I am going to make a few statements that may ruffle some feathers, but I've gotten to "know" most of you on this board well enough that I feel I'm not helping any by biting my tongue. And please understand that my perspective is coming from wanting to help fellow farmers grow healthier food, and be more profitable.
First off, if you are feeding cattle corn, you are creating a potentially unhealthy product.
If you are feeding cattle barley, you too, are creating a potentially unhealthy product.
If you are feeding grazing animals grain of any type, you are creating a potentially unhealthy product.
If you are grass finishing without testing your soils and knowing what's going on in them, you are creating a potentially unhealthy product.
This to me is simple common sense stuff. We farm our land with herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, which are all technical terms for chemicals, and yet we think that's OK???!!!??? Oh that's right, it's diluted down in water, and so very little of it ends up in the food product in the end, that it's within acceptable limits for human consumption. In other words, we know it's harmful, but we'll take it in small doses.
How many of you have heard the talk of class action lawsuits against the big tobacco companies for the financial burden their products have put on health care in the US and Canada? Everyone has heard of these right? In the very near future, some scientist is going to prove that processed foods, meat products raised with growth hormones and antibiotics, cereal/oilseed grains, fruits and vegetables chemically farmed, are all to blame for the rapid decline in human health over the past 70-80 years. That is my prediction. When that day comes, and people start realizing what's been going in their bodies, from waxy candies and licorice, to white sugar and chemically farmed meats, who will be in the proverbial crosshairs for the terrible quality of the food we eat? I hope it won't be good folks like me and all of you, who are stewards of livestock and land. I sincerely hope that they target the Monsanto's, DowAgro's, Dupont's, Colonel Sanders and his oil-soaked KFC, but then again,who ever thought that we'd see class action lawsuits against tobacco companies being blamed for millions of deaths?
Hear me loud and clear, I am not saying that corn fed beef, barley fed beef or even grass fed beef IS dangerous. I am trying to make you all stop and think about what you're saying about what you produce. And make no mistake, you are producing food. I don't give a damn if you think all you're doing is raising calves for a specific order buyer who likes them a certain way. YOU ARE PRODUCING FOOD!! So stop and take the time to think - am I doing everything I can to make my product as healthy and nutritious as it can be?
3 things come to mind:
1 - Educate yourself. All this crap I'm rambling about, I learnt from reading and asking questions. When I hear something that sounds like BS, I research it. If you think I'm full of it after reading my rant, prove me wrong. Get books and read up on it. There's thousands of them out there about healthy food production and how it relates to human health. If anyone is interested, PM me and I'll share a list of all the books I've found.
2 - Get a Brix meter/refractometer and learn how to use it. It's a little tube that you squeeze plant juice into - from corn leaves, grass, fruits, anything - and it tells you how high the sugar content is in the plant. High sugar content in the plant means that photosynthesis is functioning properly and the plant is healthy. Healthy plants only come from healthy soils, and those 2 things will assure you that your food products are nutritious.
3 - Test your soil. Whether you grow grains or grass, find out what's going on, what's lacking, and fix it. Find people who know how to balance soils or revitalize them. Don't ask the local chemical rep, you'll just get sold more of what you've been using.
Is this a pitch to make more people stop using chemicals and farm organically? HELL YES.
Is it a pitch to make more people focus on soil health? HELL YES.
Is it a pitch to make more farmers grow the most healthy and nutritious products they can, so that they can market them confidently as such, and see more profit for their work? HELL YES. I simply believe we can all grow better food, and do it with a few simple changes. The biggest change you have to make - like I did - is your mind.
