One of my favorite parts of raising cattle is naming.  Every animal born on our property gets a name, even if we know at birth that its destiny is as part of our pastured beef business.  I’ve blogged about some of the reactions we get from our customers:  Some want to know the name, some don’t.

We started out using names from music, since we got our start in Austin, Texas.  Since then, we’ve evolved a system of naming that helps us to keep track of animals through their names, such as their sire, family, group or birth year. 

This year, we have two main groups of names.  The first group are all calves that are sired by a Devon bull out of New Zealand.  All of his calves have names that are places in New Zealand or Australia.  So far, we’ve got Hobart, Brisbane, Cambridge, Tamborine and Pukekura.  I’m holding out for the one we name “waikikamukau” (pronounce Why-kick-a-moo-cow), which is a small town in New Zealand.

The second group of calf names are for those sired by Red Angus or Black Angus bulls.  There is an international identification system for cattle, which specifies a single letter to designate the year of birth in each animal’s ID.  This year, the letter is Y.  There is a 22-year cycle to the ID (letters I, O, U and V are not used).  As it turns out, one of my favorite years for music, 1967, was also a “Y” year.  So, most of our the Angus/Red Angus sired calves for 2011 will have names from one of the Billboard top 100 from 1967.  Georgy Girl was our first calf of the year.  I expect we will end up with Ruby Tuesday, Daydream Believer, Billie Joe and more by the end of the year.  What was your favorite song from that year?

Naming each animal makes each one an individual, rather than a commodity.  By name, I can usually recall a picture of each animal and its characteristics.  When we harvest, the names help me to be grateful to the creatures that provide our livelihood, as well as good food for our family and our customers’ families.   

Our home ranch is featured in this month’s Edible Austin magazine.  If you like the photos, they are a credit to my husband and partner, Ralph Mitchell.  He’s also the one responsible for doing the steak grilling for the taste-testing we do of each harvest of beef, not to mention the bulk of the ranch work.

This article presents an idyllic view of our life.  In reality, it is hard work almost every day.  It is also the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life.

While I was in Washington D.C. last week, a cab driver from Mauritius, upon hearing that I ranched for a living, asked how many hours a week we worked and what we did for a vacation.  He seemed surprised when I explained we pretty much worked  while the sun was up and that time off the ranch was only by necessity.

I found myself explaining that although we work really hard almost every day, our “vacations” come in small moments that don’t happen during most people’s work life.   Often, in the midst of a stressful event, I’ll be caught by the beauty of a nighthawk chasing insects in the morning sun, or the smell of clover in bloom.  As it mentions in the article, we sometimes turn a routine chore like checking on the cows into a mini romantic interlude.  Honestly, if I had a week with no responsibilities or duties, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere but here on our home ranch.

I wonder how much different the world would be if most people were able to find the same kind of reward in their daily labor.

I often encounter reluctance to try local pastured meats (much less pay a premium price for them) because there is a general bias in this country that “grain fed” is higher quality.  I suspect most of Wild Type Ranch’s first-time customers buy our beef because of one or more of the following reasons; we’re local, no feedlots, no hormone implants, no routine antibiotics, compassionate animal care, environmental stewardship, grass/pastured meat health benefits.  Unless they’ve been referred by an existing customer, “quality” or “fantastic eating experience” isn’t usually mentioned.

I just returned from four days at the “Gourmet Beef on Grass III” conference. My head is swimming with ideas, inspiration and new questions.

The main focus of the conference was producing quality beef using sustainable methods.  It doesn’t happen without knowledge and planning,  but more and more ranchers are creating a “wow” eating experience for their customers.
Not all beef is created equal, however.  If you are a consumer, here’s the CLIF notes to getting good beef locally:

• Buy beef from someone who is knowledgeable about beef.  Great beef doesn’t just happen, it takes good management and good genetics.
• Ask what breed or kind of cattle are producing the beef.  Good beef is more likely to come from English breeds, which include Angus, Red Angus, Devon, Lowline, Hereford, Dexter and Shorthorn.
• Ask how old the cattle are when they are harvested.  Good beef comes from cattle that grow at a reasonably steady rate.  If the beef is from animals older than about 30 months,the flavor MAY be stronger than you like, and the meat is less likely to be well-marbled and tender.
• Ask if the producer has taste-tested steaks from the beef they are selling, or otherwise guaranteed tenderness.
• Ask for a guarantee (replacement or refund) on your beef.
• Pay attention to the brand you are buying.  Find beef you like and stick to that producer or brand. (then you won’t have to ask these questions each time!)

