Stockpiling Food?

[RPCookin]

Hereford steer will eat scrub and other grasses that Black Angus will not eat. You don't come to grassy plains until you get out of the southwest. But the Herford do not fatten up on scrub. They originally came from Scotland and are not native to this land. They also were field cross bred with the long horn cattle from Mexico. By nature, the Black Angus is smaller than the Herford and are hornless. Put a BA bull beside a Hereford that both have been raised on grass alone and you will see the difference. Ranchers that raise only Black Angus are willing to take the time to raise their herds on grass alone. The meat is more tender and tastier. And that way they get more $$$ per pound for their product. BA also come from Scotland.

My wife is a farm girl from the northeastern Colorado plains. We bought 95% of our beef on the hoof from a guy she grew up with. It was pasture raised, fed on natural feeds from the local Co-op (which was managed by his brother), on only given medications like antibiotics if actually needed (they cost money, so why not maximize profits while keeping the beef as organic as possible). He takes the beef to a local meat locker, and we order it custom cut however we want it. The meat bought this way is so much more flavorful and tender that it can't even be compared to supermarket beef. If there is anything I miss living here it's having access to that sort of red meat. It may be more healthy, but I sure miss an occasional good rib steak or post roast.

On the other hand, I can hit the ocean right in front of my house and find spiny lobster (they call then crayfish down here) or the occasional grouper (I'm still learning how to use a Hawaiian sling).

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I was watching an episode of Chefs A' Field on PBS. I learned something. It takes 3 years to raise a grass-fed steer vs. 18 months to raise one in a feed lot. Grass-fed steer will be smaller than a grain-fed one. And, the fat is "cleaner" in taste than grain-fed beef.

I hate to say it, but a lot more vegetable protein can be raised on a smaller acreage in a shorter time than raising cows. There's no justification of eating beef if you just look at the numbers.

Anybody for a nice tofurkey or tofsteak? No, I thought not. Maybe in 1,000 years our descendents will marvel at the ancient times when people ate real animals and died before they reached 250 years old...

I'm not going to quit eating steak no matter what. I just may not eat it as often. Actually I enjoy seafood more anyway. Seafood is lots more farmable....

 

[CWS4322]

The availability of locally farmed seafood is not possible in some areas. However, 1/2 mi down the road, I can get organic, grass-fed beef (1/2 or 1/4 or the whole steer). The farmer who owns the farm from which the property our City house was severed, raises grass-fed (pasture) lamb. There may be no justification for eating beef, but then, there is also no justification for eating Oreos, hotdogs, or Cheese Whiz.

Responsible farmers are also custodians of the land. When looking at yield/acre, one also has to factor in the harvesting costs, equipment costs, market rate/bu., fertilization/irrigation costs, etc. So although the yield/acre may be higher, it is not always true that the rate of return/acre is worth planting a certain crop. Farmers look at the rate of return and the net return after all the expenses, including taxes, are factored in. Raising cattle may be more profitable in some areas than planting some sort of vegetable protein. Also, the soil composition, growing season, etc. may not support raising a vegetation crop, but the grass/scrub does support cattle or sheep. Farming is not that simple. The growing season may not be long enough for a vegetation crop that would potentially offer up a similar ROR. I have a great deal of respect for people who chose to be farmers. They have are often land rich but cash poor. It is not an easy life.

 

[Addie]

I agree completely with you CWS. One weather disaster can mean financial ruin for the year. For those who raise animals, an early unexpected good blizzard can mean the loss of half their herd. For farmers that choose to grown veggies and other non animal items, an early frost will just wipe out the entire crop.

I remember as a kid, listening to the radio every night starting in September. The first word of frost, we all climbed into the truck and headed for the bogs. We often were there until late at night flooding them. A successful flood meant that there would be a crop next year. The next day a lot desks at school were empty. You just knew they were doing the same thing you were doing late at night and were just too tired to get up and go to school. If you are a member of a farming family, everybody is a farmer in that family. the happiest time of my childhood was spent on the farm. It was hard work, but I loved it. I understood at a very early age, just how important all the work was.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

We are part of this world. And as such, we interact with all other living, and non-living things. If we eat anything, we are killing some type of life form, be it plant or animal. That's just the way it is. It is our responsibility to use the resources available to us in such a way that we improve that resource, so that it is available to our posterity.

