Hidden Gems: Meet Heather Speicher of Homestead Ranch LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Speicher.

Hi Heather, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a 4th generation farmer, the journey of starting our own livestock farm is both a continuation of family tradition and an opportunity to innovate. We draw on the rich experience passed down through generations, incorporating sustainable practices that reflect modern agricultural advancements. Our focus will be on raising livestock that not only thrive in a healthy environment but also contribute positively to our local ecosystem. By blending time-honored techniques with contemporary approaches, we aim to establish a farm that honors our heritage while paving the way for future generations.

Homestead Ranch’s story began in 2013 when we purchased one pet goat named Bakon. We had wanted a pet goat for years, and came across Bakon when we saved a horse from slaughter! Bakon quickly became a beloved member of our family. He’d pull a cart and even went trick or treating with my son — he thought he was a dog!

More Goats…
As we got to know Bakon, we also learned more about the benefits of goat products and how they help maintain a healthy lifestyle for a busy family. We quickly decided that we wanted more than just a pet! Five years later, our goat family grew to 25 goats, including 10 cows providing us with wonderful, tasty beef. As the years go on, we continue to add to our herd and allow our older girls to retire on our beautiful mountain property. Most of our goats are La Manchas, but we also have a few Nubians and Alpines who round out the herd. All are very well-bred with excellent milk lines.

Our Ranch Today
Our goat herd is ever-changing with each new season of babies. They all become part of our family and receive the best care and all of our love. We are proud of how happy, content, silly, and mischievous are little family is… just as goats should be! We enjoy and appreciate our goats for all that they offer to us; whether it is from their meat, their milk, or their funny antics, we can’t seem to get enough of these wonderful creatures and all they have to offer our family and community!

Healthy goats, high-quality farm products, and happy customers remain our top priority. The entire Homestead Ranch family is proud to produce the most healthful goat milk, cheese, meat, and skin care products available in Greeley, Colorado, and the surrounding areas. We welcome the opportunity to share them with you! – Heather, Landon, Naomi and peyton

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not always been an easy road. We moved out onto the plains/ flat land shortly after the unforeseen events of our ranch the was severely impacted by the cameron peak fire back in 2020. We loved the mountains and had purchased property up the buckhorn, to raise beef cattle, goats and horses. We had over 1000 acres roughly 40 head of cattle, over 200 goats and 15 horses, as well as chickens, ducks and pigs. We originally wanted to be self sufficient which quickly grew into an operational business to our community. We had grown from just a few cows and about 40 goats to the 40 head and 200 goats and around 20 pigs. We had made defensible space for our place being that it was heavily wooded, but sadly the embers carried due to wind and our barn, and farm was gone so quickly we didn’t even have time to get all the animals out. We had such amazing help from family, friends, and neighbors but the fire spread so quickly that there just wasn’t time to go back and get the rest of our beloved animals. In total we lost 15 pigs, 1 guardian dog, all 40 cows and all the birds. We moved off the property roughly about a year after the fire when we learned our insurance was not going to cover most of the damages and loss of animals. We took what we could from that unfortunate experience and started from scratch when we moved out to Weld county and started over. We are currently in transition again as we out grew the current property and have started a new journey on more acreage as we continue to grow and get back on our feet. Fire can leave a long lasting and devasting path in front of you, but we are strong and resilient and love our community we are in and cant see closing our doors anytime soon! We are so excited to be back in the community to offer our cheeses, as well as meats and beautiful hand crafted goat milk products!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Homestead Ranch LLC ?
4th Generation farmer

As a 4th generation farmer, the journey of starting our own livestock farm is both a continuation of family tradition and an opportunity to innovate. We draw on the rich experience passed down through generations, incorporating sustainable practices that reflect modern agricultural advancements. Our focus will be on raising livestock that not only thrive in a healthy environment but also contribute positively to our local ecosystem. By blending time-honored techniques with contemporary approaches, we aim to establish a farm that honors our heritage while paving the way for future generations.

Homestead Ranch’s story began in 2013 when we purchased one pet goat named Bakon. We had wanted a pet goat for years, and came across Bakon when we saved a horse from slaughter! Bakon quickly became a beloved member of our family. He’d pull a cart and even went trick or treating with my son — he thought he was a dog!

More Goats….
As we got to know Bakon, we also learned more about the benefits of goat products and how they help maintain a healthy lifestyle for a busy family. We quickly decided that we wanted more than just a pet! Five years later, our goat family grew to 25 goats, including 10 cows providing us with wonderful tasty beef. As the years go on, we continue to add to our herd and allow our older girls to retire on our beautiful mountain property. Most of our goats are La Manchas, but we also have a few Nubians and Alpines who round out the herd. All are very well-bred with excellent milk lines.

Our Ranch Today
fast forward to 13 years later,our goat herd is ever-changing with each new season of babies and now a head count of 120,they all become part of our family and receive the best care and all of our love. We are proud of how happy, content, silly, and mischievous are little family is… just as goats should be! We enjoy and appreciate our goats for all that they offer to us; whether it is from their meat, their milk, or their funny antics, we can’t seem to get enough of these wonderful creatures and all they have to offer our family and community!

Healthy goats, high-quality farm products, and happy customers remain our top priority. The entire Homestead Ranch family is proud to produce the most healthful goat milk, cheese, meat, and skin care products available in Greeley, Colorado, and the surrounding areas. We welcome the opportunity to share them with you! – Heather, Landon, Naomi and peyton

Any big plans?
We have a pipeline dream of moving to Vermont as it is a quint and a perfect area for a goat dairy! Those dreams are a ways down the road but it keeps us looking forward to the future!

Pricing:

• goat cheese 9-16
• herd shares 12.50-16.00
• beef 9.00-18.00 lb

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.allthingsranch.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homesteadranchllc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Homestead-Ranch-LLC-708978342466297/