News and Blog
We will have a lot of hamburger available in about three weeks. We had a backup bull that we have never had to use, as our herd bull has been very durable. This backup has a genetic defect. He is sickle hocked and I can not have that in my closed herd. Therefore, I’ve decided to process him. He is three years old and therefore must be all hamburger per USDA rules. No bones left in the finished items. Let me know how much you
want. I’ve already sold 140#. It will be $3.10 for quantities exceeding 40 #. For smaller quantities $3.49, which is the price at our local store for extra lean hamburger.
Here is a good article regarding cholesterol.
Here is an entertaining video.
I just finished another good book. The author is Alan Watson, 21 days to a Healthy Heart. I’ve ordered a copy and will donate it to the local Trails Regional Library. I was not surprised that they didn’t have it in their system. It is a good companion to the Ultra Prevention, by Dr. Mark Liponis. This all started with my recent heart situation and my new awareness regarding our health care in this country. A friend and customer on our spaghetti night at La Sous Terre gave me a copy of, Left For Dead, by Dick Quinn. That book plus the Liponis book and the Jerry Brunetti seminar at the Acres USA convention have convinced me that I and you need to be responsible for our health. Not the cut and burn by the medical professionals and not the pharmaceutical companies. There are many simple things we need to do, and to undo the years of inappropriate foods and food preparation. Most of you have already realized this and that is why you are on our e-mail list and already customers who are enjoying the health benefits of our grass finished beef. I would encourage you to periodically visit our web site and check out the links to www.westonaprice.org and www.eatwild.com for updated, current articles. That’s it for now from the hill. Art and DebraArt,
I am so pleased with my beef. We have already had some ground beef, cube steaks and steaks and it has all been very tasty!! I will never buy store bought beef again. Do you sell eggs? Also do you know where I can get pasture raised chicken? Thanks again for the wonderful beef!
Kate
Mother Earth News. Here is an excellent web site with many interesting articles. www.motherearthnews.com
Misleading, or at times downright fraudulent, advertising for processed food products is so widespread, if you believed it all you’d think you could live a long healthy life sustained by little more than Twinkies and McDonalds.
If you’re not already convinced of that fallacy, watch SuperSize Me – a great documentary that shows how eating nothing but fast food for just thirty days will leave you scratching a feeble finger at death’s door.
But let’s get back to the issue of milk, of which there’s also what you could call the “junk variety,” and the Real McCoy.
I’m not at all surprised to find that science does not support claims that low-fat dairy can’t help you lose weight, for the simple fact that healthy weight comes from healthy eating habits. Unfortunately, so many people believe processed low-fat pasteurized dairy is a part of a healthy diet!
Nothing could be further from the truth. While low fat may be appropriate and help weight loss if you are a carb nutritional type, it is my strong belief that you should avoid all pasteurized dairy, and ideally only consume raw grass-fed organic dairy.
“Low-Fat” Milk Makes You Fat – Full Fat Raw Milk Doesn’t
It’s common knowledge among farmers that pigs fed skimmed milk gain weight easily, whereas pigs fed whole milk stay lean. A 2005 study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, found that this seeming paradox holds true for humans as well. After following almost 13,000 children (ages 9-14 years) for three years, they found that weight gain was associated with drinking reduced-fat and skim milk. However, they also concluded that it wasn’t dairy fat itself that caused the weight gain, but rather the excess calories.
Okay. So wouldn’t drinking whole raw milk have the same effect?
Not necessarily. Because the butterfat in whole raw milk, particularly butterfat in milk from cows that graze freely on green pasture, contains unique nutrients that support thyroid function and help your body develop muscle rather than fat.
Why Won’t Pasteurized Milk Build a Healthy Body Like Raw Milk Does?
Whereas raw milk from grass-fed cows is full of things that your body will thrive on: good bacteria, enzymes, raw fat, and cancer-fighting conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), among other things, pasteurized milk is known to cause all kinds of health troubles, from digestive upset to perhaps even autism and diabetes.
