{"id":932,"date":"2012-06-23T15:52:13","date_gmt":"2012-06-23T19:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/?p=932"},"modified":"2012-06-25T14:20:25","modified_gmt":"2012-06-25T18:20:25","slug":"the-developing-grass-fed-beef-market-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/the-developing-grass-fed-beef-market-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The developing grass fed beef market (Part 2)…."},"content":{"rendered":"

Bill Roberts’ dissent from the old bromide perception is reality <\/em>reminded me of another:\u00a0 “Each man is entitled to his own opinions, but not his own facts”.\u00a0 It’s generally attributed to the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan but goes back a lot farther than that.<\/p>\n

And while we have some serious concerns over Bill’s article (see Part1 just below), we accept his basic fact:\u00a0\u00a0to meet the requirements of the commercial meat trade a steer must have\u00a0a hanging weight of at least 600 pounds and that requires a live weight of more than 1,000 pounds.\u00a0 That’s Bill’s major concentration right now….putting together trailer-loads of grass steers…to be sent to processors.\u00a0 To borrow the phrase of the commercial meat trade, that’s what fits “in the box”.<\/p>\n

So there’s no disputing Bill’s facts.\u00a0 Except….except….<\/p>\n

First, I am reminded of another old bromide…from boxing?….I worry that in launching into a debate with my old friend I am “punching above my weight”.\u00a0 Bill Roberts has more experience than I in every phase of both the commercial and grass fed business and if he says you’re not going to make a profit by ignoring The Box, you better pay attention.<\/p>\n

However, my own basic “fact” is that raising what “fits in the box” is what got the meat industry in trouble in the first place.\u00a0 Some years ago size and how fast you got your steers to the target weight became the predominant fact in the beef industry.\u00a0 Quality became subordinate; taste so unimportant that was not even discussed, not then, not now; not even by most of the advocates of smaller cows.\u00a0 For them, it’s all about feed efficiency.\u00a0 Whether you’re feeding grass or corn, the requirement is for the most efficient converter of feed into beef.<\/p>\n

As a\u00a0result\u00a0the commercial beef industry has produced the cheapest, most consistent product for more people in history.\u00a0 And with a taste which approximates cardboard and with side effects that can kill you.\u00a0 Is that really the model the grass fed farmer wants to follow?<\/p>\n

And do we really want\u00a0commercial processors—even those as good and as ethical as Bill—telling us how big\u00a0to raise our cows?\u00a0 And, inevitably, telling us what we’ll be paid for those cows?\u00a0 In short, do we really want to see grass fed beef turned into a commodity like the rest of the food industry?\u00a0 That, I fear, will make us just one more cog in the machine and, don’t kid yourself, that machine will adulterate our product as it has done all others.<\/p>\n

Those big producers aren’t buying up all the organic labels they can find because they believe in healthy food.\u00a0 It’s because they don’t want the indictment staring them in the face at the supermarket and, more important, in the blogosphere.\u00a0 And, in my opinion, once they possess our credibility, they know exactly how to cut corners to get around oversight and produce what’s beneath those labels for less.<\/p>\n

Healthy food takes time and that increases costs and reduces profit.\u00a0 Healthy food requires transparency and accountability.\u00a0 Even Bill will admit that the grass fed steak you buy at the supermarket is never going to be from the same cow as\u00a0the one right next to it in the display case.\u00a0 No label won’t tell you that.<\/p>\n

Just a week ago, one of our neighbors\u00a0said he had bought some grass fed burger (according to the label) at Wegman’s, an upscale\u00a0prominent food chain in the east that’s reputation is based on purveying healthy products.\u00a0 The feel and the taste of the burger was so bad he had to spit it out!<\/p>\n

There is no one he can really complain to—certainly not the farmer—and no way he can know whether the next package of burger he buys will be any better or worse.\u00a0 Do you think the Wegman’s store manager cooked up some of that burger before he sold it?\u00a0 At Thistle Hill, we do; with every animal.\u00a0\u00a0At Wegman’s, it wouldn’t make any difference; their burger is\u00a0a composition of not only many animals, but almost certainly many herds.<\/p>\n

So what our neighbor did was buy a full half a steer from us.\u00a0 Probably only\u00a0250 pounds instead of 300, but he knew where it came from and he knew who to call if he was unhappy.<\/p>\n

And believe it or not, we worry over every package of meat we sell and whether our neighbors will be happy\u00a0with it.\u00a0 Much easier to ship a bunch of steers and not worry about them ever again.<\/p>\n

But that’s not why we’re raising cows and not why we chose Devon.\u00a0 Like most farmers in the grass fed movement, we believe in food that is healthy, produced locally, at a decent price and a benefit to the families who consume it.\u00a0 And we believe Devon beef tastes better.<\/p>\n

It’s tilting at windmills, I suppose, but no more than those Devon breeders trying to boost the size of their bulls for the elusive western cattle rancher.\u00a0 It can’t be done, not without “help” in the form of crossing with another breed\u00a0or with some miracle supplements.\u00a0 And then you wind up with the same slab-sided, tasteless monstrosities that eventually can’t be finished on grass but need a lot of grain (and hormones and anti-biotics)\u00a0to make it to the slaughterhouse.<\/p>\n

