DS Family Farm
Worried about what you are "really" eating? Have peace of mind with pasture grazed meats.
Cow – Icon of nutrient cycles – we need the poop!
Cattle are key to a healthy ecosystem, that is if we manage cattle in natures image. Nature provides examples of how herds such as the bison of North America or the buffalo and wildebeest of Africa work as keystone species. An important feature of these large animals is their ability to eat grass. Much of the grass they eat, comes right back out the back end (POOP) as high quality nutrients that feed soil life and creates new grass. The process is very simple and efficient. The hard thing for us humans is to keep it simple.
In elementary school I remember when any type of nutrient cycle (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus) was shown as a graphic, the COW was the central or a key part of the process.
Maybe you have heard the bad rap cows have received in the global warming/climate change discussions. Basically that cows are adding to much methane (green house gas) to our atmosphere. Here are a few things to think about:
- Our current cow herd size in the U.S. is about 10 million fewer animals than historic bison herd estimates. Not even counting the elk, deer and antelope that use to roam our lands.
- How can fewer animals cause problems today when larger herds of the past built deep rich soils and abundance?
- Methane from cattle on healthy pastures are quickly mitigated by soil microbes.
I think we can agree that cattle confined to dirt lots eating non-natural diets such as corn will produce more methane than grass based cattle. So it is not the cattle causing the problem, if anything it is how humans manage the cattle.
Our nutrient cycles are now broken as pointed out in this article from Nature World News “Loss Of Animals’ Poop Disrupts Nutrient Cycles…”. We need to get animals out of confined feeding areas and back out on the land. Our lands are starved for the biological active nutrients that could be naturally cycling through large herbivores such as cattle.
Prior to brining cattle to our pastures in 2011, this farm had not had a cow on it for over 30 years. We have re-established nutrient cycling in our pastures by using cattle in natures image and are starting to see excellent results in the grass we are able to grow!
Want to stay up on the most recent science of how beef can heal our environment? Check out the Defending Beef FaceBook page.
Image source: UN-L Extension Circular 155.
Keystone Cows
Have you heard the term “Keystone Species“? For example, think of the impact the American Bison had on our environment. Prior to settlement of the central tall grass prairies, most everything relied on the movement of the vast buffalo herds. Buffalo were a key species.
The buffalo herds have been gone for more than a hundred years, but the impact they left behind drives Nebraska’s agricultural economy to this day. We have literally been mining the soil/carbon/organic matter these animals created through their movement years ago.
Here at DS Family Farm we simply try to mimic the pattern nature has shown us through the bison herd movements (and other large herbivore herds around the world). The only difference is we use cattle, planning and technology. By following natures example we are rebuilding soil, regenerating prairies and restoring natural cycles within our pastures.
In a series of future posts, we will describe how we try to mimic nature with our Keystone Cows.
Paleo Experience – Guest Post
We briefly touched on the Paleo topic in a few earlier blog posts but we are excited to share this Guest Post from someone local with real world Paleo experience. We met Beth when she and her family visited the farm earlier this year to buy some of our pasture grazed beef.
By Beth Kohl
I had read about the paleo diet. I thought if you give up dairy, legumes, grains, sugar, and alcohol, what is left? Starvation? I quickly dismissed it as anything more than a gimmick. I kept looking for the “Easy Button” for my health. I’d always been told any diet that eliminates entire food groups would lack nutrients and could not last, the “goal”, is always balance. I had tried several diets, but I could not get away from strong cravings for sugar. I felt like a drug addict. When it came to candy and sweets, I would have a little and end up binging like crazy.
I needed to lose weight. I had high cholesterol, high triglycerides, low energy, acne, depression, anxiety, restless legs, border line pre-diabetes, GERD, and an autoimmune disorder. My doctor was ready to put me on medications for several of these issues. I woke up 20 plus times a night and I had the sleep study to prove it. Every morning I woke feeling like a truck hit me and I had a headache 80% of the time. A good day was no migraine. My normally good to low blood pressure had been creeping up to questionable level. I power napped every single day. On the plus side, I exercised. I worked out for over 2 years with the guidance of a trainer; I had added a lot of muscle but had not lost weight.
