What is Naturally Raised?
Raised naturally, the way the good Lord meant them to be...
What do we mean when we say raised naturally? We pride ourselves with raising our livestock in a stress free environment that is as close as possible to the way they were in nature. Below are some of the key principles we follow in this process.
 | No feed grade antibiotics are used. Most commercial livestock is fed a low level of antibiotics through much of their life, to prevent them from becoming ill. This potentially results in accumulations of the antibiotics in the meat, and definitely contributes to viruses becoming resistant to the antibiotics, lessening their impact. Our animals do not receive antibiotics in their feed. |
| No feed lot environment. Our animals are raised grazing our intensively managed pastures for the vast majority of their lives. Commercial animals normally spend the last three to six months in a crowded concrete lot, eating a carefully formulated ration to force them to grow quickly. These environments can be unsanitary and unhealthy, and are far from their natural environment. In contrast to this, our animals are grazing in the open meadows for their entire lives. |
| No growth hormones. No hormonal growth implants are utilized on our animals for naturally raised meat. This practice is commonly used to achieve faster weight gains and growth. You can rest assured that your naturally raised meat will not contain any potentially harmful growth implant residues. |
| Antibiotic use is carefully monitored. As we said above, we do not utilize feed grade antibiotics, but from time to time an animal will become ill. Any animal which does become ill and receive antibiotics is excluded from our premium grass finished beef products, and sold into traditional retail outlets. |
| We feed no animal byproducts. No animal byproducts of any sort are utilized in our feeding program. |
| No grain is fed. Instead of a heavy diet of grain which is normally used on commercial cattle, our animals eat grass and legumes from our managed pastured, their natural diet. |
| We utilize management rotational grazing. Rotational grazing is a technique of managing our pastures so they are always growing rapidly, and the livestock is moved into a fresh, lush green pasture every few days. These lush pastures are very high in nutritional value, so we can achieve high productivity through this method. Best of all, the animals are always looking forward to a new, fresh pasture, and eat it with enjoyment and vigor. In a cows eyes, the grass is definitely greener on the other side of the fence.... |