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National Geographic magazine has been devoting a lot of space to sustainable agriculture. So as you’d suspect, we’ve been paying attention.

Recently, they published an article entitled One Third of Food Is Lost or Wasted: What Can Be Done indicating that 30 percent of the food we grow is never eaten, and we can do better.

This made us think of beef. Do you ever wonder just how much of a cow is wasted when beef is produced?

Well, a 1,500-pound market steer yields approximately 500 lbs. of beef. The other 1,000 lbs. are recovered and used. So nothing, read, nothing goes to waste. Shoot, even leftover feed in the stomachs of slaughtered cows gets returned to the land as fertilizer!

Though we can’t eat all of it, there are edible as well as inedible and medicinal by-products from the beef production process.

Edible By-Products

We’ll start with edible. Though many of us don’t eat them, liver, kidneys, brains, tripe, sweetbreads, and tongue are nutritious and enjoyed by many cultures. Other edible by-products include fats for margarine, shortening, and even chewing gum. And many of you know that Gelatin from bones and skins is used in marshmallows, ice cream, canned meats, and gelatin desserts. Even intestines are used as casings for sausages.

Inedible By-Products

Inedible by-products include the hide, which is used for leather, of course, but also felt, ointments, binders for plaster and asphalt, and, of course, footballs. Lots of other oils and lubricants contained in soaps, lipsticks and skin creams are a result of these by-products too. As are buttons, bone china, piano keys, and more from bones, horns, and hooves.

And last, but not least, over 100 medicinal drugs are produced from cattle, including insulin, and most of the material used for surgical sutures is derived from intestines.

Sustainability

So you see, when we write about sustainable agriculture, the production of beef is one of the most sustainable forms there is. Surely there is more to consider, such as how we take care of and feed these amazing animals – but that’s for another time – but you can rest assured as you enjoy that juicy burger or tasty steak that the answer to where the beef is, is literally, everywhere!

Any questions? Just ask!

Data Source: Many Uses of Beef Products

Prime beef from Southeast Iowa to your plate via the web

Couple caters to a growing number of consumers wanting high quality beef free of potentially harmful additives

By Bob Hansen – For the Hawkeye

Donnellson’s Leslie Hulsebus had a growing concern about the quality of food she was purchasing from her local supermarket for her three children and husband. She was also aware that the beef finding its way to the family dinner table was produced in less than a humane manner. But unlike many others that share the same worries, Hulsebus was in a position to do something about her concerns.

The 1996 graduate of Iowa State University, with a degree in Animal Science, was able to combine her farm background and 500 acres of pasture land in Lee County into a cattle operation now producing quality beef sold directly from the producer to the ultimate consumer.

Hulsebus is a native of Muscatine and grew up on a farm that always had cows but after college she had hopes of working with horses. But she quickly realized the financial opportunities of treating horses were not promising and cattle could be more lucrative.  Her initial effort was a cow-calf operation but has since expanded into direct production of beef.

Hulsebus’s operation now has 150 Simmental “momma” cows and each year she moves 75 head from calving through feeding to finish.  The market cattle are processed at a Farmington locker and then Leslie begins making customer calls to move her product. She can also be reached on the Internet at heartlandfresh@windstream.com.

“It is difficult not to be enthusiastic about the operation,” Hulsebus said.  “I feel we can be price competitive with the supermarket chains because we have effectively eliminated the middle man.  We can also assure the customer, that the cattle are always treated in the best possible way. If anyone has a question about what we are doing, we welcome them to stop by and see how we operate.  We are very open.”

Hulsebus is appealing to a growing niche market of American consumers that are willing to make the extra effort to assure their food purchases are not only of the highest quality but also free of potentially harmful additives.  Many of these customers are willing to spend time to get to know the farmer who is helping them put safe, wholesome food on the kitchen table.

The Lee County beef operation produces both traditionally grain finished beef and grass-fed beef and one of the many tasks facing Hulsebus is the careful husbanding of the pasture land.

“We keep our cattle on grass as long as possible,” she explained, “because we have found that a cow is a lot more efficient in getting the most out of a field than a haying operation.”