A few years after first hearing about Paleo, in desperation, I gave in and tried a popular diet “Whole 30”. This is an elimination diet that you stop eating dairy, legumes, grains, sugar, and alcohol. Giving up those items is the bulk of paleo rules. The first few weeks were not great, I felt tired as my body adjusted to all the changes. When I reintroduced dairy and wheat, I found (to my shock) that my body had a bad reaction. I was sick to my stomach, could not think clearly, I felt awful. I decided to follow paleo but I had no guidance and Thanksgiving and Christmas completely derailed me.
Earlier this year, I talked with my doctor and decided to restart paleo, then return to the doctor in 12 weeks and get blood work again. Curious to see what, if anything, changed. I floundered the first 4 weeks with no diet change. With 8 weeks left, I added a dietician who specializes in paleo, to give me guidance. Amy, really helped me to figure out what works and does not work for me. She has given me accountability, encouragement, and resources.
There are misconceptions and a few controversies regarding what paleo is, is not, and should be. I only know how I eat and that it is considered paleo. My breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks consist of a variety of vegetables and fruits, quality protein, and quality fat.
I say “quality” before each food group because I’ve found that what happens to my food before I eat it is very important. “You are what you eat” resonates with every paleo I’ve met, talked to, and every book I’ve read. Whenever possible, I look for vegetables that are organically grown and non-GMO. I buy grass-fed beef, pasture raised chicken, lambs, and pigs, because they produce better quality meats, fats, and eggs. Fats include animal fats from pasture raised animals, ghee (clarified, grass-fed, butter), extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, tree nuts, and avocados. I get to have a variety of meats, fats, fruits and veggies, but always REAL, minimally processed food.
It is not as hard as it sounds. Now, a few months in, I can prepare a meal ultra-fast or something if I am having guests over. The best part is, no one knows that they are eating paleo, because it is just real food. I can also go out and enjoy a meal in a restaurant. I have planned times where I eat items outside of the plan, but always avoid wheat and store-bought dairy, because they bother me, although I know many who use raw dairy with no problems. I do not prepare separate meals for my family, and I have an extremely picky son. This is a way that I believe I can live for the rest of my life.
I tried many versions of low-fat and low carb diets all have been miserable failures. Now, I am eating a diet much like my grandmother did when she was young: real, nutritious food. I am eating a nutrient rich variety and not paying attention to calories. I am not feeling deprived either.
So, after 8 weeks of eating saturated fats, beef, eggs almost daily, bacon, and other “taboo” foods, watching portions, but without counting calories, what was the outcome? These results are documented by my doctor: 16 lbs. lost, Blood pressure is low/normal, cholesterol is 30 points lower , and triglycerides cut in half, glucose and A1C (blood sugar) completely normal. I have found relief for depression and anxiety. I no longer have cystic acne, restless legs are nominal, and I sleep soundly and rarely wake up during sleeping hours. I wake up each morning before my alarm goes off and I feel prepared to start the day. Headaches are rare for me now. The daily cravings for sweets are gone. I have energy for the whole day without my daily naps.
I know if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. This is not without price. The tradeoff of not eating certain foods may seem huge to some, but it is worth it to me. I’m convinced that the “gimmick” has been the best thing that ever happened to my health. I am not alone. My doctor had diabetic patients try this way of eating. Less than 2 months, the diabetics following the plan had normal glucose levels, that is HUGE. Guess who else started to eat this way? My doctor and his wife.
My scale is still moving in the right direction, but I’m not nearly as concerned by my weight as I one was, because I feel good. I might be paying a bit more for food these days, but I am paying WAY less in medical and pharmacy bills. I feel better than I have in years. I do not know if it is for everyone, but I would urge anyone who has questions to investigate it for themselves.
