Here’s my list of Top 10 annoying things I hear about Grassfed beef. And one really good thing. 1. All beef in the US is grassfed. This isn’t necessarily a myth, but it’s misleading. It’s probably safe to say that 100% of the cattle raised in the US have forage as the single largest component
Yearly Archives: 2014
Many people who take an interest in livestock are familiar with the concept of rotational grazing. The practice goes by many names and variations – management intensive grazing, limit grazing, mob grazing, cell grazing – but the general idea is the same – keeping livestock contained to a smaller section of their pasture, rather than
People often ask me if we use heritage breeds. I can’t say as I really know exactly what a heritage breed, is, but it doesn’t matter. The answer is “No”, and the answer has nothing to do with whether or not a breed has genetic value somewhere. What matters is if that breeding decision makes
This little angel is a bovine rock-star in the making. She’s a Murray Grey heifer, and like most Murray Grey calves, she hit the ground running. Murray Grey calves are tiny and vibrant. They’re born easily and quickly, they’re aggressive nursers, and they’re intensely curious. This girl is about 5 hours old in
When I checked cows at noon on Tuesday, everyone looked fine. When I went to re-check at 5, I found Y3 and Y10 both cleaning newborn calves. Having two cows calve this close together isn’t too unusual, especially when you think about cows are managed. Not only are Y3 and Y10 half-sisters – both are
As producers, we like it when our cows have calves on a predictable schedule. We call it our “calving window” and from a management perspective, there are a lot of good reasons to maintain a tight calving window. When a group of cows calves at the same time, it helps us closely monitor their pregnancies,
I pass this every day on my way to check cows.
During calving season, I spend hours looking for cows and calves. Even when there is little cover, a 1300 lb. cow can be hard to find, and her 90 lb. calf even harder.
Grafting calves is as straightforward as it is maddening. The idea is simple – get the calf to nurse the cow. Not too big a deal. Except for the part where the cow tries to kill you. Or the calf. The stars pretty much have to align for this whole thing to work. First off,