Great beef is out there, and more and more ranchers are producing it.  At this conference, we scientifically tested the tenderness of 12 different steaks from different producers (including 3 of ours).  All twelve scored in the “tender” category.  I challenge anyone to buy steaks from the regular meat case at twelve grocery stores that would score tender 12 /12 times.

Tenderness, in particular, is something someone growing cattle for the feedlot is not paid for, so will not breed into their cattle.  When you buy direct from the rancher, however, it is among our primary quality concerns.  That’s why our ranch has a strict policy of “if it’s not tender and juicy, we don’t sell it”.  We’re not alone among local brands.

If you haven’t ventured into the land of locally produced, pastured meat, take your CLIF notes, find yourself a good producer and get ready to spoil yourself for life.

I’m trying something new:  Once a month, I’m going to attempt to outline an entire day here at the ranch, no holds barred.  Here’s the last day in February at Wild Type Ranch:

We woke up to howling winds and a drop of 50 degrees from yesterday’s unusually warm temps of 85 degrees. The winds here blow with gusts to 25-40 mph, sometimes stronger, and if you spend a day out in them, your ears hurt for another day.  Today the wind blew the door past where it should comfortably go on the new tractor.  My wonderful husband, Ralph, spent an hour welding up a suitable repair, in the middle of too much other work.  [note to single women–if you are planning to live a rural life, I strongly recommend finding a husband who can weld AND cook].

My first chore (before coffee!) is to check for heat in our yearling heifers.  Nothing happening, but I note a case of pinkeye, so that changes the entire day’s priorities.

After a cup of tea and a discussion of the day’s battle plan, we begin to move cattle around.  We were planning to “synchronize” our heifers for breeding starting next week, but the pinkeye outbreak means we have to bring all the heifers up to the barn to check them out and treat the affected ones, so we move that plan ahead by a week.  In retrospect, it works out, as we were hoping to be able to go back to Illinois for my sister’s annual Christmas caroling party, and to do so, we need to avoid calving between Dec 18th and 28th, which means avoiding breeding between March 12 and 27th. We take duties as stewards of our animals’ welfare seriously, and check our cattle at least twice daily during calving season.  Consequently, vacations are planned a year in advance.

Before we can work with our heifers, we need to free up some space in one of our smaller paddocks.  We have had a few older cows out with our bull for 30 days.  These girls didn’t breed last spring, but were put in with a young bull, so it may not have been their fault.  Each one of our cows is an individual–it’s hard to make the decision to cull them, but we also have a responsibility as producers of registered stock to make sure that the genetics we are selling are sound in every way.  We decided to give them one more chance before we let them go, but if they aren’t bred now, they will have to go to the sale barn.

Next, we gather our heifers, weigh, check for pinkeye on each one and move them to the paddock outside our kitchen window, so we can detect estrus if they are ready to be bred.  To help us determine which heifers are ready for breeding, we put a patch on them so we can detect any “mounting” when they come into heat. The patches are kind of like scratch-off lottery tickets, with a silver coating over the brightly covered base.  One of my boys used to tell me “look Mom, that cow won” when he would notice a rubbed patch after a cow had come into heat.  We A.I.  (artificially inseminate) most of our cattle in order to get the best genetics into our beef and registered Angus and Red Angus herds.

Once the heifers are moved and patched, I water the 250 feet of potatoes we planted yesterday along with the rest of our spring garden (mostly greens, peas and carrots and the first rows of beans) while Ralph cooks up a quick lunch to get us through the afternoon.  Breakfast was a piece of toast with vegemite, so lunch is really welcome!