These ailments, and the even more common problem of lactose intolerance, is not due to milk being an inappropriate food for humans – after all, primitive societies have thrived on milk diets for quite some time -- but rather, the processing of it has turned the milk into something your body can’t optimally use. www.mercola.com
PS: (Testimonial for your website) Dear Art-- Thanks so much for the very informative tour of your farm! Thanks also for the sample of grass-finished beef. It is excellent. My wife is very picky about beef and has almost become a vegetarian at times because of scary beef. Up until now, we have only bought the best (95%) lean ground sirloin from Hy-Vee and your ground beef is at least as good tasting as that. My wife is sold and that's saying something! DaveWe have a couple of Sallton yogurt makers that I have bought on e-bay. I get them for about $20. They are great way to make your own quality yogurt. “Also, just a reminder, we would like a 1/2 beef at the end of the summer or fall. Let us know when the time is close. Thanks for providing all the food. We really enjoy it and will miss it when we are on the road. Once on my parent’s farm we will have cows milk and veggies/fruit, however, no grass fed beef. :( Have a great day. Thanks again for all that you do with the food. Our health, stomachs, etc... love it.” Paige Beware of potential side effects of the “ethanol band wagon”. A recent article in The Stockman Grassfarmer revealed problems that are not being reported by our media. I will try to synopsize the article. If someone wants a copy of the full text just send me a self addressed envelope and I’ll' send you a copy, Here goes. First, sulfuric acid is used in producing ethanol this leaves the by product feed with a high sulfur content. Feed high in sulfur can cause polioenciphalomalacia a deadly from of polio that creates brain lesions in cattle. Number two, ethanol byproducts are highly susceptible to potentially deadly molds called mycotoxins.. Because this feed is rendered bacterially sterile by the production process, any mold that alight on it can grow extremely rapidly and can reach problematic levels in just a few hours.
While these molds can make beef cattle extremely sick and permanently damage them, it really gets scary for consumers with dairy animals. Alfa toxins can pass through the cow’s milk and is not killed by pasteurization. Currently dairy is the primary consumer of distiller by products.
Third Kansas State research found that cattle on brewer grains are six times more likely to have the deadly-to–human’s form of E. coli than cattle fed corn.
The study (K State) authors warn of “serous ramifications” to the feeding of all forms of distiller grains and predict there will be eventually a strong consumer backlash against animals fed ethanol by- products. Tell consumers loudly and frequently that you feed nothing but GRASS.
New Pricing.About a year ago I notified all that I was going to freeze the price per pound at $3 per pound and that the ethanol run up for corn prices that were driving the cost of lean hamburger would not be the basis for my pricing since I do not use corn. However, the price of gasoline has doubled and that is affecting production costs. The man that does my hay has raised his prices 10 % due to diesel costs of $4.50/gal. Remer’s (my processor) has increased their prices from $30/head to $32. The price per pound has increased from 40 cents to 44 cents for halves and from 44 to 48 for split halves. The price of lean hamburger is maintaining fairly constant at $3.49 per pound. I will keep the $3/ pound for this last beef that’s scheduled for Sep (Young and Chaverin). The fall (Oct-Nov) harvest price will be $3.10 per pound. We will continue to pay half of the normal processing costs and will deliver. For halves Remer’s charge $16 per half plus 44 cents per pound. Our part will be $8 plus 22 cents per pound. For split halves the charge is $8 plus 48 cents per pound. Our part will be $4 plus 24 cents per pound.
Be sure to check the roast recipe. It makes a wonderful dinner.
Have a happy July 4th.
Rosebud had her heifer calf this morning. We had thunder, lightning, and three inches of rain. We had been waiting since last Monday for her to calve. Sometimes it takes a low pressure weather system. We’ve experienced this several times with other cows and animals.
Go to www.breezy-hill-farm.com and then What’s New and click on Milk Info. Then get on our schedule for milk.
I was recently listening to KCUR and caught Kraske’s Up to Date program. He had an interesting guest, Dr Mark Liponis. I am including the URL link so you to can listen to this show. I ordered one of his books, Ultra-Prevention, from Amazon. It is a great book on preventive health. I highly recommend your buying a copy and sharing it with a friend. I am including few paragraphs from page 130.
Back when humans were hunter-gathers, our diets contained a 4:1 ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats. That ration remained constant for eon, and it suitably reflects the makeup of our membranes. Diets rich in omega-3 fats are associated with lower rates of cardiovascular disease. Once we began to refine oils from plants, we switched to a high omega-6 diet, which accounts for the more than 20:1 ratio previously mentioned. As a result of our use of refined vegetable oils, we’ve changed the way our bodies work. This shift is making our bodies malfunction, causing inflammation, dry skin, and increased oxidation---some of the side effects of fat deficiency.
Today some well-informed doctors have started giving omega-3 fats to heart attack patients to reduce the risk of a second attack. Why? These fates thin the blood and reduce the stickiness of platelets inflammation, triglyceride levels, and blood pressure, and increase HDL.
