Tag Archives: Beef

The Things We Say During Cattle Work

Farming provides an almost endless supply of hilarious inside jokes and quotable little sayings. It seems we live very much “on the edge” and “by the seat of our pants,” never knowing what challenges the day will bring. One of my favorites you can find on various t-shirts and mugs, and it reads something like this, “I’m sorry for what I said while we were working cows.”

The average city-slicker doesn’t really know what it means to “work cows,” and I suppose it varies from farm to farm.

Since, unlike the very large majority of cattle farms (even many of the self-named “natural” ones), we don’t use pharmaceuticals routinely in our cattle, the only real reason we would need to move a bunch of them through the cattle chute all at once is to do some annual herd maintenance, such as when we need to castrate young bulls that aren’t ideal for breeding, or to put on ID tags on the new calves so we can track genetic lines and better manage our herd, and to check exposed cows (as in, “exposed to bull”) for pregnancy status. So that makes for roughly twice a year that we “work cows” as a scheduled thing, and the chute provides a safe restraining location so we can perform necessary procedures and nobody gets hurt.

But actually, we weren’t even really performing procedures this time, so we didn’t use “the chute” at all. We just used the working pens, which are sturdy, permanent cow-proof enclosures with lots of closeable exits and holding pens. Very convenient for sorting live animals the same size as a small car!

Our mission: To separate eligible breeding females (and their unweaned calves) from the rest of the herd in order to turn them out to pasture with the bulls!

So why wouldn’t we just breed every female available? I guess you’re about to get a crash course in cattle-breeding 101!

There are many possible reasons we might remove a breeding-age female from the breeding herd. Disqualifications might include things like lack of motherly instinct, poor milk production (no, we don’t milk the cows, but we can tell if they produce adequate milk because of how well their calves grow!), or just plain-out crazy behavior. One nutso cow can make the whole herd nervous and difficult to work with. And interestingly… it turns out that most of the time, their calves grow up to be nutso, too! So we tend to file those in “freezer camp candidates” to make everyone’s life less stressful.

Another little management tidbit is that we do not allow our females to breed until they’re at least 2 years old. Younger than that, and their frames just aren’t developed enough to deliver a healthy-size calf, and they may also have difficulty with milk production once the calf is born.

That means the yearling females “freeload” for an entire year (actually more like 2 years!) while they wait their turn to join the momma herd. What happens to the yearling bulls? Well… there’s no such thing as a chastity belt for cattle, so we go ahead and “promote” the year-old bulls to bulls right along with the big fellas, and that goes just fine. Do they fight? No, actually. They get along fine!

Humorously, the bulls freeload for most of their adult lives. They actually only “work” for 2 months out of the year. This is not typical of beef operations. A lot of producers allow their bulls with the herd for 6 months or more in order to improve calving efficiency and to space out calving over two seasons. But we like a nice tight breeding window so all the babies are born after risk of severe winter weather, but before the intense spring grass growth takes off, lest the babies grow too quickly inside their mommas and make calving more difficult than necessary. Anyway, that means bulls go in for two heat cycles, starting first of July. They stay with the cows 60 days, and then they go on vacation until the next summer!

So during that 2 months, we have to get all the yearling heifers, cull cows, and other misfits, out of the breeding herd, and the best way to get that done is using the sorting pens.

A few weeks ago, I logged on to my online cattle-tracking software and printed a big list of cows and 2-year-old heifers we want bred and the tag numbers of their unweaned calves. Some of the calves are only 3 months old, so it would be very bad if we accidentally separated them from momma too early. Then I made a big list of all the not-for-breeding females and THEIR calves (because even though they aren’t on the list to produce a 2023 calf, we’d like them to finish raising this year’s calf!). Then I made a list of the yearling heifers, etc, and got everything all squared away. We really like this cattle tracking software and make notes throughout the year of any distinguishing characteristics about specific animals, so that helps when the decision-making time arrives of who to keep or not.

I had all my paperwork ready, and I knew that Matt would suddenly say to me some unknown morning, “I’m going to separate cows today.” That’s how he rolls.

*If you’re a cattle-person looking for a way to track breeding records, check out CattleMax. We are fans!*

Now, he could probably do this cattle work by himself. He’s pretty good at running a highly minimalist farm. But I insisted on helping him. He at LEAST needed a gate-opener! So I had my papers ready. I had my boots ready. And sure enough, one morning, off we went to play with the cows!

