LOCALLY SOURCED ELK,
RAISED WITH INTEGRITY

OUR MISSION

Black Diamond Elk Ranch is here to honour our existing relationships and stakeholders, welcome newcomers, and find new ways to serve growing communities.

- HOLISTIC AGRICULTURE -

Elk are an entirely natural part of this ecology. Black Diamond Elk Ranch’s job is to respect that existing relationship through support of their feeding and life cycles and through commitment to the land itself. Ranch to door, our whole supply chain – from transport to packaging – is managed holistically and with ecological endurance in mind

- HEALTHY, DELICIOUS, TRACEABLE PRODUCTS -

Our elk are raised in harmony with nature, ensuring they graze on native grasses and live in a stress-free environment. This results in lean, nutrient-dense meat, rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and essential vitamins. From our ranch to your plate, we maintain full transparency throughout the entire process, guaranteeing that every product is sustainably sourced.

A GREEN FARM

At Black Diamond Elk Ranch we use modern technology and regenerative farming to take our green initiative to the next level.

- CARBON NEUTREL TO CARBON POSITIVE -

Through the addition of solar panels, investment in new infrastructure, systems, and procedures, we build on the natural sustainability of elk to move through Carbon Neutrality to be a Carbon Positive business.

- INVESTMENT IN COMMUNITY, EDUCATION, & RESEARCH -

Located in Diamond Valley, our ranch is uniquely situated to:

  • be a vehicle of educational opportunities to the local and greater Calgary area about the business of agriculture and “where your food comes from”
  • be a meeting place and host for local clubs and charities
  • promote small business and tourism within Foothills County and Alberta
  • assist in the advancement of agriculture research and economic development

KPU – DBarRanchlands Collaboration

To ensure we are able to provide the highest quality products to our customers, we have partnered with the Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Applied Genomics Centre to conduct genetic analyses of our elk herd to help guide our breeding program. The Centre uses advanced genetic tools to maximize the selection of desirable traits, e.g., meat quality and yield, antler size.

Most notably, we have utilized a technique called Sanger sequencing to determine each member’s susceptibility to chronic wasting disease (CWD) — a fatal, incurable, and highly transmissible disease. By better understanding an elk’s susceptibility to CWD using these genetic tools, we can help guide our breeding program to produce elk that are naturally resistant to CWD, thereby preventing the spread of CWD in our elk herd and reducing the spread of CWD among the general elk population.

Future research with the AGC seeks to explore other genetic traits, alongside CWD resistance, which will allow us to continue producing world-class elk and ensure only the best products reach our customers.