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Our Family
Crystal River Meats has been family owned and operated in Carbondale Colorado, since 1999. The Jacober Family — primarily Jock, Rio, Tai, and Forest — are committed to the improvement and prosperity of the town in which they live, as well as the relentless pursuit of sustainable and environmental practices both in agriculture and in the day-to-day.
Jock, father of Rio, Tai and Forest, has spent nearly half his life involved in animal husbandry and farming while striving to achieve a sustainable life balance. Currently, he is involved in managing ranch duties. Jock is extremely active in the community and works with several local, non-profits including the Thompsive Divide Coalition.
Jock's oldest son, Rio spent his entire childhood on the family's former ranch near Pagosa Springs, CO where he was intrenched in the daily activities required on a family farm. Rio runs the family contracting company, Jacober Brothers Construction, and is active in herd management.
Tai, the next oldest, spent much of his childhood growing up on the working farm and studied agriculture at MSU. Today, he is the active manager for Crystal River Meats. He spends his time in animal husbandry, managing pastures and rangeland acquisition, and in business operations. Tai is also active within the community and works with Pitkin County Trails and Open Space to ensure protection of local habitat and pastures for local agriculture.
Forest, the youngest, having spent time working on the faimly farm as a child, now lives on and manages a 300-acre ranch in Carbondale that has been in his wife's family for two generations. Forest grows and harvests the majority of the winter feed for the CRM herds. His ranch provides extremely high-nutrient hay that feeds the animals.
Local Operations
Everything we do occurs within a 200-mile radius of Carbondale — from breeding and raising the animals, to growing and storing hay, to processing and packaging.
National Forest permits allow summertime grazing on the abundant grasslands in the surrounding mountainscape. The rest of the time, we operate on a collection of ranch properties leased from local landowners. All of the properties share the production of winter feed (hay) as well as provide a portion of summer grazing land, which insures the healthiest possible diet for our animals. This critical relationship with wilderness and ranchland furthers our dedication to preserving and improving the integrated environments in which we live and operate.