I’ll ‘fess up to taking a 20 minute nap on the couch after lunch.  After that necessary refresher, it’s time to sort off the cows that will be having embryos implanted on Monday and Tuesday.   We work closely with Dreamcatcher Ranch on embryo transfer and selling our bulls.  Ralph puts out big round bales to the various paddocks in advance of tonight’s expected freeze.  Cattle need full bellies to stay warm in windy or wet weather.

Once cattle work is done for the day, we start on the other end of the production chain: beef.  We picked up beef last week, but because the local farmer’s markets haven’t started for the year, our freezers are unusually full.  We’ve got a few orders and a quarter to fill, as well as inventorying what we have on hand before markets start April 1 (we sell at the Georgetown Farmer’s Markets all season).  That takes both of us the better part of 2 hours.  Ralph leaves as the sun goes down to cook us up a wondeful supper, while I finish reorganizing our portable freezer trailers for next week’s delivery points and orders.

I come in after dark, and am glad to find that Ralph has gathered the eggs (usually my job, if I am here) and has a glass of wine waiting for me.  18 eggs today! Spring is definitely on its way!  Supper, a much needed shower and e-mails back to family in other parts of the country and world finish out the day.

I am a small beef producer.  Last year, Wild Type Ranch sold about 11,000 pounds of beef at Farmer’s Markets and through local delivery.  Not only do I know the life history of each animal we harvested, I also tasted the beef from each one.  Often, I know the entire pedigree.  All this information helps us design our breeding program and select genetics that make our pasture-raised beef more tender and tasty than anything Donald Trump puts his over-priced name on.

I also know the names of the animals we harvest.

It freaks people out; “how can you eat something with a name?” they’ll ask in horror.  “Don’t tell me it’s name, just sell it to me!” is another common comment.

We name ALL the cattle born on our ranch, not just those we believe will go on to reproductive glory as cows or bulls.  Not to do so would be hypocritical.  The founding principle of our ranch is “respect for all life”.  The cattle destined for beef are no less worthy (in the most universal sense) than those destined for breeding.  Their “best use” is just different.

Our registered cattle mostly have names related to music (such as Pink Floyd, Sinatra, Layla).  I give the kids free rein on the unregistered calves.  Last year, we had all the planets-starting with Jupiter who was the biggest, Mars was red, etc.  I had to draw the line at Uranus, though.  Even I don’t want to eat beef from Uranus.

*****

For additional discussion, visit Rebecca, over at Honest Meat who is bravely delving into our disconnect from our meat and how it affects our food choices.

Food for Thought: Excerpted from Feedstuffs

ANOTHER 40 million people have been pushed into hunger this year, primarily due to higher food prices, according to the U.N.’s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO).  The group’s just-released estimate brings the overall number of undernourished people in the world to 963 million, which compares to 923 million in 2007.

In the next 40 years, it is estimated that the amount of food that will need to be produced to feed the world’s growing population will be greater than the amount already produced throughout the history of humankind. That is a huge challenge for farmers and ranchers around the world, and as Erpelding [of Elanco] explained, it is only achievable through continued access to technology, improvements in genetics, proper animal care and efficiency in production.

Sustainability, availability and affordability are equally important in feeding the world.  

I often get involved in discussions where technology is painted with a broad black brush.  Technologies, such as hybrid crops, effective veterinary treatments and even GMOs are primarily responsible for the the availability of affordable food.  Technology can support sustainability, like some crops that can grow in salt-poisoned soils or with less nitrogen.

It is important not to reject technology just because it is technology.  It is also important to look at the entire impact and cost of technologies, not just the bottom cash line.  Policies and production decisions should be made based on facts (all of them) and not emotions.

One of the meta-issues that impacts my life in a surprisingly large number of ways is the growing disconnect between food consumers and food producers. 

As a producer, my business is affected by the views and beliefs of politicians, activist groups and consumers; the vast majority of whom don’t have a realistic idea of what life is like for a typical American farmer or rancher.  Legislation such as California’s Proposition 2 and the EPA’s proposed ‘cow tax’ can have huge impact on food production and producer’s lives. 

