New TK Ranch Delivery Truck!

Several of our customers have requested that we send reminders when our order cut-off dates are approaching. Going forward we will be sending out simple reminders so you don’t miss out.

For those of you who don’t know, we purchased a new delivery truck, similar to the one in the cartoon. We have yet to put our logos onto it, but its bigger size allows us to sort orders easier and make the delivery experience much better. No more sorting orders on the pavement .

Calgary cut-off date:  Please place your order for our upcoming Calgary delivery by tomorrow — Sunday June 16..

SALE ITEMS: We have Top Sirloin Steak, Chicken Drums and Ground Chicken on sale for 10% off, so don’t miss the savings!

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for great photos and videos of all that we do here on TK Ranch.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,
Colleen Biggs
TK Ranch

How do you know
it’s really grass-fed?

Many producers are entering the marketplace advertising their meat products as grass-fed, but what does this actually mean? Unfortunately the definition of grass-fed is not regulated in Canada yet, so producers are free to decide what grass-fed means to them and raise their animals accordingly. Some have their animals on a grass diet for a while, but grain finish them either in a feedlot or out on pasture. Others put their animals into a feedlot setting after weaning and finish them on forages like hay. Not all producers make their programs completely transparent and unless you know what questions to ask, you might be buying an orange when you really wanted an apple.

There are several question to ask, but these are four essential ones:

1. Do the animals ever receive grain (barley, corn, oats, rye — essentially any starch producing grains) in their diets from birth to slaughter?
2. Do the animals have free access to pasture from birth to slaughter?
3. Do you ever put your animals into a feedlot and finish them on forages like hay?
4. Do you raise the animals in your program from birth, or source them from several farms? If they are from several farms how do you know the calves did not receive grain before you bought them?

Since 1995, TK Ranch has been offering strictly grass-fed and finished beef. With an increase in consumer demand for grass-fed beef, many other producers have entered the marketplace interested in offering their own brands. On TK Ranch, we wholeheartedly support other producers direct marketing; in fact, we have mentored many small family farms over the years. We also realize the importance of setting clear standards for the production of grass-fed beef and lamb.

In the United States, the definition of grass-fed is regulated and producers must be audited to ensure they meet the standards before using this label. Organizations like the American Grassfed Association (AGA) exist to give producers the guidelines and audits they need to meet the standards.

In 2011, TK Ranch approached the AGA to become certified through their organization. We went through the audit process only to be told that the FDA would not allow our certification because we were Canadian. The organization that does audits for the AGA is Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) — the most stringent animal welfare organization in North America. We approached the AWA in 2012 to create a Canadian grass-fed standard and have been working closely with them since. In 2013, TK Ranch became the first certified grass-fed ranch in Canada for both our beef and lamb. By setting this standard, we are helping to create a transparent and measurable process for producers to follow and a label that consumers can trust.

TK Ranch June/July Sale Items
Top Sirloin Steak — 10%
Chicken Drums — 10%
Ground Chicken — 10%
This sale is offered while quantites last.

TK Ranch Upcoming Delivery Dates
CALGARY — June 22nd (order deadline June 16th)
EDMONTON — July 20th (order deadline – July 14th)

Please note — we are closed for a week in July to prepare for the launch of our new on-line order system — so please stay tuned!

Don’t forget to follow TK Ranch on Facebook for new pictures and videos posted daily.

Kind regards,
Colleen Biggs
TK Ranch

TK Ranch.com Order System REPAIRED

Last weekend we had a mysterious "internal error" problem with our order processing page. As a result of this, many of you could not place your orders. This is now thankfully fixed just in time for our next Calgary delivery which is Saturday May 25th. Please make sure you place your orders by SUNDAY May 19th so you do not miss our cut-off date for delivery. Our next Edmonton delivery is slated for Saturday June 8th. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Happy Spring Everyone! What an unbelievably long winter. After nearly 7 months of snow we were certainly ready for spring on TK Ranch. Above is a beautiful picture of a prairie slough that my husband Dylan took just after the snow melted. With all of the water lying around we were surprised by a large prairie fire on the north end of the ranch last week. Fire crews from Coronation, Castor and Halkirk rushed to help us put out the fast moving blaze. While Dylan was guiding in the fire trucks he spied a tiny porcupine trying to out run the flames. He jumped off the truck and scooped her up just before the fire caught up with her. Luckily she only suffered some singed quills. We transported her to the Medicine River Wildlife Center where she will be fostered — a picture of her is above — HOW CUTE! (I just wanted to cuddle her but quickly discovered that even baby porcupine quills hurt…). After two hours, and luckily a full creek to stop it, the crews had the fire under control. Thank goodness for great neighbours who pitched in to help us and the hard work of the volunteer firefighters — our thanks are not enough.

New E-Commerce Order System
Coming SOON to TK Ranch

As our business continues to grow at an unbelievable rate we are trying to implement systems that will make everyone happier. This includes building a new e-commerce shopping cart that will make ordering much easier. It will also allow our customers to view their order totals so there are fewer payment surprises and to pre-pay so that wait times at pick-up are significantly shorter. No more waiting outside our truck in -27C weather — gotta love that .

Follow TK Ranch on Facebook!

Click here to
Like us on Facebook

I know, what took us so long? I think it has to do with too much work and not enough hours in the day. While there might be little hope for me, luckily Dylan and our daughters have fully embraced Facebook and have become quite tech savvy. Many of you have requested time and again for more pictures and video — well check out our Facebook page and stay tuned. We update pictures almost daily and now is the time to see them as we are just starting to calve, lamb and farrow — lots of cute baby pictures and great wildlife pics too.

We will be back in touch soon with more news, pictures and recipes. I hope you enjoy the great weather and get all of your spring planting done.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Kind regards,
Colleen Biggs
TK Ranch