Tag Archives: grass-fed

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!

Beef Drought Sale – September 2018

Custom Beef Drought Sale

We’re offering a one-time special prior to September 10 on custom-processed bulk beef to lighten the burden on our pastures during this increasing drought situation in East Texas.

Our beef is 100% grass-fed and grass-finished, and is fat, marbled, and excellent quality. No tubs, no cubes, no grains, no licks–just rotational grazing, good breeding, good minerals, and plenty of finishing time!

Grass-fed Beef by the Half

Halves are expected to hang at 250-275 pounds. Take-home poundage (excluding fat/organs) expected to be about 160-185 pounds.

Price is $4.50/lb hanging for a half (does not include processing).

Processing typically runs about $1/lb before extra charges (for sausage, etc).

Payments are to be made in 3 parts:

Deposit to reserve is $300, paid online prior to September 10. Space is limited–first come, first served!
Balance to be paid via mailed check after hanging weight is determined. (To pay online, add 3% convenience fee.)
Processing to be paid upon pickup—ready in early October.

Pickup can be either at the butcher in Carthage, at the ranch in Jefferson, or via our next drop point of your choice in Tyler, Longview, Marshall, or Shreveport after beef is picked up from butcher. We will work with you on this once an exact pickup date is known.

Save 10% if you want the whole animal! Only $4.05/lb (plus processing) for a whole. Get with friends to reserve a whole cow!

What to Expect

This batch of steers is young and fat and will make excellent beef. Your price is based on the carcass or “hanging” weight of the animal after the entrails, hide, and hooves/head are removed. The carcass is then aged to improve flavor and tenderness, and will shrink a bit during this time due to moisture loss. Then, when surplus fat and edges are cut away and various muscles are deboned, the yield is reduced to an approximate 66% of the hanging weight, depending on your cutting preferences. So if your side hung at 250 pounds, you can expect to get approximately 66% of that back as “cuts,” or a final take-home yield of 165 pounds.

We’ll walk you through the cutting process if you are not familiar with how it works, and we can make recommendations specific to our animals that will ensure your satisfaction!

Here’s a very rough breakdown of what you will receive with typical cutting:

Steaks (Strip, Filet, Ribeye, Sirloin, Fajita): 15% of cuts yield
Roasts (Chuck, Arm, Shank, Round, Rump): 30% of cuts yield (but highly customizable)
Burger, Round Steak, Stew Meat: 40% of cuts yield (highly customizable)
Other cuts (Ribs, Brisket): 10% of cuts yield
Liver, Organs, Bones: 5% of cuts yield

**These numbers are estimates only and will vary based on the anatomy of your animal and on your cutting requests.

How Much Freezer Space Will It Take?

We find that planning for 1 cubic foot per 25 pounds of meat works well to be able to navigate your freezer inventory reasonably easily. According to this estimate, you will need at least 7 cubic feet to store a typical half beef, or 1 mid-size home chest freezer. But in case the animals run a little larger, it never hurts to plan for extra freezer space!

How to Get Started

Ready to sign up for your half of beef for the winter? Hop over to our online reservation site: https://squareup.com/store/shady-grove-ranch/

After you place your deposit, we’ll get in touch to complete your cutting orders. Thanks for supporting our work!

Are you falling asleep at the kitchen stove?

7 Replies

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!

Someone is trying to trick you.

3 Replies

Someone is trying to trick you.

They have started using this marketing word, and it’s working. What’s the word?

Local.

“Local” is the new “healthy.”

But my, oh, my, how the falsehoods abound.

(Quick disclaimer: I don’t think “local” is the only criteria for good food. I think rearing practices trump nearness of raising critters or veggies. Every crop-duster and chicken CAFO is local to somewhere. But we definitely need to address this Local Love issue because I think it has gotten way out of hand.)

Take, for example, the giant Geico billboard we saw while driving on a delivery one day. It has the famous little lizard, and it says, “We’re local!”

What does that even mean? That they have a local office you can go spend money at that ends up at HQ in some huge metropolis out of state, just like every other national multi-billion dollar company? Does it mean they have a local phone number so you don’t have to pay for long distance….which pretty much doesn’t exist anymore anyway, except for international calls? It’s so ambiguous that it’s practically meaningless, and yet it sounds so good.

Following is another good example of the misuse of the term.

A pasture-based farmer colleague of ours near the Ozarks in Arkansas snapped this photo of some apple cider for sale. The sign on the display says in prominent lettering, “Farm Fresh. Locally Grown.” The subheading states, “Proudly Supporting Ohio Farmers.”

