Moo Cows

We've been raising our own beef for about 12 years. Back before the building boom in the early 2000's we had some land leased and were actually selling cattle to the feed lots. That's when I started learning about feed lots. I regret that any of my cattle were used for that. A feed lot is a place where cows go to become mass produced, unhealthy food. They stand in a small pen with many other cows being feed as much corn as they will eat for about 150 days. They get really fat during this time. Eventually, they are standing belly deep in cow crap. When they are slaughtered, the crap goes right on in to the slaughter house with them on their hair. That's how e-coli gets in your beef that you get from the store. Cows that are not feed corn do not carry the e-coli bacteria. Hmmmmm imagine that. Cows are not designed to be corn eaters. Cows are bovines and have four stomachs. They are grazers. Grass is their natural food.

All natural, grass feed organic beef on the hoof.

Now we just keep a couple of steers for our own personal consumption. When we get one butchered, we get about 650 lbs of healthy, lean, e-coli free, beef. Our hamburger is amazing, and so is our cube steak, but to tell you the truth, our steaks kinda suck. That's because we don't have all that fat in our steaks. The fat that comes from corn is what makes steaks tender and taste good . I'd rather eat the lean hamburger and know what's in my beef. I know farmers that take sick cattle to the sale. I tell you, the more I learn, the less desire I have to eat anything that comes from a grocery store.  Even if you can't raise your own beef, maybe you can find a farmer in your area that will sell you some. You'll never know until you try.

Bonnie Bell sizing up a steer.

Above is a picture of our Border Collie Bonnie. Her mom was a champion herding dog and I believe she was even on ESPN. Bonnie is a champion frisbee catcher....well not really a champion, but she's good at it, and she'll do it until she collapses. I've seen her do it. She's probably the smartest dog that I have ever seen and outsmarts me every once in awhile. She's getting old now and she's slowing down a lot. I know that one day she will leave us and I am not looking forward to that day. Some people think that I am heartless because I eat animals that I raise. God intended it that way. He gave us dominion over all the animals of the Earth and told us to make food of them. Don't believe me, look it up. It's in the Bible. I'm not gonna tell you where you kind find it yourself. Now I do not believe in cruelty. Our cows have a good life, way better than the cows that you get in the store, and never again will I send one to a feed lot.