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Valley
Livestock Marketing Cooperative
Production Principles
| We are dedicated
to raising primarily grass-fed and forage-fed animals on our
farms. Our primary interest is to grow a healthy product that
the consumer will find to be a superb eating experience. |
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Our meats have more in common with fine wines than with the industrialized meats found in supermarkets. Our meats will differ from year to year, from season to season and from farm to farm, as each farm has different soils, different genetics and slightly different production styles.
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Our production principles provide that we do not use growth
hormones, chemicals or drugs (except for therapeutic purposes, and
then under strict guidelines); we emphasize the holistic ideas of
a forage based agriculture. We avoid bio-engineered feeds. All our
feeds come from our own farms or from farms that our members know
and trust. We prohibit the use of feeds purchased from a commercial
feed source. We encourage pasture rotation and caring for the soils.
We treat our animals as individuals and respond to their needs for
water, salt and shelter; we practice good animal husbandry. We stipulate
that our pigs and chickens spend some of their time on pasture. Pastured
chickens are raised on pasture and are moved every day. Animals marketed
as grass fed have been finished on grass or green forages (haylege). |
During the winter months our animals are fed hay and some hay sileage. While this is not grass in the sense that it is fresh greens, it is not grain. We are not sure what the effect of forage only is on the omega three factor or the CLA. We await the results of test data. Until mid-summer, our beef will not have the benefits of being finished on grass, although they will not be finished on grain.
| The USDA is attempting to promulgate a rule defining grass fed beef. The USDA's rule is that the beef have grass as 80% of its diet, which means that it could be finished on grain in a feedlot. The USDA answers to the beef industry, not the grass farmers. You should write the USDA and demand that either they promulgate no rule at all or if they do, the rule should allow hay and forages only and grain only for training and behavior purposes and never more than one pound per animal per day for not more than 30 days. |  |
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