Intensive grazing is one way to do that. This livestock technique is patterned after Africa's great savannahs, that support the richest diversity of grazing, and predator life per acre, on the planet.

With this type of farming, different grazing animals utilize the same pastures throughout the grazing season, with each animal grazing in its own pasture and eating something different from that pasture. The animals are rotated at a regular schedule, each eating its own type of plants, or insects, or rodents, which is different for each critter. In this way, weeds and insects are controlled, the soil is fertilized by each animal's unique droppings, and the none of the pastures are overgrazed. There are fewer individual types of animals per acre, but as many total animals. Typically, cattle, pigs, chickens, and goats or sheep are the animals that share the pastures.

Where this type of grazing is utilized, the animals are healthier, better tasting, and contribute to the quality of, rather than using up the available postural resources. And because they are healthier, they need less anitbiotics, and such. Only minerals need to be added to teh soil from time to time. It's a sustainable farming method that is being utilized more and more. And that's a good thing.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[taxlady]

We are part of this world. And as such, we interact with all other living, and non-living things. If we eat anything, we are killing some type of life form, be it plant or animal. That's just the way it is. It is our responsibility to use the resources available to us in such a way that we improve that resource, so that it is available to our posterity.

Intensive grazing is one way to do that. This livestock technique is patterned after Africa's great savannahs, that support the richest diversity of grazing, and predator life per acre, on the planet.

With this type of farming, different grazing animals utilize the same pastures throughout the grazing season, with each animal grazing in its own pasture and eating something different from that pasture. The animals are rotated at a regular schedule, each eating its own type of plants, or insects, or rodents, which is different for each critter. In this way, weeds and insects are controlled, the soil is fertilized by each animal's unique droppings, and the none of the pastures are overgrazed. There are fewer individual types of animals per acre, but as many total animals. Typically, cattle, pigs, chickens, and goats or sheep are the animals that share the pastures.

Where this type of grazing is utilized, the animals are healthier, better tasting, and contribute to the quality of, rather than using up the available postural resources. And because they are healthier, they need less anitbiotics, and such. Only minerals need to be added to teh soil from time to time. It's a sustainable farming method that is being utilized more and more. And that's a good thing.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Thank you Chief. I was going to write something along those lines, but you did it well and saved me the effort.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Thank you Chief. I was going to write something along those lines, but you did it well and saved me the effort.

My pleasure.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[CWS4322]

We are part of this world. And as such, we interact with all other living, and non-living things. If we eat anything, we are killing some type of life form, be it plant or animal. That's just the way it is. It is our responsibility to use the resources available to us in such a way that we improve that resource, so that it is available to our posterity.

Intensive grazing is one way to do that. This livestock technique is patterned after Africa's great savannahs, that support the richest diversity of grazing, and predator life per acre, on the planet.

With this type of farming, different grazing animals utilize the same pastures throughout the grazing season, with each animal grazing in its own pasture and eating something different from that pasture. The animals are rotated at a regular schedule, each eating its own type of plants, or insects, or rodents, which is different for each critter. In this way, weeds and insects are controlled, the soil is fertilized by each animal's unique droppings, and the none of the pastures are overgrazed. There are fewer individual types of animals per acre, but as many total animals. Typically, cattle, pigs, chickens, and goats or sheep are the animals that share the pastures.

Where this type of grazing is utilized, the animals are healthier, better tasting, and contribute to the quality of, rather than using up the available postural resources. And because they are healthier, they need less anitbiotics, and such. Only minerals need to be added to teh soil from time to time. It's a sustainable farming method that is being utilized more and more. And that's a good thing.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

+1

 

[Addie]

Greg as the widow of a commercial fisherman, I love seafood. But they are finding that those seafood farms are developing some major problems. They are more prone to disease, do not grow as big as wild ones., etc. And these problems go across the board. Whether it be catfish, oysters, clams, salmon, etc. When you take an animal out of the wild and try to get it to change according to your needs, you are just preparing for disaster.