Hulsebus offers her beef in quarters, halves or as boxed beef and customers run the gamut from individuals wanting to stock their freezer to a growing market of area restaurants

“We tailor our offerings to what the customer wants,” she said. “One of our customers has a family cancer concern and feels that grass-fed beef might be a more healthy option for them.  We also provide beef for customers making their own beef jerky.”

Hulsebus is also a fan of her grass-fed product, feeling it is more flavorful than grass and grain beef.  But she also finds a satisfaction in her cattle operation that extends beyond the dinner table and customer service.

“When I go into a pasture the cattle come running to me,” she explained.  “They know me and they know that I treat them well.  I have been around the cattle industry long enough to know that is often not the case but that is not what I want to do.  Our cattle are treated in a humane manner and I take pride in that.”

Reprinted with permission from The Hawkeye

We thought we’d share how supply and demand work on farms like ours.

You probably know we primarily raise cattle in addition to chickens, turkeys, hogs, sheep, and goats. We treat our animals well and manage their lives and environment in the most natural way possible.

Each of those animals will provide us with high-quality meat to sell to you folks, our customers. The problem is that the amount varies from one cow to the next and is also different between cows, pigs, lambs, goats, turkeys, and chickens. The main reason for this is that every animal is a little different in size and shape. For example, the average steer is going to yield about 50% of its weight in retail cuts, while the average chicken is going to give you about 70% of its weight in retail cuts.

What makes these numbers important is that, based on the number of animals we have ready for production and the orders we have from customers who purchase in bulk, we have a somewhat limited supply of meat left to sell on a piecemeal basis. For example, you might have noticed we don’t sell chicken breast. The reason is that it’s almost impossible for us to sell the rest of the chickens on a regular basis. Yeah, every now and then people want wings or thighs, but breasts account for 60% or so of all chicken sales, and well, we’re just not Frank Purdue!

To be honest, this is one of the issues we have with the food supply chain in our country, and it’s a function of our “need it right now, disposable society.”

So this leaves farms like ours at the mercy of supply and demand. Sometimes we have more rib eyes, for example, than we can sell, and other times we just don’t have enough. For our smaller populations, like turkeys, for example, we sell out pretty consistently regardless of our sales forecasts. Clearly, if we run out of meat, you can be affected.

But the other way this can affect you is if you order a cut that we don’t have packaged, but may be in the production queue. In that case, it is going to take longer to deliver the meat you want at the quality level you expect.

There is a reason we don’t provide firm delivery dates on orders. We need to determine if we have the meat you ordered in stock, in the deep freeze at the production facility, or if it is already part of the production process. If it is the former, we deliver as quickly as we can. If it is the latter, it usually takes longer. These production issues and our ability to deliver a number of orders concurrently – which is one of the only ways we can provide free delivery – are why you’ll find it sometimes takes longer to receive your order than either of us would like.

We hope this helped you to understand the process a little better and that you agree that quality trumps immediacy. And if you don’t, you know where to reach us. 😉

There is, in my opinion, a widespread misconception in the general public that mistreatment of animals is a commonplace occurrence.  Although we would argue that our farm is the best place to raise an animal anywhere, period, it’s about time someone set the record straight on this whole subject.

First, let’s clear something up.  As I see it, the proper terminology to be used in discussing this topic is animal well-being, and not animal welfare.  Anyone truly concerned about the subject and truly concerned about animals should become familiar with this fact. Well-being is something that we as producers manage every single day on our farms for our animals. Welfare is something promoted by government as an answer to society’s problems at large. I view these as two totally different concepts. Now that we have that corrected, let’s talk about the facts and dispel a few of the myths perpetuated by society and its henchmen, the popular media. (Don’t you wish they would report on positive stories at least in the same proportion that they report on negative stories?)

