J Bar L Ranch: Behind the Scenes on the Ground

We’ve shared why we choose tallow—because when it’s sourced well, it becomes one of the most effective, uncomplicated ingredients in skincare. The key is the source: the animal’s diet, the land it’s raised on, and the standards held by the people managing it.

Our suet tallow is 100% grass fed and grass finished, sourced through Old Salt Co-op in Montana. That supply chain matters to us because it’s built on transparency and relationships—ranches we can visit, practices we can see, and sourcing we can stand behind.

One of those ranches is J Bar L—and we recently spent time there.

What We Saw at J Bar L

The first thing that stands out is how intentionally everything is managed. Pasture rotations and animal management are meticulously planned months, or years in advance. 

They walked us through their stockpile grazing strategy: how they rest pasture at the right times so there’s standing feed available later in the season, allowing the pastures to rest, recover, and become more productive overtime. This planning has reduced their reliance on harvested feed, and the result is simple and impressive: they feed very little hay compared to many other operations.

Even more notable: their cattle are on pasture year-round, grazing and consuming native grasses as the foundation of their diet.

Why Stockpile Grazing Matters

Seeing their stockpile system in person makes its value obvious. Instead of cutting, hauling, and feeding as a default, the goal is to keep cattle harvesting their own forage for as long as conditions allow.

That approach supports the land and the operation at the same time:

• less equipment use and less disturbance

• nutrients returned directly to the pasture
  

• a higher quality forage-first diet for the herd

• healthier animals, and healthier land

It’s easy to say "regenerative", it's another to be regenerative, especially in winter.

How This Connects Back to Tallow (and Why We Source This Way)

It’s easy to use labels. It’s harder to build a supply chain where the ranches, people and practices behind the ingredient are known—and where the work on the ground consistently improves land and animal health.

That’s why we created our tallow supply chain with Old Salt Co-op. It priotizes Montana grasslands, Montana ranchers and healthy animals.

That investment shows up directly in the tallow. Regeneratively raised, grass fed and finished tallow is different because the animals are raised differently. Staying on fresh ground and eating high-quality forage produces cleaner, more nutrient dense fat—something skin can feel. 

"Montana Grown" is not a slogan for us, it's a core value, because sourcing from ranches like these supports working land, working families, and the highest-quality tallow we can source.