freezer.

About Phat Pheasant Pharms (PPP)

Third generation Kuna, Idaho farmer, Sam Johnston, established Phat Pheasant Pharms in 1990. When Sam, Barb and their family moved from downtown Kuna to their 60-acre plot of land on the edge of town, they were but a mile from Sam’s father’s and grandfather’s farms. Needless to say, Sam knows this land and community well. It runs deeply in his veins. Initial years on the farm were spent picking rocks from the fields and nurturing them into a productive farm. It is hard to imagine that the now lush green pastures on which they graze their Lowline cattle were mainly rocky and dry fields with a marshy, wet western edge.

At first, PPP was a farm that produced a variety of crops from alfalfa seed, corn, teff, and grasses that were teeming with pheasants. Sam put to use the knowledge about farming in this relatively dry and hot region that he learned from his father and grandfather. He found ways to make the most of his water and maximize the growing potential of his 60 acres.

After farming this land for about 25 years, PPP transitioned to ranching cattle. Sam, ever curious and always learning new techniques, has spent recent years transforming PPP to a remarkably efficient and lush pasture for his cows and Barb’s chickens. PPP now waters the majority of its acreage with a state-of-the-art pivot that Sam has full control of from the convenience of the phone in his pocket. Sam grows a variety of grasses and tubers on this section of the farm to provide a rich and rounded diet for his Lowline cattle. On the western section of PPP, Sam has continued to grow alfalfa and hay to sell.

Phat Pheasant Pharms is also proud to be employing no-till-drill planting techniques when seeding crops and grasses. This is a regenerative agricultural practice that eliminates the need to till the soil to plant new crops. In disturbing the soil less, Sam is keeping intact the root systems, worms, bugs, and micro-ecosystems that keep his soil and crops healthy. This practice among others employed, are but a few ways that PPP is working to continually enrich the soils that feed Sam’s cattle.

The Pharmers