DS Family Farm
Worried about what you are "really" eating? Have peace of mind with pasture grazed meats.
Good Fats Checkup
We are all bio-chemically unique and thankfully so! Consuming a balanced healthy diet to match our uniqueness is a challenge in today’s fast paced and highly processed world. Pasture grazed meats can benefit everyone’s diet. Whether you are low-fat or low-carb, source pasture grazed meat from animals raised in nature’s image as part of your balanced diet.
FATS, CARBS and PROTEIN (Macronutrients)
We need all three macronutrients. Doug is always enjoying a diet higher in fats, Sheila prefers more carbs. DNA results from one of the popular testing companies confirmed Sheila’s preference. Sheila just has more trouble digesting fats. The key, balance and sourcing quality macronutrients.
When it comes to sourcing healthy fats, for any diet, pasture grazed meats really shine. At DS Family Farm we are diligent in tracking our harvested beef fatty acid profiles. In 2016 we wrote extensively about our 2015 harvested pasture grazed beef as analyzed by Midwest Labs, Omaha. It’s time for an update on our 2016 and 2017 pasture graze beef analysis results.
Tracking Omega 6:3 Ratio
One of the main beneficial claims of grass-fed beef is the improved Omega 6:3 ratio in the fat. A low Omega-6:3 ratio in grass-fed beef provides better balance of pro-inflammatory Omega-6 fats and anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fats in our diets. Both Omega-6 and 3 are essential fats for overall health! The modern American diet, heavy in highly processed vegetable oils, results in over consumption of pro-inflammatory Omega-6 fats. Some believe over consumption of Omega-6 fats has contributed to chronic inflammation within our bodies and partly accounts for the recent rise of autoimmune diseases in the USA.
An Omega 6:3 ratio of around “3:1” or lower is a key indicator we check to make sure our animal care is resulting in a “True 100% Grassfed” product. Beef fed corn or any type of typical grain products leading up to harvest simply cannot have low Omega 6:3 values. Our earlier 2015 Omega-6:3 research displayed data from two conventionally raised beef that averaged an Omega-6:3 ratio of 14.5:1. We use this 14.5:1 average Omega-6:3 value for “conventional grocery store beef” in the chart below.
There are some “known” differences in the 2015 – 2017 samples:
- 2015 = Rib steak, October harvest
- 2016 = Regular ground beef, October harvest
- 2017 = Extra fat ground beef, August harvest
Beef cut and time of harvest are some “known” variables in each the samples. There are many other “unknown” variables that went into raising these pasture grazed beef. We can only focus day by day on the overall health of the herd. Weather, forages and movement for the herd are constantly changing. If all these variables result in a healthy herd and an enjoyable product for our customers, we get the opportunity to try it again next year.
Chart Summary
The decision to harvest beef earlier in 2017 (August) was for a number of reasons. We look to the lab results as a check in deciding future harvest dates. We are always looking for opportunities to improve overall herd health and management of the resources on the farm. Based on the feedback from the lab results, we are still meeting our goal of raising healthy pure beef!
Health Summary
When it comes to our diets:
- Avoid cooking in typical vegetable oils (omega 6 fats), when heated = oxidized (cyclic aldehydes)
- Reduce simple carbohydrates (white bread, sugar)
- Eliminate highly processed “so called foods” (eat traditional foods)
- Spend health dollars on quality whole food!
Simply, try to source ALL macronutrients for high quality, low processing. This ensures a complete package of nutrients as nature intended. When sourcing meats, look for animals raised their entire life on pasture and harvested off actively growing forages.
We have found the FASTEST way to improve our health from the Standard American Diet is to first drop the bad (steps 1, 2 & 3 above). After doing research, replace a bad with good healthy option (step 4). This holds true for every aspect of our lives, eliminate the bad stuff first!
Mothers On Mission (MOM)
We had some AWESOME visitors to our farm in 2017! When the group of folks pictured below showed up one cold Saturday morning in November, we were a little over whelmed. So what brought this large group out for a visit?
Mothers On Mission
The three Mom’s in the photo above had done their homework. They care about what they feed their families. The questions they brought to us were to the point:
- How do we care for the animals?
- What else do the cattle eat besides grass?
- How do we manage the pastures?
- What kind of grass is this?
- What about the fat profile of the meat?
- Do you spray the pastures?
- How do you move the cattle?
- What about the water for the herd?
- Do the cattle get any medicine or shots?
- When are the calves born?
- What are the best ways to prepare the meat?
We did our best to answer each question. The Pass – Fail test comes when our guests visit the herd.