I’d be happy to answer questions where I can, but I’m still a novice. If you want expert advice, I’d recommend you follow the links below. Here is a link to my dietitian’s blog. [http://robbwolf.com/author/amy-kubal/].
[www.robbwolf.com/] [www.meljoulwan.com/] [www.whole30.com/] [www.chriskresser.com]
Wow, that is a powerful testimony! Our thanks to Beth for sharing her experience. If you would like to connect with Beth please drop us an email. In addition to the links listed above, we would note that the Weston A Price Foundation recently aired a podcast with Chris Kresser, author of “The Paleo Cure”. In the podcast Chris points out that there are people groups that have adapted to raw dairy very well through the years. I (Doug) credits raw milk as one of the foods that helped cure my chronic Acid Reflux condition. Probably the most important things we can do to achieve health is eliminate processed foods, start shopping the “edges” of grocery stores and then begin your journey to source local food from your neighborhood farmers. Thanks again Beth for sharing!
Photo Credits: http://morguefile.com/creative/CTrillo/1/all & http://morguefile.com/creative/maxkopi
2016 Pasture Grazed (Grassfed) Beef
An update on our 2016 Beef Offering. Here are a couple of photos of steers that we will be offering in September as custom processed beef. These steers have just turned two years old and we look for them to gain well, over the rest of the summer.
Remember flavor is linked to:
- Age – typical grocery store beef is harvested around 16-18 months (bland flavor).
- Diet – our pastures contain diverse forages resulting in complex flavors (unlike bland corn only beef).
- Dry Aging – custom processed beef will be dry aged, grocery store beef is wet aged.
The forages consumed during the last sixty days are key to the nutritional make up of harvested beef. These steers will be harvested directly off green growing forages, not stored forages. The green growing forages will give the best possible fat profile as demonstrated from our 2015 beef analysis. The fatty acid profile will be some of the best you can find.
Why don’t our steers look fatter?
We will add some excellent gains over the next two months but grassfed beef will never look “fat” like a feedlot steer:
- Pasture grazed beef must walk for their food:
- We don’t burn fossil fuels delivering feed to our cattle.
- Cattle have legs, they can walk to feed and water.
- The exercise keeps them fit.
- Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA):
- A diet high in green forages = high CLA.
- CLA is the anti cancer “fat”.
- High CLA is believed to keep cattle leaner, prevents them from getting fat.
Do you want to be fit, trim and healthy?
Eat an athlete like one of our pasture grazed cattle that have high levels of CLA. Avoid the couch potatoe feed lot beef found in your grocery store.
Please drop us a note if your interested in trying some of our pasture grazed beef.
Weston A. Price Foundation – Local Chapters
We are excited to share another Guest Blog post! We met Miranda at the recent NE Sustainable Ag Society Meeting. Enjoy Miranda’s guest post:
WAPF Local Chapters
By Miranda Sherman
My name is Miranda Sherman and I am the Weston A. Price Chapter leader for Omaha. The who-do-what you say? Here’s a brief summary on Weston A. Price and what we do. Weston A. Price was a dentist in the 1930’s who set out to discover why his patients were starting to have crowded teeth, lots of cavities, and overall poor dental health. This was something new in his practice that hadn’t been prevalent in the early 1900’s. He strongly suspected that it had to do with what people were eating and over the next few decades, he proved this to be true! When we eat a diet full of healthy fat, good proteins (think grass-fed beef, pastured pork, pastured chicken) and organic fruits and vegetables, we will have strong bones, healthy tissue, and lots of energy. Modern foods-that is anything processed or that comes in a box- doesn’t nourish our bodies. It is “dead food”. Real food is food that comes from a farmer who is passionate about their organic practices (whether they are officially an “organic” farm or not. (Like Doug’s beef!)
