Menu
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New profile posts
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Forums
Cattle Boards
Health & Nutrition
lost cow
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Help Support CattleToday:
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Jena" data-source="post: 64834" data-attributes="member: 74"><p>I try to raise my cattle as naturally as possible, though some will argue with my definition of "natural". Some think it is unnatural to feed a cow corn, so....you can't please everyone.</p><p></p><p>Anyways. I don't feed rumensin or those things. I don't use implants. I don't use any commercial feeds at all, but grind my own feed out of corn and soybean meal (there's some that will throw a fit over soy too). I do feed mineral and salt. I grow my own hay. I only use antibiotics when an animal is sick...and that rarely happens anymore.</p><p></p><p>I realized back when we had our own BSE scare that the normal market could care less about how I raise my calves. They go to the sale barn and no one asks what I fed them or how they have been raised. They don't care because as soon as they get them, they are going to pump them full of god knows what in the name of gain. Not only that, but I get penalized because my calves don't weigh as much as they could if I did all those things I'm "supposed" to do. I decided that I was going to start selling my cattle to the people who do care....the ones who eat it.</p><p></p><p>I started doing this in July of last year. It has caught on quick. In six months, I sold 15 steers as meat. Most of those were one cut at a time....I will sell freezer beef, but by far, most of my business is in retail cuts. A steak, a few pounds of ground beef, whatever you want, I got it!</p><p></p><p>I have quite a few very loyal customers and it just keeps growing. I make it a point NOT to knock down the beef industry in general or spread fear-mongering rumors about what cattle are fed, how they are fed, etc. I simply tell people how I raise my cattle and why I do it. These people go out of their way to buy my meat because they believe in what I'm doing (not to mention nothing tastes better than homegrown meat!).</p><p></p><p>These people are willing to pay a bit more for my meat. I don't get $5/pound for hamburger like some do. I don't target "high-end" consumers. I don't target "health-conscious" consumers. I sell to every day folks. They are willing to pay more because they do care about what they eat, or more accurately, they care about what was fed to the animals they are eating. You'd be surprised at how many folks out there do care.</p><p></p><p>At first, I thought it would be impossible to sell all the cattle I raise this way. I raise about 100 calves a year. Yeah, 15 out of 100 ain't that much, but it's more than I thought I would. I'll probably sell at least twice that next year and before I know it...I won't be going to the sale barn anymore except to unload the ones I had to treat with antibiotics because they were ill. </p><p></p><p>I don't think I have a superior attitude. I just think that consumers WANT clean meat and I know they are willing to pay for it. Maybe if feedlots would figure this out, I'd be out of business. If wal-mart started selling natural meat...sheesh...folks would snap it up!</p><p></p><p>Jena</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jena, post: 64834, member: 74"] I try to raise my cattle as naturally as possible, though some will argue with my definition of "natural". Some think it is unnatural to feed a cow corn, so....you can't please everyone. Anyways. I don't feed rumensin or those things. I don't use implants. I don't use any commercial feeds at all, but grind my own feed out of corn and soybean meal (there's some that will throw a fit over soy too). I do feed mineral and salt. I grow my own hay. I only use antibiotics when an animal is sick...and that rarely happens anymore. I realized back when we had our own BSE scare that the normal market could care less about how I raise my calves. They go to the sale barn and no one asks what I fed them or how they have been raised. They don't care because as soon as they get them, they are going to pump them full of god knows what in the name of gain. Not only that, but I get penalized because my calves don't weigh as much as they could if I did all those things I'm "supposed" to do. I decided that I was going to start selling my cattle to the people who do care....the ones who eat it. I started doing this in July of last year. It has caught on quick. In six months, I sold 15 steers as meat. Most of those were one cut at a time....I will sell freezer beef, but by far, most of my business is in retail cuts. A steak, a few pounds of ground beef, whatever you want, I got it! I have quite a few very loyal customers and it just keeps growing. I make it a point NOT to knock down the beef industry in general or spread fear-mongering rumors about what cattle are fed, how they are fed, etc. I simply tell people how I raise my cattle and why I do it. These people go out of their way to buy my meat because they believe in what I'm doing (not to mention nothing tastes better than homegrown meat!). These people are willing to pay a bit more for my meat. I don't get $5/pound for hamburger like some do. I don't target "high-end" consumers. I don't target "health-conscious" consumers. I sell to every day folks. They are willing to pay more because they do care about what they eat, or more accurately, they care about what was fed to the animals they are eating. You'd be surprised at how many folks out there do care. At first, I thought it would be impossible to sell all the cattle I raise this way. I raise about 100 calves a year. Yeah, 15 out of 100 ain't that much, but it's more than I thought I would. I'll probably sell at least twice that next year and before I know it...I won't be going to the sale barn anymore except to unload the ones I had to treat with antibiotics because they were ill. I don't think I have a superior attitude. I just think that consumers WANT clean meat and I know they are willing to pay for it. Maybe if feedlots would figure this out, I'd be out of business. If wal-mart started selling natural meat...sheesh...folks would snap it up! Jena [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Cattle Boards
Health & Nutrition
lost cow
Top