Our Beef
When we first started raising beef in 2001 we started with three Scottish Highland calves, two heifers and one steer. The heifers, now cows, are still with us today in 2012; Miracle and Flower. We kept some of their female off-spring: Amy, Abby, Duchess and Charlotte. In 2008 we purchased Caylynn; giving us seven Scottish Highland Cows as our breeding stock. In 2004 we added twin Angus cows; Lavern and Shirley. Over the years we have also kept some of their off-spring: Edith, Esther and Genna. We have also added a Belted Galloway and two Herford’s for breeding. All of these breeds are heritage breeds that originated in Scotland.
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Since we want our animals to be raised as naturally as possible we use a bull for breeding. We do NOT artificially inseminate. This would require shots to synchronize the cows and also require a vet to visit often. We use a bull with good genetics and an excellent temperament; and we switch him out every one to three years. For our 2012 calving season we used a Shorthorn bull; another heritage breed from Scotland. Yes, we do name all of our breeding stock, not the animals we are sending for butcher. Many of the cows will have calves for 12-20 years so they are part of the family!
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To raise our beef we go strictly with a grass-fed to grass-finished diet. The do always have free choice mineral, but other than that it is grass. In the winter the cows are fed hay and the beef animals are fed baleage. Baleage is high protein wet hay preserved in plastic after it is cut. In order to improve our soils without adding chemicals and to maximize our usage of the land we use what is called high density rotational grazing methods during the grazing season. We move the cows to a fresh grazing area one to two times a day. Inside our exterior fence we set up temporary fence, making smaller areas for the beeves to graze. This concentrates the manure and urine to that area for the day and if they do not eat all the grass, then they knock it down; improving the organic matter and the soil health. By having to move the herd to fresh grass one to two times a day, they are comfortable with human contact. Our entire herd is tame! Many of them can be petted and brushed. This makes it very easy and safe for us to work with them; giving them a happy, calm life at High Point! Due to the fact that we have less than 40 acres of pasture, and our herd is growing, we rent a 66 acre pasture from the National Forest in Hector, N.Y. Some of the herd is sent there to what we call “Summer Camp” from May 15th to the end of October. This makes for an inexpensive way to raise a larger herd, still feeding them naturally on grass.
Video is of our Herd moving from the back pasture to the front.
We do buy feeder calves and finished beef from other farms when our supply is low. We only buy from farmers we know have raised the animals with the same values as ours! We are assured the animals are raised humanly and fed only an all-grass diet, assuring a superior product!
No antibiotics or growth hormones are given to any of our animals!
No antibiotics or growth hormones are given to any of our animals!