First, from an emotional perspective and as a starting point to dispel myths, promoting and living out good animal well-being practices is simply the right thing to do. No person, no matter how much money they have, how big their operation is, or whom it is that they know, could ever look me in the eye and convince me otherwise.  How is it possible that one could be charged with the care of another living creature and not want to treat it in a manner that felt like the right thing to do? As a general rule, people want to do the right thing. This situation is no different, and I would argue that farmers generally live this desire quite sincerely. This seems like common sense, but alas, common sense in a society so far removed from the land is not so common.

On top of being the right thing to do, there are several practical reasons that good animal well-being is the preferred path for animal agriculture. First, it is very clear, and there are thousands of scientific studies that prove this, that good animal well-being results in the healthiest livestock. Healthy livestock result in animals that don’t get sick. When animals don’t get sick they do not need to be treated with antibiotics, which drives the cost to produce the product higher. Secondly, the resulting healthier livestock tend to gain weight faster and generally perform better than sick livestock. Again, a clear profit signal to practice good animal well-being. Thirdly, well-cared-for animals produce a much, much better eating experience than animals that were abused or mistreated. Farmers get paid more for better-tasting meat.  Dark cutting beef, tough chicken breasts, watery pork, bruises, broken wings, and broken legs are all a direct result of poor animal handling and poor well-being, and as a result, create a bad eating experience. In contrast, tenderness, juiciness, and great color are all a result of being good stewards of our animals.

No doubt, as in every industry, there are bad apples in the ranks of farmers and ranchers. One needs to look no further than General Motors, AIG, Enron, and the federal government to see stark examples of bad seeds. This will always be true no matter the industry. While most folks are good, there will always be bad people and not even the all-knowing government can change that. Thankfully, like in most industries, most farmers and ranchers are good people. In the case of animal well-being, most folks are gonna do well by their animals, as it is the right thing to do. And if that’s not enough reason, there is always this little thing called profit, which is always, let me repeat, always better, when we practice good animal well-being.

At the end of the day, the best way to learn is to do it yourself. Here at our farm, you can come see good animal well-being for yourself. Don’t assume it was done right.

Leslie and Mark Hulsebus

Grace and I were out “riding line” on the four-wheeler last weekend (that’s cowboy talk for checking fences), and we saw something astounding. We must have had 20 rabbits jump out in front of us over the course of the trip. It seemed like every hundred feet, one more rabbit jumped out.  They were like water running through a sieve. We’ve also seen several pheasants recently, along with the innumerable wild turkeys and deer.  Just last night, we were coming home from a ball game, and when we drove up the lane, a dozen deer ran out of the yard and into the soybean field and quietly kept eating on the cover crop of radishes we’ve established there.  We were intruding into their world, not the other way around.

I came across this great blog from Chef Michael Formicella, the president and co-owner of Chella Foods, where he directs food product development.

In the blog, Chef Formicella talks about his experience in educating himself about things like biomass use, feed efficiencies, and how greenhouse gas emissions can affect livestock systems. In short, a lot of what we at Heartland have to think about on a day-to-day basis.

When the world of the chef has come full circle and realized the importance of livestock to not only the center of the plate but also as a solution to some of our biggest environmental challenges (such as desertification and its symptoms like water infiltration and poor use of solar energy food security, livelihoods and environmental sustainability), we should take note.

Just like we talk about regularly, food is all about choice. When you wake up and allow yourself to truly understand the facts rather than, say, what the media would lead you to believe in their sensationalized reporting, you give yourself the freedom of knowledge. Nowhere is that more important than in choosing what to eat. The work that this chef did for himself to better understand the critical role that livestock will play in addressing the challenges that exist in the world we live in is a great example. It’s another example of getting to know your farmer.

One of the most important things we do here on the farm is educate. School-aged children, teenagers, adults — it doesn’t matter. Everyone has good questions on their mind, and unfortunately, because of time, fear, or lack of understanding, they sometimes don’t get asked.

This chef had the time to go find answers on some interesting and important topics on his own. If you don’t, please call, email, or visit us.

Most people look at Heartland and see a rural farm, meant for raising animals and growing crops. When my family looks at Heartland, we see our home.

Contrary to what you might think, those animals and crops are not the most important thing we are raising here on the farm. The most important thing we raise here is our children. We have three of them, ranging in ages.