- It doesn’t take long for anyone to decide if the animals are calm & satisfied versus stressed or lacking care.
- You don’t need to be a range scientist to see if the pasture is overgrazed.
- A simple walk across the pasture will tell you if the land and water is protected.
Seeing the pasture and herd is KNOWING. Know Your Farmer Know Your Food.
Back to our visiting Mom’s
We applaud the Mothers and Grandmothers that visited our farm over the past few years. The impact THEY are having on the “food industry” is a welcome change. Successful Farming noted this change on this February 2016 Magazine Cover.
Real change is happening
After the families pictured above left our farm, we had another visitor scheduled this same cold November Saturday. Our next guest was a woman who works for one of the largest food processing manufactures in the world. She was interested in what was happening in our pasture. As with all our visitors, we had a great time discussing farming, food, environment and “the herd”.
When she disclosed who she worked for and what she did, we asked about any changes her company was going through. Our guest was quick to point out that her “customers” were demanding the removal of many processed food ingredients. Her company is responding to these Mothers, change is happening!
- The number one priority of her company, removal of artificial food colors and dies.
- Often times dies are hormone-disruptors implicated in many health issues such as ADHD.
Change starts one bite at a time
Years ago when Sheila and I first felt the need to change our food buying options, it seemed overwhelming. The first farmer we purchased clean food from locally was quick to discuss our feelings. He told us to just keep it simple. Make easy changes to your food purchases. Grow into the change where it makes sense when the timing is right.
This advise was spot on. Slow and steady wins the race. We all vote for what kind of “food industry” we want with each bite. We are moving the food industry one bite at a time!
What about our visiting guys?
We really need to talk about the guys pictured above. These husbands had taken the wives out for a special Friday evening the night before visiting our farm. Where did the ladies take the guys? HA, I had to laugh, the ladies get a night out on the town and the guys get a cool morning walk in a pasture! Way to go Men, supporting the ladies! What a fun group.
What about the kids that came along?
The kids pictured above had a sense of wonderment that us adults need to stop and recapture more often. They had some great questions also. What can these kids learn from their parents?
My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck.
Proverbs 6:20-21
When these kids become the next wave of food purchasers, all we can say is, watch out and Thank You MOMs!
Subzero Frost Free Tank
Recently we posted a short video (YouTube link) to the DS Family Farm Facebook page showing how we provide fresh water to the cow herd in subzero weather. Late December 2017 through early January 2018 we had a 17 day stretch with temperatures below freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and many stretches below 0 degrees F (-18 degrees Celsius). The system worked fine and we finally sold the propane tank heater we were keeping around for backup.
The secret is to keep the water surface protected from the WIND! Since the video generated some questions on how the system exactly works, below is our “How To install a Subzero Frost Free Tank”:
Step 1: Start with a heavy-duty tire from your local shop. A few years ago we were able to get a used tire for two-dozen donuts! The tire shop workers were glad to see us coming.
Step 2: Place and level tank in pasture. We place the tire tanks on a ridge, in a fence line dividing two pastures. We also drill a hole near the bottom of the tire and insert a pipe with a valve. From the valve we run poly pipe over the ground and gravity flow water to portable tanks throughout the pasture (not during winter).
Step 3: Bring water source (trench in pipeline) up through the bottom of the tank and also add overflow outlet tube/pipe if you like. Next add concrete to plug the bottom of the tire hole to create a “tire tank” that holds water.
Step 4: The tank pictured below serves as our freeze proof tank (see diagram at end of this blog post). The pump only runs when we have sunshine! The photo below was taken during a long cloudy stretch of weather a few years ago. A series of 12 volt batteries connected to the controller will run the pump without solar power. Just once or twice a year we may run out of stored water before the sun shine’s again. (Solar panel in background of photo below).
Step 5: During winter, add a cover with flaps and cattle simply raise the flap to reach water. In southeast Nebraska we are blessed with consistent sunshine during winter. Even on cloudy winter days the solar panel will usually generate enough power to pump water and keep the tank recharged with fresh warm water. If the air temperature reaches near or above 32 degrees F, this system works without any problems. If temperatures are well below freezing, a layer of ice may form overnight on the water surface. Cattle usually break the ice on their own and drink but the float switch may be frozen in the ice layer above the water surface. We have to break the small layer of ice and allow the float switch to fall to the “ON” position for the pump to run.
Overview of entire system:
One last note on our system:
We actually run two tanks from this single well/pump setup. A valve near the well (below the frost line) allows us to direct water to either tank pipeline. With a float switch in each tank, we inserted a three-way switch to the controller.
- With the controller switch in the top position, the float switch at the top tank controls the pump.
