Why grass fed?

Because it’s so much better for:

Your health

Meat from grass fed animals is gererally lower in fat and calories than the meat from the grain-feds. The fat that we do get from the grass-feds offers several health benefits due to extra Omega-3 fatty acids, more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), antioxidants, vitamin E… the list goes on. The health benefits of grass-fed meats are many. Find out more about the health benefits of grass-fed meats and foodsafety at Jo Robinson’s eatwild.com.

The animals

Our animals are born and raised on pasture. The calves, lambs and goat kids move with their mothers from one pasture to the next – generally once a day. Not only does this imitate the nomadic lifestyle of most ruminant animals, it also gives the plants the recovery time needed to ensure good plant growth and healthy plant populations. Non of our ruminants receive antibiotics, hormones, grain or animal byproducts. They feed exclusively on the herbacious plant material they can find growing on our ranch.

Not all feedlots are the same but they all share one big challenge: animal sickness from extreme population densities and inappropriate diets. Find out more at:

www.ferryplazafarmersmarket.com/sustainable_ag/issues/cattle.php

www.eatwild.com/basics.html

The environment

Ever wondered how much energy is wasted by today’s highly specialized food production chains? Think about the millions of gallons of fuel it takes to produce grains and other feeds for the feedlots – and to transport the feeds and cattle to these giant cattle feeding operations. Nutrients are transported from the cornfields to the feedyards where manure becomes a huge waste management problem, while the grain farmer has to get commercial fertilizers hauled to his fields to replace the plant nutrients. They say agriculture has become very efficient. Seen from an economical standpoint this may be true – for as long as fuel is cheap enough. From an ecological standpoint… our grandchildren will remember us for it.

The fact is: Ruminant animals can and should be raised on the very soil on which the plants they eat are growing. The use of pesticides and commercial pesticides can be drastically reduced. We have not been using any pesticides or fertilizers on our pastures in years.

Did you know:

The average food item travels 1550-2480 miles (2500-4000 KM) in the United States.

–The WorldWatch Institute, "Home Grown," 2002

The family farm/ranch

One of the „did you know“ facts on the foodroutes web page says:

Due to corporate pressure to get big or get out, we have lost nearly 67% of our farms since 1920. There are now more prisoners in the US than full-time farmers.

Farm commodity prices seem to fluctuate around the break even point of the average commodity producers. The average farmer is struggling to get by. The future of the small and mid-size farm or ranch lies outside mainstream agriculture. The focus of today’s small farm or ranch is to be in synchrony with mother nature rather than exploiting her in any way imaginable.

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