Virtual Farm Tour :: Dexter Beef Cattle

The great thing about this year is that we have had an extremely severe drought which has led to grass that decided it didn't want to grow back as well ... hay that is scarce and expensive ... and lots fun in the heat! No really ... I think it is fairly obvious that it has been a difficult year in many places and as bad as it has been here there are probably areas that have had things worse. So, we are just plugging away with our Dexter beef.

When the farm began ... and really before the farm began ... I was working towards having the grassfed beef be the centerpiece enterprise of our farm. I read a lot of books on raising cattle, managing grass, management intensive grazing, and so much more. In fact the very first livestock we purchased were the Dexter cows and calves. I really wanted beef to be my focus, but once we really got going and moved to the farm it quickly became clear that the beef was going to be a small side enterprise of the larger farm business.

The reason is very simple ... land! We only have a total of 40 acres and from there probably only 25 or so acres are available for grazing (minus the woods/buildings). Those 25 acres will allow us to do a few beef each year (along with our Katahdin lambs), but with our limited grazing land right now it will never be a centerpiece. And, as things stand right now I don't see renting more land as a viable option ... so our purebred Dexter beef is a smaller part of our farm.

Now that I have that all out of the way ... how are things going? Grazing started out well this year, but it quickly became apparent that the grass would not be growing back. That along with my injury has meant less rotational grazing and more scrambling for grass! Nevertheless the cows and calves seem to be doing well and since we have had only bull calves for the last couple of years we should have more beef offerings the next couple of years.

I believe if you look over some previous posts you would see that I was beginning to question the Dexters because they don't produce as much meat as other cattle their size (Lowlines for example). I have been having some serious thoughts about at least crossing in some more beefy lines. Just this past Saturday though I think I ruled that out at the farmers market when I had multiple customers come up asking for beef and were disappointed that I was out because they said it was the best they had ever had! For now ... we're sticking with the Dexters.

There is my quick rambling on our Dexter beef ... if you have any specific questions I would love to share more!

Think on This...

"Visitors to our farm are often amazed when I tell them we haven't planted a seed in 50 years. No plow, no disk, no planter, no nothing. And yet 50 years ago we could walk the entire farm without stepping on a plant -- that much dirt was between the pasture plants. We grew thistle like a crop, picked buckets of dewberries, and could have cultivated broom sedge seeds as a cash crop. None of those plants can be found today in our pastures."
-Joel Salatin

That is a quote in an article by Mr. Salatin from my sample issue of "Acres U.S.A.". I'm pretty sure I have read the article (and posted on it) before, but I'm not sure if it was just on the Acres website or if "Stockman Grassfarmer" also ran the same article. Either way it is an interesting article about the move that Polyface farm has made towards high density mob grazing of taller pasture swards.

When I read the article this time though this particular quote jumped out at me. I know the reason that it did is because I have thought, and discussed with different people, about the possibilities of seeding in clovers or other things this spring to add to our pastures. But, I think Mr. Salatin would advocate just going with what we have, and by the sounds of it we have more than he did starting out.

What we have now is a mixture of native prairie grasses and switch grasses along with plenty of other invasives in the form of thorny bushes and weeds. Most of these things are warm season grasses and I am a little worried about how they would hold up under a managed intensive grazing system through the year. On the flip side, there was an area that we mowed and in that area I found a few plants of both red and white clover.

Anyone have thoughts on Mr. Salatin's quote and the way they built their pastures?

Grassfed Beef Tastes Okay

My busy week is just about over. For the past four days I have been traveling all around central Iowa with 22 students on a mission trip. We worked at two camps, served at a homeless shelter, swam in two different pools, went shopping at Iowa's largest mall, stayed in a hotel one night, slept in a cabin two nights, and do I need to remind you again that we did this with TWENTY-TWO MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS! Needless to say I'm a bit tired and haven't been out on the farm or even thinking about the farm much lately.