A farm is an interesting environment to raise a child in. If you think about it, farming is all about hard work, dedication and discipline. Learning about life comes early, hard, fast, and ruthlessly when you grow up on a farm.

For our youngsters, the reality that someone has to raise the food you put in your mouths is as second-hand as flipping on a light switch. Our kids learn about things like death and birth before they can really even talk. They know better than some adults that all things, including plants and animals, are born or germinate, and that all things eventually die; this is a reality of our lives. Some people call rural kids “sheltered,” but I think growing up in this environment gives these kids an advantage over others. Our kids get an early introduction to the fact that you don’t always get what you want, that life is precious, and that there are many, many, many more important things in this world than video games, sports, and clothes.

We at the farm, and in agriculture in general, value hard work, honesty, integrity, and common sense way more than fashion, style, and the latest electronic gadgets. And history tends to agree with us that these personal characteristics tend to create the great human beings. They are, in fact, timeless, and we feel honored to be able to teach at least three children their importance. Wanna learn more about agriculture and the life lessons it teaches?

New York Times columnist Mark Bittman wrote about the role of small holder, sustainable agriculture in feeding a growing world. While I don’t necessarily agree with all that Bittman periodically writes about, including how he seems to broadly class all meat as “bad,” he makes some great points about overcoming world hunger in this piece.

Bittman writes, “This isn’t about ‘organic’ versus ‘modern.’ It’s about supporting the system in which small producers make decisions based on their knowledge and experience of their farms in the landscape, as opposed to buying standardized technological fixes ‘in a bag.’”

I agree with this, and in many ways, it’s what we practice every day here at the family farm. We’re not perfect at it, but we make good, continual progress.

Through this article, however, the author seems to present the “answers” for his readers. His advice includes answers about what food is best for your family and how that food “should be produced.”

Now, you wouldn’t ask a lawyer for medical advice, so why would you listen to a newspaper columnist about farming and what food is best for your family?

The challenge that I would give to the American consumer is to decide for yourself which model is best for feeding you and your family. Don’t let some self-proclaimed “expert” from anywhere tell you what to eat and from where. Get out of the house, connect with your local family farmers, wherever you are in the country, and ask questions about how your food is raised. That includes great beef and pork from pasture-based, grass-fed livestock (which, by the way, is possibly the only way that we can truly reverse desertification across the globe).

For those of you who are interested, take a look at this video from Allen Savory, the founder of Holistic Management. In a recent TED talk, he discussed using cattle to quickly and positively impact climate change.

I recently read an article from a popular newspaper purporting to understand modern agriculture and how crops and livestock are raised in this country. It was interesting in that the author, admittedly having only been to a farm a couple of times, seemed to claim complete mastery of animal agriculture and was quite certain that nearly all animals are raised in the same manner. The article went on to claim that there was only one right way to produce meat, milk, and eggs. But that “right way” happened to be their way, and it isn’t the only way.

I find it curious that with 1-in-8 Americans going to bed hungry every night, the elitists in our society, and especially in the media, have the nerve to tell people they shouldn’t eat this or that or something else because it was not raised to some arbitrary standard that someone in some office deemed “acceptable.”

The reality is that food is all about choice, not only for Americans, but for everyone on the face of this earth. Who are we to tell, or even shame, others here and abroad into eating certain foods because of how they were raised?

Have you ever been hungry? Have you ever eaten rice every day of your life, and then, because your family began earning more money, you could now eat chicken, or pork, or beef? Should we be able to tell the hungry and poor what they can eat? I don’t think so.

Folks, this elitist attitude that some people across the country (and the world) have is the equivalent of telling someone they can’t travel to visit relatives over the holiday because it uses too much fuel. I’m sure there are more and better examples out there, but you get my drift.

Here at the family farm, we promote choice in the food chain. We provide great alternatives to folks who are concerned about what they eat, like grass-fed beef and pork, and are brave enough to make their own choices for their family, rather than trust those in the media who are self-proclaimed experts.