Pasture Grazed Regenerative Farm Leans Into Technology, Family and Community

Pasture Grazed Regenerative Farm in Clare is all about family – past, present and future. The business, founded by Dan and Hattie Sanderson, first sprouted from a 4-H beef project in the 1990s. Today, it’s a full-scale operation that leans into regenerative agriculture to provide beef, pork and chicken to customers.

Growing for Generations

The family’s agricultural history dates back to 1843, when the Sandersons first immigrated to the U.S. Both Dan and Hattie grew up on northern Illinois farms; Dan on a conservation-focused family farm and Hattie on a dairy farm.

“Farming is a long game,” says Dan, reflecting on his family’s agricultural legacy. “When I look back at the land purchases my father made, many of them didn’t make economic sense at the time. We had to lean on other enterprises to fund them. But years later, we were grateful for every one of those decisions.”

Dan and Hattie’s children, Trent Sanderson and Rosie Trump, have also followed in the family’s agricultural footsteps. Trent, who majored in agronomy in college, uses his knowledge to help shape soil health and forages across their land. Rosie contributes experience from her animal science major, along with marketing skills. Dan and Hattie’s grandchildren spend time on the farm too, helping care for animals and learning about tractors and other heavy equipment.

“I want to give my children and grandchildren the opportunity to farm, and I’m only able to offer that because of the generations before me who gave me the same gift,” Dan says.

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Greener Pastures

One of the agricultural practices that makes Pasture Grazed Regenerative Farm stand out is its distinctive approach to managing its cattle through virtual fencing. By fitting the herd with solar-powered GPS collars, the family can manage electronic boundaries using a mobile app.

This allows them to move the cattle to fresh paddocks every day during optimal grazing times without the need for physical poly-wire. It also supports the farm’s rotational grazing, a model that prevents overgrazing and improves soil health while also saving labor and time.

“Moving temporary fencing and livestock on a daily basis was time-consuming work, and it put a ceiling on what we could accomplish,” Dan explains. “The virtual fencing technology has exceeded every expectation we had. The adaptability is remarkable. We can now graze areas that would have been nearly impossible to fence traditionally, and we can schedule daily moves weeks in advance if we choose to.”

This gives the family more time to actively observe and care for the herd.

“The technology also does a better job than we ever could of keeping cattle off already-grazed areas, so the land has the rest and recovery time it needs,” Dan says.

While Dan encourages other farmers to pursue regenerative techniques in their operations because of the benefits to the soil and farm, he cautions that it does take about four years to start seeing major changes.

“What I can tell you is that integrating animals into the system is like hitting the fast-forward button on soil health,” Dan says. “And practically speaking, we’re seeing a decreased reliance on inputs, particularly fertilizer use, which is good for the land and good for the business.”

His efforts haven’t gone unnoticed, as he was awarded the prestigious Illinois Leopold Conservation Award in 2025, which honors working farmers for their voluntary conservation efforts.

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Community Connection

The farm offers bulk orders of beef and pork in the fall, and it has a farm store featuring smaller quantities of meat, farm grains, honey and more. But that’s not all. The family also welcomes people to the farm throughout the year with ongoing tours as well as a Farm-to-Table Experience every September.

“These events grew out of a genuine love for connecting with our community,” Rosie says of the Farm-to-Table Experience. “We are often sold out of our farm products, and it broke our hearts to turn people away when they were trying to connect with local food and agriculture. We needed another way to bring people to the farm without asking our land to produce more than it already does.”

She says the Farm-to-Table Experience is meant to create space for conversations that can’t happen through a website or a social media post.

“We’ve been humbled by how hungry people are to understand where their food comes from and how the land sustains all of us,” Rosie says. “We’re literally inviting people to join us at the family dinner table in my mom’s kitchen and spend an evening as part of the Sanderson family on the farm.”

The Sandersons are always considering new strategies to engage people with the farm and connect with the land.

“We’re also looking for ways to make an impact beyond our own fence by supporting other farmers in our region, as well as the community members who want to invest in locally grown food,” Rosie says. “If we can help bridge the gap between consumers and the local food system, that’s a win.”