Sunshine Beef
Sunshine makes grass.
Grass makes beef.
It's that simple — and that intentional.
Sunshine Beef raises 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef on lush Western Colorado pastures. They begin by purchasing weaned calves from local ranchers, then grow them out slowly and naturally on perennial grasses, legumes, and forbs. The cattle drink fresh snowmelt from the mountains, lick salt and mineral blocks, and spend their days moving across open pasture.
There are no supplements.
No grain.
No imported feeds.
When the cattle are fully grass-finished, they are taken quickly and quietly to a local USDA-inspected processor. In winter, they either graze on stockpiled forage at lower elevations or are fed hay cut and baled from the very same pastures they grazed during the growing season.
While they have not pursued organic certification, their land and water are as clean as agricultural ground can be. They welcome transparency — and invite you to come see for yourself.
Holistic Management
Sunshine Beef operates with a holistic mindset: produce healthy, delicious food; strengthen the local economy; and steward land, water, and livestock responsibly.
By frequently rotating cattle to fresh pasture, they improve soil fertility and stimulate deep-rooted perennial grasses. Their management style supports:
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Soil regeneration
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Carbon sequestration
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Wildlife habitat
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Preservation of open space
Healthy land. Healthy cattle. Healthy community.
The Home Place
The heart of the operation is XK Bar Ranch, a small family ranch nestled in the foothills of the West Elk Mountains near Crawford, Colorado. To ensure abundant pasture for their growing herd, they collaborate with neighbors and lease nearby land — reinforcing a network of working landscapes across the region.
The People Behind the Herd
Tony Prendergast — Cowboss
A fourth-generation Coloradan, Tony grew up raising 4-H animals. He later spent years in the mountains as an Outward Bound Instructor, Wilderness Ranger, and Outfitter. He's built homes from adobe, logs, stone, and straw bale — and in 2011, he bought a couple of calves to try his hand at grass-fed beef. The herd has been growing ever since.