Grass Fed Boise is the business name for Thalheim Acres, our farm that sits between Kuna and Boise. Thalheim is German for “home in the valley” or “valley home”. This was the original name of the small town where I grew up in the San Joaquin Valley of California. However, during World War I the people of this German settlement translated the name of the town to the English translation of Valley Home to show their devotion to the United States.
Valley Home was a farming community, and that is where my love of agriculture and rural living was born. Because of that legacy and my German heritage, Thalheim Acres seemed like a fitting name for our farm in the Treasure Valley of Idaho. All of the grass eaters that we raise consume only grass and alfalfa hay for their entire lives. So, when we created our direct marketing meat business we decided to call it “Grass Fed Boise”.
My name is Matt Brechwald. My wife, Autumm, and daughter, Hattie, and I are the only staff at Grass Fed Boise. Autumm and I were married in 1998 and knew that we wanted to have our own cattle someday. In 2011 we purchased our farm and have been developing it ever since.
Autumm grew up in Buhl, Idaho and her parents raised beef cattle. Although I grew up in a small farming town, I did not start working with cattle until I was 15 years old. However, once I started I was sold. I eventually went on to get a degree in animal science from Montana State University and now I make my living working as an agricultural broadcaster on multiple radio shows and podcasts.
Autumm teaches for the Boise School District and helps me in her time off. Hattie is very active in the FFA and honor society as a 12th grader. She is pivotal in helping us keep up with the farm chores.
We raise cattle and goats and we love our animals. It can seem like a paradox to say you love an animal that you know will become your dinner or breakfast. But we believe the sign of a true animal farmer is to love your animals and provide them with the best life possible while understanding what is their ultimate purpose.