Ralphs Ranches Inc. (dba Prather Ranch) was founded in 1964 by Walter W. Ralphs, past
president of the Southern California based Ralphs Supermarkets.
The ranches are located in the mountains of Northeastern
California and the operation is divided into two ranch operations
(the primary and the backup herds). The primary herd is located in
Butte Valley, Siskiyou County on the Prather Ranch. The secondary, or backup
herd, is raised in Shasta and Glenn Counties on the Spring Creek Ranch,
the Whipple Ranch, the Fall River Ranch, the Owls Head Ranch and the
Bingham Ranch. All of these properties are located along the Fall River
Valley in the foothills of Mount Shasta and are certified organic cattle operations. Additional winter grazing
exists on the Ralphs Newville Ranch in Glenn and Tehama Counties and the Fenwood Property in Shasta County.
These ranches are also certified organic by
Quality Assurance International.
For bovine source material production quality control, Prather Ranch Pharmaceuticals utilizes its own
customized abattoir, built in 1995, to meet the specifications required for pharmaceutical
materials manufacturing. This facility, located on Prather Ranch, is USDA
certified and all animals are processed under the supervision of a USDA
certified inspector. There is also a small laboratory located on-site for
testing and development. Importantly, only our closed herd cattle
have been slaughtered in this private abattoir.