Take for example, the case of honey. Did you know that those cute little honey bears at the grocery store rarely contain honey? Did you know that there is no regulation on how honey is labeled? You see, there is no regulation that says that a food manufacturer must obtain honey from bees to call a product honey. Most honeys are produced in China and made with high fructose corn syrup and dyed yellow with honey “flavor” added. When tested, they reveal there is no actual real honey in these cute little bears. How do you know that what you are buying is actually honey? As a Weston A. Price Chapter leader, I seek out great farms and ranches, ask them questions, and determine if what they are producing will be the best product for you. Every Weston A. Price Chapter leader maintains a Farm List and we will give this to you free of charge. We want you to know your farmer. We want you to know that the honey you buy is in fact honey!
As a Chapter Leader and Health Educator, I teach all over the community helping others find this great way of eating. It healed me personally after decades of miserable auto-immune disease, anxiety and depression. I feel absolutely amazing now and want to tell everyone about how I came to heal. If you would like more information on my upcoming class schedule, my book, or have me speak to your group, I am more than happy to do so. I can be reached at 402-637-8929 or sparkysherman@msn.com.
Weston A. Price is a non-profit organization that hopes to educate consumers on what great food really looks like and how it can heal you and/ or keep you and your family healthy. If you would like, you can become a member and your membership will support this organization’s research efforts. You will receive the quarterly journal packed full of scientific information as to why certain foods feed our bodies and how you can gain the most from your food. There are free videos to watch on the website and so much more. For more information on this amazing organization, visit www.westonaprice.org
Here’s to you and your health!!
Warmly,
Miranda Sherman
Author, Educator, Nutritional Therapist, Weston A. Price Chapter Leader / Omaha
We just completed Miranda’s new book “The Mighty Fork : Healing Your Mind and Body with Food“. It is an excellent easy read no matter where you are on the road to good health by eating healthy food. For our readers in the Lincoln area, Gus Panstgl is the local WAPF Chapter Leader. He maintains an active Lincoln WAPF Chapter Facebook closed group – check it out and ask to join!
Local Nebraska Pasture Chicken
Nebraska is known for beef! So why Nebraska chicken? When it comes to our meat buying choices, we like to know where our food comes from. Have you noticed grocery store veggies and fruits are labeled with their origins? You know where your onions come from but not so with your chicken or beef.
Chances are your grocery store chicken is from the USA and many companies independently label their chickens as such. But what went in to raising that chicken? How were those little chicks treated? Most likely that chicken lived its entire life in a building without ever seeing daylight or a blade of grass. We won’t even go into the details of the feed medications that are added for such poor living conditions.
With some not so nice videos on the internet showing poor treatment of chicks, we decided to visit our chick source right here in Nebraska. During our visit to Central Hatchery near Norfolk we met Phil Raasch the owner. It is a clean facility and every thing looked great. Lot’s of eggs in some well monitored incubators with one neat old 1940 incubator still in operation.
When the chicks hatch that become our future pasture chickens:
- Chicks are packaged and shipped via USPS standards
- Arrive at our farm within 18 hours of hatching
- Live the rest of their life here at DS Family Farm
- First 3 weeks they are kept in a coop with our resident egg layers
- Proper temperature and no draft protection is key to a young chick
- Last 5 weeks they are kept in portable shelters moved to fresh grass daily
- Fed locally sourced non-gmo grains along with grass and plenty of sunshine
- First 3 weeks they are kept in a coop with our resident egg layers
We urge you to visit your local farmers market, visit the Nebraska Food Coop website or find a local farmer raising chickens that will give you an eating experience not found in typical grocery store chicken. Most chickens in a grocery store are injected with water and spices. Companies say that consumers demand these flavor additions. We rather not pay for water when buying chicken and for taste, real flavor comes from grass!
Ever see a chicken eat grass?
Sometimes I wonder which animal eats more grass, a dog or a chicken? Seems like our dog can really chomp on some grass. But who really cares if a chicken eats grass?
If you are struggling to find real healthy, life-giving food for your family, then you care if chickens can eat grass.
When chickens eat grass wonderful things happen:
- Grass provides natural immunity to chickens.