With all of that craziness in mind I don't have much to say today. I did run across a short article from the Penn State Extension titled, "Penn State Study Shows Consumers Find Grass-fed Beef Acceptable". I don't really know much about the study other than what is in the article (check out the link above), but it seems pretty promising.

Here are a few quotes from the article that are especially interesting and even somewhat surprising:

• "The study showed that most consumers find the taste and tenderness of grass-fed beef acceptable in blind taste tests. Penn State researcher recommends that producers look for ways to interest more potential customers in grass-fed beef."
• "The results of the study showed that most consumer evaluations of the cooked meat were not influenced by frame sizes of the cattle, weight at harvest, range of grazing period from 120-180 days, and final fat composition of the carcass," Comerford explained. "However, all of the cattle must have plenty of high-quality forage to consume daily plus be harvested at 18 months of age or less."
• "In fact, we found cattle that had the fattest final carcasses actually had lower scores from the consumer panels because of the influence of fat on beef flavor," Comerford said.

Let me know what you think...

High Winter Gains

It seems like a weird time to be thinking about winter gains for cattle, but that was the subject of an article titled, "A Good Winter of High Gains Next Year Starts Now," in this months issue of the "The Stockman Grassfarmer". The article is written by William Winter who is a herd health consultant for the producers of the Thousand Hills Cattle Company. The thing that really caught my attention was that this guy was from Minnesota and he was talking about folks in Wisconsin getting high gains in the winter. Anything about getting high gains in the winter snow is worth checking out in my book! They are even capable of having year-round Average Daily Gains (ADGs) of 2 pounds.

The advice of one of their best producers is to "fix the soil". Before Karl Dallefeld even puts cattle out on to new ground he has the soil tested and adds some lime and other minerals (the article doesn't mention what the other minerals are). The idea is that with soil that is in great shape you will be able to produce stored forages that are great, and with brix indexes of at least 10-12%. In addition to quality stored forages Mr. Dallefeld also, "supplements with kelp, Char-Cal (from MBA), a Gerald Fry-style mineral mix, a bit of dried molasses, and the direct-fed microbials from Bio-Vet.

Another key mentioned in the article is keeping the herd grazing as long as you can. Some forages mentioned were sorghum sudan, hybrid sudan, and grazing corn before it tassels (I want access to tropical corn!). I realize that bison are different than cattle, but the article mentions a bison herd in Wisconsin that only supplemented feed for 45 days last winter. And, don't forget how much snow we had!

The last thing mentioned in the article is that the top producers of Thousand Hills wean their calves at 10 months and still have good looking cows. This idea is pretty foreign to me and I wish they would have written more about it, but the basic idea is that their soils and forages are so good that the cows stay in condition even with the long amount of time lactating. Interesting stuff...

My Thoughts on the Film King Corn

Finally, this past Sunday night I was able to stay up past my bedtime and watch King Corn on IPTV (local PBS station). This has been a long time coming considering I first blogged about the movie on October 30, 2007 ... I mentioned it briefly again on December 13, 2007 ... and I even wrote about it one more time on December 18, 2007. But, despite the opportunities and my HUGE desire to see the film my schedule was never able to connect with the screenings in Iowa. But, after much waiting I was finally able to see what I had been writing about when it aired on Independent Lens. I thought I would give a few of my initial thoughts and then maybe write a little more as I process everything.

1.) I think the first thing that I thought after watching the entire movie is that it was fairly well balanced. Of course I believe they had somewhat of an outline of where they wanted to go with everything, but it did really seem evident that as they learned and grew in the project and in farming knowledge they came to some conclusions that they didn't see coming. This really comes out if you read the "Making Of" section on the Independent Lens website. I think it gives a good glimpse into a portion of their experience.

2.) For me the whole corn in the food system and going through the cattle thing was prominent, but I believe one thing that really popped out as I watched the film was that it was also a film about the loss of the family farm in Iowa. There is a great scene when the are riding and talking with the "big farmer" that does the work on their acre. Almost quietly he mentions something about not wanting to be big, but that was just part of the game. The big cattle guy said the same thing also. As a small family farmer this is something that really hits home with me and I appreciated this angle of the film.