- With the controller switch in the bottom position, the float switch at the bottom tank controls the pump.
- With the controller switch in the middle position, neither float switch controls the pump! Pump is always “ON”.
What is the advantage of being able to switch the pump to always “ON”?
- Answers:
- In very cold weather, with the switch always “ON”, when the sun shine’s, the pump is running water.
- Any extra water just runs into a pond at the “overflow tube” outlet (to daylight on diagram).
- If a layer of ice forms overnight, the new fresh “warm” water will thaw the ice layer.
- This gives us one more option to make sure the cattle always have access to fresh water.
In summary, protect the water surface from the wind and recharge fresh (warm) water daily. Do your research, information from Canada is very helpful. We also like these ideas:
- Add a thermal “heat tube” under the tank
- Based on our experience, not necessary if you have adequate recharge in our environment.
- Frost free “nose pump”
- Yes, cattle pump water when they need it with their nose!
Overview Worth A View
We urge you to take four minutes to watch “NRCS: Pasture Management“. It really does a nice job describing some activities we practice here at DS Family Farm. These practices work for both pasture health and animal health and ultimately your health!
- The depiction of Rotational Grazing at 1:20 into the video is excellent.
- There is a discussion of excess manure at 3:00 which is not an issue in our pasture grazed only system.
- We are not “organically certified” but follow organic practices in much of our operation.
Overall, a nice video by the folks at USDA.
Graze or Browse the Leaf Drop?
We all enjoy the beauty of trees in fall colors. What does this season change mean for the land and animals? What is nature doing? How would large herbivores such as buffalo respond to the annual leaf drop? These are the questions to think about when working with nature.
Grazer or Browser?
Cattle are primarily grazers, preferring grass over broad leaves. Sheep will generally eat about half grass and half leaves. Goats are primarily browsers, meaning they prefer leaves (broadleaf weeds and trees) over grass. All three are ruminants, they have a special stomach called a rumen. The rumen is full of bacteria that digests the incoming vegetation. As vegetation is broken down by bacteria, nutrition is released and made available to the animal.
The broad wide mouth of a cow is obviously designed to grab swaths of forage, such as grasses swaying in the prairie and probably one main reason cattle prefer to graze. Since the main incoming vegetation is grass, the bacteria that best thrive on grass will be dominant in a cow rumen. It is best to feed the dominant bacteria population in their rumen what they want, and not sending down something the bacteria is not used to, resulting in an upset tummy.
Grazing Leaves?
If a leaf drops on the ground before it is eaten, is that considered Grazing or Browsing?
Cattle aren’t much for climbing trees! Goats are known to climb somewhat (warning don’t park your car where a goat can climb it). The cattle herd will browse the lower branches of trees creating a “browse line”. This time of year the leaves come to the cows!
So why eat leaves if you are a grazer?
- Tannins
- These somewhat toxic compounds, mainly found in tree leaves, can actually help animals balance digestive problems.
- Nutrients
- Leaves contain different nutrients than grasses.
- Other
- Reasons the cattle only know.
You will find warnings to not let cattle have access to this tree leaf or that weed leaf. These warnings imply cattle are dumb? Luckily we have smart cattle. As long as the herd has adequate foraging opportunities, we do not worry about poisonous plants.
- Our Momma cows teach their calves.
- If someone gets an upset stomach from something, lesson learned!
We do avoid poison hemlock patches during the winter when hemlock leaves are green and everything else is pretty much brown.
Annual Leaf Drop
With just a little planning we can MOVE the herd for the opportunity to take advantage of the leaf drop. We let them choose how many and what leaves to graze. Other things to consider during this graze:
- Stream channel stability
- Water quality
- Wildlife needs
When leaves fall in the stream and dissolve, carbon dioxide is released. Carbon dioxide plus water creates carbonic acid. This weak acid breaks down rocks/minerals. The changed mineral content of the water cycles new minerals through plants and animals. The break down of rocks is also part of soil formation.
It is easy to see and understand the process described in the photo of the stream and leaves shown above. But this is the exact same process the cattle herd encourages in our prairie! When cattle stomp and manure a pasture, the dead grasses release carbon dioxide and moisture in the soil or from rain creates carbonic acid in the prairie soil creating more soil! What a wonderful design. Remember the bacteria described in the rumen of the cow? The exact same process is also going on under our feet in the soil! SOIL is one huge RUMEN full of all kinds of microbes. Do you think it is an accident that these processes have a similar design repeated throughout nature?
Grazing and managing cattle in natures image results in:
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SOIL CATTLE!