- No need for vaccinations, antibiotics or other medicated feeds for these chickens.
- That natural immunity from the grass is passed on to you and your family through the meat.
- I would much rather eat chicken than grass!
- Grass provides a flavor to the meat you simply will not find in a grocery store.
- Wonderful meat that tastes great, now there is a meal your family will praise you for.
So if you think we had the chicken pose for the photo, not so fast, take a look at the video proof below.
Enjoy!
(By the way, that is our dog barking in the background, she must want out of her kennel to get some of that grass!)
Please contact us if you would like to see the chickens in real life action. Hope to see you soon.
Why folks go nuts for pasture chicken
Why do folks go nuts for pasture chicken?
I can remember as a kid eating Grandma’s farm raised chickens. Grandma did not raise her chickens in pasture shelters like we do, but I know what her chicken tasted like. Her chicken feed did not contain arsenic, antibiotics, caffeine, Tylenol or Prozac (NY Times link). I loved eating Grandma’s home fried chicken, especially the SKIN! I know, I know, being raised in the 60’s and 70’s, I soon learned that eating the skin or fat was considered a NO – NO!
Like you, I tried to limit my animal fat intake. I too took the lie that fat was bad. Now that we know fat is good in our diet, we are still stuck with the problem that factory raised chicken (or any animal) is probably not a good source of animal fat based on what they are fed. Do they still feed that “stuff” to factory raised chicken? I don’t know, but I am sure a factory raised chicken is not getting any grass. You are what you eat ate!
Raising animals in nature’s image is the solution. Chicken that has access to fresh grass and sunshine does not need medicated feed. Fresh moves to grass daily and locally raised non-gmo grains keep these chickens healthy without antibiotics. We let the natural chicken feed be their medicine. Let the food you eat be your medicine.
Prairie Gains – Guest Post
We are really excited about the post below. I recently had the opportunity to meet Daniel and Allyson of Lovegrass Beef. Daniel has a passion for prairies! Enjoy Daniel’s guest post:
Prairie Gains
By Daniel Frank – Lovegrass Beef
With spring finally here, and plants just beginning to green up, it’s time to get geared up for prescribed burning season. March 19th to 27th was the seventh annual Training Exchange (TREX) at the Niobrara Valley Preserve, near Johnstown, Nebraska. This is a chance for people around the United States and beyond to knock the rust off, and get back in the burning game. People come to learn, to teach, to get more experience, and also just to help the Preserve burn the acres they have planned.
Maybe I should start by talking about the benefits of prescribed burning. Controlled burns help suppress unwanted woody plants, such as eastern red cedar. They help reduce excess plant buildup in areas that weren’t grazed or hayed, allowing new growth to catch sunlight and flourish. If timed correctly, prescribed fire can also help suppress exotic species like Kentucky bluegrass and Smooth brome. Prairie ecosystems around the world evolved with the presence of fire, and with responsible prescribed burning we can maintain healthy ecosystems that can support a wide variety of life.
This was my second time attending TREX, and like the first year, I had a blast. I learned from the people around me, and I was able to use the knowledge I’d gained from the first year.
I am a big proponent of prescribed burning. I’ve seen first-hand the benefits of putting controlled fire on the ground. My major goal is to maintain a healthy, native, diverse prairie ecosystem. Fire is not the only major force that acts to shape our grassland ecosystems. There are three main forces that shape prairies: fire, grazing, and drought. We have little control over the moisture we receive year to year, so we can focus our management on the other two forces.
The Great Plains evolved with the presence of bison. They would move around the country grazing grasses and some forbs, being pushed by the weather, the quantity of forages, and the time of year. Though bison are not a dominant presence anymore, cattle are a pretty good substitute. With proper management, they are an excellent tool to manage the land. Without grazing, pastures can become overgrown, and some species can be choked out. When cattle graze some areas more than others, plant species respond and their composition changes. This is how rangeland becomes a mosaic of plant communities.
