Phat Pheasant Pharms

grass-fed beef

Phat Pheasant Pharms breeds and raises cattle in Kuna, Idaho, on a 60-acre farm. They sow a rich mixture of grasses, including teff, alfalfa, and triticale, which provides a rounded diet for the cattle and creates a healthy soil and ecosystem. The farm raises Australian Lowline cattle, a smaller breed of Aberdeen Angus that is known for its high meat yield. Phat Pheasant Pharms prides itself on how it raises and cares for its animals from birth to beef.

Meet the pharmers

Sam Johnston is a third-generation Kuna, ID farmer. He raises his lowline cattle but minutes from where his father and grandfather settled and farmed their entire lives.

Sam is a proud veteran. He served for years in the Air Force Reserve as a jet engine mechanic (he can fix just about any engine) and after 9/11 served our country in Kuwait.

Sam is the quintessential jolly farmer. He has a warm and unassuming personality and a palpable love for his cattle and his farm. Even though Sam is up with the sun and often not finished working until after it has set, he always has time for anyone who wants to stop and chat. He greatly enjoys meeting up with other Kuna farmers and friends for coffee and is constantly in communication with his pals to problem-solve whatever issues have arisen on his farm or theirs.

Barb Johnston is precisely the jack-of-all-trades you would expect from a third-generation Wyoming-born and raised woman who recently retired from a nursing career. As a nurse, she worked with a wide range of patients over the years, from orthopedic surgery to end-of-life care. Of course, she was also busy raising Sam and Barb’s sons and daughter and keeping up with the constant tasks of life on a farm.

In her retirement, she has managed to start and take on new tasks at the farm. Chickens are her domain—both egg-laying and butchering chickens (who now help to fertilize the pastures). Her nursing skills have also proven invaluable, as Phat Pheasant Pharms has transitioned to ranching. She often aids Sam in inoculating cattle and birthing and caring for young calves.