The Black Ranch Story

It’s another beautiful day at the Prescott Farmers Market: mid-spring, great weather, breezy, smiling faces, good food, music, joy. I'm here to meet a new vendor, rancher Anthony Black from Black Ranch in Williams, and hear his story. We sit in my car, out of the wind and interruptions. Anthony tells me how he moved from a job in information technology to the ranch.

Anthony grew up in Kentucky, a “military brat” with no farming or agricultural background. He studied IT and communications, then signed up for adventure with the Marines, stationed in Japan.

He calls it one of the best decisions of his life. He traveled all over Asia — Cambodia, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and more. Between the Marines and the travel, Anthony says, “I learned to be comfortable with all walks of life and all sorts of people. Only in America are you identified by your skin color. Out there, in the world, you’re simply an American.”

Anthony left the Marines after four years and relocated to Los Angeles with his wife, Asako, whom he met in Okinawa. His IT and cyber-security skills were in big demand, and he had no trouble finding jobs. He worked for AT&T, then the film industry, and finally for NASA at JPL in Pasadena.

But there were problems. Anthony found himself uneasy, unable to concentrate and anxious. The doctor told him his testosterone level was like that of an 80-year-old man, bad news for a 28-year-old trying to start a family. The doctor recommend he clean up his diet. Before that he’d never considered diet, he just ate whatever.

Anthony says, “This is where my hard, analytical research background kicked in. I worked to figure out how to fix myself. I found the Weston A. Price Foundation and was inspired. I cleaned out the house and cleaned up my diet, removing all the junk food and toxic chemicals. I went from home-grown to pasture-raised to healthy. I read Joel Salatin. And I felt a lot better.”

Anthony and Asako thought about changing their lives. The JPL contract was over. He looked for jobs outside the big city and found an opening in Flagstaff. They were determined to live even farther out, and found and purchased a sweet five acres east of Williams, with a house and a good well. Then Covid changed everything. It was a pivotal point. The pandemic ended the job in Flagstaff, and while Anthony could still get a job anywhere with his background, instead he bought chickens.

With 100 chicks to raise for his own table. He needed organic feed. He found both the chicks and the feed at Inspire Farms (inspirefarms.com). He raised those birds on his five-acre pasture. Then Inspire Farms offered to buy them back for commercial sale. “That was the beginning of Black Ranch,” he says.

Now, just three years later, he sells certified organic, pasture-raised, soy-free chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, sheep, duck and rabbit at the Prescott Farmers Market on Saturdays. There are other, closer markets, but Anthony loves the sense of community and established customer base in Prescott. Now Anthony and Asako have two lovely farm-raised children aged three years and four months. The five acres aren’t enough anymore, so he leases more land in Kingman.

Now he partners with Rosebird Farms (rosebirdfarms.com) in Kingman on a Healthy Food Financing Initiative grant from the USDA. He partners with Heartquist Hollow Family Farm (heartquisthollowfarm.com) for meat processing and sales. Anthony and these partners plan to offer a meat-and-vegetable CSA in the Prescott area. Watch for it.

Now he has the time and head space to be creative and grow. He has seen his five-acre pasture bloom with life — lush tall grass, deep soil, visiting wild geese, foraging chickens and happy pigs. Anthony says, “Living in the city you just don’t see that we are a part of nature, and what you do has a real effect.”

‍You’ll find Anthony and Black Ranch exceptional meats at the Prescott Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.

Contact ablack@blackranchaz.com, 928-301-9384, Facebook: BlackRanchllc or Instagram: black_ranch_az.

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‍Animal Agriculture

On large scale farms animals are typically kept in confined, crowded conditions and fed mixes designed to speed growth. They never get outside, never get sunlight, never get to move around in natural ways, and do not get a to forage for a naturally balanced diet. They are fed antibiotics to keep them from getting diseases (fostered by living in these bad conditions), and steroids to speed up their growth. In addition, industrial farms come at a huge environmental cost, contributing to water, soil and air pollution and the spread of diseases to humans. The meat is cheap; the costs are hidden. Meat raised in natural conditions is healthier for you and for the planet.

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