Today, we’d like to introduce you to Mitch Dumke.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We were on separate journeys in 2020. James was researching ways to eat and produce healthier food, McKinley was digging into Holistic Management, which he was first exposed to from his dad in the 90s, and Mitch turned vegetarian to ‘do his part’ to save the planet. We all revered what nature could do but didn’t know what to do with nature.
May 2020: Mitch and James grew up next door to each other and happened to both be outside their parent’s house. James offered Mitch some Elk meat, but Mitch declined, saying he wasn’t eating meat to help the environment. Mitch had a video to share to justify his stance, and James had a video to share, too. Mitch was shaken.
June 2020: McKinley took a week off being a ranch and land realtor to attend a Soil Health Academy workshop in New Mexico. Previously he did a 2-week training with the Savory Institute, and now he observed the way land can heal through practices and partnering with nature, he found his purpose.
July 2020: James and his wife are touring a property to potentially homestead, McKinley is the listing agent showing him the property. Somewhere in their conversation McKinley shares he is an accredited professional with the Savory Institute. James had recently discovered Savory and knew how legit they were but finding a Savory Professional in Utah is rare.
McKinley found a generous land-owner to lease land on, he just needed a partner to make it happen. James called Mitch about meeting McKinley and they agreed he is the missing link for them to feel confident in going down the regenerative path. Divine intervention, stars aligning, luck, whatever you call it, we felt the creators hand.
We brainstormed a few times throughout 2020 and early 2021 and in May we bought a batch of chicks and at the end of June we put out our first livestock, 149 chickens and 6 cattle. In 2024, we now have 22 cows and raise 1,000 pastured meat birds each season.
We are committed to healing lands through holistic practices. It builds topsoil, restores ecological functions, sequesters carbon, and produces a more nutrient-rich meat. We are accountable to each other and to nature.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has had its peaks and definite valleys. There are not a lot of people raising pastured poultry in the state of Utah, especially at 6,500 ft elevation, so we really had to adapt to our specific context. Feed is the number one expense for our business. Last season, we bought all of our feed upfront to save money on shipping, and we were stoked because it was supposed to be healthier for our chickens.
It turns out the feed of the wrong kind of sesame meal made it harder for our birds to absorb nutrients. So we were stuck with a lot of feed that wasn’t horrible but definitely not the best. It took longer for them to get to weight and created many downstream problems. We also had a skunk kill 190 chickens in a single night, and that was sad and frustrating and delayed our getting our product to market.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business?
3 Springs Land and Livestock is a regenerative grazing and Holistic Management livestock company headquartered in the Kamas Valley. We love this valley, and it is our mission to create resilient communities through healthy and productive land. We rehabilitate large landscapes in an effort to reach their highest form of water-holding capacity, biodiversity, and agricultural production simultaneously.
We have been trained in land stewardship practices by the Savory Institute, Soil Foodweb School, and the Soil Health Academy to work with nature instead of against her. We have applied these principles as we have raised pastured meat chickens and a herd of grass-finished beef cattle that we market and sell directly to consumers in Summit County. Our operation is unique because we move our animals to fresh pasture every day, and they don’t return to that previously grazed piece of land until it has fully recovered, usually 45-75 days. This ensures healthy soil, creating healthy plants, in turn healthy forage for livestock and healthier meat for our customers.
We are most proud of how the land is becoming healthier from our management and how much joy customers find in eating our meat.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Authenticity. We aren’t good at selling products we don’t believe in. As long as we have a chance to educate the public about our practices, we leave it up to them to decide if it aligns with their values, palate, and wallet.
We feel a positive energy in the work we do and the community we get to to engage with. It continues to open doors that we couldn’t have opened on our own.
Pricing:
- Whole Pastured Chicken $8/lb
- Liver, heart, gizzard $8/lb
- Feet, neck $7/lb
- Beef – Average of $11/lb
Contact Info:
- Website: www.3springsutah.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/3springsutah
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/3SpringsUtah
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@3springsutah
