Feasibility Of A Small Scale Natural Grass Fed Cattle Ranch

”In 2005 Linda and David Headley purchased their dream home, a 115- acre ranch with hills, trees, and grassy farmland in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. A creek runs through their property, and a freshwater spring supplied them with water. It seemed like the perfect place to raise

The beef industry is an important asset to United States agriculture as a whole. Over a million agricultural entities benefited from the sales of cattle and calves in the year 2000. Gross totals from sales of cattle and calves in 2000 totaled $40.76 billion accounting of 21% of all agricultural receipts making the beef sector the largest single agricultural enterprise. Direct and indirect employment in or related to the production and processing of beef supports over 1.4 million full-time-equivalent jobs in the US as well. Cattle are produced in all 50 states and their economic impact contributes to nearly every county in the nation and they are a significant economic driver (Lawerance and Otto, 2000).

Although the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) was established by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to protect consumers, a number of unintended consequences have arisen that negatively impact producers. These include increased costs of feed, negative impacts of small and rural producers, limitations to meeting new demands and the voluntary nature of the VFD. This letter explores the VFD and identifies challenges with its current implementation that impact our rural and remote producers.

One of the basic arguments for the restoration of bison back onto the prairies involves the economic benefits. Five of the nations ten poorest counties are located on Indian reservations (Manning, WWW). With decreasing beef prices and increasing land values, the margin of profit continues to narrow. A majority of the cattle industry that once was present in the midwest have sought greener pastures east in states such as Florida, Tennessee, and Kentucky (Popper, D). Another possible opponent, the Forest Service also no longer seems to focus on maximizing their timber yields in the midwest, but rather in northern California, Oregon, and Washington (Popper, D). Bison offer a plausible solution due to their low cost (about half as much as cattle). Bison are also better adapted to the environment and produce the same amount of meat which is higher in protein, lower in cholesterol and fat, compared to cattle. In terms of land usage, bison graze and then move while cattle remain where they are thus damaging the soil. Bison also eat a greater variety of grasses, something which lacks with cattle. A proposal made by conservationists suggest that, "Ranchers can easily switch to buffalo and sell hunting rights, meats, hides, horns, and skulls at healthy prices (Popper DE, 1994)." Care of bison is also simple because unlike cattle, bison can withstand plains' winters. Land value also increases when it offers game

October 15, 1934 was a very dry year we had less than 10 inches of rain from January 1st to October 1st 1934. With the lack of rain my crops did not grow well at all. Not only did my crops not grow well but I only harvested 500 bushels of wheat… Which is less than the 2,800 I was expecting to harvest, and now we only 500 gallons of potable water left. I don’t know when it will rain again but winter is near and I need plan to provide for my family. Not only do I need to feed my family but I have male bull and female Jersey cow. I need to be resourceful here. I had now decided to eat the bull. Keep the cow alive but don’t feed it, drink the cow's milk, once production ceases, eat the wheat.

Describe the origins, purposes, and practices of the "long drive" and the "open range" cattle industry. What ended this brief but colorful boom? What was the long-run nature of the cattle business?

Not only does grass-fed or grain-fed apply to the consumers but also to the ranchers/farmers raising the cattle. The reasoning for this is because of the milk being produced by the cow. Though the differences between grass-fed and grain-fed meat may not be extremely different, the difference between milk productions is. More and more cattle are being put into feedlots so they can be fed grain. This is happening because feeding them grain helps the cows produce more milk. The article, Super Natural Milk, states that on average, cows raised in confinement produce more than three times as much milk as the family cow of days gone by and fifteen times the amount required to raise a healthy calf. (Super Natural

A Brief History of Agricultural in the 21st Century and how it applies to grass fed Beef

The top four meatpacking businesses hold 20 percent of the nation’s cattle in company owned feedlots or cattle bought before-hand, sometimes using secret pricing contracts (138). These farmers are doing everything they can to make a living. This includes rotation practices that big companies would never care about.

In On the Range, a chapter of the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, Schlosser is with a man named Hank, a local rancher, who offered to give Schlosser a tour of the city of Colorado Springs. The Chapter takes place in July of 1997, in Hank’s town of Colorado Springs. After the tour, they went to Hank’s farm twenty miles from the city. Before Reagan, ConAgra, IBP, Excel, and National Beef only slaughtered around 21 percent of cattle, but after they slaughtered about 84 percent. Reagan allowed companies to merge which made them larger. This put Colorado farmers in a tough economical situation, with most leaving their farms. Not only are farms starting to vanish but the state in general is losing their farming culture. Schlosser went to Harrison

The conditions in which meat livestock live in is not exactly that of a large open green field in which they are free to roam and be merry. In the Economist article, Cows down: The beef business (2008) the effects of the ill conditions cows talks of how a

The Old Mule Farms is a cow-calf operation that provides calves for feedlots to fatten up before being sent to packing houses and eventually sold as meet for consumers. The current owners have been experiencing a problem with losses in revenue. The expenses that Old Mule Farms incurred are veterinary bills, labor, nutritional supplements and minerals, and a variety of forage. The forage is primarily grazed grasses but is supplemented with hay.

Rotational grazing is a topic frequently discussed among producers. When done well, it is a system that can improve the functionality, sustainability and profitability of any farm or ranch. Geoffrey Morell, a well-known energy healer and nutritionist with over 20 years of experience in the field, is the co-founder of P.A. Bowen Farmstead, where he supports and promotes the idea of rotation crazing as a means to boost grass-fed, natural-raised cattle farming.

As the twentieth century approached, America was experiencing a time of considerable expansion. All eyes were looking for ways to make the United States a larger, more powerful, and more efficient country. Because of this wave in American society, there was no movement given more devotion than the settling of the West. The range-cattle industry in its various aspects, and in its importance to the United States and particularly to the Great Plains, has been a subject of focus to Americans since its origin in the mid 1800's. This industry was rendered possible by such factors as vast sections of fertile land, the rise of heavy industry involving the great demand for beef, and

Most people who settled the Great Plains were ranchers. The western frontier was an idea place for grazing huge herds of cattle. Cowboys tended herds of cattle, branded them, and managed long cattle drives across the open prairies. In 1869 the building of the transcontinental railroad made it possible to ship the cattle market in large and profitable numbers (JRank Articles 2011). The experience of the