3.) When they were in the office of the "family" rancher (that grows 7,000 acres of corn) the rancher commented that if grassfed was what people wanted than that is what they would give people, but it would be more expensive. This kind of caught me off guard because the inexpensiveness of grass finishing is one of the many reasons that we have adopted this model. Plus corn is almost three times as expensive now as it was in 2005 when the film was made.

4.) As an Iowan I think their treatment of the Iowans and the farmers was great. They didn't make us out to be country bumpkins or backwards prairie people. One farmer in particular said it best when he expressed his feelings about corn. "We're growing crap," he said and then went on to talk about his indifference towards what his corn is used for. He is just selling it ... that is his take.

5.) This film convicted me! As I sat watching the movie I was treating myself to a gourmet root beer (that is a weakness of mine) and eating a small bowl of ice cream. Both of those things have corn syrup in the top three. I was seriously convicted and haven't had a pop since then. But, know one thing ... I'm never cutting back on my favorite foods, corn on the cob and corn casserole!

If you can't tell yet, I am very impressed with the movie. I think it gave a fairly balanced representation of the corn farming culture in Iowa and I like the fact that it didn't jump into the ethanol mess. My feeling is that trying to tackle the ethanol side of things would have muddied up the movie to much because there is so much to explore there. That being said, I did read somewhere that they are also looking into the idea of making a film on some of the other issues like use of fuels and possibly even ethanol.

These guys did a good job and I am pretty impressed with the results. I also wish I could take back my comment from the first time I wrote about the move. Back in October I said, "Okay, this may be bordering on propaganda..." Now if they really want a hit I think they should make a documentary about a beginning farmer starting with nothing in the land of King Corn! I'm serious about this. In one sense I think the movie ends up asking more questions (which is great) than it answers and a look at people farming differently would provide some of those answers. If film was something I was good at I think I would jump at something like that, but of course I may have a little beginning farmer bias!

Get Ready For Grass Farming

In the March, 2008 issue of "The Stockman Grassfarmer" there is an interesting article by Bud Williams titled, "A Short History of American Grass Finishing". It is almost an understatement to say that grass finishing is not a new idea considering the fact that many animals were created in such a way that they could digest forages for gain and energy. As Mr. Williams says, "It is grain feeding animals that is reasonably new. It mainly came about as a way to market grain."

There was a whole series of events and circumstances that led to the growth of grain finishing, but the article points out a few of the bigger things (this is the type of thing I find interesting because of my love of history). Two of the larger factors in this increase were the lower cost of transportation/fuel and the implementation of tractors on farms. The new transportation/fuel allowed farmers the chance to move animals and feed easily. They could now specialize in finishing steers or running cows and calves instead of have a birth to finish operation. Also, the new tractors allowed a farmer to grow more and also specialize in just a couple of crops. Then they could take advantage of that transportation and move their grains to those finishing cattle. Of course there were many more factors, but these two played large rolls.

But, times are changing. Grain and transportation costs are still relatively inexpensive (at least in the sense that it is possible to buy), but because of the way that our finishers, growers, and processors have become centralized there is a possibility that things will only get worse ... especially for the small farmer. Right now I would guess that is all but impossible for me to jump into the commodity beef, pork, or grain markets. The amount of land, machinery, and facilities I would need would make it impossible. But, instead of looking at that as a downer I need to see it as an opportunity.

Actually Mr. Williams makes good point, all farmers should be thinking about quality grass finishing because you never know which way things will go or what opportunities there will be. There are a couple of problems with that. First of all, much of our grass finishing knowledge has been lost, although there is a lot out there and more coming out everyday. Secondly, much of our beef/dairy herd in the United States have also have forgotten how to finish well on grass ... or more specifically our current agricultural system has bred it out of them.

We need to be learning how to produce quality forages for our livestock and rebuilding those breeds that can thrive in the environment they were created for. The opportunities will always be there, but they may be even bigger with many of the changes we could see coming.

