An Interesting Article

[Up North]

This article is generating discussion in the cattle community, don't know if it's right or wrong, but it is an interesting viewpoint.
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http://www.pharocattle.com/Jan_Feb_2007.pdf

[Rockin'B]

It would be nice if this article generated a TON of discussion. It makes sense to me.

[unioncreek]

You can subscribe to Kit's newsletter via email, there pretty good reads. He does make a lot of sense in his reasoning. I lean more toward grass fattened calves, but still grain for the last 90 days. The only problem I have with buy a bull that's raise on forage is you have to have the same environment conditions as where the bull was raised. The grass in Kit's area is good nutritional was, but if you get out of the area it changes. We alway bought locally raised bull and the one time we bought a bull out of the area it didn't fair as well.

Bobg

[Aldeia]

Years ago, before Omnivore's Delimma, Joel Salatin's writings changed the way I bought our beef (and I was a vegetarian for over a decade). We now are able to have grass fed, pasture, organic beef. (Of course snow and winter is an issue, but I can live with that feed). Our grass fed beef tastes very different from beef we've had before, but it's delicious. I will never go back to supermarket beef. I would stop eating beef, really, if I could not get the grass fed beef. I don't want corn fed beef, or beef that wastes fossil fuels. There are many consumers of beef like me. We are (maybe you think it's nuts) paying up to $7.50/lb. But it matters to me how beef is raised, and what happens to the land. And corn-- forget about it for beef.

[MICHAEL B OHIO]

so what is the best grass finished beef breed.
Mike

[genebo]

First off, Kit Pharo has it well figured out. His plans for managing a herd make more sense to me than any others I've read.

I'm reading Joel Salatin's book now. It came highly recommended.

I have an opinion that the best grass fed beef comes from the primitive British breeds. Dexters, Highlanders, Devons come to mind. I've eaten Dexter and can attest to that.

In order to make good grass-fed beef, the animal has to be able to utilize feed very well. The modern, up-bred breeds would starve to death on the pasture that a Dexter can fatten on. They certainly can't produce good beef on grass alone.

Genebo
Paradise Farm
Church Road, VA

[Aldeia]

This may already be a sticky somewhere, but I couldn't find it.

Very forward thinking farmers here, plus more articles by Joel Salatin.

http://www.acresusa.com/magazines/magazine.htm and of course, Joel's site itself:

http://www.polyfacefarms.com/

[savinggrace]

I think there is a great amount of interest amongst consumers and this man is marketing just a little ahead of his time-and I mean that in a good way!

There are a lot of small producers marketing products as an 'alternative to conventional' farmed products, after noticing the prices commanded by Neiman Ranch ect. Which are NOT organic producers BTW.

But. Today's microwave/fast food hurried consumer wants a steak that they can grill on high heat and still cut with a butter knife. Conventional corn fed feedlot beef is a totally different product than lower fat, healthier grass fed beef. For this to really take off, consumer's hurry hurry hurry mentality needs to change as well!