Our Heritage
About
Anderson Ranches
Five Generations of Oregon Grass-Fed Lamb
We’re Reed and Robyn Anderson, and our family has raised sheep in the Willamette Valley for more than a hundred years. We’re the fourth generation to farm this land, and our sons, Jake and Travis, are now the fifth. Ranching is our history, our home, and our future.
Grass Seed Farming: The Heart of the Ranch
We're not just sheep people, we're also holistic grass farmers. Growing grass for generations to feed our sheep and breed a better forage for them in the process. The luscious Willamette Valley, where we're located, is the grass-seed capital of the world, and our family has always operated at the intersection of grass farming and sheep ranching.
Our farm grows a variety of cool-season grasses perfectly adapted to Oregon’s climate. These grasses are the foundation of our entire operation:
✔ They create the lush forage our sheep thrive on
✔ They support our year-round 100% grass-fed lamb program
✔ Their by-products (straw, seed screenings) feed our compost system
✔ They help protect & preserve the fertile soil that keeps our ranch sustainable
Our Land.
Our Grass.
Our Sheep.
Healthy lamb begins with healthy soil. Everything we do starts with the soil.
We grow cool-season grasses and legumes originally native to the exact same climate as the sheep breeds we raise. Because our environment and our genetics match so closely, our animals thrive naturally on open pasture.
The sheep harvest our grasses in the winter and then we harvest grass seed from those same fields in the summer. Nothing goes to waste — offal, wool, grass-seed, straw & screenings all become compost or other useful products that feed the soil again. Every season, with this closed loop system, the land gets healthier and becomes more alive.
The sheep we raise on-farm are 100% free-range and grow entirely on grass and forage. We don’t need to use grain feeds, confinement, growth hormones, or preventive antibiotics, because our environment — and our management — make that unnecessary.
Stress affects meat quality, so we go out of our way to eliminate it. Our animals breed naturally, graze naturally, and move naturally. A calm animal produces cleaner, more flavorful and tender meat — and that philosophy shapes everything we do.
The Way Nature Intended
For decades, the only step we didn’t control was the processing & packaging — so in 2013, we built the Kalapooia Valley Grass-Fed Processing Facility, right here on our family farmland.
Now we oversee every step:
✅ how our animals live
✅ how they’re handled
✅ how they’re processed
✅ how the final cuts reach chefs and customers
This full-circle approach lets us maintain consistent quality 52 weeks a year — same breed, same size, same flavor, same premium standards. We call if the chef standard.
We’ve spent five generations selectively breeding for flavor, tenderness, and hardiness. Today, chefs across Oregon — and across the country — seek out our lamb for its mild, clean, distinctly Oregon flavor.
As Chef Sean from Marché puts it:
“People who think they don’t like lamb — this stuff changes their mind completely!”
We don’t chase trends, we don’t outsource marketing, and we don’t mass-produce. Everything grows by word of mouth, chef to chef, customer to customer.
People recognize Anderson Ranch lamb because it simply tastes the way lamb should - give it a try!
What Matters Most to Us
This isn’t just a business. It’s a family heritage. We care deeply about how our lamb is raised, how our land is treated, and how our customers experience our product.
We want people to know that:
✔ We are sincere about what we do
✔ We are conscientious about how we ranch
✔ We are proud of the lamb we produce
✔ And we are grateful for every customer who trusts us
After five generations, our mission is still simple:
Raise healthy sheep on healthy land, and share exceptional Oregon lamb with people who appreciate real food.
