Trouble with #6

I am at a loss. We utilize an electric fence on our home place to keep the livestock in. It will give you a pretty good jolt if you happen to touch it, believe me I know. Now here is the trouble, I have one cow who seems to be completely immune to the fence. There is one section where she simply walks through. That would not be be bad enough except now she thinks that she is now at the buffet table. She drifts from the round bales to the small square bales that I have in the hay shed. She must know who irritated I get for she has gotten to be sneaky about it. She waits until I am done with morning chores and then decides that dinner is served. The dogs do a great job of keeping her in, if they realize that she is out. She has gotten good enough that she is able to dupe them most of the time as well. I should not be surprised for she has been this way even when she was young. The first spring when she became old enough to realize that the grass is greener on the other side she was always out. Even when I turned the fence on and she zapped herself three times she still has not learned, or she has become immune to it. The snow on the ground acts as a great insulator and obviously she has learned this. Spring will be here soon and the snow will be gone and let's hope that keeps her in.

A community learns

Attended the screening of the movie "Food Fight" last night. It was sponsored by our local food cooperative. We had about 131 people attend the event. After the showing of the film we were lucky enough to be invited to speak on a panel of local growers/producers. The movie/documentary focused on how our food in this country has changed so much over the past 60 years. It was the advent of WWII that lead to the biggest changes. The military wanted to find ways to fatten up their troops as quickly as possible. Traditional foods and traditional eating were not getting them fat enough, hence the invention of processed foods. By taking commodities such as corn and soybeans and turning them into calorie packed foods the troops quickly gained the weight the military was looking for. Translate this into today and now we have an epidemic obesity problem.

Our part in this is helping to provide a safe and healthy product for families in the community. A recent article in Men's Health outlines how and why grass fed beef is so much healthier for you. http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/healthier_foods/Shrink_Your_Belly_Fat.php
The link is attached.

It was such a great feeling knowing that we are not only providing people with a better food alternative, but have become better stewards of the land. We will keep you posted on the next upcoming screening.

Grass vs. Corn

It was great 2009. We served more customers this year than last and we are starting to build our repeat customer base. I always try to make sure everyone gets a sample before they order. Grass fed beef is not for everyone. Unlike corn fed beef the grass fed beef will not be as fatty and mushy. It always amazes me how people equate "mushy" with tenderness. Tenderness comes from fine texturing not from meat that has no body and is "mushy." Also, grass fed beef will have a distinict flavor. How the animal is cared for, what is was fed and how it was slaughtered will really show. Because you are eating meat that is not laden with fat the flavor of the meat will not be masked by the fat. The fat tends to hide and insulate any sins that occur during the raising and harvesting process. Being shipped in trucks half way around the country and then being brought to a slaughter house that harvests thousands of animals per day causes a great amount of stress that would show up more in the meat if it were not for the fat that surrounds it. What happens to all of that fat once it hits your plate? You trim it off and throw it away, more waste that you are paying for. Grass fed beef has little waste both on the plate and in the pan. With no waste and great nutritional value you are truly getting a higher value product.

New Year and It is COLD

The holidays are over and we are settling in looking forward to spring. The weatherman predicated that it would be cold this morning and they were right. Woke up to -24F this am. Good thing I spent yesterday making sure we would be prepared for this. One of the automatic waterers was giving me trouble. The heater that was in it was not cutting it, it was only 125 watts. So, I replaced it with 250 watt heater. To act as a back up I also install 75 watt light bulbs in each waterer. It adds more heat and allows me to see that everything is working with one glance. Regardless, there will be some ice this morning.

Going out now to check on everyone and feed my steers their daily ration of special grass. Good thing they are hairy!

Heat wave

Wow, what a change from last week, twenty one degrees and sunny. We sure had a blast last week with the below weather temperatures. When you look back 3 weeks ago and we had nearly 50 out and then last week we had -15 it sure gets tough to swallow. Now when it is 90 out this summer 21 will feel like then end of the world. Tomorrow I have got the get the fence fixed. The Southeast quarter is not working. Our new gate we installed needs to be crossed and the wiring hooked back up. Fortunately this fall we buried the wire, now all we have to do is hook it up. We have had one heifer calf who figured out that the fence is not working. She has since made the barn her home, roaming about freely. Good thing it is not summer for she would be busy mowing the bushes down. Won't it be a surprise tomorrow when that fence comes back on.

Mousing

Brought home 61 bales yesterday to get us through the winter. It is amazing when you start pulling apart the start that the ground underneath is still completely thawn. Imagine the surprise of those mice, all nice and snug in their beds and rudely awakened by us! My son Hunter was the first to see the mice, "look that mouse just crawled into that hole." Sure enough before we knew it that were dropping out everywhere. This continued even when we got home. Our oldest dog daisy was having a great time catching them and eating them. Disappointed, where was our cat? Maybe he is too well fed or too lazy! We were in a hurry yesterday so in front of the hay shed is one jumbled mess. Getting up early this morning to get it straightened out. Maybe Daisy will catch us a few more mice.

New Calf

Wow, it is really winter out now! It was 4 degrees yesterday and with the windshield we had 14 below. It won't seem cold in two months, but when it was 40 and 50 out two weeks ago it is tough to get used to. We had our last calf of the season on Monday. Our oldest cow, "old girl" had her calf. We try to calve in the spring and fall in order to have fresh beef available year round for our customers. She hung out there a little too long. Fortunately the calf was born before we got the snow this week. Once they hit the ground and dry off they can take most anything. What a cruel world. You are nice and warm in a pool of water at 101 degrees, sort of like a nice whirlpool bath, then you get dumped out into the snow at 4 degrees and now how to learn to walk within a matter of minutes! Amazing they can survive. We as humans, even as adults at times, can barely take care of ourselve. Here they are, 1 hr old and running around and taking care of themselves! A real testament to how hardy the Highlander Cattle are.