I guess management forgot that they are a mere, oh, 700 miles away from Ohio. Then you check out the fine print and discover that the cider is actually a product of Michigan! If any of the signage is even remotely true, you’re looking at a distance traveled of over 1200 miles. Thank goodness our “local” schools and shopping centers are closer than that!

Grocery stores are especially bad about abusing the attractive marketability of supporting local farmers. Matt once stopped into Kroger and noticed, again, the prominent “We support local farms!” signage, which you see at so many stores nowadays.

We’re always looking for more locations to serve our customers via retail sales–we’d love to sell our products through Kroger! So Matt decided to ask about it. He flagged down a manager and introduced himself as a local farmer, and inquired about how to initiate the process to become a vendor for their store. The manager looked dumbfounded and said, “I have no idea.” She even went to ask their buying manager there at the store, and his reply was the same. They were so unfamiliar even with the concept of buying from local farms that they didn’t even know where to begin or whom to ask.

Question: If these stores are really selling these wonderful local products from dozens or maybe even hundreds of local farms–because you know, by nature of buying local, there have to be LOTS of farms spread across the nation–why don’t the people who DO THIS FULL TIME know how to get an actual real-live local farmer in touch with the right people to start selling his real-live local products there?

I’ll tell you why. It’s not really happening. They are trying to trick you.

It’s not just grocery stores.

There are a lot of restaurants and restaurant distributors using the same sort of marketing language. They get a couple of poster children farmers, and maybe they really buy a few things from them (or maybe not…) and then they head straight for mainstream, Big Ag suppliers.

Why don’t they just do what they say they’re doing?

I don’t think it’s that hard to figure out. People like the idea of buying local. They like even better the idea of local being fresher and healthier. But money talks, right? Bigger farms (aka CAFO operations–confinement animal feeding operations) are cheaper to operate and have economies of scale on their side. Plus there’s that convenient advantage of separating the consumer from the supply chain by moving the supply chain farther away, and so the food system begins to operate like a money laundering operation.

Restaurant Q buys from Distributor X, who buys from Natural Hub Y, who buys from Brokers A, B, and C, who buy from Farm Co-ops H, I, J, K, who buy from some obscure farms out in Farmland that no one really knows much about, and definitely no one ever visits. Somebody said the farms are pasture-based, and we can surely assume that they’re reasonably close by…

I won’t name names, but I know of two in particular, right here in Texas, that tout their “local” and “pasture-raised” products. One sources beef direct from Australia, citing that American producers can’t meet supply and standards simultaneously.

Like I said, I’m not going to name any names, but I’m just going to leave this link right here for you in case you want to read about it.

The other is a restaurant supplier actively marketing their local, pasture-raised farm products in a major Foodie city in Texas. They have a lovely little website with a prominent menu item, “Why local?” and they go on to answer the question by defining local as farms located “within one day drive from [their city.]” OK, so that sounds pretty reasonable. A day trip to the farm, right?

Well, it just so happens that this Texas farm-to-table group uses for its main supplier of pork a co-op of farms …in Iowa.

Is that meeting their definition of local? It’s a 15 hour drive to Iowa without pigs. And navigating downtown Big Texas City with your livestock trailer would add at least another hour or two, not counting stops. I don’t know many folks that can make a 15+ hour drive in one day without livestock!

In college, I moved from my hometown in South Mississippi to Ithaca, New York, to do an internship with a metallurgical testing company there. In the early days of MapQuest, I staked out my route and highlighted my paper atlas, said goodbye to my mother, and started out early. I made it 11 hours the first day, and I was so exhausted and delirious that I could barely order a meal at McD’s before stopping for the night (back before I knew better). I wouldn’t have made it all the way to Iowa in one day… I would not call that “local.”

Now, if you’re my crazy hubby, who once drove from Longview, Texas, all the way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in one go, you might say it can be done. But gee whiz! Who wants to leave at 6 A.M. and arrive at 9 P.M. (not counting stops!) and call that a “local” farm! Not to speak of whether or not they meant that you were supposed to be able to return home in the same day… Buying pork becomes a full-fledged business trip!