I would like to emphasize that, like most things that go from theoretical to actual, cows-on-paper is MUCH easier than cows-in-real-life. So often they’ve lost ear tags or want to stick with a particular herd-mate, so sorting is “interesting.” We have a backup ear tag that’s a little metal clip that stays put very well, but our cows don’t like being in that close of contact with their human bosses, so there’s really no way to get eyes on it when they’re out in the open. But Matt knows his cows. He deals with them every day, after all. Even so, the lists really help!

*Matt managed to get all the girls he wanted into the breeding group!*

I am happy to report that no apologies were necessary after cattle working. We’ve been married more than 16 years now, and you learn how to respect one another and work as a team. But there were still some silly little quips overheard during cattle working:

“There’s a good chance there are wasps in this ragweed so if you feel a sting get out of there quick!”

“Come on. Let’s go. You can poop later.”

“She won’t go by herself. She’s only got one good eye and she’s nuts.”
“Why don’t we just eat her?”
“That’s a good idea.”

So there you have it. My contribution to cattle work was suggesting to eat Number 513. I’m more of a journalist than a herdswoman. But I like being a help to my hubby even if it means I just open the gate every now and then. Matt did the hard stuff. I just enjoy seeing our cows!

Fun fact: Less-handled cows will rarely approach a human facing them in an assertive posture, so it was much better for me to turn away after opening the gate to get the cows onto the trailer. I used my phone as a rearview mirror in selfie mode!

Are you falling asleep at the kitchen stove?

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There is an interesting thing happening in our culture. Advertising. Advertising wins. If you can come up with the prettiest ad, the cleverest motto, the most touching video clip, you can sell anything. But what if you can’t…

Farmers aren’t usually very tech-savvy, at least not compared to the big-wig corporations out there nowadays. And we’re definitely not very up to speed on large-scale advertising trends. We are busy delivering calves, repairing water lines, baling hay, and changing giant tractor tires!

Even if we were able to keep up, it’s thousands and even millions of dollars just to get in the door and get in front of a larger audience. We tend to get pushed aside with our quaint paper flyers and our old-timey market cashboxes.

After all, there are more options available to consumers now. There are more convenient options.

Why would any sane person pay more for the lesser convenience of buying from a local farm out in the sticks, when they can just pop in to the local supermarket on the way home from work, and get their grass-fed beef, their pool toys, their toilet paper, a new toothbrush and a Happy Graduation card, all in one place? All on one plastic transaction. Using a shopping cart. And a scannable coupon on their phone. In the air conditioning. Talk about efficiency! Convenience abounds!

Did I mention the price is right, too? That supermarket can offer an everyday price that’s $2 lower per pound than the local farmer’s version. Sure, the local farmer’s product is probably better. But this product is good. The label says so. It has to be.

Right?

It has all the right words… But remember—that’s what advertising is about.

I know you don’t have time to read my ravings on the wiles of slick marketing majors working to gain the edge for one of the 10 major food companies in America.

But think about this: If you thought globalization and modernization was about diversity and choices… Guess again. Only 10 food companies own all the store brands you see on the supermarket shelf. What if you had only 10 shirts to choose from? That’s NOT much diversity. That’s hardly any CHOICE. It’s only the appearance of diversity. And yet we support and feed this ever-swelling, already-gigantic food industry controlled by less than a dozen entities, because of convenience. They have wooed us away from the real farms using convenience and marketing as the bait.

But it’s “free range!” It’s “organic!” It’s “hormone-free!” They know that consumers want better quality meat. Well, they know that many consumers will accept meat that SOUNDS like it’s better quality.

But not you. That’s why you’re here. You’ve seen behind the curtain and know that there is something better—something genuine. It can be a little hard to get to sometimes, but it’s worth the extra effort.

Still, it is easy to get sucked in and settle for “good enough,” especially with the fast-paced changes that are happening with the labeling laws today. Those giant food companies have money to throw at lobbying for dilution of marketing terms so they can reach even the better-informed and more conscious consumer.

