Happy Hobo Grass Fed Beef Jerky

Our friends and grass-fed beef jerky meat suppliers Dave Dutton and Sonia Sola, of Nectar Hills Farm, were recently featured in a New York Times story, In New York, Local Meat Is Easier to Find.

One of the new meat sellers is Dave Dutton, who, with his life and business partner, Sonia Sola, left a life in Manhattan to start raising the shaggy cattle called Scottish Highland on a farm in Schenevus, N.Y., near Cooperstown.

They like the breed because it’s hardy enough to survive on meager hay and because the animals’ long coats mean less fat, which means leaner meat, which some people prefer.

They plan to slaughter about 20 this year, some of which they’ll sell at a Greenmarket near Columbia University in Manhattan on Thursdays. Even the ground beef, at $8 a pound, sells fast.

“The people who are aware of what they’re eating are realizing things are getting pretty scary out there,” Mr. Dutton said.

It’s a good article, even though the reporter didn’t visit the farm, just the photographer. The reporter didn’t mention the farm’s name, either, which would be helpful for struggling farmers. Enterprising web searchers will easily be able to find Dave and Sonia’s site by searching for their names, but it sure would have helped to mention the farm.

Of course, we send Nectar Hills Farm grass-fed beef all over the world, making it decidedly not local. But we do take the water out, which is what beef jerky is, and our product is very light. We figure the benefits of opening new markets for this beef (which is better for you, the animals, and the planet) outweigh the cost of shipping the lightweight product to people who want to support us.

Highlander cattle eating and staying warm in hay

The Cornucopia Institute has proposed a three-tiered labeling system for meat from ruminants.

- “Organic – Grain-Finished” for producers who need an exemption from obtaining at least 30% dry matter intake from pasture.

- “Organic – Pasture/Grain-Finished” for those who maintain their animals on pasture, meet the 30% dry matter intake from pasture, and feed small amounts of supplemental grain on pasture.

- “Organic – 100% Grass-Fed” for those whose animals are 100% grass-fed according to the AMS standard outlined below.

Currently, we’re using only Nectar Hills Farm grass-fed beef. They raise are Highlander Cattle, which are fed hay and some sprouted grain during the winter. The amount of grain is very small, so we consider these cows to fit in the third tier, according to the AMS (Agriculture Marketing Service) standard as stated:

- 100% Grass Fed/Grass Finished
o Producers provide unlimited access to pasture and feed absolutely no grain over the lifetime of the animal. When pasture grazing is not possible, as in winter, animals are given forage-based feed such as hay. It commonly takes 2-3 years to raise a grass-fed beef cow to slaughter weight, although some 100% grass-fed producers, focusing on appropriate genetics for grazing and superior forage quality, market animals as young as 18 months of age.
Proposed New Label: “Organic – 100% Grass-Fed”

Aside from the occasional sprouted grain feed, this third category best describes the Nectar Hills Farm beef that we use to make our grass-fed beef jerky. The second category is much further from what actually happens to the animals we use…

- Grass Fed/Finished on Pasture with Supplemental Grain Feeding
o Beef cattle are raised on pasture throughout the animal’s lifespan, including the finishing period, except when pasture grazing is not possible, such as in winter. During the finishing period (the months leading up to slaughter), producers maintain their animals on pasture but bring feed, containing grain, to feeders on pasture. Animals therefore do consume grain, and could not be considered “100% grass-fed,” but they are never kept in a feedlot. The percentage of their diet that consists of grain is commonly low, and the finishing period is generally much shorter than 120 days.
Proposed New Label: “Organic – Pasture/Grain Finished”

This “grain finished” label is close, up to the finishing period, which the Nectar Hills Farm cattle do not go through. They live on the farm until the day they are shipped to a small, local slaughter house, where they are humanely treated until the very end. They never spend a minute in a feedlot and they do not undergo a grain finishing period at all.

I would like to see the Cornucopia institute include sprouted grain in one of these categories, or allow an exception for it in the two that best fit here. Considering that the sprouted grains are much more nutritious and cause less problems with the ruminant stomachs, perhaps the sprouted grains and hay feed during the winter simply qualifies as 100% grass-fed. Either way, seems our meat is in pretty good company.