After all, when our diet was brimming with these health fats, heart disease was almost nonexistent. Now it’s the number-one cause of death in the developed world.
http://www.kcur.org/UTDarchive.html
The following is an excellent article by Michael Pollan. Our raised garden is working just great. We should have done this two years ago when we first saw the idea at the Small Farmers Gathering held in Columbia, Mo. Joel Salatin will be at the gathering this year. He is a must see. The ACRES convention will be in St Louis this year. This is another of those great events to learn topics in AG and Health.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/magazine/20wwln-lede-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
You may want to add Local Harvest to your favorites list.
We have some new photos to add to the web site. Maybe I’ll get that done this week end. Yes, we are staying home for the holiday. We have a wood pile of dead limbs and branches that have accumulated and we traditionally have a wiener roast on Memorial Day. Going somewhere, just to go, on $4 gas is becoming unattractive. I guess we are entertaining ourselves as Pollan suggests in his article.
Also, at the Acres USA convention that Debra and I attended in Dec there was a speaker, Jerry Brunetti, who conducted a day long seminar, which I attended. This guy is incredibly smart regarding both human health and animal health. We have both of his presentations on a CD. I have listened to them 4, 5 maybe six times and each time I learn something new. If you are concerned about cancer and other health issues you should definitely either borrow them from us, or go to www.acresusa.com web site and order the CD’s. This information needs to be heard. At the site click on AUDIO TAPES, 2007 CONFERENCE, JERRY BRUNETTI, “10 THINGS YOU SHOULD DO TO PREVENT CANCER” AND “RAISON d”ETRE”.
Be sure to check our web-site for "What's New". We add items periodically.
I just finished Michael Pollan’s latest book, In Defense of Food. It is an excellent book. Allan Nation, the editor of Grass Farmer magazine had a good summary in the Feb issue. I am going to include some of his summary. I hope this will compel you to get the book and read it. For those who have access to the Trails Regional library, you can check it out there. I gave them a copy.
Allan Nation in Grass Farmer: “Another big change with major health implications was the wide spread substitution of corn sweeteners for traditional sugar.Sucrose sugar, the kind produced from sugar cane or beets, provides a slow-release form of energy and also provides valuable micro nutrients we can get nowhere else.Corn syrup is not a sucrose sugar but is a fructose sugar. This makes a big difference in obesity.The body does not react to fructose by producing insulin to carry it into the cells for use as energy.Rather fructose is routed to the liver, which then turns it into glucose and then, if there is no immediate demand for it, into fat." "Corn syrup is now added to almost every manufactured food as a subtle sweetener to increase consumption. Is it any wonder we are getting fat?” The other main point he makes is Omega-3 is the Definer. “Omega-3 fatty acids are critical in brain development and function, good vision, and the metabolism of glucose. Omega-6 fatty acids are involved in fat storage, in making cell walls ridged, in blood clotting and the inflammation response. " "Today, the modern Western diet is heavily weighted toward omega-6 fatty acids by a factor of 20 to one. The shift of beef, eggs, and dairy production from a natural high omega-3 pasture diet to a confinement one based upon omega-3 deficient hay and high in omega-6 grains is a major cause of the imbalance, but not the only one.For years plant breeders have been breeding plants to reduce their omega-3 content to extend their shelf life.The chronic diseases that now kill us can be traced directly to the industrialization of our food according to Pollan.""Pollan also advises when shopping for food to distinguish between food and food products. If the label has more than five ingredients or if it has an ingredient that you can’t pronounce, leave it on the shelf. The best way to eat healthy is to “Shake the hand that feeds you”. He says consumers should invest in a freezer so they can buy grass-fed meats, and do a little gardening of their own as well. Particularly, of green leaf plants. "
Check out our web site—MORE—LINKS for a gardening solution.Comments from Dr. Mercola.
When I first became aware of grass-fed beef, I was only superficially aware of the importance of omega-3 oils. I have now grown to appreciate that balancing the optimum amount of omega-3 oils is one of the most important things you can do to stay healthy.
If you are not yet familiar with the benefits of omega-3 oils, please review my recent article on the cardiovascular actions of omega-3 oils.
Most nutritionist don't yet realize that it not only the amount, but the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 oils that controls much of our disease and health outcomes.
That is why it is so important to consume animals that are primarily eating grass. These animals will have far lower levels of the potentially dangerous omega-6 oils that nearly all of us have a surplus of.
The practical way to do this is to consume free-range chickens and turkeys and pasture or grass-fed beef. Unfortunately, you cannot buy this grass-fed beef at your local grocery store.
Obtaining free range poultry is relatively straight forward but you must be careful regarding the beef. Many stores will advertise grass-fed beef but it really isn't. They do this as ALL cattle are grass fed, but the key is what they are fed the months prior to being processed.
