Lamb ready!

We have grass finished lamb ready for harvest now.  These lambs are around 90-100lbs. live weight and could be taken to the processor anytime.  Our customers have given us great feedback on how good our pasture raised lamb taste.  Try one for yourselves!  Call us at 1-765-414-9352

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Grass-Fed Basics

by Jo Robinson

Back to Pasture. Since the late 1990s, a growing number of ranchers have stopped sending their animals to the feedlots to be fattened on grain, soy and other supplements. Instead, they are keeping their animals home on the range where they forage on pasture, their native diet. These new-age ranchers do not treat their livestock with hormones or feed them growth-promoting additives. As a result, the animals grow at a natural pace. For these reasons and more, grass-fed animals live low-stress lives and are so healthy there is no reason to treat them with antibiotics or other drugs.

More Nutritious. A major benefit of raising animals on pasture is that their products are healthier for you. For example, compared with feedlot meat, meat from grass-fed beef, bison, lamb and goats has less total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories. It also has more vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and a number of health-promoting fats, including omega-3 fatty acids and “conjugated linoleic acid,” or CLA. Read more about the nutritional benefits of raising animals on pasture.

The Art and Science of Grassfarming. Raising animals on pasture requires more knowledge and skill than sending them to a feedlot. For example, in order for grass-fed beef to be succulent and tender, the cattle need to forage on high-quality grasses and legumes, especially in the months prior to slaughter. Providing this nutritious and natural diet requires healthy soil and careful pasture management so that the plants are maintained at an optimal stage of growth. Because high-quality pasture is the key to high-quality animal products, many pasture-based ranchers refer to themselves as "grassfarmers" rather than “ranchers.” They raise great grass; the animals do all the rest.

Factory Farming. Raising animals on pasture is dramatically different from the status quo. Virtually all the meat, eggs, and dairy products that you find in the supermarket come from animals raised in confinement in large facilities called CAFOs or “Confined Animal Feeding Operations.” These highly mechanized operations provide a year-round supply of food at a reasonable price. Although the food is cheap and convenient, there is growing recognition that factory farming creates a host of problems, including:
• Animal stress and abuse
• Air, land, and water pollution
• The unnecessary use of hormones, antibiotics, and other drugs
• Low-paid, stressful farm work
• The loss of small family farms
• Food with less nutritional value.

Unnatural Diets. Animals raised in factory farms are given diets designed to boost their productivity and lower costs. The main ingredients are genetically modified grain and soy that are kept at artificially low prices by government subsidies. To further cut costs, the feed may also contain “by-product feedstuff” such as municipal garbage, stale pastry, chicken feathers, and candy. Until 1997, U.S. cattle were also being fed meat that had been trimmed from other cattle, in effect turning herbivores into carnivores. This unnatural practice is believed to be the underlying cause of BSE or “mad cow disease.”

Animal Stress. A high-grain diet can cause physical problems for ruminants—cud-chewing animals such as cattle, dairy cows, goats, bison, and sheep. Ruminants are designed to eat fibrous grasses, plants, and shrubs—not starchy, low-fiber grain. When they are switched from pasture to grain, they can become afflicted with a number of disorders, including a common but painful condition called “subacute acidosis.” Cattle with subacute acidosis kick at their bellies, go off their feed, and eat dirt. To prevent more serious and sometimes fatal reactions, the animals are given chemical additives along with a constant, low-level dose of antibiotics. Some of these antibiotics are the same ones used in human medicine. When medications are overused in the feedlots, bacteria become resistant to them. When people become infected with these new, disease-resistant bacteria, there are fewer medications available to treat them.

Caged Pigs, Chickens, Ducks and Geese. Most of the nation’s chickens, turkeys, and pigs are also being raised in confinement. Typically, they suffer an even worse fate than the grazing animals. Tightly packed into cages, sheds, or pens, they cannot practice their normal behaviors, such as rooting, grazing, and roosting. Laying hens are crowded into cages that are so small that there is not enough room for all of the birds to sit down at one time. An added insult is that they cannot escape the stench of their own manure. Meat and eggs from these animals are lower in a number of key vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids.

Environmental Degradation. When animals are raised in feedlots or cages, they deposit large amounts of manure in a small amount of space. The manure must be collected and transported away from the area, an expensive proposition. To cut costs, it is dumped as close to the feedlot as possible. As a result, the surrounding soil is overloaded with nutrients, which can cause ground and water pollution. When animals are raised outdoors on pasture, their manure is spread over a wide area of land, making it a welcome source of organic fertilizer, not a “waste management problem.” Read more about the environmental differences between factory farming and grass-based production.

The Healthiest Choice. When you choose to eat meat, eggs, and dairy products from animals raised on pasture, you are improving the welfare of the animals, helping to put an end to environmental degradation, helping small-scale ranchers and farmers make a living from the land, helping to sustain rural communities, and giving your family the healthiest possible food. It’s a win-win-win-win situation.

© 2010 by Jo Robinson

      

A few things happening!

How the days and weeks fly by when you are busy!  We try to make weekly post to our blog, but when things get to busy we don't always get that done.  Thank you for your patience with us!  We have been baling straw for winter bedding, making and storing winter feed (haylage & dry hay), keeping the animals moved from pasture to pasture and squeezing in a little time to take a trip for vacation.  We enjoy our busy summers working in the beauty of creation, but also look forward to the slower winter months of rest.  We hope that you are also enjoying summer with your families, and look forward to serving you with local, healthy farm products in the future.  Blessings!

Summer brings with it being very busy!

We are so thankful for the summer growing season, but with it comes lots of activities around a farm.  Making hay is one of the chores that happen during the warm growing season.  Making a hay crop include cutting the grass, raking, baling it into round or small square bales, and finally storing away in the barn.  This feed will them be used to feed the animals during the cold winter days ahead.

My dad loves to get out and operate his 1952 John Deere A, it is one just like his dad had when he was a boy!  Thanks dad for all you do for us, you are a great blessing and father!

Meet our newest addition to the farm family!

For some time we have been wanting to add a milk cow to our family farm.  When we livcd in Oregon, we had a milk goat, and loved having fresh raw milk available all the time.  Well, through various circumstances we were able to find a Jersey milk cow.  We are enjoying having fresh milk again around our house!

 

And, yes, we have already been asked if we are going to offer cow shares for others who may want to have their own cow and enjoy the blessings of fresh raw milk.  Fresh raw milk may not be for your family so we encourage you to do your own research on it and decide for yourself.  If you are interested in owning a share in a milk cow, contact us at monica@pastureplace.com or 765-414-9352.

Farmers Market schedule for 2013

We regret to inform all of our faithful farmer's market customers that we are not planning on being in any markets during the 2013 season.  We have been very blessed with many faithful customers and friends at the market.  Due to added family responsibilities with our new little boy, we do not feel we can add another event.  But, we still make deliveries in Lafayette regularly, and you are always welcome to join the other faithful customers that come out to our home and pick-up our products.  Do not hesitate to call 765-414-9352 or email your order to monica@pastureplace.com and we will make arrangements to get your product to you.  Thank you for your understanding and continual support!

New baby calves at the farm!

Spring is calving time at our farm, we have had a few and are still expecting more any day now.  It is so fun to get out each day and see what new little baby might have arrived during the night.  Here is a few pictures of our new additions to the herd.