Our Story

Our grandpa, Kim Shade, has run cattle on the same land outside Medora, North Dakota since 1993 — native Badlands grassland, the kind of prairie that's fed wild herds for hundreds of years

Kim taught us that food is only as good as where it comes from, and that eating real, whole foods is how humans have always survived. We started Meadowlark to push back against modern processed-food culture and put something honest back on the table — grass-fed, third-party verified beef you can feel good about feeding your family.

How We Ranch

The meadowlark is our state bird in North Dakota, and it only really sings where the grassland is healthy. That's the whole idea behind what we do. Meadowlark Beef comes from 1 of 7 Audubon Certified bird-friendly ranches in ND, which means our land is managed to keep the prairie thriving — the native grass, the soil, and the birds that depend on it.

That same ground is where our cattle are raised. They're grass-fed out on the open prairie and worked the old way, on horseback, like our Grandpa Kim always has. We move the herd so the grass gets time to come back, which keeps the land healthy and the cattle growing up slow and natural. Healthy prairie makes healthy cattle — and you can taste the difference in the beef.

The Name

Kim's the reason for all of it. He's spent most of his life out here "Where the meadowlark sings", and still remembers hearing that song for the first time as a boy, driving across the Dakota prairie.

The Audubon certification verifies that our land management actively supports the habitat these birds depend on — and that habitat is disappearing. Grassland birds have lost 34% of their population since 1970.

So the name isn't just a name. It's the bird, the land, the cattle, and the man who taught us to take care of all of it.

Read the Audubon Feature