Our first available Live Animal Custom Beef Shares for 2023, are from "Black Joy Mamma", G7. She has an excellent collection of Custom Beef Shares, available for ORDER NOW.
All her shares have excellent whole food price values!
Plus, if you are still looking for the perfect utilitarian gift, we have you covered...
GIVE THE GIFT OF A FOOTHILL FROLIC FARM CUSTOM BEEF SHARE!
Depending on when all her shares sell out, her processing date will be either in late January or late February.
Then On Farm Pick up and Pay will be either in early February or early March.
The cold sunny days that have replaced the weeks of dreary wetness is shear relief. Overall our Fall was dry, and the fields in October saw very little rain. The dryness extended into later November, only then to immediately welcome wet.
In general the dry Fall passed without much complaint as beauty, blue skies, and warm colorful hues were abounding. The season allowed for perfect conditions for the moving, hauling, stacking, and covering of our 2nd cutting rolled hay. We got to start feeding out hay in the rotational way that we do without having to worry about wet soils underneath the cattle's hoofs. Hence, our main cattle herd got to act as supreme fertilizer machines, while for a month we fed them out rolled hay on a 15 acre paddock...regenerative farming at it's best! Plus, we could not have asked for better dry and warm circumstances for the first 4 weeks of weaning our first 2022 calf group.
The largest shortfall of our dry fall was the lack of grass growth. Our 2021 Fall brought good amounts of rain that kept our main herd grazing till about mid November, whereas this year we started feeding out some hay rolls by the last week of October. We decided to keep the large herd more concentrated in the Lacy Paddocks for the duration of Fall in order to preserve a good portion of our back Gammon, and Airport rotational grazing fields and to offer these areas a longer chance to keep growing if and when the rains returned. This decision offered a beneficial fresh boost stockpile to the large herd's diet of grass and clover hay for the winter months ahead.
Despite the dry fall, the yearling herd, which includes all our Live Beef Animal's for our Custom Beef Shares in 2023, had two incredible months, (Oct.9th-Dec.3rd) of lush grass grazing over at the Mill Paddock. The reason for this, was because we had let that Mill Paddock rest without any grazing for 3 months over the summer, so it had become thick, lush, and green. It was so thickly covered in grass that it lasted that group of 25 yearlings for those two whole months. They ate so well that we had to haul them back in 3 loads, instead of 2!
All to say, there is always such ebb and flow in different seasons and different years and to the best of our abilities we learn to 'work with' and become 'one with' these undulating natural patterns in order for our regenerative farm to thrive. As a great tune to keep tucked in an overall pocket is...
"When I'm stuck with a day that's grey and lonely I just stick up my chin and grin and say, oh
The sun'll come out tomorrow So you gotta hang on 'til tomorrow Come what may
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow You're always a day away"
As we had been so dry, it took a few good rains before the soils began to show signs of saturation. The accumulated saturation of wetness happened around the very end of November and decided to set in for the month of December until the recent clearing over the weekend.
Currently, with all our 141 cattle, we have them split into two herds and we are feeding out 4 round bales of hay a day. We have all the 2021 saved yearlings and 2022 weaned calves together. Then we have all the cows, unweaned 2022 calves, 2 bulls, and new pregnant heifers together. We hit the ground running for both morning feeding and afternoon feeding, with each herd fed both morning and afternoon. Our two Pure Breed Angus Bulls, Weigh Up 8 and Acclaim 44, just got let back into the main herd on December 5th, after a three month laze. After they were let in, they probably moved around more in the first couple hours than they had over the whole last 3 months. Also, they broke their three month silence by putting their vocal cords to great use with much communication and direction within the herd.
Speaking of these two bulls, back on the night of November the 26th, they had a late night secret rendezvous, which was quite unbelievable really. As we were heading out to fed on Sunday morning, Eastenn Dutch noticed the oddest detail in the gravel drive as we were approaching the creek bridge. When we took a closer look, sure enough, it was what Eastenn Dutch suspected, large bull hoof prints. This was clearly an area where cattle are not to be, and if they were here, how was it that we saw them in their paddock this morning? We followed the tracks back up the gravel drive and then into the front yard. We spied some fresh manure too. When we got up to their paddock, Dad quickly remembered that he had forgotten and left their paddock gap open the night before, as there it was down and wide open. In conclusion, our two bulls had walked out of their paddock and frolicked into the front yard and even decided to head down the drive to the creek. What made them stop there and turn around and go back into their paddock we will never know, but however and whatever we sure said that the moon was shining down on us favorably that night. Our two prized bulls could have just moseyed on to Timbuktu and who would have known?! What do you say?... I guess we have sure raised some highly trained well behaved bulls!
We put on a great show just last Sunday, when we moved the group of 31 weaned calves from the behind the barn paddock to join the yearlings across the road. Prior to the actual tallyho, we had set up a very long temporary alley way with our portable fencing. The calves needed to make it from the barn, along the driveway, in front of the house, across the creek, and over Minga Road. Dad lead the way with the Ford and a loaded hay spear, Matthew and Eastenn Dutch were stationed on Minga Rd, along with some Sunday afternoon pop up guest, and I was to pull in the rear. Indeed it was a one time shear accomplishment. What a sight it would have been from afar. The long narrow herd of black calves trotting in a sort of on farm Christmas parade with the homeplace all nicely decorated with fresh greenery, red bows, and lights in the background. The calves enjoyed meeting the yearling group in which they had yet to meet. Both brothers and sisters meeting for the first time.
When beef agriculture is kept local, like we are doing, we get to see along all our beef animals from birth to beef or from birth to mamma cow. All our beef animals are loved, respected, well tended to and 100% grassfed and rotationally grazed in open spaces for their whole life, without the use of pesticides, herbicides, or routine antibiotics. Our farm is conveniently located right here in the middle of the Tri Cities, locally, to offer Custom Beef Shares with environmental integrity and great authentic flavor that is good for you. We are so thrilled that all we have been working towards, by changing to a 100% local market, is finally coming into full fruition. By just taking a quick look at our Custom Beef Share Online SHOP, you will see that we want to be your beef farmer for 2023 and that our live animal line up has you covered for delicious beef eating the whole year through. Please truly consider it, because once you do, you will never want or need to buy your beef from a grocery store again.
Happy Holidays to All
Know your Beef Farmer, Eat Well, Be Well, and Until Next Time,
Allie
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