The Prairie Foods Story (Full Version)

We didn’t set out to start a food company. We just wanted to farm—and live a simple life close to the land. But our story quickly became much more than that. 

What began with cornfields and conventional practices evolved into a hard-earned shift toward regenerative grazing, real food, and a deep commitment to soil health. Along the way, we faced financial setbacks, personal loss, and years of chronic illness that no doctor could explain. What ultimately helped us heal wasn’t just food—but how that food was grown, and the community it connected us to.

Prairie Foods was born out of that journey.

The Early Years

We got married in the spring of 2015 and moved to the home farm where my parents were living. The farm was being leased out at the time, but we were eager to give farming a try—so we jumped in.

In the beginning, we did what most local farmers around us were doing: planting corn, soybeans, and wheat, and making a lot of horse hay. We grazed some dairy heifers on marginal ground and took advice from the experts we had access to—local farmers, ag salesmen, and a crop consultant from the fertilizer company. We tested soils, bought the recommended fertilizer and herbicides, and did our best to follow conventional wisdom.

But despite all the hard work and inputs, the numbers didn’t add up. Each year we dug deeper into debt, and the future began to look bleak. Still, we couldn’t shake our love for the land or our desire to make it work.

Around this time, my personal health began to decline more seriously.

A Long Road with Chronic Illness

My health struggles started early. As a boy, I suffered a head injury after falling off a hay wagon and hitting a steel tractor wheel. It healed—but left me with chronic headaches. At 14, I stepped on a nail and developed a serious infection that required surgery and two months of antibiotics. Looking back, that’s when my gut health collapsed.

In my teens, I constantly battled fatigue, soreness, and headaches. I struggled to work for others, so I started my own side business and worked long hours—pushing through exhaustion with caffeine, energy drinks, and eventually alcohol and tobacco. A fall from a roof later misaligned my neck and spine. My body was maxed out, inside and out.

I went to doctors and chiropractors. We ran every test imaginable. The answers never came. After we married, Lydia could see how much I was struggling—just focusing on basic tasks took everything I had. We ended up in the hospital multiple times, including once after a complete nervous breakdown. The doctors always ran tests, prescribed something, and sent us home.

Finally, a friend introduced us to a homeopathic chiropractor. I found some relief—but not full healing. The core issue remained.

Discovering a New Way to Farm

Even in the middle of all this, I couldn’t shake my growing interest in soil health. I had a gut sense that the only way to make our farm sustainable—financially and physically—was to build healthier soil. I began attending conferences and reading everything I could.

We started replacing synthetic fertilizers with natural amendments, cutting out herbicides, and experimenting with cover crops. A friend invited me to a local grazing meeting, and I found myself immersed in a whole new world of knowledge and inspiration.

I read more books, attended a business school, bought more cows, and started subdividing pastures and stringing fence. I quickly realized: grazing was simpler, more fulfilling, and more regenerative than growing row crops or making hay. It also demanded less of my limited energy—which mattered a lot.

By 2018, we sold our equipment and converted our entire farm to grass. We stopped cropping entirely and rotated cattle across 200 acres, mostly on custom grazing contracts. But we knew our long-term goal was to market our own products directly to families.

That same year, we founded Prairie Foods, created a vision and mission, and dove into farmers markets. We raised beef, pork, chicken, and eggs—until we realized we were spread too thin. We decided to focus, do one thing well, and slowly expand from there.

Our Son, Our Grief, and Our Turning Point

In 2018, we also experienced the greatest loss of our lives. Our son Johnathan died in a farm accident. The grief hit hard and deep—on top of the fatigue, pain, and discouragement we were already carrying. Depression set in, and more medical tests followed, all of them inconclusive.

At that point, we had tried every supplement, diet, and product on the market with little success. But through our exploration of soil health, we had begun to uncover something else—something profound.

We learned that the health of our food depends on the health of the soil it’s grown in. And that even organic food, if grown in poor soil, can be deficient in the nutrients and compounds the body needs to heal.

That realization sparked a shift.

We eliminated processed foods and stimulants, and made it our goal to either grow or personally know the source of everything we ate. We started counseling and began letting go of long-held grief and trauma. We continued working with a chiropractor to restore energy flow and alignment. Slowly—step by step—healing began.

It didn’t happen overnight. It’s still unfolding. But between clean food, soil-based nutrition, emotional healing, and divine intervention, I got my life back.

Why Prairie Foods Exists

Prairie Foods was born out of our journey. It’s more than a business. It’s a mission—to help small farmers thrive while producing nutrient-dense, truly clean food. It's also a platform to serve families navigating the same health challenges we walked through.

We’ve partnered with like-minded farms to grow and raise food the way nature intended, while preserving a lifestyle that honors simplicity, stewardship, and community. Our goal isn’t just to keep one farm going—it’s to help preserve a way of life that’s quickly disappearing.

Food alone won’t heal every wound. But never underestimate the power of real, nourishing food to restore the body, mind, and soul.

We’re here today because of what we walked through—and the prayers God answered. And we’re here to offer food you can trust, grown by people who care deeply.