There are a lot of buzz words that fly around when you talk about beef. And there are lots of loopholes that allow people to mislead you about the quality of their meat. For example, “grass fed” usually conjures up images of happy, healthy cattle on rolling green hillsides, but did you know that corn is a grass? The same massive feedlots that force-feed corn to cattle and supply cheap meat to stores all over the country can market those animals as “grass-fed” without lying. So, if the list of buzz words we use to describe our beef seems a little long, we agree. We just want to make sure that you know what you’re getting, and that you’re getting what you expect.
So here’s our answer: come visit our farm. You’ll see healthy animals on rolling green hills; you’ll see how much work we’ve put into improving the type and variety of grasses in our pastures to give our animals all the nutrition they need; you’ll see animals growing healthily on fresh pasture or hay made from the same grasses we grow in those pastures; you’ll see how we don’t use any antibiotics or growth hormones to speed up the growth of our animals; you’ll see how we use mechanical control and rotational grazing to reduce weeds and improve our fields instead of using chemical herbicides. Anyone who is providing food to your family should be able to stand up to scrutiny of their practices and a careful examination of the quality of their products. So come visit us. You’ll see the difference.
And in case you’re interested in the buzz words we stand by, here’s how we do business:
Grass-Fed and Grass-Finished
Almost all cattle eat grass at some point in their lives, but there are loopholes that allow people to advertise their beef as “grass-fed” or “grass-finished,” even though they force-feed their animals corn in a feedlot environment. At Manor Line Ranch, grass-fed and grass-finished means our animals are raised on open pastures, eating high-quality, carefully cultivated grasses and clover and the hay it produces. They have constant access to fresh water, and we rotate them to new paddocks of fresh grass to keep the animals, and the land, healthy. We finish the cattle on the same diet they’ve had their whole lives – clean, nutritious grass and clover. Please note that since we need the animals to be safe to handle, we treat them to a very small amount of organic corn (less than 1 percent of their daily nutrition) – This is for our safety and the safety of our animals and visitors, and the amount is so small that it doesn’t change the taste or nutritional value of our meat.
Home Raised
Most of our meat comes from animals we raise ourselves, which means that unlike some meat providers, we can tell you everything that went into our meat animals since birth. Many farms buy animals at auction from all over the country, run them through their fields for a few months, and sell them as their own. We recognize that if you’re not in regular contact with the farmer who raised your meat animals, you really have no idea what the animals were eating or how they were treated before you got them. On the rare occasion when we supplement our meat with animals we didn’t raise ourselves, we turn to trusted local partners and neighbors who share our belief in the value of humanely raised, natural beef. So when we vouch for what you’re feeding your family, you know we mean it.
Natural
The USDA defines “natural” meat as “a product containing no artificial ingredient or added color [and that] is only minimally processed. Minimal processing means that the product was processed in a manner that does not fundamentally alter the product. The label must include a statement explaining the meaning of the term natural (such as ‘no artificial ingredients; minimally processed’)” (www.fsis.usda.gov). We go well beyond this definition in bringing you high quality, healthy, natural, delicious beef.
Free Range, Pasture Raised
While the term “free range” is more often applied to poultry, it’s important to remember the value for all livestock of having space to roam. Some farms load their fields with up to a couple animals per acre, but we stock at a rate of several acres per animal. Some farms limit animal access to open space and fresh water, but we rotate our animals through spacious pastures cultivated with a variety of grasses selected for maximum nutrition. Our approach is better for the livestock and better for the land. You can taste the difference that a healthy lifestyle makes.
Humanely Raised
Ethics is really at the core of who we are and how we do business. It’s about your attitude and perspective, as well as your best practices. Yes, we strive to be thoughtful and kind to all the animals we raise, and all the people we do business with, but it doesn’t stop there. We’re working on a bigger picture here that involves questions about what the future should look like in our community and region and world. We’re developing an approach to agriculture and land management that can sustainably create local products and experiences that make it worthwhile to landowners and to the community to keep land in ag instead of just building more houses; to keep our open spaces open, dark skies dark, quiet evenings quiet, and to grow in a way to preserves the things about our community that make it a desirable place to be in the first place.
Single Stream
Single stream indicates that a customer can trace their food back to a specific farm and farmer who guarantees the quality and origin of their food. Borrowed from conversations about recycling, in which the term is used to indicate that everything can be done in one place, it’s a pretty new term in the agricultural community and means that people like to know exactly where their food comes from and who made it. Whether that farmer is next door or around the world, being able to trace your food helps with food security and the quality of what we feed our families. At Manor Line Ranch, it’s essential to how we’ve done business from the start.
No Artificial Hormones
Some farms give artificial hormones to livestock to speed up their growth. The combination of artificial growth hormones and forced grain diets is unhealthy for the animals and reduces the nutritional value of the meat. We don’t use any artificial hormones or chemicals on our meat animals, allowing them to grow at a natural pace on a healthy diet of fresh grass and clover, and providing you with a healthier, more nutritious product.
No Antibiotics
We use no antibiotics on our meat animals. If an animal needs medicine for their health, they are removed from our meat program. No exceptions.
No Herbicides
We use no chemical herbicides on the land grazed by livestock in our meat program. When we have problems with weeds, we either change the rotational grazing pattern to encourage the grass to out-compete the weeds, rotate other livestock (like goats, who will eat some weeds) through the pasture, or remove the weeds by hand..
No Pesticides
Some farms use artificial chemicals and medications to get rid of everything from mosquitos to groundhogs. Our meat animals are kept healthy by their lifestyle and rotational access to healthy pastures and clean water, not by unnecessary chemicals.
Community
So much of what we do is because we love this place, and love sharing it with you. That doesn’t stop with our farm products. Even as we work towards our long term goals of wineries, breweries, events spaces, and campgrounds, we’re making sure we keep an eye out for the experience of our community and our shared spaces. For example, as we expand some of our entrances to meet VDOT’s requirements we are making sure we protect the old stone walls and ancient trees that make up such an important part of our landscape. And as we grow, we’d love to hear from you – if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please reach out so we can grow together.