GERMANTOWN, NY – With over 165,000 social media followers and thousands of loyal beef-buying customers, farm partners Jesse Warner and Josh Schwab are winning over tastebuds in the Hudson Valley, one delicious hashtag after another.

Watching Warner’s daily “pasture-vision” on Instagram, he markets their grass-fed beef by waxing poetic: “Cows eat grass so you don’t have to.”

The practice of utilizing AMP (adaptive multi-paddock) grazing techniques is a staple for the 240-acre conservation easement-protected farm and other leased properties for grass-finishing within the 212-square-mile Roeliff-Jansen Kill Watershed ahead of the Hudson River tidal estuary.

“We think well-managed sod and improving organic matter content is best for water quality and limiting soil erosion for our sensitive areas, especially after a spring like we are having,” said Warner.

“Frankly, it’s just simpler,” said Schwab. “If you rotate the animals in a planned manner, not a hopeful one, and respect the rest periods to allow the forage to flourish, the cattle take care of themselves while adding value to the ecosystem processes and provide customers with nutrient-dense, tasty beef.”

The journey toward the grazed animal protein business was not a linear path for the friends and business partners. With Warner working in the NYS auditing department and Schwab managing media company business development, they met at a University of Vermont farmer training program and dreamt of farming full-time.

In classic young farmer mentality, they leased some land, worked like crazy and started down a diverse path of vegetable production and mobile animal enterprises while selling direct to consumers – and eating a lot of their mistakes (aka lessons).

“The hard-fought lessons we learned solidified our path into a pasture-based system that many local customers were craving. We kept our day jobs and ultimately fell in love with Lowline Angus cows and their carcass yield and quality,” said Schwab.

The Hudson Valley became the perfect place to spread the gospel of grass and beef production in 2019, but what to name the burgeoning business? “We both had dogs and dogs get dirty,” said Warner. “We saw the concept and logo to be fun, memorable and it stood out. The quirky, zany aspect just fit with our personalities. Turns out it was a good call.”

The pair invested in grazing infrastructure, seeded down annuals and perennials, unrolled a “massive” amount of hay and grazed the cows – which activated biological life in the soil, turning former corn and soybean fields into a plethora of diverse forages.

“The more we invest in our farm and our soil, the more grass we’re able to grow,” said Schwab.

“The animals fatten easier, are healthier and happier and taste better,” added Warner, noting the variety of grasses eaten adds to their sought-after flavor profile.

This land improvement was needed across the properties to maintain their 50 cow/calf pairs and properly finish 50 to 70 beeves yearly for their meat business that provides a full-time living for the partners and their families. What sets the gentlemen apart is their pivotal marketing strategy that evolved due to the pandemic.

“The normal outlets weren’t working,” said Schwab. “It’s when people’s appreciation for local came together and we were there, on a digital platform [Shopify®], to serve the appetites of customers and their thirst for a level of transparency you couldn’t find anywhere else.”

The selling effort ramped up in 2024 with a boisterous social media following and an ingenious marketing strategy – offering free chest freezers for folks who pre-bought half and whole beef shares (300 to 600 lbs.). The “free chest freezer guys” sold the clever idea, pitching it every day since on posts about the farm, the cattle, grass, soil and life’s observations from the resident pasture celebrity, Warner.

“We worked hard to get customers to try it in small bundles first, with a money-back guarantee, and it worked. People are coming back and the word-of-mouth buying is unbelievable. Marketing becomes really easy if the beef is good,” said Warner.

The local Walmart knows the young farmers very well, as they have bought over $40,000 worth of 7.5 to 16 cubic feet freezers, which is the most approachable size for customers. “The Northeast doesn’t have the chest freezer mentality,” said Warner, “but we’re here to bridge that gap to get quality grass-fed beef into local homes.”

The retention rate of repeat business is well over 80% and drives future business.

“We are gambling on ourselves and believe deeply that connection and communication is the key for us and the land we steward,” emphasized Schwab. “Customer service is the crown jewel of our business, and we strive to nourish everyone’s family from the soil up. We like to say ‘If the beef don’t eat, there’s no sale.’”

To get a glimpse of Warner’s daily pasture walk visit @dirtydogfarm or dirtydogfarm.com.