By the way, I have forbidden Matt from doing any crazy long driving now. That was back in his “bulletproof” days…

But you can see how ridiculous the use of this term “local” has become. Granted it might not be out of the realm of possibility if we were all “driving” Lear jets around. Lear jets full of pigs for restaurants…

What this trend means is that you, the buyer, must be oh, so cautious, and not get sucked in by the fancy marketing and attractive buzz words. Worse, people often read “local” as synonymous with “grass-fed” or “hormone-free” or a whole host of other non-applicable terms.

How should we define local?

Polyface Farm, home of Joel Salatin and his family, is probably the most well-known farm like ours. A truly loco-centric, rotationally-focused real-deal type farm. They define their local food-shed as those customers that can make a day trip to the farm and back home again after spending a bit of time browsing the farm, viewing the operations, and shopping in the farm store.

So for most folks that means less than a 3 or 4 hour drive. That sounds pretty reasonable to me. Honestly, anything beyond that would just seem ridiculous. I mean, for us, that would mean buying from farms near Houston, or on the other side of Dallas–that far-reaching of a “food-shed” would be a stretch, to be sure, but it could be done if we had no other options. But you bet your biscuits that I wouldn’t be looking at Iowa or Ohio or Michigan for “local food.”

When buying local isn’t possible

Please don’t hear what I’m not saying.

If you have to ship your food in because there really aren’t any decent rotational-pasture-based farms near you, do it. It’s worth it for your health.

If all you care about is low price, and Iowa pork is cheaper than Texas pork, fine. Capitalism wins, right?

But what gets my goat is when companies are deliberately deceiving customers through marketing schemes that say, “We support local farms!” when they really don’t–they’re just like everyone else, buying through the handful of Giant Food Suppliers and giving consumers the illusion of local, small, diversified economies. And finally, even if it really is local, that doesn’t make it healthy.

What if there’s not a good local farm? Simple! Take your signs down!!

How can you know the truth?

The best way to know is to go SEE it. Meet the farmer. Know your source. It’s worth it.

There is good news.

I hate leaving you with all bad news. So here’s the good news. We’ve been working hard to get our products into some restaurants in the area (and of course we so much appreciate all of our local stores that really DO support local farms!). Here are two restaurants that have recently put our pork on their menu. More coming soon!!

Restaurants Featuring Our Products

Wine Country Bistro in Shreveport, Louisiana
El Cabo Verde in Shreveport, Louisiana

Our Wonderful Retailers:

Granary St. in Longview and Tyler
Vitamins Plus (inside Drug Emporium) in Longview, Tyler, and Shreveport
Jack’s Natural Foods in Longview
Sunshine Health Foods in Shreveport and Bossier
The Farmer’s Wife in Mt. Pleasant
Flour Child Fine Foods in Texarkana

Running a farm is like flying a spaceship.

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Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from one of our institutional vendors, verifying our practice standards so they can make sure they’re marketing their product correctly. As I was chatting with him, I realized something.

You see, a lot of farmers get defensive when people start poking around, asking about their practices. As the gentleman asked me very industry-specific questions, I realized why that is. He was probing, judging, making sure we are legit. And yes, if we had something to hide, or if we had been misrepresenting our product, it would have made me nervous. Even still, we’re not perfect. We have a lot of plans on how to improve things out here. Matt and I are even bigger dreamers than we are doers, if you can imagine! There’s a whole lot of energy and vision living under this roof!

That said, we do not yet have it all figured out. There is no instruction manual for this kind (or probably any kind!) of farming, no playbook, no one-size-fits-all. Matt and I didn’t grow up farming, so we’re a few generations removed from our ancestors who did organic farming for their livelihoods, and we don’t have the inherited wisdom of days gone by. Even little things like learning the quickest way to put up a fence, the way to latch a gate, how to weld pasture skids, and the way to dig a hole. That knowledge has come by hard work and practice.

Matt’s latest creation is a pig-sorting box. When processing time comes, it’s quite a feat to separate breeders from feeders. Pigs don’t herd like cows, so this handy little contraption will help tremendously!

The specifics of natural, rotational pasture-based farming are vastly more complex. One contributing factor is the nuances of our situation. Our climate here in Jefferson, or more specifically, “Lassater Marion West,” experiences very different weather patterns compared with farms as close as 30 miles north or south of us. And of course, our specific animals, forest types, topography, and a million other factors, make certain things work well for us, and certain other things not work so well. But you know what–sometimes the only way you can figure it out is to try it. If it doesn’t work, try something else until you do figure it out.

