Bramblings: Where’s the beef? pork? chicken?

By BECKY NELSON
For all but a couple spans of about 10 years in my memory we have had livestock at the farm. The first decade was when my brother — the last of the kids living on the farm — decided he needed to try something different and enlisted in the Navy and I decided I wanted nothing to do with the farm life any longer. I graduated from college, got married and headed off into post-college employment in middle-management banking. My grandmother had died four years earlier and my mom and dad had moved into the old farmhouse and were trying to make ends meet.

It was too much for them to handle a herd of beef cattle, make the hay, keep the land producing and work full time jobs, too, with just two of them. Dad suffered an injury at work and things became difficult. So the cows had to go. That is when my husband and I either came to our senses or lost our minds and came back to make a go of it at the farm. We dibbled and dabbled and decided vegetables were the way to travel and did not have any cows at the farm until our daughter reached 4-H age and cows came back.

At first it was just a couple of them. We purchased registered Holstein stock and helped her learn about the animals and raised them as replacement heifers for dairy farms. She and her little brother learned to feed, clean, care for and handle the rapidly growing animals. It was nice to have cattle back at the farm. But 4-Hers lose interest or grow up to pursue different things, management decisions are made, and cows go away again for another several year stretch.

Then someone in the nation woke up a little bit. Folks started wondering where their food came from and how it was processed when expose films started cropping up about animals raised in sub-humane conditions, huge problems cropped up when bacteria in produce and meat sickened people across the nation, and folks noticed their bellies thickening after too many Shamrock Shakes and super-sized fast food fries. The locavore movement was very slow to start, but is now taking a foothold with concerned folks taking a closer look at their food sources and became interested in how things are raised and demanded leaner cuts and fewer chemical interventions in their food production.

We began purchasing local grass-fed beef for resale at our store while we continued to focus on raising vegetables. Folks started purchasing more beef, and we had the brainy idea that we ought to get back into the cow business a couple of years ago. It is not easy to raise livestock. It is a big endeavor when you consider the amount of grass it takes in a pasture to raise a beef animal to proper size to become a t-bone steak. Or the amount of clean and safe water he will drink. Or the health problems that might crop up. Or the short summers and need to make hay for the critter to eat for about nine months a year because our summers are so darn short. Or the cost of trucking to the processing facility, cost of processing and packaging, then the cost of marketing and managing and stocking and selling the package of hamburg. Or the cost of time as it takes a long time for a calf to grow to maturity after a long time in the womb of the cow.

As a result of these factors, it costs more for us little producers to bring the beef to your table, so it costs more for you to purchase it. That is a hard sticking point for many, until they watch a documentary about some of the things that can happen to your food when you don’t know where it came from, how it was raised or what the processing plant was like. That is why it’s so very, very important to support your local farmer. Pick up that package of grass or pasture-fed beef or lamb or chicken from the farmer next door or in the next town. You aren’t just cooking a healthy and fresh product on your table. You are helping your neighbor farmer keep her land intact, are preserving a little piece of history, are boosting your local economy and are supporting a big piece of the natural order of things.

Meat may be in short supply at the grocery stores for a couple of weeks during this pandemic, so you may want to stop in at your local farm stand to help support your neighbors and get some tasty protein. Next time you wonder “where’s the beef?” or “where can I get lamb?” or “do you know anywhere I can get a free range chicken?” just look to the hills and valleys and little farm stores in your backyard. Give your local meat producer a try. Your taste buds will appreciate the extra dollars. And the local farming economy will appreciate the extra dollars, too.

Becky Nelson is co-owner of Beaver Pond Farm in Newport, New Hampshire. You can contact her through the farm page on Facebook and Instagram, visit the retail store or email her at [email protected].