As a farmer’s market vendor, I come fact to face with the reality of the  gulf between consumers and producers every week.  Although I am sometimes discouraged by the misconceptions I hear, I am also  heartened by the sincere interest many of my customers have in knowing about their food and in hearing the “real story” of how their food is produced.  

Dan Rather, who came from a ranching background, once told me that he would love to see a series of “farm Disney Lands”; not with rides and cutesified animals, but where people could actually come see how food is produced and that there are real people, real families, producing it. 

Information is out there; encouraging outreach, taking a hard look at activist groups, and presenting the producer’s viewpiont on issues.  I suspect that much of the what is written ends up preaching to the choir, as pro-ag articles tend to be in agricultural-focused, not consumer-oriented venues. 

If you are a producer, be an ag ambassador, know the issues and be willing to discuss them.   If you are a consumer, reach out and ask questions, visit a farmer, keep an open mind.   The best way to bridge the gap is person-to-person.

Happy Cow-loween:  Visit Cattle4Kids.com for some fun pictures, games and information about cattle, 4-H and related topics.  (picture courtesy of Beef Daily’s “Halloween Cowboy Style“)

Halloween Junk Food at Whole Foods: My friend, Dr. Rita-Marie, is fired up (read that po’d) that Whole Foods is pimping white flour, white sugar, food coloring-frosted cookies as Halloween Treats.  So much for “nutrients intact, as nature created” (the supposed Whole Foods motto).

Food Safety Gone Astray: A November ‘teach-in’ about how recent changes in agri-business practices implemented in the name of “food safety” have had harmful environmental effects.  In particular, changes in production after the e-coli-in-spinach outbreak may have negative effect on wildlife with dubious value to food safety.

Field Guide to Organic Labels:  An op-ed piece from Kansas puts organic labels and the decision to buy in perspective.

One of the issues that people often bring up to me as a beef producer is the “footrprint” of eating meat versus a strictly vegetarian diet.  I know that my cattle are raised on land that could not be (or should not be) used for any sort of cultivation, but I’ve been looking for some good research reports on the subject.   I got some leads from friends at the American Farmland Trust.

A study at Cornell University looked at a range of diets in terms of how much of New York’s population could be fed by food produced within the state.  Although a strictly vegetarian diet uses the least total land mass, a diet that includes some meat and dairy is more efficient in terms of total land use and sustainability.  The reason is that fruits, vegetables and grains must be grown on high-quality cropland. Meat and dairy products from ruminant animals are supported by lower quality, but more widely available, land that can support pasture and hay.

The Delta Farm Press cites the same study, but also points out that biotechnology can further reduce the footprint through less chemicals (i.e. bt Cotton) or getting more production from fewer animals (i.e. rBST).

I recently came across a survey of 500 ‘typical’ households in the Midwest done by the University of Nebraska.  They interviewed the primary grocery shopper about her/his attitudes and opinions about locally grown and processed food,  including meat, as well as organic and all-natural .

99% of respondants had purchased locally grown or produced food at one time or another.  The top three reasons for purchasing local were freshness, better taste and supporting local farmers.

The top reasons for purchasing organic or all-natural were no chemicals/pesticides/herbicides/antibiotics, more healthy/nutritious and because they taste better.

The top criteria for purchasing meat locally were:  Food safety, quality of the meat, USDA inspection, tenderness and juiciness.  The terms “grass-fed”, “organic” and “free-range” were ranked last.

Although the survey was performed in 2001, the results are still enlightening today.  Consumers find a taste difference with locally grown food [ever compared a homegrown tomato to one from the store?].  Safety is a concern for meat, but USDA inspection is trusted.  Residue are of concern to those purchasing organic.

Any speculations about how things might have changed in the 7 years since the survey?  Sadly, I’m not sure the average consumer is any more factually informed about those things that concern them than they were 7 years ago  [many of our readers excepted].  In fact, given the amount of propaganda in media as these issues become marketing tools, I’m afraid many are more misinformed than they were 7 years ago.