Livestock deserve to live a free life on the pastures until their culling. From birth to harvest, humane livestock treatment serves as a guiding principle to pasture grazing ranchers. Confined Animal Feeding Operations force their animals into awful and inhumane conditions that cause them pain and suffering throughout their lifetime. Our ranchers raise their livestock in humane ways, on grass filled pastures for their lifetime.
Pasture grazing is not only the humane way to raise livestock, but a key element to regenerative agriculture.
Humane livestock standards go beyond an animal receiving adequate feed and water and veterinary treatment of injuries and illnesses.
Humane livestock standards include:
• Living without fear of predator aggression
• A natural diet free of animal byproducts
• Ability to express natural behaviors
The principles of regenerative agriculture adhere to humane farming standards. When the land is healthy, so are the cows. With regenerative grazing, cattle graze in a natural way. They live outdoors and are not confined in commercial feedlots. The highest humane standards for cattle include a lifetime diet of pasture and grass forage, as per the Food Animal Concerns Trust.
Animals raised humanely are less likely to experience illness or lameness. Cows have fewer reproductive issues. Less stress, paired with the ability to forage in the way that comes naturally to them, contributes to more nutritious meat.
One hundred percent grass fed beef cattle are raised according to strict humane livestock standards. They do not receive growth hormones to speed development. Nor do they receive antibiotics for any reason other than treatment of disease.
Humane livestock treatment also means humane forms of weaning calves from their mothers. Farmers and ranchers practicing regenerative agriculture want to reduce the stress of weaning as much as possible. Calves are generally weaned from their mothers at the age of six months, but the condition of the cow and calf should determine the timing. Longer weaning times are encouraged.
Cows and calves should be kept with other cows and calves, not isolated. Beef cattle calves should not have their ears tagged at birth, which interrupts the bonding between mother and calf. Those practicing conventional methods of raising cattle argue that early ear tagging helps identify cattle, but cows know which calves are theirs. While ear tagging is necessary, it can wait until the calves are older.
When weaning takes place in traditional pens, the bawling between the cows and calves can go on for days. Humane fence line weaning, however, makes the process much easier.
In fence line weaning, cows and calves are together in pastures so that the younger animals can figure out where water sources are located. After a day or so, the cows are sorted and put in separate but adjacent pastures. The cows and calves can see each other through the fence, but calves cannot nurse. The calves have access to grass, like the cows, and both soon begin grazing. They can come back to “check on” each other through the fence. Within a few days, cows are no longer coming back to check on the calves, and the calves adjust well on their own. Those days of bawling are minimized. Calves weaned this way gain more weight and are less likely to experience illness.
What is grass fed beef and why is it more expensive than grain fed beef? One reason is that providing cattle with access to forage rather than feeding grain means it takes longer for the animal to reach its desired weight. Grass fed beef is leaner and healthier than grain fed beef. It contains more powerful antioxidants and has a greater nutritional value.
Visit our online store today and shop our wide range of 100 percent grass fed beef products for yourself. Not only will you receive delicious, holistically raised meat, but you will also support local, independent farmer-owned agriculture when ordering from Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed.
