Since they made their homes here back in the 1700s the Shaw family has always had cows on the farm. Back in 1999, John Shaw underwent five-way bypass heart surgery. Such serious surgery required a lengthy recovery period, during which John had plenty of time to ponder the future of the farm. It also forced him to take a good look at his diet. It was during this time he learned the health benefits of grass-fed beef and the environmental benefits of rotational grazing.

For the next few years miles of fence was built transforming row-crops to pastureland for cattle. Intensive grazing techniques started being used and developed to get the best use from pasture and eliminate disease problems.

During this time, John and Patti’s son David returned to the farm with his wife Penny. The two couples decided that with Penny’s business experience, she would take care of customers, while John would take care of the cattle.

Melanie, Linda, Bella, Penny & Dee - The Flying S Girls

Since John’s passing in 2021, David and his nephews, Jack and Robbie, manage the cows each day, while Penny continues to attend to the customers. Their mission is to continue John’s legacy of good stewardship to produce high quality meat and to make the farm regenerative, not just sustainable.

FUN FACT: David is an aeronautical engineer and when not wrangling cattle, he and Penny run an aerospace business right there on the farm. Flying S Aviation (www.flying-s.com) has almost 100 employees and build things for super sonic airplanes, military drones and top secret space components.