Spring Happenings

I’m writing this as CJ and I drive to the Dayton area to pick up 8 head of cattle. Today is gorgeous, so it’s a little heartbreaking to be in the truck most of the day. But we are eager to expand our herd, as it has been difficult to keep up with beef demand lately. Hang in with us, we’re catching up.

CJ is a master of finding good deals, so when he found this group of grass-fed cattle on Facebook marketplace for a decent price, we jumped on it. Good cattle prices are hard to come by these days since the cattle market is at an all-time high (the U.S. cattle inventory is the smallest it’s been since 1951.) After we pick these stock up, we’ll have a herd of 48 head — the most cattle we’ve had yet!

“Washy grass”

This spring has been a rainy one! We’re not complaining, as we’re still haunted by last year’s drought. But it requires us to manage the livestock differently. We have to speed up our rotation and give the cattle larger paddocks to avoid “pugging” — when cattle hooves sink into mud and cause soil compaction and decreased pasture productivity.

Also — we’ve noticed the cattle haven’t been gaining weight like they should this time of year. This is due to “washy grass,” a new term to us first-generation farmers. The heavy rainfall means the grasses are lush and full of water, so they have a lot of energy but little protein. This can pose challenges for cattle putting on weight. Imagine eating the same pounds of food every day, except half of those pounds are water. You’d probably lose weight too. To mitigate this, we put out hay to help the livestock balance their diet with dry forage.

Silvopasture guests

We recently had guests to the farm who wanted to learn about our silvopasture plantings (trees in pasture). The NRCS Grazing Specialist for Ohio, Megan Burgess, and a few folks from Greenacres Foundation came out for a tour and we had a great time showing them around. They checked out our 10-acre mixed species planting and 7-acre hazelnut planting to hear about how we designed these systems to provide shade for livestock and increase feed with tree crops. We felt humbled to be in this educator role, when many times as beginning farmers, we feel like novices. We hope to see more silvopasture implemented across the state — as it is a practice that increases farm revenue, improves animal welfare, and mitigates climate change.

Mouthwatering pork chops

So many of you have told us how delicious our pork chops taste. Thank you! We must admit, we’re pretty proud of the quality of our pastured, non-GMO pork. Seems like our farming practices shine the most in the chops, given their rich flavor, color, marbling and juiciness. Pick up some chops through our online store! And try out our recipe for perfectly cooked pork chops…

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Thaw chops, letting them get to room temperature.
3. Slice into the fat cap every 1 inch to prevent chops from curling when cooked.
4. Season liberally with salt & pepper.
5. Get pan hot with a high-heat oil or fat - we like to use lard or tallow. Other options include grapeseed oil or avocado oil.
6. Once the pan is very hot, sear fat cap first and then sear both sides until it has a good crust (2 min max per side).
7. Reduce heat to low, add a pad of butter and herbs if you like. Wait for butter to melt, then baste the chops for a minute per side.
8. Put chops in oven until a meat thermometer shows an internal temperature of 135 F.
9. Let rest for 5 minutes. Chops will continue to cook on the counter, increasing by 5-10 degrees.