Life On The Ranch:
Our grazing season here, and it is a favorite time of year for our family! The grass is green and growing, the baby calves are running and bucking, and we are doing our best to manage both cows and grass! When we can, we use electric fence to break our bigger pastures down to smaller pastures. This allowing for us to graze the grass quickly, and then move the cows in order to let the grass recover. As the cows graze, they leave behind manure and urine that supply vital nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and microorganisms to the grass and soil. The prairie is a big and complex ecosystem, and large grazing animals have always been apart of it. We love being in the middle of raising healthy beef, and regenerating the soil!!
Another advantage of our regenerative grazing is the quality of forage available for our herd. Since we move the cows every 3 to 5 days, they always have fresh grass available, and are able to keep themselves in good flesh. Our cows weigh anywhere from 1,100 to 1,300 lbs, and will eat as much as 40 lbs of forage in a day. When they are able to quickly graze the tops of the plants (which is where the plants sugars are stored) and then move on to a fresh pasture, the cows nutritional needs get met, and delicious fat is put into the meat. This is why we butcher in the fall, after the cattle have spent all summer fattening up on the nutritious native grasses!
The cycle continues past the cow/grass relationship, and onto the meat/consumer relationship. A healthy soil will produce healthy grasses. Cattle that eat healthy grasses produce healthy meat (while adding more nutrients to the grasses!!). When you and I consume this healthy meat, we are fueling our bodies with natures richest source of protein, not to mention all the vitamins and minerals that just aren't found in feedlot beef.
It is a beautiful cycle, and we are blessed to be apart of it. We hope you will join us in this journey from soil to soul food!
Bits & Pieces By Cherish Paul:
Kip the So-Called Cowdog
A few years ago, David got a German Shepherd/ mini Aussie puppy named Kip, who sometimes didn’t seem to have a brain in his head. At first, he was terrified of cows. Later on, that fear dissolved. When a cow ran from the herd, he was the first to turn her around and run her back to the bunch. (Our collies wouldn’t even dare to do something like that). The only problem was that he would rather just chase the cow than turn her around. Most of the time he would just stay behind her rather than steer her in the right direction. Some days, Kip was a really good help, but the rest of the time? Nope. He would stand in the way of the gates, he would chase the cows behind my colt, (That was disastrous) and he would get chased a lot.
Another thing about Kip, he would never stay at his house. When David was working cows for other people, he would get lonely. He’d break loose from his leash or weasel his way out of his collar, then travel the three mile trek from his house to ours. He even ended up being a father to eight puppies from our collie, Beulah. It took us a really long time to get rid of all of them.
My sister wanted a dog, so David gave Kip to her. One day, Kip broke through the window of her house and went missing. He ended up in the dog pound. He’s back at David’s right now, until my sister gets a dog-friendly apartment.
Other than his poor cow moving techniques and his Gypsy heart, Kip was (is) a good dog. He’s great with people, especially kids. When you’re lonely, Kip is the perfect dog for a friend. He’ll snuggle with you and cheer you up. Kip doesn’t think things through, but he does have a heart of gold.
Order & Shipping Update:
We are still taking pre orders on all our Beef Bundles, so head on over to the website, and secure yours before they are all spoken for!
From Our Customers:
We've been getting lots of feedback from our subscribers! When asked what her favorite benefit from eating grass fed and finished beef was, Jelena said "Definitely the health benefits and nutrient density! the rest are great too, but health is #1 on my list."