A Little More on "King Corn"

Ever since I found out about the documentary "King Corn" and posted THIS POST with some of thoughts I have been following the reviews and screenings of the movie as closely as I can. Recently they made a swing through Iowa and had a bunch of screenings in small and larger towns across Iowa. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend any of the screenings because they didn't venture far enough South in my part of the state on the right days, but I'm glad they had a chance to screen the movie in the "corn belt" itself.

One of the most interesting things is that they have been posting VIDEO BLOGS from their screenings with comments from audience members. I have had a chance to watch the videos posted and was pretty intrigued by some of the comments. I don't know if this is just because they selected certain comments, but it seems as they worked their way East from Sioux City and Algona to some of the prime farm land in the state (Black Hawk, Hardin, and near Grundy Counties) they encountered a little more resistance from the farmers. Of course they also made a stop in Cedar Rapids, IA which is home to some big (and really smelly) corn processing plants!

For some reason the comments from the people in Eldora really stuck with me. Eldora is somewhat my old stomping grounds and I still go up there quite a few times a year to visit our camp, the lake, and for meetings. But for whatever reason the folks there were a bit skeptical ... especially of the idea of grassfed beef. Here is a paraphrase of one quote from the video: "(Addressed to some guy off camera) could we feed enough cattle on pasture to feed the country without corn?" ... (guy off of camera answers) "No, not in this day and age."

That little exchange really got me thinking. Now I realize that I have no practical knowledge and that quite a few people will discount what I say because it comes from articles and books ... but, is that a true statement? I guess I don't really know ... maybe the "in this day and age" part of the answer is the qualifier because maybe it would be possible if there weren't people so entrenched in feeding and eating grain fed beef? You may recall my FIRST POST on Ultra High Density Grazing and then my FOLLOW-UP POST on the same subject. In the world of Ultra High Density Grazing there are people regularly grazing 8,000 pounds per acre and I have read reports of people doing up to 150,000 pounds per acre!!! Now this is some extreme rotational and managed grazing, but it is all being done on pasture and without grains.

So, is it currently possible to provide enough cattle for our nation solely using pasture? Maybe it is...

One more thought... One person mentions using grain towards the end to get the flavor and marbling. I will not comment on the flavor part, because grainfed and grassfed do have different tastes and I know that people will debate which is better, but about the marbling thing. I believe there is research out there now which is telling us that the tenderness (and that is one big reason people want marbling) doesn't have as much to do with grain feeding or fat content as it does with genetics and such. So, maybe that isn't a valid argument...

There is lots to think about when it comes to corn and all of its uses, benefits, problems, and so much more. I would love to hear what you think on this subject. Maybe we can draw Aaron in (who worked on the film) to give us some more insight from these Iowa screenings.

If you haven't heard about "King Corn" yet make sure you go to the website and check out the entire movie if you get the chance!

**Okay, I did have one more thing ... maybe this will balance out my take. I'm not sure if the lady at the end of the Eldora clip has everything straight either. I do think the government has too many regulations that tie the hands of great farmers who would like to market, but the selling the chicken to a neighbor thing and getting in trouble might be a stretch. I'm pretty sure with chicken you can actually butcher on farm a certain number of birds and sell them...**

More Ultra High Density Grazing...

After I my post on Ultra High Density Grazing a couple weeks ago I noticed by way of e-mails and such that quite a few people were stumbling on to this blog while searching for information about the topic. This may be the "next big thing" in grazing ... or maybe it is the "big thing" right now. I am not an insider in the grazing circles yet so I don't know where it stands as far as wide spread acceptance. But, I do know there are quite a few people out there looking for information and I know that I have had a tough time find a lot of information about it. So, I though I would blog again about Ultra High Density Grazing and see if the community of people that read or stumble onto this blog could give some more insight into the subject.