Farmers know this. They do try to get a bigger yield from their plantings. And when the big coops change the DNA of crops, they are just making them more susceptible to disease and more attractive to bugs and other critters. The small farmer like CWS and her husband are caught in a bind. They have no choice but to buy the seeds from these altered plants. Thus all the problems are hoisted on them. Small farmers try not to use pesticides. But sometimes it is their only means to get a crop at all. Just look at what we have done to corn. When you look at the cobs found in old Native American sites, they are tiny. But there is no mold on them. And little critters didn't find them to be a banquet. Now the bigger the better. When we go shopping, we always pick out the big ones. More for our money. I would rather have a small tender one. They are sweeter and have more corn milk in them. That is where all the flavor is.

 

[CWS4322]

Greg as the widow of a commercial fisherman, I love seafood. But they are finding that those seafood farms are developing some major problems. They are more prone to disease, do not grow as big as wild ones., etc. And these problems go across the board. Whether it be catfish, oysters, clams, salmon, etc. When you take an animal out of the wild and try to get it to change according to your needs, you are just preparing for disaster.

Farmers know this. They do try to get a bigger yield from their plantings. And when the big coops change the DNA of crops, they are just making them more susceptible to disease and more attractive to bugs and other critters. The small farmer like CWS and her husband are caught in a bind. They have no choice but to buy the seeds from these altered plants. Thus all the problems are hoisted on them. Small farmers try not to use pesticides. But sometimes it is their only means to get a crop at all. Just look at what we have done to corn. When you look at the cobs found in old Native American sites, they are tiny. But there is no mold on them. And little critters didn't find them to be a banquet. Now the bigger the better. When we go shopping, we always pick out the big ones. More for our money. I would rather have a small tender one. They are sweeter and have more corn milk in them. That is where all the flavor is.

Thanks, Addie. Our farm is for our consumption only, but it is a farm and requires a lot of work. We don't use pesticides. We had to irrigate this year and still lost stuff. The rain (now we get rain!) is making it hard to get the winter wheat planted to restore the nutrient balance in the field that we left fallow this summer. We'd like to plant sunflowers in it next summer (the deer don't bother sunflowers--and we can supplement the hens' feed with sunflowers). But, it would help if we could get the winter wheat planted because we had corn in that field 2 summers ago. We are investigating growing quinoa...it might grow here if we don't have too many days over 90 degrees in the summer. My brother and I disagree on this self-sustainability thing--"it's easier to go to the store and buy your groceries." Easier, yes, but we don't just grow what we eat during the summer, we feed the dogs ground veggies and feed ourselves.

 

[Skittle68]

We are part of this world. And as such, we interact with all other living, and non-living things. If we eat anything, we are killing some type of life form, be it plant or animal. That's just the way it is. It is our responsibility to use the resources available to us in such a way that we improve that resource, so that it is available to our posterity.

Intensive grazing is one way to do that. This livestock technique is patterned after Africa's great savannahs, that support the richest diversity of grazing, and predator life per acre, on the planet.

With this type of farming, different grazing animals utilize the same pastures throughout the grazing season, with each animal grazing in its own pasture and eating something different from that pasture. The animals are rotated at a regular schedule, each eating its own type of plants, or insects, or rodents, which is different for each critter. In this way, weeds and insects are controlled, the soil is fertilized by each animal's unique droppings, and the none of the pastures are overgrazed. There are fewer individual types of animals per acre, but as many total animals. Typically, cattle, pigs, chickens, and goats or sheep are the animals that share the pastures.

Where this type of grazing is utilized, the animals are healthier, better tasting, and contribute to the quality of, rather than using up the available postural resources. And because they are healthier, they need less anitbiotics, and such. Only minerals need to be added to teh soil from time to time. It's a sustainable farming method that is being utilized more and more. And that's a good thing.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

+1

I've been thinking along these lines for awhile, but this is much more organized and well written than what would have come from my general ideas. I used to work at a group home that had cattle, an we rotated them between 4 pastures. All you had to do was open the gate, and they went through. That's where all the fresh grass was!! So it required almost no effort, we didn't have to buy hay or grain, so there were no fossil fuels being used, and no 3rd party being paid for harvesting. They were not standing in a foot of their own waste like at factory farms, so they were naturally healthy, and there was no run off going into local rivers and streams. Doesn't this just sound better??

