204 | Zach & Casey Abney, Oklahoma | From Health Scare to Ranch Business: Virtual Fencing, Brick-and-Mortar Stores, and Leasing Land

Zach (first-generation) and Kacie (fifth-generation) Scherler-Abney are ranchers operating Re:Farm and Re:Supply in Cotton and Tillman Counties in southwest Oklahoma, running a cow-calf herd with some stockers while also managing land for others and operating retail stores in Norman, Oklahoma and Wichita Falls, Texas.  

In This Episode, We Explore:  

- How a personal health scare led them back to the family place and into raising their own food  

- Using an autoimmune protocol diet as a catalyst to question food labels and sourcing  

- Learning regenerative grazing through books, YouTube, and early hands-on trial and error  

- Grazing in a more brittle, variable rainfall environment in southwest Oklahoma and north Texas  

- Ultra high-density, non-selective grazing and why recovery time is the key variable for them  

- What polywire taught them, and why quality of life and labor forced a change  

- Building water systems with HDPE poly pipe, quick couplers, and central lanes for flexibility  

- Leasing strategies including Oklahoma state school land (CLO) and BIA tribal land leases  

- Transitioning to Halter virtual fencing and what changed in daily management and stress  

- How their cattle buying philosophy shifted to phenotype, productivity, and pounds per acre  

- Marketing reality checks: balancing direct-to-consumer beef with current sale barn economics  

- Why they built brick-and-mortar stores and how non-perishables help stabilize cash flow  

- Community-building through retail and sourcing other local products beyond their own beef  

Why This Episode Matters  

This conversation is a practical look at matching grazing goals to real life, especially when labor, family time, leases, and cash flow are all limiting factors. Zach and Kacie share what worked, what wore them out, what they changed, and how they think about staying flexible without abandoning the core principles that keep land and livestock improving.  

Resources Mentioned  

- Halter virtual fencing system  

- Passon quick couplers  

- Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office (CLO) grazing leases  

- Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) grazing leases  

Find Out More  

- Instagram | re:farm  

- Website | Re:Farm Market  

- Facebook | Re:Farm 

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Original Music by Louis Palfrey