Don’t believe me? Here are a few examples you may not have heard about:

They’re working hard to change “high fructose corn syrup” to “corn sugar.” Sounds better, doesn’t it? Another example: For years, there’s been major push-back against GMO-labeling, in spite of the fact that MOST consumers WANT GMOs to be labeled. Opponents cite “unreasonable fear” of consumers against this supposedly-safe technology. If it’s so safe, why don’t you just tell us you’re doing it?

Most of the terms in our industry are the same—the labels have become captivating marketing terms and really tell you nothing about the quality of the product you’re buying. “Free-range” chickens only have to be able to look outside, not actually go there. “Organic” beef can be standing in an organic feedlot eating organic corn and never eat one lick of actual grass. “Hormone-free” pork and chicken? It’s illegal across the board to administer hormones to pigs and chickens. EVERYONE’S chicken and pork are hormone-free. That’s like claiming that the package of meat you’re scrutinizing is “Sold in the USA!” OF COURSE IT IS! Tell me something I don’t know!

And my personal favorite… very quietly, about a year ago, THEY RENEGED ON COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN LABELING REQUIREMENTS FOR MEAT.

Packs of burger used to be required to disclose where the cow was raised—You’d see something like “Product of Uruguay,” or Brazil, New Zealand, Argentina, U.S.A., etc. Now they say nothing. This change was great timing because recently, the USDA starting having talks with Chinese chicken processing companies about outsourcing the processing of chicken before shipping it back to the USA for sale. The rules have changed, and no one has to tell you that your chicken was fileted and marinated in the People’s Republic. Organic, or otherwise! The Chinese Chicken thing hasn’t quite gone through yet, as far as I know, but it will soon, and how we will know when it does? They are no longer required to tell us.

Why would they take away a law that no one was complaining about, that apparently was able to be complied with, and that aided shoppers in choosing to support American farm economies and domestic rural communities and their own peace of mind? So much for choice… Why would they nix our opportunity to know whether our meats are imported?

It’s because deep down, the big marketers knew that no matter what pretty words they put on the package…“Grass-fed,” “Humanely Raised,” “No Hormones…” people would still be wary of meat brought in from overseas, as they should be. So they killed the facts. The facts are still there. You just can’t know them if you’re meat-shopping at the store.

They did the same thing with “Grass-fed.” They killed the facts. The Powers that Be suddenly decided that it was “unfair” to be policing such a widely-used term and officially declared that the term “grass-fed” was now strictly a marketing term, internally defined, and the burden of proof now falls solely on consumers to seek out. Officials said that consumers would now have to visit each company’s website to research whether that specific company’s definition of grass-fed matched their own.

Yep, I’m going to stand there at the freezing-cold meat counter with 4 hungry, squirming, noisy children asking me every 14 seconds when we will be home and what’s for dinner, with icecream melting in my cart and my phone buzzing repeatedly, reminding me that I’m already late for my next stop. I’m going to take THAT busy moment to go online, weed through the marketing nonsense to try to track down what Barbecue Bob’s “Grass-fed” Beef actually ate, and whether it was actually raised in America or not. Yeah, right!

Most folks think, “Well if the label says ‘Grass-fed,’ even if it’s internally defined, it still must mean the cows ate mostly grass, right?”

No. It’s internally defined. It’s internally defined! The word “grass-fed” as it appears on pretty green stickers at the meat counter is now completely meaningless, and your meaning has nothing whatsoever to do with the reality of the company’s meaning!

They call this era the post-truth era. Think about that for a moment. We’re a generation no longer interested in truth as much as feeling good about what we do. Many areas of our lives are suffering. The area relevant in this article is the local, really-grass-fed farm. Our farm, and many other small farms of integrity, are struggling to compete with our real products against a multitude of fake, but oh-so-convenient products.

Don’t fall asleep at the kitchen stove. Keep your eyes open to the truth about your food. We at Shady Grove Ranch have tried to make it really simple through online ordering, email reminders, attending farmers market, selling through local retailers, and offering free routine drop points.

You have to do your part, too, and eat the best food in the world every month, every week, every day. I know we sometimes have seasonal shortages of things. (Beef is almost ready—hang in there! Just a couple more weeks!!) That’s what real, connected-with-the-farm eating is like sometimes. I am the Ingredient Substitution Queen, and I am happy to help you find meal ideas that will please the tummies in your house while your favorite out-of-stock item finishes fattening on real grass in a real pasture, right here in Jefferson, Texas.