Finally, having dabbled a little in cognitive psychology, I do<\/span> think you can change reality.\u00a0 It’s hard and it requires perseverance but you can perceive of something and make it true, not only for yourself but for others.\u00a0 And my reality is a network of farms across the country making healthy food available for those neighbors who want it and are willing to pay a fair price for it.<\/p>\n

So while I wish those who are pursuing “The Box”, Godspeed, I’ll stick with my own reality…my own facts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bill Roberts’ dissent from the old bromide perception is reality reminded me of another:\u00a0 “Each man is entitled to his own opinions, but not his own facts”.\u00a0 It’s generally attributed to the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan but goes back a lot farther than that. And while we have some serious concerns over Bill’s article (see Part1 just below), we accept his basic fact:\u00a0\u00a0to meet the requirements of the commercial meat trade a steer must have\u00a0a hanging weight of at least 600 pounds and that requires a live weight of more than 1,000 pounds.\u00a0 That’s Bill’s major concentration right now….putting together trailer-loads of grass steers…to be sent to processors.\u00a0 To borrow the phrase of the commercial meat trade, that’s what fits “in the box”. So there’s no disputing Bill’s facts.\u00a0 Except….except…. First, I am reminded of another old bromide…from boxing?….I worry that in launching into a debate with my old friend I am “punching above my weight”.\u00a0 Bill Roberts has more experience than I in every phase of both the commercial and grass fed business and if he says you’re not going to make a profit by ignoring The Box, you better pay attention. However, my own basic “fact” is that raising what “fits in the box” is what got the meat industry in trouble in the first place.\u00a0 Some years ago size and how fast you got your steers to the target weight became the predominant fact in the beef industry.\u00a0 Quality became subordinate; taste so unimportant that was not even discussed, not then, not now; not even by most of the advocates of smaller cows.\u00a0 For them, it’s all about feed efficiency.\u00a0 Whether you’re feeding grass or corn, the requirement is for the most efficient converter of feed into beef. As a\u00a0result\u00a0the commercial beef industry has produced the cheapest, most consistent product for more people in history.\u00a0 And with a taste which approximates cardboard and with side effects that can kill you.\u00a0 Is that really the model the grass fed farmer wants to follow? And do we really want\u00a0commercial processors—even those as good and as ethical as Bill—telling us how big\u00a0to raise our cows?\u00a0 And, inevitably, telling us what we’ll be paid for those cows?\u00a0 In short, do we really want to see grass fed beef turned into a commodity like the rest of the food industry?\u00a0 That, I fear, will make us just one more cog in the machine and, don’t kid yourself, that machine will adulterate our product as it has done all others. Those big producers aren’t buying up all the organic labels they can find because they believe in healthy food.\u00a0 It’s because they don’t want the indictment staring them in the face at the supermarket and, more important, in the blogosphere.\u00a0 And, in my opinion, once they possess our credibility, they know exactly how to cut corners to get around oversight and produce what’s beneath those labels for less. Healthy food takes time and that increases costs and reduces profit.\u00a0 Healthy food requires transparency and accountability.\u00a0 Even Bill will admit that the grass fed steak you buy at the supermarket is never going to be from the same cow as\u00a0the one right next to it in the display case.\u00a0 No label won’t tell you that. Just a week ago, one of our neighbors\u00a0said he had bought some grass fed burger (according to the label) at Wegman’s, an upscale\u00a0prominent food chain in the east that’s reputation is based on purveying healthy products.\u00a0 The feel and the taste of the burger was so bad he had to spit it out! There is no one he can really complain to—certainly not the farmer—and no way he can know whether the next package of burger he buys will be any better or worse.\u00a0 Do you think the Wegman’s store manager cooked up some of that burger before he sold it?\u00a0 At Thistle Hill, we do; with every animal.\u00a0\u00a0At Wegman’s, it wouldn’t make any difference; their burger is\u00a0a composition of not only many animals, but almost certainly many herds. So what our neighbor did was buy a full half a steer from us.\u00a0 Probably only\u00a0250 pounds instead of 300, but he knew where it came from and he knew who to call if he was unhappy. And believe it or not, we worry over every package of meat we sell and whether our neighbors will be happy\u00a0with it.\u00a0 Much easier to ship a bunch of steers and not worry about them ever again. But that’s not why we’re raising cows and not why we chose Devon.\u00a0 Like most farmers in the grass fed movement, we believe in food that is healthy, produced locally, at a decent price and a benefit to the families who consume it.\u00a0 And we believe Devon beef tastes better. It’s tilting at windmills, I suppose, but no more than those Devon breeders trying to boost the size of their bulls for the elusive western cattle rancher.\u00a0 It can’t be done, not without “help” in the form of crossing with another breed\u00a0or with some miracle supplements.\u00a0 And then you wind up with the same slab-sided, tasteless monstrosities that eventually can’t be finished on grass but need a lot of grain (and hormones and anti-biotics)\u00a0to make it to the slaughterhouse. Finally, having dabbled a little in cognitive psychology, I do think you can change reality.\u00a0 It’s hard and it requires perseverance but you can perceive of something and make it true, not only for yourself but for others.\u00a0 And my reality is a network of farms across the country making healthy food available for those neighbors who want it and are willing to pay a fair price for it. So while I wish those who are pursuing “The Box”, Godspeed, I’ll stick with my own reality…my own facts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,22,35,8,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breeding","category-food","category-meat","category-nutrition","category-on-the-soap-box"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=932"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932\/revisions\/951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thistlehill.net\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}