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Nourished by the soil
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Creating new healthy soil
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Feeding healthy people
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Not OIL Cattle!
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Dependent on fossil fuels (OIL) for:
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Fertilizer and pesticides
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Machine planting, harvesting and hauling
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Please contact us if you would like to visit the herd of SOIL CATTLE always on the Mooooove.
Pesky Bugs on the Outside
Our previous post covered how we deal with bugs that bother our herd on the inside. Everyone is probably more familiar with those pesky bugs that bother our cows on the outside. Yes, cows come with a fly swatter on their hind end, but here we list a few management practices that help our herd put up with these pesky bugs.
Did you know some cows attract more flies?
Apparently the level of testosterone within an animal makes a difference in attracting flies. Usually bulls will attract more flies than cows. So if we have a cow attracting a larger number of flies, that is a red flag. The cow shown in the photo with higher fly pressure is on our list to be culled.
Many cattle owners don’t know there is a difference in fly pressure between cows. The use of insecticide feed, ear tags and pour-on products prevent their cows from displaying fly pressure. If this last sentence is confusing to you, many farms use chemical fly control in the following ways:
- Cows are actually fed larvicide and insect growth regulators! Yuck!
- Ear tags contain insecticides.
- Insecticides are actually “poured onto” the back of cows.
Remember, pests are natures way of eliminating the weak. The use insecticide products on cattle across our land accomplishes two things:
- Allows poor (weak) cattle to stay in the herd.
- Creates super flies that are resistant to chemicals.
Super Files
Since we mimic natures management with our cattle herd, we are not worried about the super flies being created by the use of insecticides on other herds. No chemical insecticides used on our herd. Fly management starts with manure management, flies lay their eggs in cow pies. Our fly management includes:
- MOVE!
- It takes a few days for fly eggs to hatch and mature.
- We keep the herd in front of the flies the best we can.
- Pasture Diversity!
- There are all kinds of critters that feed on flies and their larvae.
- Dung beetles, birds and other creepy crawly things in the soil are encouraged.
- Unfortunately, those using poisons are reducing natural predators in the process.
- Stock Density.
- With tight herd moves cattle will smear their recent manure pats before moving to fresh pasture.
- Smeared cow pies = destroying the habitat for fly larvae.
- Minerals.
- Sulfur seems to be a key mineral for repelling all kinds of pests.
- Pests avoid healthy animals, they are searching for the weak.
- Minerals keep our cattle immune system working properly.
- Natural “organic” repellents.
- Until we can get the animal culled from our herd we have had good luck with “Eco-Phyte” from AGRI-DYNAMICS.
- Contains essential oils such as lemongrass and eucalyptus.
- There are other organic products to consider.
- These type of products are becoming more available as alternatives to Deet based products for humans now days!
- Until we can get the animal culled from our herd we have had good luck with “Eco-Phyte” from AGRI-DYNAMICS.
Recommended Reading
For more on flies and herd health we recommend you search the following sources:
- Will Winter, DVM. Try searching his blog for “flies”.
- Pharo Cattle Company. Try searching the blog for “fly resistance”.
Pesky Bugs on the Inside
We are not talking about that fly in your house! What about those bugs that live inside our cattle?
Prior to becoming Animal Welfare Approved, we didn’t think much about the bugs inside our cows. We had heard about using a microscope to check for “worm eggs” in cow manure but as much as Doug likes looking at cow pies, this seemed a little bit odd. Actually, we just didn’t know how to go about it. Annual testing for internal parasites is a requirement of the Animal Welfare Approved process.
During our first Animal Welfare certification process, the inspector told us to just take a manure sample to a veterinarian. How simple! Fifteen dollars later we had a worm egg count. With our animals on pasture all the time, we figured we were good. The June 2016 report actually told us that at our egg count number of 1200 per gram was bad, we were losing production!
A toxic wormer was not an option for our herd. Doug reviewed notes from previous training. The solution we used this past year was a non toxic supplementation approach:
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Diatomaceous Earth
- Salt
We created a mix of equal parts of the above three items and fed it to the herd in a tub. In addition, during the fall and early spring we added Cina homeopathic remedy to their water.
Results
The June 2017 egg count report came back at 200 eggs per gram. The veterinarian told us to keep doing what we were doing as this is a very good – low egg count.
Is a non-toxic supplementation program a solution?
We are happy with our results from last years efforts, but it did take effort.
- What if we managed grazing heights better?
- What if we moved more often?
We believe we can lower worm eggs with just better grazing management. Look again at the image above. Apparently the larvae can only climb the vegetation so high.
- Keeping grazing heights higher should reduce larvae ingestion.
