Ruechel - Grass-fed cattle : how to produce and market natural beef

GRASS-FED CATTLE

How to Produce and Market Natural Beef

JULIUS RUECHEL

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Marie Salter, Elaine Cissi, and Deborah Burns

Art direction by Cindy McFarland

Cover design by Vicky Vaughn

Text design and production by Erin Dawson

Cover photograph by Peter Dean/Grant Heilman Photography

Illustrations Elayne Sears

Infographics by Erin Dawson

Indexed by Daniel Brannen

Technical review by Lee Rinehart, Livestock Program Specialist,
National Center for Appropriate Technology

2006 by Julius Ruechel

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Printed in the United States by Versa Press
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To Anne

For a dream, a vision, a whole lot of spice,
and a most exciting journey of discovery

THE HARDEST THING FOR MOST LIVESTOCK producers to realize is that we are not in the cattle business. We are in the grass business.

We are, in effect, grass farmers. Grass is the beginning, the end, and everything in between in natural cattle production. It deserves both our respect and our attention. For example, the annual growth cycle of your grass will determine when you should calve, breed, and wean. How closely you mesh these three activities will largely determine your cost of production.

Pasture subdivision and controlled rotational grazing give you a steering wheel, clutch, and brake for your four-legged grass harvesters. Consider the folly of trying to harvest a grain crop with a motorized combine without the use of a steering wheel, clutch, and brake. Now, consider that most ranchers attempt to do exactly this.

The mineral balance in the soil will largely determine the quality of the grass you grow and its protein and energy content. These two elements will in turn determine the range of potential grass-based enterprises you can realistically consider and the choices dont end there. For instance, how far you plan to take your cattle on grass will determine the range of cattle genetics from which you can select. If you plan to take them all the way to slaughter on grass, you will need to choose an early-maturing, easy-fattening breed.

The list of considerations for anyone entering a grass-based enterprise goes on and on and is well covered in this book. The primary point to remember is that virtually every decision you will make in cattle production will come back to grass. Grass-Fed Cattle serves as an excellent how-to book for grass-based natural cattle production. It is one you will want to read and reread many times.

ALLAN NATION
Editor, The Stockman Grass Farmer

IN MANY RESPECTS, NATURAL GRASS-BASED cattle farming is an entirely new trade that is emerging as an alternative to conventional beef production and marketing. It requires a whole new set of management skills and an entirely different knowledge base about the unique evolutionary relationship between cattle and grass, all of which are foreign to the technology-dependent, commodity-driven, conventional beef industry. But perhaps it is more accurate to say that the lessons first learned by our prehistoric ancestors about cattle and grass are finally converging with our modern understanding of the natural world and our technological advantages. As such, natural grass-based cattle farming is an exciting journey of discovery into our distant pastoral history while taking us to the forefront of our ecological understanding about plants and animals and relying on our most innovative technological advances. This is the frontier of the modern natural/organic agriculture movement.

Grass-Fed Cattle: How to Produce and Market Natural Beef is the guide I wish I had had when I was searching for advice on how to create a profitable, financially stable, and environmentally sustainable business in the new trade of natural grass-based beef production. It contains all the information vital to the setup, design, management, and marketing of the low-cost, high-profit grass-based cattle enterprise, from calf birth right through to the steak on the customers barbecue. It is much more, however, than just a comprehensive production and marketing guide. It is also an essential business management tool that will accompany you through your individual process of designing and managing your own natural grass-based cattle enterprise. It is designed to give you independence, to provide you with choices, and to allow you to confidently take charge of your future, a future that you will have the skills, knowledge, and tools to design yourself by the time you reach the end of this book.

The knowledge, techniques, and skills described are universal, regardless of farm size or climate. They are suited equally to farmers new to the trade, established organic farmers looking to integrate cattle into their production systems, experienced family farms seeking to transition from conventional to organic production, and even to the herds of the largest conventional farms looking for new, environmentally sustainable and financially stable production and marketing options.

Within these pages, I hope to help you see the cows world through new eyes. You will never look at a simple weed the same way again. Raindrops will carry a new meaning. A cows foot will become the most powerful tool at your disposal. Youll discover the fascinating world of cow psychology. Calving season may actually become your favorite and most relaxing time of year. And Ill help you design your own plan to make a profitable and financially stable living in the most exciting and emotionally rewarding business in the world.

Part 1, The Fundamentals of Grass-Based Beef, takes an in-depth look at grass and cattle and the interdependent relationship that evolved between them during the millions of years before domestication, grain surpluses, and modern technological Band-Aids. It also explores the effect this relationship has on grass, soil, cattle fertility, genetics, and the seasonality of the natural cattle production year. This foundation of knowledge serves as the blueprint for all the production techniques described in the remainder of the book and provides you with the confidence to trust nature as your guide.

Like any practical trade, natural grass-based beef production relies on certain tools that allow us to harness this natural relationship between cattle and grass and turn it into a profitable business capable of sustaining our families, communities, and environment. Part 2, Infrastructure and Management, is about this toolbox. Some of the tools are the low-cost infrastructure of natural grass-based beef productions; others are skills and management principles that allow you to manage your cattle herd and create a salable product from it. These are the unique tools of your new trade.