This brings me to raising cattle on grass. I sell grassfed beef because I believe that ruminant animals which evolved to eat grasses and forbs, should be able to eat that diet exclusively. I am trying to reduce the inputs required to raise market animals. At the same time, the cattle raised on grass are leaner, and are healthier for people to consume. As I already mentioned, grazing is necessary to maintain a healthy prairie. Using cattle as management tools while simultaneously producing a healthy, delicious type of meat is a win-win.
My partner, Allyson Dather, and I started selling grassfed beef under the name Lovegrass Beef in 2015. Sometimes we laugh about how cheesy the name sounds, but it was picked for a couple reasons. Here in the Sandhills we have a lot of Sand Lovegrass (Eragrostis trichodes), and Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis). These are native warm season grasses with showy seedheads, and the presence of Sand Lovegrass can be indicative of good range management. The other reason we picked the name is because since our cattle are grassfed, they sure ought to love grass!
Here at our ranch, we are starting to move our operation to becoming more environmentally aware. We have applied for cost-share programs to plant cropland back to rangeland. Hopefully in a few years we can sell the center-pivot irrigation systems after the native plants have a solid foothold. We will be using these pastures to graze cattle during the summer mostly. I’m hoping to be able to create a burn plan for our ranch, where we can defer grazing of certain pastures, and use fire to hold back any invasive plants. We have a 70 acre burn planned for this spring, where we will be putting fire on our land for the first time in probably 100 years. I’m excited to watch the burn in action, and very excited to see the results.
Thanks Daniel! “Lovegrass Beef”, I laughed also the first time I saw that name, awesome! If you would like to comment or connect with Daniel and Allyson, please visit their Facebook page!
Grass Type Cattle
This month we started a farm email newsletter to keep our customers up to date. Feel free to subscribe by using the form on our Contact page.
Among other items in this past email newsletter we asked the question, can cows live on grass alone?
Most cattle can live on grass alone, but the challenge is to raise healthy cattle that get to a level of “finish” (fat enough) to harvest and provide a quality eating experience. Ultimately it is about YOU, providing YOU our customer, with a healthy product. Many cattle today are no longer able to do this on grass alone.
Over the past 75 years cattle have been bred and managed to consume high starch (corn/grain) diets. If you have not yet read Michael Pollan’s NY Times 2002 POWER STEER article, you really ought to take the time to do so. This is an excellent story/explanation of how conventional beef reaches the supermarket.
In the uphill battle to find grass type cattle to start our herd, here is a review of the path we traveled:
- Pharo Cattle Company
- Hearing Kit speak back in 2002 opened my mind to what we now call DS Family Farm.
- Sign up for Kit Pharo’s newsletter, excellent info!
- Terry Gompert
- Past UN-L Extension agent and HMI instructor.
- Check if any recordings are still available from UN-L in Knox County such as:
- 2007 Ultra High Stock Density Event
- 2009 Holistic Grazing Management
- Stockman Grass Farmer publication
- Excellent resources, CDs, DVDs, Books.
- Grassfed Exchange
- All things GRASSFED.
- Recordings of their past events are a wealth of information.
- Hidden Valley Ranches in the Nebraska Sandhills
- We met Gary and Cathie Morris at the first Grassfed Exchange in 2010.
- In 2011 we brought 10 heifers and a bull from their Ranch to our farm.
- Previously Gary and Cathie had worked with grass cattle guru Gerald Fry.
- In addition we visited and learned from a number of great local farms.
- We are starting to add cows raised on our farm to the breeding herd.
- Animals born and raised on our farm will out perform cattle raised elsewhere.
- Our forages are improving:
- Cattle were a missing part of our farm.
- Cattle cycle nutrients, improving the soil and future grass.
- Improved soil holds more water to grow more grass.
- All with a goal to improve the level of “finish” on our harvested beef!
- Our Ultimate Goal, providing a better product for you our customer.
So yes, it is possible for cows to live on grass alone. Do your research and enjoy the journey!
