Parker Pastures: Still
making a living off the land

Laura Puckett
Special to the Times

Beneath the lowering clouds a crowd mingled in the farmyard, quietly eating their homemade ice cream and swatting mosquitoes while a gaggle of sticky children scampered about their feet. They had just returned from a hay-ride tour of Bill Parker’s paddocks and were continuing to ask him questions about his cattle and holistic management practices. Kelli, his wife, scooped the ice cream she made with milk from her dairy cows and tended to the new arrivals, welcoming them to the Parkers’ first open house.
Parker Pastures, now in its fourth summer, has become a well-known presence selling their grass-fed beef, pork, chickens, and eggs at the Gunnison and Crested Butte farmers markets. But part of their mission, Kelli says, is “to educate people about what we’re doing, to get people out here and give them a new perspective.” The open house was an opportunity to welcome old and new friends to their ranch 15 miles east of Gunnison before the markets kick into gear this coming weekend (see related story).
Running in front of the barnyard tour Saturday afternoon, the Parkers’ eldest daughter Cloe, now 6, was excited to show off the farm. Her younger brothers, John Henry, 3, and Oliver, 2, were in the thick of the egg collecting brigade climbing in and out of the egg-mobile. It is very much “family friendly farming,” Kelli says. “The kids participate in every aspect that they can.” The help is needed, too, for as their family has grown and changed, so has their farming.
What began with cattle in the paddocks, goats up Tomichi creek, some dairy cows, turkeys, hogs, sheep, broiler chickens and laying hens, has focused a bit. Kelli and Bill still believe in the benefits of a diversified farm — that the different animals can have complimentary effects on each other and the land — but the management of all those cycles became a bit much. For now they’ve cut goats and sheep out of the operation, and they’ve stopped raising meat birds. Their flock of laying hens has increased from around 200 two years ago to nearly 300 adults and 300 chicks this spring. They’ll raise about 25 hogs over the summer, and in addition to their own herd of beef cattle, Bill pastures others for hire on the land they’ve leased from the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service
The grass-fed beef is still the centerpiece of Parkers Pastures, but the newest and fastest growing aspect of their ranch has become Kelli’s raw milk dairy. The grass that is good for the beef cattle is also good for the dairy cows. Standing in the cool of the stone-walled milking parlor in the ranch’s original barn, Kelli explained that raw milk has become controversial because it became stigmatized as dirty and unhealthy with the advent of pasteurization. The important thing, Kelli says, is hygiene. Raw milk needs to be cleaner milk, absolutely free of contamination, she explained as she showed off her milking machine. Her vigilance has paid off: the Parkers’ milk is tested every month, and as of the last four or five tests, is some of cleanest in Colorado. In turn, the milk you get is of higher quality and healthier.
Starting with the first Jersey cow Bill gave Kelli for their anniversary three years ago, the Parkers fell in love with the taste of raw milk and the products they could make. Their herd is now up to about 25 cows, and Kelli milks every morning to fulfill her family’s and her shareholder’s needs. The regulations governing raw milk stipulate that it can only be consumed by its owner, so instead of buying milk at the market, shareholders buy into part of the cow and receive weekly deliveries of milk and dairy products. Kelli is excited because “the possibilities are so many — yogurt, butter, cottage cheese. I produce them as a service to my shareholders, and then the shareholders are making amazing foods with their milk.”
In the long run, the dairy can prove to be more economically sustainable for the Parkers. It’s a big investment at the outset, but they’re building their herd and next year they’ll be milking their own heifers for the first time. “The bottom line,” Kelli says, “is that they produce something for us every day.” Right now they give the cows some supplement, but in time as the forage improves, the dairy will be independent of external inputs. “It’s a way to make a living from the land, which is our number one goal.”
In pursuit of that goal, Kelli, Bill and their kids are out there every day, milking, gathering eggs and moving cattle. There is a lot more they’d like to do, like reintroduce goats and sheep, raise their own heifers, and fertilize their own eggs, but they are happy with the work they’re doing, the products, they’re producing and the relationships they’ve built in their community. The upcoming market season is their busy time, and they’re looking forward to the face-to-face interaction with new friends and shareholders.
Bill and Kelli will be manning the booths in Gunnison, while Kelli’s brother Jesse Kruthaupt, his wife Laura and their son Carbon will be on the ground in Crested Butte. Newcomers will be able to purchase eggs, grass-fed beef cuts, meadow-raised pork cuts, and, later on in the summer, lamb that’s been raised locally. Shareholders will pick up dairy shares, egg shares, and Community Supported Agriculture meat boxes containing a variety of fine meat cuts. For information on any of the Parkers’ products or on becoming a shareholder, contact Bill or Kelli at 970.641.3710 or parkerlandmanagement@hotmail.com.