About Us

Back in the 1800's, the Kettner family was sent North with a wagon, a team of horses, and limited supplies. The siblings of that generation were told to find a place and settle down. Our family nestled into the Clements, MN area and began farming. The Kettner's have been farming that same land since then. Over the years, the family began adding livestock and land to the operation and slowly migrating towards the Morgan, MN area. Over the past three generations of operation on the land in the valley, we've found countless rocks and boulders spread throughout the grasses and trees. Often, perfectly split into pieces as if it’s a puzzle waiting to be put back together. Split Rock Ranch became the preferred name for our operation and has stuck since. As the 6th generation to take over, we take educating ourselves very seriously, we believe there are always areas to improve, so we must constantly learn how to be better for the animal, the land, and for you!

"The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison"

- Ann Wigmore

Dan and I (Ashley) met in December of 2013. Dan grew up here on the ranch. I, however, did not. I was a city girl, growing up in St. Michael - Albertville, MN. Back then, surrounded by fields and dairy farms, I didn't classify myself as a city girl, but knowing what "country living" truly is - I absolutely was. I packed up and moved in with Dan in the Spring of 2014. I didn't just bring my luggage, I also brought a million and ten questions about the farm, "Why do you do it this way? Why not that way?" What's that for?" Whether I received an answer or not, my passion for the Agriculture industry kept growing by the day. I went back to college for Ag Business. Since 2016, I've worked with soils and livestock all across North America and have met some incredible people. With the experience my career has given us, Dan & I quickly realized the lack of connection between producer and consumer, lack of quality meats available, and the connection from lack of nutrients to disease. We realized that Split Rock Ranch needed to become a bigger part of the solution. In the last few years, we've dove in trying to learn far more about the relationship between our soils, plants, livestock, and humans. It’s all one big system, and if we fail at taking care of one, we fail at taking proper care of the rest.

With a lot of hard work and a little luck, we've managed to continue to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of agriculture.

  • Soil Health Academy Graduates
  • Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Certified
  • Continued Education Courses
  • Our protein products are processed under USDA inspection