 

[CWS4322]

+1

I've been thinking along these lines for awhile, but this is much more organized and well written than what would have come from my general ideas. I used to work at a group home that had cattle, an we rotated them between 4 pastures. All you had to do was open the gate, and they went through. That's where all the fresh grass was!! So it required almost no effort, we didn't have to buy hay or grain, so there were no fossil fuels being used, and no 3rd party being paid for harvesting. They were not standing in a foot of their own waste like at factory farms, so they were naturally healthy, and there was no run off going into local rivers and streams. Doesn't this just sound better??

+1

In the US, people spend approx. 6% of their income on food; in Canada it is 9%. In other countries it is as high as 46%. Think about it.

 

[Skittle68]

+1

In the US, people spend approx. 6% of their income on food; in Canada it is 9%. In other countries it is as high as 46%. Think about it.

That statistic isn't completely accurate, because money is taken out of our income and used to subsidize farms, so we think food is cheap, but it actually isn't. That number is probably quite a bit higher if you take into account our tax money that is spent on subsidies.

 

[Addie]

I don't care what they are paying our farmers for subsidies. Every cent is well worth it. It all comes back to me with high quality food.

Having lived on a farm as a kid, I know how hard farmers work. Last night we had a frost warning. That meant those on our South Shore and the Cape, had to leave the warmth of their homes and get the cranberry bogs flooded in order to save them. The whole family was probably there until way past midnight. And then they got up this morning and went off to school or work. When they get home tonight, they still have farm work to do. So next Thanksgiving, you will have cranberry sauce on your table.

Most small farmers have a second job other than the farm. And if the wife doesn't work outside the home, she is probably doing the outside chores that her husband does when he is home. And I am not referring to mowing the lawn. So in a sense, she has two jobs also. Farm chores and taking care of her family and home.

 

[CWS4322]

That statistic isn't completely accurate, because money is taken out of our income and used to subsidize farms, so we think food is cheap, but it actually isn't. That number is probably quite a bit higher if you take into account our tax money that is spent on subsidies.

The US has some of the lowest personal income tax rates in the Western world. The taxes taken off a paycheck that goes to subsidize farming is small a portion of where one's tax dollar is spent. For example, in Ontario, 46% of every dollar one pays for taxes goes for health care. That doesn't leave a lot for all the other programs--security, infrastructure, disability subsidies, etc. The farmers in Ontario are receiving donated hay from western provinces. This hay is being shipped east thanks to donations from the public, not as a "government" subsidized program.

Skittle--did you get the little cookbook I sent your way?

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

That statistic isn't completely accurate, because money is taken out of our income and used to subsidize farms, so we think food is cheap, but it actually isn't. That number is probably quite a bit higher if you take into account our tax money that is spent on subsidies.

There's also the fact that if you make $4,000 a year you'll spend a huge amount of your income on food, compared to people who make $50,000 or $100,000 a year (even though they eat more expensive food). That explain's a large part of the third world vs. first world percent of income spent on food statistic.

 

[Skittle68]

Addie, I completely agree that they deserve every penny. However, I do wish they would put more of the money into fruits and veggies instead of corn, meat, and dairy.

CWS- yes I got the cookbook! Thank you!! I've looked through it, and I can't wait to try a few of the recipes when I get time.

And Greg, that is a good point too! I'm sure I spend a huge percentage of my money of food compared to someone in the top 1%. The register at the grocery store makes me cringe every time.

 

[Addie]

Addie, I completely agree that they deserve every penny. However, I do wish they would put more of the money into fruits and veggies instead of corn, meat, and dairy.

CWS- yes I got the cookbook! Thank you!! I've looked through it, and I can't wait to try a few of the recipes when I get time.

And Greg, that is a good point too! I'm sure I spend a huge percentage of my money of food compared to someone in the top 1%. The register at the grocery store makes me cringe every time.

Corn is used in so many ways, Fuel, animal feed, etc. Let the companies that depend on the corn for their business be the ones to subsidize the corn farmer. Vermont at one time had more cows than people. Now those farms no longer have barns on the land. Only condos for folks who want to experience the country life. Next it was Wisconsin and the same thing happened. Now it is California.