As for more often moves. In a recent Stockman Grass Farmer article, grazier Greg Judy does an excellent job explaining how he has reduced herd health issues with more frequent moves!
Our goal at DS Family Farm is to give a fresh section of pasture to the herd every day. This past year we have implemented providing TWO moves to fresh pasture during a day on occasion. We understand that even more moves (4 or more per day) would benefit both the animals and the grass even further. Think of the roaming herds of buffalo with moves when they wanted.
Balance and How
It all comes back to balance. There are only so many hours in a day. We always remember our WHY we do what we do. We provide clean meat for peace of mind.
- HOW we produce clean meat is always a work in progress.
Feel free to join us on our journey of how we continue to improve our management in our attempts to mimic nature.
Email us or give us a call if you would like to visit our in MOOOTION herd, the herd on the move.
The Factory on our Farm
Raising Pasture Grazed grassfed beef from conception to table is not an easy task. We may have four different animal classes in our herd at any one time. But it all starts with the COW, the factory on our farm!
We make our cows work, they must:
- Conceive and raise a calf each year
- Raise that calf providing milk for 8+ months
- Refer to Weaning Weight Post 2015
- Weaning at an older age fully develops the calf’s rumen for grass based production.
- While milking a calf for 8+ months, she is developing her next calf inside her.
- While milking this years calf, she will watch over her previous two calves in a low stress herd environment.
- Graze our pastures in nature’s pattern to improve our pastures soil and grasses!
WOW!
We ask a lot from our cows, but they love their job from what we can tell. They are definitely a factory when you look at all they crank out. The cows do all the above listed items and all we give them are:
- Free choice minerals.
- Fresh water & sunshine.
- A fresh portion of pasture nearly every day.
- Supplemental hay at various times through the year.
- Hay is provided to keep their rumen functioning properly when our forages slump or go dormant.
- We are importing some ENERGY and PROTEIN for the Factory to work at full capacity.
If a cow cannot do all five functions listed above (calf every year while grazing every day) she is removed from the herd. No slackers allowed. There are very few cows that can do what we ask of our girls. We are just trying to mimic how nature works here in our small pastures. There is a movement underway across this country with more folks farming in natures image. This movement is called Regenerative Agriculture. We are not just “sustaining” our natural resources but IMPROVING our soils and grass while creating product! If you would like to support the Regenerative Agriculture movement, seek out products from these growers. Will these products be higher priced? Most likely yes. For the higher price you will get a better quality product and your health will thank you for it.
Let’s just say it takes an amazing Factory to deliver a product while at the same time improving its environment to repeat the cycle in the future. Take another look at what is happening in the photo. This photo is a great way to display why we are “Animal Welfare Approved” and “Grassfed Certified”. Farming in nature’s image, trying to work within God’s design (without messing it up too much).
2017 Pasturegrazed Beef
We continue to learn and adapt to raising beef in nature’s image. Our Animal Welfare Approved and Certified Grassfed beef are not pampered. These steers were never separated from the rest of the herd and fed a high energy diet to lay on fat. The fat that these animals do carry should have an Omega 6 to 3 ratio below 2:1. We will again test following harvest to verify quality as we have done the past two years (check our “About” page for details).
We have been blessed with another year in this endeavor. We thank our customers for their continued interest in what we are trying to do. We thank the Lord (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) for the gifts he has entrusted us with.
Weird Beef
Unfortunately, our beef is not normal.
Looking at a “normal distribution” of HOW all beef is raised in our country, we are definitely weird!
Normal is for the masses, we like being weird! No status quo around here. Actually, if you look at the pattern of nature and IF you consider nature normal, then yes we are normal. That is why we say, “unfortunately, our beef is not normal”. We hope in the future that pasture raised beef will be the norm, until then, we choose to be weird.
Fortunately our weird is some folks normal. We are currently seeing great demand for our beef and are happy to spread the word and connect interested customers with other weird beef producers.
Weird vs Normal beef:
The problem with normal food.
Seth Godin points out that “Normal diets made it easier for mass food manufacturers to generate a profit.” We have seen the results of the Standard American Diet (standard = normal). Our society has reached a point where some of the masses are realizing that their diet is directly linked to their overall health and they are seeking out healthy/weird food.
“We are all on a diet, be on a healthy one!” – Dr. Joseph Mercola
Being weird is not easy, as Godin also points out, “Do the hard work – be real.” For real health, you are going to have to do some work! Raising REAL BEEF, in natures image requires some hard work and commitment. Give us a call and come see some Weird Beef. As Dave always says:
“Be Weird!” – Dave Ramsey
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