Krystle commented on my first post and mentioned that Greg Judy (author of "No Risk Ranching") is switching to Ultra High Density from Management Intensive Grazing and because of that switch the are becoming more profitable. Also, someone else commented or e-mailed clarifying my understanding of the subject. It is interaction like this that makes learning about grazing so much easier!

Basically, if I understand correctly, Ultra High Density Grazing is placing a high number of cattle on a small space so that they eat down the grass fairly quickly (maybe leaving around 30% forage?) then moving them to the next paddock. I believe we are talking about two or three paddock moves a day because of the high stocking density. Sometimes is this also called "mob grazing". It seems like the basis for this practice comes from imitating the large herds of American Bison on the plains of the Midwest and West. Those large herds would move through an area eat it down quickly and then just keep moving. If only paddock switches were that easy!

I think it is a very interesting idea. Those that are doing it are falling in love with it, from what I understand, and they are really increasing the carrying capacity of their land. After reading a little about Ultra High Density Grazing a few thoughts and questions do pop into my mind. First of all, I think if you are really going to take advantage of this method you will need to have a good source to sell your beef to. If you are selling directly to the consumer I could see easily over producing for your market and then having to dump some animals (unless maybe you are doing something along the stocker lines?). Also, I think I would have to experience and learn from doing MiG grazing before I tackled something like this. Another question that pops into my mind is what about dry seasons. If you have a much higher amount of cattle than your normal MiG or continuous grazing stocking numbers what happens when you have a dry summer? Do you have to dump cattle, should you be irrigating anyways, are you going to have to feed stored forage? That also brings up another question ... what about winter? Is this a better system for stocker cattle on large ranches or can it work on smallish farms also?

Ultra High Stock Density Grazing is a very interesting topic and I would look forward to learning more about it. If you have anything to add, correct, or discuss please make sure you leave a comment ... also, if you have some good links or books make sure you let everyone know about those!

New Grassfed Beef Ad?

Okay, the credit for this one goes completely to Steven, who is a regular reader and commenter on The Beginning Farmer Blog. He pointed me to a recent "King of the Hill" episode that aired on Fox titled "Raise the Steaks". I believe you can watch the episode by clicking here. You will have to select the episode "Raise the Steaks". If you can't get it to work that way just surf over to www.fox.com, click on "watch full episodes online!" in the upper left corner, then select "King of the Hill" and the episode. If you are having problems just let me know. As Steven mentioned I'm not completely sure who long it will be posted, but you should check it out. If you only have 15 minutes then check it out anyways, it is worth it ... as much as watching TV is worth it ...

The question my wife had while watching the episode was, "who paid them to make this episode?" So true, so true! I doubt anyone paid them to make it, but it is one serious plug for grassfed beef and naturally grown produce. They talk about the superior taste, the better life for the animals, the poor conditions of feedlot cattle, and so on. If you remember my post about "The Meatrix" it will seem like they used those movies as research material for the episode.

Another great thing about the episode was that it was fairly clean. Only one curse word I believe and really nothing else bad. They farmed was shown to be very intelligent and caring, but the people that ran the co-op were stereotypical hippies. I felt like the treated everything well for the most part and I do believe this will be some good advertisement on some level.

So, make sure you check this out if you have the time and let me know what you think!

Four Cutting-Edge Tools for Profitable Beef

There is an article in this months Stockman Grass Farmer that gives the four cutting-edge tools for the grazier who is interested in making a profit. So, since I figured that was most graziers I thought I would list them along with a few thoughts today.

#1. Year-Round Grazing
This seems to really be a hot topic right now in grazing circles. Since I'm new to the scene I don't know exactly how long it has been out in front of the public, but I know that it is being written about a lot in various periodicals, taught at the seminars, and discussed on the message boards. One year ago, as I began my research, I thought year-round grazing was for some people, but it was not needed to run a great grass-fed operation. While I still won't go as far as saying it is needed, I am beginning to come around to see all the benefits to the farm running a management intensive grazing operation. One interesting fact from the article stated that Canadian graizers have found that beef cattle will dig through 16 inches of snow to find forage. I don't know when the last time was that we had 16 inches around here, but it wouldn't happen that often. Plus, there are alternative crops and methods out there. I believe this is another tool that the farmer can use to reduce his production expenses and grow his income.

