Our Grazing Plan: When we say GRASS FED, we mean it!

Our Grass

We are a family farm on 110 acres located on the natural Warner Prairie, north of Sedro Woolley WA. Our pastures are a mix of natural local grasses and orchard grass. The more grass that a cow eats over its lifetime the better it is for you: Mayo Clinic (external link). We are blessed to have full sunlight on all 110 acres, as well as sub irrigated rich Samish silt loam which gives our cattle the opportunity to forage green grass for longer periods during the year that many neighboring farms. We usually don't have to start supplementing with hay until after the first hard freeze in late November or December. This is also the time that we butcher. We rotationally graze all pastures to maximize the green growing grass intake for the cows, and minimize the number of months in the year that the cows will need hay to sustain in the winter. As soon as the grass starts to grow in spring, the cows are rotationally grazed again.

Our Herd

We are a "small" operation with a brood cow herd size of 20. That means that at any time in the year we have approximately 20 brood cows, 20 new calves, and 20 butcher animals born the year before. Each year in late fall the butcher animals are harvested after they have spent a whole spring summer and fall eating green grass: no hay. We only use hay to sustain the animals for 3-4 months in winter and do not butcher when they are just eating hay. We believe that true grass fed beef is an annual Fall crop, and butchering year round as well as feeding more hay than absolutely necessary for winter sustenance decreases grass fed beef benefits. We believe the quality, tenderness, flavor, and health benefits of grass fed beef come by making sure the animals eat green grass most of the year and are finished on 100% grass. Our beef herd consists of purebred, registered Chiangus combining the growth and muscle characteristic with that of an Angus and we have over time developed grass fed genetics in which our hanging weights are in the 600-650 range as young as possible and approximately 20 months of age which we believe contributes to the beef quality and tenderness. We have no plans to expand our herd because that would compromise our rotational grazing schedule. Ask your grass fed beef producer: "How old is the animal I am purchasing, and how many days per year is it fed hay? In our case the animals are about 20 months old, and typically eat hay from December to March approximately 90 days weather depending. We do not butcher and sell these animals but usually wait until the end of summer and late fall when they have have had at least 6 months of eating nothing but green grass. Our hay comes from our pastures as well.

Reducing Waste.

We believe in selling and our customers using all parts of the animal so that nothing goes to waste. We believe that selling animals by halves and quarters or whole reduces fossil fuel use in shipping and delivery. It takes a lot of diesel to cut process, and deliver hay. The same is true when purchasing beef from the grocery store. We will not sell steaks, etc. online and ship them for that reason. We want to develop a partnership with YOU over time to be your families annual beef provider. This will also save you trips to the grocery store. When you purchase bulk beef, very little, if any of the animal is wasted.

Plan Ahead

Because its frozen immediately upon cutting and wrapping, it will stay in your freezer for many months until you are ready to cook it. Our experience over time is that a quarter beef is about right for a family of 2. For a family of 4 to six, a half will probably be right assuming everyone likes beef and if its whats for dinner. We try very hard to keep our prices competitive with grocery stores so that families can plan and afford to eat grass fed year round. Recently global events and local economies have caused this to be a challenge, however any time we can pass on a savings to our customers, we do! We are inviting you to become a part of our farm family for the long term.

Farm visits by arrangement. Drive by and see animals grazing any time.

For more information about the benefits of grass-fed beef, visit: www.mayoclinic.com/health/grass-fed-beef/AN02053