Thank you for supporting our work so we can be around to feed your grandkids and ours in 20 years! Please make it part of your routine to visit us at Shreveport Farmers Market tomorrow and support REAL pasture-raised foods raised by a REAL family farm!

A brief update as we head into March…

We lost all the small birds!

You’re going to laugh. We ran out of little chickens! Other than a couple remaining 3-pounder birds, all we have is our December stock of whole birds, ranging from Really Big (4.5 lb) to Huge (5+ lb)–at least that’s what I’ve been able to find in the boxes so far. The good news is, though, that they are juicy as well as plump, and we’re going to run a sale when you buy 2 Big Birds through the end of March! Cook once… eat a bunch!

What’s with Big Bird?

Well, this is supposed to be a brief update. Basically, we have switched to a more forage-friendly breed of broiler (say that five times fast) called the Freedom Ranger. Compared to the conventional breed, Cornish Cross, the Rangers are more active and produce more dark meat–that’s good for our leg-loving customer base! Yum! But they’re huge…

Cook-at-Home Challenge Continues

Last month we started an initiative to equip readers to get back into the kitchen. We had about a dozen takers, and a few more besides that who planned to use the (free) recipes for the meats they already had in their home freezer. I LOVE helping folks get back into the kitchen more often, and away from processed foods.

My biggest piece of advice for Real Eating is this: Keep it simple. Don’t feel that you have to doctor everything up with a million exotic ingredients. If you eat a crockpot chicken twice a month that you created out of real, recognizable, non-chemical ingredients–that is major progress! Do it again this month with our easy Cook-at-Home Challenge, newly renovated to accommodate the Giant Chickens we have in stock… and accounting for that two-huge-chicken sale I mentioned. 🙂

I hope you’ll join in again, or for the first time, on the Cook-at-Home Challenge.

Where’s the beef??

You have probably noticed our rather sparse inventory of grass-fed beef. We’re right at the tail end of the winter grass season, waiting for the days to get longer and temps higher so the grass can really take off and finish out our beef.

This is where the rubber meets the road for true supporters of farm-to-fork. Sometimes there are just shortages of things, and when you improvise and use other cuts in place of traditional choices, or even redo your menu to include what’s “in season,” just for the sake of eating really-pasture-raised and supporting your farmer in the off-season, it helps us to keep producing the best meats and eggs in East Texas.

If you need help with substitution ideas, feel free to write me! I’m happy to try to help you get more real food into your kitchen!

We still have a good amount of hamburger and chuck roast, and even some filet, strip, and sirloin (on sale!), so enjoy it while it lasts! We expect to process beef around the end of March. Until then, shop what’s in stock!

Matt often asks for volunteers during evening egg collection, and Axl and Tevka are usually quick to join him. They are getting really good at not dropping the eggs!

Celebrate Local This Saturday in Longview!

We’re excited to partner with Jack’s Natural Foods in Longview, this Saturday only! We’ll have a tasting set up there from 10 to around 1, at this exciting Customer Appreciation Event. Come by and see me during the lunch hour, or at least drop by before they close at 5 to enjoy discounts and freebies. (Matt will be at the ranch building our farm store!) Bring a friend and let them taste REAL FOOD, too!

March Delivery Rounds

Bye, bye, February! Our March deliveries to area towns start next week. Go ahead and get your order in early! Sirloin Steak is still on sale, and we have a few more Smoked Carving Hams. See what’s in stock and what’s on sale. We’ll send area-specific reminders the Monday of each delivery week.

Tyler: Thurs, March 2 at 11:30 on Dennis Dr.
Shreveport: Sat, March 4 at 11 on Line Ave
Longview: Thurs, March 9 at 10:30 behind Bowen Chiropractic
Marshall: Thurs, March 9 at noon at Buchanan Feed
Texarkana: Thurs, March 16 at 10:30 on Irongate Dr.
Shreveport: Sat, March 18 at 11 on Line Ave.
Jefferson: Pickup any time at the ranch by appointment!

If our local delivery options don’t work for you, we sell in LOTS of local stores. Check out our website under the Locations tab to see what’s where!

