New Beginnings In Grass-Fed Beef

"There is always the possibility of a new third act." - Arthur Miller

Thanks for joining me on my cattle-raising journey! In these newsletters, I hope to share slices of life as a beginning farmer — beef updates, photos, thoughts on our food system, poetry, failures and successes.

But first…my grandma. Nana passed away in May and she has been in my mind and heart for the past many months. She surfaces in my thoughts at random, when sorting through her recipe box for her classic mulligatawny soup, when looking for a book of poetry and finding her well-loved copy, or when writing about my new venture into farming.

In middle school, I interviewed Nana and wrote a play about her life story for an assignment. She framed her life with the quote by Arthur Miller above. And while I am much younger than her at the time, with many acts hopefully ahead of me, I find myself in a new act.

Having moved back to Ohio after seven years in Minnesota, I am now in a completely different sphere — from urban to rural, from living 13 hours away from family to right across the driveway, from teaching children to working with experienced farmers. While in MN, I spent a lot of time working on urban and rural farms, as well as teaching in the schools as a food educator. But the prospect of moving home and raising food on my family’s land in Athens was the first time I’d considered spearheading my own farming endeavors.

In March I took the plunge and purchased eight Lowline Angus calves. Given my Creative Writing major, it may come as a surprise that I’ve decided to start with cattle. It’s true that I have a more extensive vocabulary in the mechanics of poetry than in the mechanics of fencing. But I’ve begun with cattle for two reasons: 1) my family has raised small herds of cattle before and 2) I believe in the regenerative impacts of properly-managed herd animals. I am privileged to be a beginning farmer with access to land and pieces of startup infrastructure. My concern for the changing climate motivates me to do something physical to combat global warming with visible results on the land.

And I have learned SO much over the past nine months! I am googling terms I never knew I’d need to know. I am chasing escape artist calves that walk through fencing like it’s butter. I am chopping frozen water in the livestock tanks on cold mornings. And I am inching my way towards the distant vision I have for this piece of land, for the revitalization of family farms, and for a future in which we bring our society into equilibrium with the natural world.

We have all found ourselves in new spheres as COVID-19 changed our collective sense of normal. So I’m holding onto Arthur Miller’s ever-present possibility of a new third act. I hope you can find some solace in the unwritten future too.