#2. Grass Finishing
Okay, I thought this one was not as much "cutting-edge" anymore. I realize that it still hasn't met wide acceptance, but frankly I don't know when or if that will ever happen. If it did happen it would mean there was a large social (what people will accept for their meat) and political (the big farm lobby) shift in America. But, even thought it is not widespread I still don't know if it is as cutting-edge as the other "tools" mentioned in the article. That being said, I do believe it is the only way to go if you are going to run an unconventional farm ... and if you desire to run a farm that will support you family. One thing I really agree with from the article is this quote, "No, it is not easy to finish cattle on grass; and yes, you have to be an aggressive marketer to sell your product." It's not a slam dunk thing, maybe that is why it is still considered cutting-edge.

#3. Irrigate Pastures

This one may be a more regional "tool", but I do hear of an increasing number of people that are doing it in all parts of the country in order to combat dry spells and keep high forage quality in front of their animals at all times. I think possible it is more of a factor with people that are going to finish their animals year-round, and I'm not convinced yet that that is the way I would like to go. What it does do is all the farmers to concentrate their stock in smaller areas because the forage is always at an even quality of growth and nutrition. My biggest problem with irrigation is the monetary investment that it will take. I believe that you really must be grazing and grass finishing on a LARGE scale in order to make it pay, and that is not the way that I desire to go.

#4. Ultra-High Stock Density Grazing

I hear more and more about this each week as I read and research, and I'm just beginning to learn all of the details and ideas. When I first started learning I thought that normal management intensive grazing stock densities were "ultra-high", at least when compared with conventional wisdom, but now they are taking it a step further. Many compare this to what the American Bison would do on the plains before their near extinction. Basically you jam a lot of animals into a small area and let the mow it all down. In theory they will eat every plant around because it is what is available, and then you move them out before damage is done and don't allow them to return until the plants have had time to recover. The people that are using this method, sometimes called mob grazing, are finding that they have, "healthier soils and plants, increased soil organic matter, and most of all, a phenomenal increase of carrying capacity of the pasture," according to the article. Maybe this is something that needs to be combined with irrigation? I don't really know, but I would call it "cutting-edge" there is no doubt about that.

So, there you go ... four cutting-edge tools for the grazier. What do you think? Would these tools take your farm or the farms around you to the next level? Well, the author Bob Scriven seems to think so and he does throw out some good ideas!

Corn and Grassfed...

From time to time I have eluded to the fact that my Dad and I don't always see eye-to-eye on how we envision the farm being run. My Dad grew up on the farm and while he agrees that we need to market our own beef, pork, or whatever he is having a hard time imagining farming with out planters, plows, combines, and grains. Plus some tractor seat time just for good measure.

Well, I may have found the answer. When reading through Allan Nation's BLOG this morning I came across a post titled, "A Corn Plant for Grassfed Beef". You will have to scroll past the first couple of articles to get to it, but it was an interesting read for me because I could see its usefulness in our part of the country.

Here is the main idea from the article,

"Illinois research has found that when tropical varieties of corn are grown in the Midwest, the corn plant does not normally flower or produce grain. Instead, the plant concentrates sugars such as sucrose, fructose and glucose in its stalk and leaves."

The University Illinois is researching this plant for its ethanol applications, but it could have a couple of large impacts on the grassfed grazing community also.

Number one, it would be a great source for finishing grassfed steers in the summer. It would give them plenty of growth nutrition to add the weight at a high enough rate for finishing, and according to USDA rules the cattle would still be grassfed because they ate the corn before grain was produced.

And, secondly it would work wonderfully as a winter stockpiled forage. In the tests the plant grew as tall as 16 feet. I think there would be plenty above the snow for grazing in the Midwest! This winter feeding ability could lead to raising completely grassfed grazing beef year around. Cutting out the hay is a major labor saver and if my Dad got to plant a little corn in the meantime it would just be a bonus.