Thank YOU for supporting our farming adventures and choosing real food for your family. We couldn’t do this without you!

3 Things You Didn’t Know About Grass-fed Beef

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1. The term “grass-fed” beef is no longer regulated as of January 2016.

This is a pretty complicated issue, but honestly, we don’t feel it’s entirely a bad thing. Why? Well, we were never terribly into government regulation of private industries. But when the standard was defined, there were still many loopholes and undefined parameters like antibiotic and hormone use, slaughter methods, and even feedlot use. You might have been buying beef that was fed grass a little grass throughout the finishing stage, but maybe the cows all had estrogen implants in their ears! The regulated term instilled a false consumer confidence because it didn’t cover all the bases.

Now, without official definition of the term “grass-fed” at the store, things have the potential to be worse because now the individual beef producers get to define what “grass-fed” means themselves, and all the government agency does is conduct auditing service. This basically means that the companies can’t cheat on their own self-established standards…

So what should you do?

We have always felt that rather than relying on government agencies to secure the moral outpouring of an industry, it is best to know your farmer and see your farm so you can know for sure whether things are what you think they are. Since when was it a bad thing to learn a little about the food you put in your body? You’re smart. Then you can decide for yourself whether the food you work hard to pay for meets YOUR standards. So ask the person who actually raised the animal what it was fed and what drugs it was given. Shake the hand that feeds you!

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2. Many private “Grass-fed” standards allow not-so-grassy supplements.

That’s right. Not all “grass-fed” cows eat just grass. This is a complicated issue because of course there is always the possibility of extenuating circumstances, especially when it comes to livestock. We ourselves have experienced times of flooding, drought, and even wildfires! A good farmer will do what he needs to in order to take care of his animals. If the cows are starving, by golly, feed ‘em some grain, if there’s nothing else. But we at Shady Grove Ranch feel that we would need to disclose that to our customers, should that ever happen (and it hasn’t). We’re into the integrity of this–we want you to get what you think you’re getting. There’s that “shake the hand” idea again…

But if what you think you’re getting is a bunch of cows daintily nibbling a St. Augustine lawn trimmed to 2 ½ inches, well… your mental image of “grass-fed beef” may need a little tweaking. Technically speaking, grass is just one type of natural forage food for cows. There may also be herbs, legumes, brassicas, etc. Our cows even eat trees and brambles when they feel like it! But we feel that things like soy hulls, canola meal, and beet pulp is stepping just a little too far over the line. And yet many of these things are allowed by most big-name grass-fed standards, private or otherwise.

Why do they allow that?

I’m sure there’s no single answer. I would hope that most of the time it’s a stop-gap solution to our nation’s depleted soils or unfortunate weather anomalies. But the truth is that consumers are waking up to the need for better quality meats, and more and more often, they are choosing not to buy conventional meat.

So, naturally, the big food corporations are jumping on the grass-fed bandwagon, too. Perhaps these “approved supplements” are a way for them to produce beef quickly and cheaply without taking the time and effort to improve pastures. Or perhaps along the same line, newly established “grass-fed” herds are comprised of cows not well-adapted to grass-finishing, and additional supplementation is needed to get profitable yields. But should soy hulls and canola meal be on the menu, especially considering that almost all of the soy and canola grown in the US is genetically modified? You decide if GMO beet pulp fits your expectations for the top-dollar beef labeled “grass-fed.”

We feel that this is an integrity issue, most easily solved by encouraging you, the consumer, to be in touch with us, the farmer. I can tell you that we have most certainly never fed soy hulls and canola meal to our cows. If for some crazy reason we ever had to do it, we’d let you know! But chances are, we’d put the cows in the freezer before we bought that stuff for them! There’s more than one way to … feed a cow? 🙂

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3. Grass-fed does not equal chemical-free.

You might not think there could be all that many chemicals in use in cattle production, but unfortunately, like most other industries, there are always clever new ways of avoiding natural production methods… And if you hadn’t already guessed, the “grass-fed” label doesn’t specifically prohibit any of those.

