Our Story

Ben was born and raised in Denver, CO and did not grow up farming or ranching. Ben’s closest tie to farming and ranching was the farm his grandfather was raised on in Paul’s Valley, OK, which Ben often visited growing up. Ben attended Colorado State University where he earned a Masters degree in Accounting and more importantly was first exposed to regenerative agriculture in one of his Freshman lecture courses where he watched Food, Inc. While Ben was intrigued by the idea of regenerative agriculture he didn’t see a path to be a farmer or rancher using regenerative principles as he had no inherited land or agricultural experience. 

Ben went on to earn his CPA and worked at a large accounting firm in Denver for 5 years. During those 5 years, Ben’s interest in health and wellness grew, spending his limited time outside of the office in the gym, cooking with healthy, local ingredients for friends and family, and hunting Elk in the Rocky Mountains. But ultimately, Ben came to the realization that his accounting career did not align with his values and did not provide meaning or purpose in his life. 

As Ben was leaving his accounting job and trying to decide what was next, a farmer named Joel Salatin, who Ben had learned about in Food, Inc. nearly 9 years earlier, reemerged in Ben’s life via a podcast. On the podcast, Joel discussed his farm's internship and apprenticeship program that provides a hands-on learning opportunity to people of all ages and experience levels. Ben applied for the highly sought after internship, with little expectation of being accepted. 

Ben couldn’t have been more excited to be accepted to Polyface Farm’s internship program in Swoope, VA. Polyface is a regenerative multi-species farm raising grass-fed beef and lamb, pasture-raised pork, and pasture-raised poultry & eggs. During the 5-month internship, Ben drank out of a firehose learning among many other things, to care for and raise multiple species of livestock, operate heavy equipment, and butcher chickens, lots of chickens. At the end of the 5-month internship, Ben was asked to stay on for an additional year as an apprentice. Ben gladly accepted the apprenticeship and was able to take his knowledge and skills to the next level thanks to the Salatin family and all of the amazing employees, apprentices, and interns.

Upon completion of his apprenticeship at Polyface, Ben connected with Kent Pinson, who owns a ranch Northeast of Guthrie, OK. Ben and Kent are aligned in their vision to manage the ranch using regenerative principles and ultimately providing a local, healthy, quality, and transparent product to the growing community of Central Oklahoma. Ben is excited to be a part of the Central Oklahoma community, please reach out to him with any questions, concerns, or just to say hi!