This is just in the research phase right now, but it would be worth following. If you have any experience with cattle grazing corn stalks before it goes to grain I would be interested in hearing from you.

Grassfed Beef Year Around

If you keep with my blog regularly you will know that I recently subscribed to "The Stockman Grass Farmer magazine. While I haven't received my first current issue, one of the bonuses of signing up when I did was that I could get two back issues. So, I'm working my way through those right now. The great thing about the articles in these things is that they are pretty much timeless.

On the cover of the February 2005 addition is an article about a farm in Maine (yep, that's right I said MAINE) that provides grassfed beef year around. This is the type of article that really catches the eye of a kid from Iowa that grew up thinking you needed to feed corn during the winter months if you had a chance of sending an animal to slaughter while snow was on the ground. But, Roger and Linda Fortin of Little Alaska Farm are sending four finished beeves to a processor each week from their snowy southeastern Maine farm. According to the article, they used to raise grainfed natural beef but decided to go all grassfed so they could continue to get the premium for their beef that was slowly slipping away in the "natural" market.

Mr. and Mrs. Fortin pasture their animals from May until mid-October and then feed grass silage over the winter months. Their pastures are a mix of Orchardgrass, Timothy, and white clover that comes up on its own. I thought it was funny that the article mentions that chicken manure is their main fertilizer ... hmmm, why not just raise pastured poultry and not buy in the fertilizer! Anyways, most of their 100 cow herd is Red Devon, but they do buy in yearlings from neighbors that use their Red Devon bulls. They selected this breed because of its easy marbling on grass (still gotta conform to the standards of the beef grading industry).

They sell their wholesale beeves to Hardwick Beef (a grassfed beef distributer) when they are between 20 and 28 months old and have a carcass weight between 600 and 650 pounds. They get $1.75 per pound from Hardwick Beef, and all their carcasses need to grade at high Select to low Choice. In order to get the needed daily weight gain to produce the marbled beef, they have to supplement their wilted grass silage with 6 pounds of citrus pulp (available in their area because of the dairy operations) per head per day.

The cool thing about the Fortins is that they also have an on farm store that sells their beef by the cut along with their pastured chicken eggs and pastured pork (I really need to get some pigs!). They are doing all of this on 220 acres that they own and 120 acres that they rent, so it is not like it is a huge operation. Another interesting fact about their article is that their town is only 900 people strong so they really rely on the tourists coming from Portland, ME 60 miles away to bring them business. This is something I have often thought about if we ended up near my dad's farm because there is a growing tourist opportunity there.

I gleaned a couple key things from this article. Number one, I love the fact that they are trying to get away from their wholesaling by creating their on farm store and expanding the product available there ... gotta love the pastured pork and chickens (although I think they could easily add meat birds and then buy less poultry manure for fertilizer). Number two, I was surprised at how long they take to finish their beef. I assume that is because they are grassfed year around and because they finish all year long, but it made me wonder if I'm off on wanting to finish my Dexters between 16 and 22 months. I'll just have to investigate a little more. Finally, I just love the way they have transitioned from commodity based system to a farm that goes full circle with calves being born on the farm and sold in the store. That is a place that I would really like to end up. I wonder if I could start out that way?

King Corn?

Okay, this may be bordering on propaganda... but I just thought I would throw it out there for anyone's thoughts and responses. As I was checking out the new Movie Trailers over at www.Quicktime.com I came across the movie titled, "King Corn". I didn't really know what to expect so I clicked on the link and watched the trailer. What I found was ... well, I guess you can say that it was interesting. Basically, it isn't so much a movie as it is a documentary about two guys from the east coast who come to Iowa (my state) to discover where all of this corn goes. Somewhere along the lines they end up growing an acre for some reason and make a movie about their experiences and investigations.