If you spot a package of “grass-fed” beef at your local supermarket, yes, the cows may have been eating grass (and as we’ve already pointed out, perhaps a few other not-so-grassy things). But there’s no guarantee that they haven’t also been receiving regular doses of chemical dewormers, vaccinations, antibiotics, and maybe even growth-stimulating hormones! Most of the issues requiring these drugs could be solved by simply rotating cows across pasture and managing the land well, using sustainable principles. But rotational production practices take more time and more man-hours. But isn’t it worth it, considering this is the precious fuel we’re putting into our bodies?

Let’s look past the labels.

If you’ve ever bought our beef, you probably noticed that it doesn’t have a single claim on the label. Why? Well, claims are expensive and time-consuming to develop, and as I’ve pointed out, none of the standardized claims is really all-inclusive as far as how we really manage our cows.

Yes, they’re grass-fed, yes, they’re hormone-free, no, they’re not fed soy or canola or anything else that looks like grain or is genetically-modified. They really are on growing, thriving pasture, and if the season causes the growing and thriving of the natural, grassy-looking vegetation to slow down, we feed them stored grass and forage–hay.

The beef tastes good, not because the cows are allowed to gorge themselves on corn, but because we make sure they have plenty of palatable pasture so they can graze to their rumen’s content and still have some grass left over so they don’t have to wander or compete to satisfy their hunger. When harvest time arrives, we choose animals for slaughter based on their appearance, not based on the calendar. If they’re not fat enough, we wait longer.

The cows don’t get diseases because we “breed the best and eat the rest,” meaning we choose the hardiest cows to re-breed, so our herd get healthier every year. And we never force them to live in their own manure. Even in winter, they are moved often to new, clean ground so they don’t have to eat or sleep in their excrement. We don’t prop up false health using drugs for the sake of a pedigree or for profit. Our big picture is self-sustained beef that promotes the eater’s health.

How do you put all that on a label? How do you teach busy but mindful customers what to look for in a beef source?

We hope this little article has helped, and we hope you’ll pass it on to someone you love. We love what we do and we want you to be part of it in your knowledge and in your enjoyment, and even in your experience, which is why we offer free farm tours throughout the year. Our next one will be some time in September, so we hope you’ll join us. Until then, buy really-real grass-fed beef from a farm you can trust!

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2012 October Farm Day

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Farm Day was a hit at Shady Grove Ranch! We had a small group, which was lovely for taking our time and having plenty of interesting conversations about sustainable agriculture. Once everyone had arrived, we loaded up onto the hayride to collect eggs. Matt hooked us up to the tractor, and away we went!

We had all the workers and the egg baskets. Toby, the farm dog, decided to join us.

What lovely weather here in East Texas that day!

Once we arrived in style at the chicken paddock, everyone headed over to the Egg Mobile to see some truly pasture-raised egg-laying chickens.

A couple of our older helpers grabbed the egg baskets, and Bailey showed them how to collect eggs without breaking them. It worked moderately well…

The chickens were busy foraging for breakfast while we were collecting ours. Shady Grove Ranch eggs are produced by non-medicated chickens that have a soy-free, GMO-free diet primarily based on forage. We give them a new quarter-acre paddock every week.

There is no helper too small at Shady Grove Ranch! These two helpers peer into the ventilated nest boxes in search of white, brown, and green eggs.

Next it was time to move the broiler chickens. More helpers! Their job was to encourage the chickens toward the front of the mobile pens while Matt pulled them to fresh pasture during their daily move. Clapping usually does the trick.

The kids observe the chickens happily pecking away at their new salad bar. They get a new one every morning.

Then it was time to see the beef cows. Matt tells us about his breeding and grazing strategies. Raising well-marbled, delicious grass-fed beef is all about good genetics and proper rotational management.

The best part about sustainable farming is that it is safe (relatively speaking) and kid-friendly because there are no chemicals, and the animals are not stressed. One of our visitors meets Bulls-Eye, one of our finest heifers. She should calve sometime before spring.

Gordita, our matron cow who has given us two beautiful heifers, came to check out the hayride and its occupants. Maybe she wanted to taste the hay.

She was a little too shy to come close enough to munch, but Toby decided to get in on the action and get a nice warm rub-down.

Pretty soon, he was totally buried.

Toby just loves to be loved. He makes a great farm dog.

.We enjoyed our time with our visitors! We hope to have more farm days in order to share our work and our passion for raising real food. Join us next time!

ETBU Students Visit Shady Grove Ranch