As this wonderful article explains most all cattle are shipped to giant feed lots and fed corn to fatten them up. I knew this before reading this incredible story, but I now have a far better understanding of the process.
You will need to call the person who actually grew the beef, NOT the store manager, to find out the truth.
The least expensive way to obtain authentic grass fed beef would be to find a farmer who is growing the beef who you can trust and buy a half a side of beef from him. This way you save the shipping and also receive a reduced rate on the meat.
An inexpensive, yet effective way to determine if the meat is really from a grass fed animal is to purchase the ground beef. Slowly cook the beef till done and drain and collect all the fat. Grass fed beef is very high in omega-3 fats and will be relatively thin compared to traditionally prepared ground beef.
It will also be a liquid at room temperature as it has very few saturated fats which are mostly solid at room temperature.
Here is an interesting site that explains how your milk is processed. I'm sure glad we have our own REAL MILK.
Here is a further detailed breakdown of the 569 lbs. of take home meat.
Chuck - 209.5 lbs total, which is 29% of the dressed/hanging/carcass weight:
Blade Roasts and Steaks | 33.9 lbs. |
Ground Beef and Stew Meat | 83.3 lbs. |
Arm Pot Roasts and Steaks | 35.5 lbs. |
Cross Rib Pot Roast | 25.4 lbs. |
Fat and Bones | 31.4 lbs. |
Round - 155.8 lbs. total, which is 22% of the dressed/hanging/carcass weight:
Top Round | 34.6 lbs. |
Bottom Round | 31.2 lbs. |
Tip | 16.8 lbs. |
Rump | 7.8 lbs. |
Ground Beef | 33.4 lbs. |
Fat and Bones | 32 lbs. |
Thin Cuts - 134.6 lbs. total, which is 19% of the dressed/hanging/carcass weight:
3.6 lbs. | |
Pastrami Squares | 2.9 lbs. |
Outside Skirt | 2.2 lbs. |
Inside skirt | 2.5 lbs. |
16 lbs. | |
Ground Beef and Stew Meat | 87.3 lbs |
Fat and Bone | 20.1 lbs. |
Short Loin - 115.7 lbs. total, which is 16% of the dressed/hanging/carcass weight:
Porterhouse Steak | 19.6 lbs. |
T-bone Steak | 9.8 lbs. |
Strip Steak | 15 lbs. |
Sirloin Steak | 15.3 lbs. |
Tenderloin Steak | 6.8 lbs. |
Ground Beef and Stew Meat | 22.7 lbs. |
Fat and Bone | 26.5 lbs. |
Rib - 66.6 lbs. total, which is 9% of the dressed/hanging/carcass weight:
Rib Roast | 23.9 lbs. |
Rib Steak | 9.2 lbs. |
Short Ribs | 8.6 lbs. |
Ground Beef and Stew Meat | 16.5 lbs. |
Fat and Bone | 8.4 lbs. |
Miscellaneous - 32.7 lbs. total, which is 5% of the dressed/hanging/carcass weight:
Kidney and Hanging Tender | 4.9 lbs. |
Fat, Suet and Cutting Loss | 27.8 lbs. |
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Definition of Dry Aged Beef:
· Forty years ago, most of our beef was dry aged. In the early 1960's the process of vacuum packing beef became the norm for most processors.
· The advantage of this process was that they could "wet age" the beef in the bag and not lose any of the weight of the beef. Wet aging was much more cost effective for the processors so a weaning of the consumers' taste buds began to occur. Slowly, the consumer forgot what the real taste of steak was.
· Beef is aged for 7 to 21 days. During this process a crust forms on the outside of the loin, very similar to the texture of beef jerky. This layer is trimmed away, leaving steaks that are superior in tenderness and flavor. During the dry aging process, the juices are absorbed into the meat, enhancing the flavor and tenderizing the steaks.
· Research from major universities, including Kansas State University, indicates the enhancement of flavor and tenderness occurs in this Dry Aging process. Dry Aged Steaks are very popular in the fine, white linen steakhouses on the coasts.
· The dry aging process takes special care and requires a relatively large inventory. It is very time consuming and expensive, requiring extra effort, storage and high-quality beef.
· Up to 20% of the original weight of the loin is lost during the dry aging process. This is why dry aged steak is offered only in fine restaurants, upscale grocery stores and gourmet steak companies.
· Dry aging occurs while the beef is hanging in a refrigerated cooler, at a specific temperature and humidity, for 10 to 28 days after harvest and prior to cutting.