Sometimes running our farm feels like flying a spaceship. There are umpteen control buttons, switches, levers, and indicators, and you have to pay attention to and manipulate multiple things all at once to keep things running. And so when someone asks a question like, “How do you manage the pasture for soil sustainability?” it’s equivalent to saying to us, “OK, write me a 40-page thesis paper on your short-term and long-term strategy for soil health as it pertains to pigs between the ages of 3 months and 4 years.” Rinse and repeat for all the other species in their various stages of life.

View that from the consumer’s end of things: questions regarding feeding practices, confinement, slaughter, humane practices… the list goes on and on. These are COMPLEX questions. And they need to be asked when you’re researching your food source.

But… There is no simple answer. Especially for folks who know little to nothing about farming. You can’t fit this kind of information onto a label in a store to ensure an informed 15-second purchase decision. It seems overwhelming! Grass-fed? 100% Grass-fed? Grass-finished? Organic? Free-Range? Hormone-free? No added antibiotics?? What’s a wary eater to do?

I saw a blip yesterday in Farm Bureau’s magazine that pointed out that most people have never set foot on a farm. How can you know a significant amount about a topic without ever having seen it? Would you be able to fully understand a cell phone if you’d never used one? Could you operate a car, only ever having read about it?

THIS is the reason we offer farm tours. SEEING and EXPERIENCING is so fundamental to understanding. Not that you’ll walk away an expert. But boy, will you be able to ask the right questions afterward. Things move from hypothetical to real. And since we’re dealing with our food source, I’d say that worth investing some time into.

So there’s my deep thought for the day. Put our next free farm tour on your calendar and come out and see us. March 25 at 10am. You’ll love it! And I hope you’ll be more convinced than ever that buying from a rancher you know is better than any label you see at the store!

Is Organic Food Making Us Unhealthier?

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Have you heard the term “Greenwashing?” Even if you haven’t, perhaps you’ve noticed the vast increase in availability of things at the supermarket that have pretty, healthy-looking little green labels. It’s so nice to have so many healthful options… or is it?

Not all that long ago in the East Texas/Shreveport area, real health foods were hard to find. I remember the days of driving from one farm in one town to get pastured, non-GMO-fed eggs, then to another farm in yet another town to get grass-fed beef, then still another farm in still another town to get raw milk. It was farm-driving madness! And to find grass-fed beef or pasture-raised eggs at the store? Ha! Fat chance!

But now you can find organic diapers, organic pop-tarts, organic banana puffs, even organic gummy bears and lollipops at just about any well-stocked supermarket. (And of course, there are quite a few organic and “grass-fed” meat options, now, too, but maybe those labels don’t mean exactly what we’ve been led to believe they mean…) But deep down, we all know that a lollipop, organic or not, is just a hunk of sugar. Don’t we?

organic lollipops2

It seems to me that there’s a psychological component to eating. If something is presented as officially “healthy,” we sort of turn off our brains and chow down, forgetting the logical reasoning we normally step through before buying a product.

More than once, I have found myself victim of this. I was shopping at a new store and spotted a package of roasted peanuts that had a pretty little “With Sea Salt” label on the front. Autopilot kicked in and I didn’t even look at the label before putting it into my basket. My mind said, “Safe!” because that product had effectively been “green-washed,” and it wasn’t until I was 2/3 of the way through eating the jar that I finally happened to look at the label. It was shocking! Full of stuff that I always avoid, and I certainly would never have bought it if any of those other ingredients had been listed on the front of the package. How frustrating!

Has that ever happened to you? I bet it’s happened to even the most conscientious shopper. I learned my lesson, but how many different kinds of products do we each buy? Do we have to learn our lesson on every single one?

The prevalence of health claims and organic labels has effectively given shoppers full license to grab anything off the shelf and assume it is healthier than its conventionally-made counterpart. Be honest. How many times have you tossed that pack of cookies into your cart thinking it’s somehow healthier than the name-brand? But is it really? It’s still cookies! So maybe it was raised without synthetic pesticides or genetically-engineered organisms (GMOs). But that doesn’t equate with nutritious or beneficial.

This article isn’t intended to guilt you out or to encourage you to buy the cheaper conventional junk! Organic junk food is notoriously expensive! Haha. No, that’s not the point. Let’s work harder to keep our brains turned on while we’re shopping and keep the processed food, organic or not, to a minimum, and eat real, whole-food ingredients made into real meals with our own hands, even if they are simple, like scrambled eggs and homemade hash browns. Because that’s really what we need to truly improve our health, don’t you think?

marshall chickens