I watched the trailer, went to the website, and came away confused. Here I am living in a state that thrives on corn (and beans) and the subsidies that go along with it. My family members live off of corn, my neighbors do, my friends do, well ... basically a lot of people in Iowa do! But, does that make it the right way to farm? Does that make it the most healthy way to raise the animals we eat? Those are good questions to ask ... but when you ask those questions in Iowa ... well, let's just say they aren't popular questions.

There were a couple of red flags that popped up on my "propaganda radar". First of all "The Austin Chronicle" said, "As relevant as Super Size Me and as important as An Inconvenient Truth." I just don't know if I can trust anything that is compared (in a good light in this case) to movies by Michael Moore and Al Gore. It just grates against my world view! And secondly, it is mostly showing in large (mostly liberal) cities. I realize that is where it will receive the most welcome response, but it would ease my mind if it branched out a little.

Basically, I don't know where I stand ... I'm an Iowan. I eat lots of corn, I put ethanol in my car, I feed yummy corn to my backyard chickens, I really love corn! On the flip side, I am sold on pastured beef and God's creation of animals sustaining largely on pasture. So, what is an Iowa boy to do? I would love any thoughts on this movie or basic idea. It is something that really interests me as I look at a transition to the farm.

**UPDATE** If you check the comments you will see that the director for King Corn noticed my post. I have e-mailed him asking to keep me up to date on any Iowa screenings. Also, the folks from Sugar Creek Farm commented about a screening coming up at Iowa State University. You can check out the details by clicking on this LINK. Thanks for reading!

Tender Grassfed Beef

Sorry for the late posts this week. Normally I like to be able to put up my post first thing in the morning, but the next few weeks will be be very busy. This week I have been helping with The Power Team and have only been able to be home for a few hours each day. But, if I have enough energy to get out of bed tomorrow I am going to drive down and check out the new cows in the daylight, get some pictures, and do some work. In the mean time ... now back to your regularly scheduled post ...

I have slowly been making my way through one of my free back issues of The Stockman Grass Farmer. In the August 2005 issue I have been reading first there is an article about meat toughness and off flavors. It has a very interesting title, "Grass Feeding Does Not Cause Meat Toughness Or Off Flavors." Okay, so maybe it wasn't a real creative title, but it did get the point across.

Lately it seems like I have been thinking about and blogging about (it is interesting that I consider that a verb now) the walls I am facing or will face in my pursuit of a small family farm based around the pasture. This seems to be one of the walls. It has already come up when I talked with my dad, my in-laws, my friends, my family, and a few people who I would consider potential customers. Here in Iowa, and across the midwest I'm sure, there is a strong bias against grass-finished beef because it is so much different than the cultural norm. In fact, in Iowa it is almost considered un-Iowan to not feed cattle grain ... I mean if you are feeding them corn then you are supporting the local farmers! Well, I do fill up with Ethanol so that will have to be enough for me.

The article is written by Anibal Pordomingo and it brings up some very interesting points from personal observation. I will also point out that I have read a lot lately that points to tenderness having nothing to do with marbling in the meat, but all to do with the genes of the steer. Grass-finished beef doesn't have to fall to any of the stereotypes ... but you will need to be able to educate those that eat and purchase your beef. I do like the idea of educating people ... it is what I enjoy about being a pastor and youth pastor and it is what I loved when I was a history teacher!

So, here are some real reasons from the article why that steak may be tough:

• Fast chilling...
  
• Because of space and handling restrictions, some people work the carcasses warm and chill the cuts.
  
• Few carcasses in a maturation chamber.
  
• Stress prior to slaughter.
  
• Cooking too fast.

And, here are some reasons from the article why that steak may be spoiled or have odd off flavors:

• Chilling, freezing, thawing, and re-freezing.
  
• Freezing too slow.
  
• Dark cutters, stressed beeves.

You will have noticed that grass-finishing had nothing to do with the toughness or off flavors. Grassfed beef can be very tender and very flavorful ... hopefully these points will be some more ammunition in the battle against conventional Iowa wisdom.