Two years of production then most dairy cows are turned into hamburger!

The typical dairy cow raised on a conventional confinement dairy farm is injected with hormones to increase milk production. Then after only two year's on the job, she's slaughtered and turned into hamburger because she's either sick, lame, fails to breed, or is a less than stellar producer. The average cull rate in the dairy industry is 30 percent. That means that each year, almost a third of our dairy cows are slaughtered and replaced with new heifers.  Most of these cows go to cattle buyers for large packing companies, and go into your supermarket hamburger, fast food hamburger, or mixed into other supermarket meat products. 

A cow that's treated well, spared the hormones, and raised on pasture can be expected to produce milk for ten years or more. The cull rate in a grass-based dairy can be as low as 7 percent. The money that a farmer saves by not having to replace a third of the herd every year helps offset the fact that a cow free of artificial hormones produces less milk. Bossy gets the respect that she deserves and consumers get hormone-free, nutrient-rich milk.

New term you need to know: "by-product feedstuffs" for animal feed ration

Fresh pasture and dried grasses are the natural diet of all ruminant animals. In factory farms, animals are switched to an unnatural diet based on corn and soy. But corn and soy are not the only ingredients in their “balanced rations.” Many large-scale dairy farmers and feedlot operators save money by feeding the cows “by-product feedstuffs” as well. In general, this means waste products from the manufacture of human food. In particular, it can mean sterilized city garbage, candy, bubble gum, floor sweepings from plants that manufacture animal food, bakery, potato wastes or a scientific blend of pasta and candy.  

Here are some of the “by-product feedstuffs commonly used in dairy cattle diets in the Upper Midwest.”*

• Candy. Candy products are available through a number of distributors and sometimes directly from smaller plants… They are sometimes fed in their wrappers…. Candies, such as cull gummy bears, lemon drops or gum drops are high in sugar content.
• Bakery Wastes. Stale bread and other pastry products from stores or bakeries can be fed to dairy cattle in limited amounts. These products are sometimes fed as received without drying or even removal of the wrappers.
• Potato Waste is available in potato processing areas, and includes cull potatoes, French fries and potato chips. Cull fresh potatoes that are not frozen, rotten, or sprouted can be fed to cows either whole or chopped. Potato waste straight from a processing plant may contain varying amounts of inedible or rotten potatoes. French fries and chips contain fats or oils from frying operations.
• Starch. Unheated starch is available from some candy manufacturers and sometimes may contain pieces of candy.
• Pasta is available from pasta plants and some ingredient distributors as straight pasta or in blends with other ingredients, such as candy.

*This list is excerpted from “By-Product Feedstuffs in Dairy Cattle Diets in the Upper Midwest,” published in 2008 by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. 

FYI: I know several beef feedlot producers that are using these same ingredients to feed out their BEEF animals for slaughter.  It is a high energy sugar or fiber source for a cheap price.  This is another reason it is good to know personally the person who is raising your food for your family.   by: Mark

Fresh California Orange & Grapefruit

A friend of ours has gotten a load of fresh fruit from California.  He has organic oranges at $30.00/box, #1 traditional raised oranges for $24.00/box or traditional grapefruit for $26.00/box.  This is tree ripened fresh fruit.  We have been enjoying the oranges and grapefruit in our house, and we all love them.  Limited quantities are available.  Contact us monica@pastureplace.com or 765-414-9352. 

Grass-fed meats improve fat levels

Eating moderate amounts of grass-fed meat for only 4 weeks will give you healthier levels of essential fats, according to a 2011 study in the British Journal of Nutrition.

The British research showed that healthy volunteers who ate grass-fed meat increased their blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids and decreased their level of pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. These changes are linked with a lower risk of a host of disorders, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, depression, and inflammatory disease.

Interestingly, volunteers who consumed conventional, grain-fed meat ended up with lower levels of omega-3s and higher levels of omega-6s than they had at the beginning of the study, suggesting that eating conventional meat had been detrimental to their health.

British Journal of Nutrition (2011) Red meat from animals offered a grass diet increases plasma and platelet N-3 PUFA in healthy consumers. Volume 105, pages 80-89.

Some things for 2012!

As we start into the New Year, I would like to share with you a few things that we are up to:

1. This year we are adding an apple orchard to our farm.  This is an established orchard with McIntosh, Jonagold, Yellow Delicious and Honey Crisp, to name a few varieties.  We are pruning the orchard now, getting it ready for the coming growing season.  We intend on raising our apples naturally, using very limited spray & maintaining tree health through fertility.  We will be offering apples at the farm or at the market locations along with our existing meat products.
2. We are growing our sheep flock and cattle herd to better meet our customer's needs. This means that we are clearing more brush to create productive pasture, overseeding existing pastures and always looking for more ground to raise hay on for winter feed.
3. We are planning on adding another weekly market to our schedule in 2012.  We haven't decided on the location yet, but will be letting you know asap so you can come and visit us.

These are just a few things that we are doing.  As always we appreciate your support and referrals and will try to keep you updated on our progress.

Christmas and End of the Year Special

"Pa rum pum pum pum...Born is the King of Israel....Be near me,Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay...."  Don't you just enjoy the songs of Christmastime!  Especially those that glorify Christ.  He is indeed the sole reason for this season.  Let's spread the Good News to people wherever we are.

One of the goals our family has is to encourage families to spend time together regularly around the dinner table.  Of course we encourage you to serve healthy, locally-raised food products.  :)  We want to partner with you to make that possible.

If you are anything like us, we love to find a good bargain!  For a limited time we are offering a few specials:

*Chicken - Buy 3 get 1 free (whole birds $4.00/#)


*Turkey - Buy 1 get 1 free package of pork bacon ($8.00 value)


*Pork package for $22.50 (a $30.00 value).  
   Includes: 1 Ham shank or butt
             1 pkg. bacon
             1 pkg. rib chops (2/pkg.)

These prices are valid December 19-31, 2011.  Call 765-414-9352 or email monica@pastureplace.com to order.

May you enjoy a special time together with your family this Christmas season and all year through!

Thanksgiving revisited!

I woke up this morning with a verse out of the Bible on my mind.  It goes like this, "I thank my God for every remembrance of you."  This is exactly how I was feeling this morning.  I found myself thanking Jesus for so many things that I had forgotten about or hadn't thought about for some time.  Here are a few things that I gave thanks to God for:

1. That He saved me out of a pit, loves me and accepts me into his eternal family as an adopted son.  Heir to all the blessings of full sonship and life eternal in HIS glorious presence.
2. 15 years of married blessing to my wonderful wife and the fruit of our love in our 5 lovely children.
3. The beauty of His created earth seen in the everyday things of nature like: a sunrise, new born calf, or how a rooster knows to crow in the morning.
4. Our friends!  People like you, people who encourage us.  Friends that give a smile or a pat on the back at times when needed.  I think of many of these friends that are spread all over this nation, folks that we love, those who are our friends in nearly every state of the nation. 
5. The great harvest that we have been blessed with another year.  Fruits, grains, vegetables, meats, all stored up for the cold winter months.  Canned apple cider or apple butter that will be enjoyed by giggly children and the smell of fresh bacon frying in the pan. All given to us by God's gracious hand!

I realize that "official" thanksgiving day is past by a few weeks, but I find it a blessing to stop again and think about some of the things that I am thankful for.  And I find that indeed I thank my God for every remembrance of you!  God bless you richly!