Ebersole Cattle Company

Well, we avoided the weather for an extra month.  But Mother Nature shure wolloped us this weekend.  She blew in 30 degrees colder with blizzard conditions. 

So when most people were snug inside staying toasty - most of us farmers & ranchers were outside taking care of the livestock.  Water had to be checked, calves moved out of the elements, a sick cow doctored, mares checked & hay moved again to the new wind direction.

It seems like no matter how much you plan & prepare, there will always be some work to be done in the cold weather.  No matter what, the animals come first & need to be cared for twice as much in this cold weather.

But, we wouldn't change it for the world.  I enjoy going outside in the quiet crunch of the snow & checking the sleeping calves.  I will admit that breaking ice out of waterers is NOT exactly my most favorite chore, but it has to be done.

The grass-fed beef are getting supplemented with some great alfalfa cubes & our own hay made on the ranch.

The pasured beef are getting bigger & are certainly enjoy their grains keeping them warm with fresh hay to eat & snuggle in.

If you haven't checked out our new website, stop by & take look because we have some great beef sticks! www.EbersoleBeef.com

Shanen - Mama to the Momma cows at the ECC Ranch

Wow, these couple of weeks have been crazy!!  But, this past Friday was Beef Pickup Day!  I have just tried out a new locker & went to pick up our Grass-Fed Ground Beef.  The new part is that I also had them make some of their AWARD WINNING Beef Sticks!  Remember, this is GRASS-FED, All Natural Yummy, Ebersole Beef!

These Beef Sticks are AMAZING!  Yum!  Just the perfect amount of fat.  Enough that it is Juicy, but not greasy in your mouth.  The spices are great too.  They have a great spicy flavor, but they are still mild enough that the kids are loving them.

They will make great snacks in the truck.  For those days that you are on-the-go and you need a protien punch, but don't want to go thru the Drive thru.  We will have the Sticks in our Local Harvest store very soon!  If you are interested in trying some of our Beef Sticks, just drop me an e-mail.

The Grass-Fed Ground  Beef also turned out great!!  Extra Lean and very flavorful!!  YUMMM!! I have "re-stocked" our Ground Beef Freezer & hope you take a look.

I will soon have more pictures of life on the ranch.  Just think Snow, Snow, & MORE SNOW!!!

Our new Website is also becoming more functional.   Check out EbersoleCattleCo.com

Wow! What a day! Yesterday, we pregnancy checked our cows.  What this means is that we worked them through the chute and our veterinarian checked if they were pregnant, and thier estimated due date.

WELL, the news was great!  We checked 65 of our spring calving cows and only had 4 open cows!  That is pretty good!  Especially considering that 2 of the open cows were 14 and 12 years old.

This means that Lenny, IS a great bull, he bred all of the cows possible, and made them pregnant!!  We did try to Artifically Inseminate about 45 of these cows, but the rate of conception with AI is usally about 70-80% so Lenny had the opportunity to breed lots of cows this summer.

This also means that our cows were healthy and happy, so they were ready to breed, while nursing large calves.

So, I'm glad to say that we won't have too much extra hamburger, and we will have ots of beef calves growing for next year.

If you think you might be interested in beef next summer and fall, drop me a line, and we'll save a calf to finish just for you!

You can get pictures or stories about your calf.

Hope you have a day as happy as mine is!  (I don't have to sell too many cows because they're open!!)  I'm still trying to find a little pasture to keep our old cows, and let them live out their life because they've been so productive and helpful for the Ebersole Cattle Co and our family!

Shanen - Momma to the Mama cows at the Ebersole Cattle Co

Our new website is almost done, so if you'd like take a look, but remember, I'm still working on it!!

www.ebersolecattleco.com

WOW!! Mother Nature sure hit us good this week!! It was really hard to get an accurate measure with all the wind and blowing, but I believe that we had just over 12 inches of snow on Tuesday.   Then Mother Nature had fun blowing it around and dropping temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday.

The calves that were weaned this last weekend all made it through ok.  We rolled out hay & put some soy-hull pellets in a creep feeder for them to eat.  The cows weaned pretty good too, they've all stopped bawling and moo-ing!  That makes the nights a little easier to sleep!  Because, I'm always nervous during weaning that a cow will make a hole in the fence and everyone will follow her out of the hole and run loose in our road.  (Nevermind that we couldn't get any traffic because we were snowed in!)

Beau tried to make it to town on Wednesday & was stuck two times in 3 miles.  Needless to say, he turned right around and came home!  He did make it in to town on Thursday and bought new batteries for our truck.   It was gelled with dead batteries in the driveway.

Some of our pipes froze in the house on Thursday and we had the cow-waterer freeze up too.  Our high temp on Thursday was 12.  With a 25 mile an hour wind. BRRRRR!

All the water is thawed and we now have new heat tapes installed, so we hopefull won't be repeating our experience.

But, the world IS beautiful with this fresh coat of snow, and all of the cows and calves made it through healthy and happy!

We do take two beef to be harvested on Tuesday too!

I hope you are all safe and warm!

Shanen, Mama to the Momma cows at the Ebersole Cattle Co

Yes, the cows came home!

They had a little encouragement, with me honking (calling) them in the Jeep & leading the way.  Beau & Chilli (the dog) followed and brought up the stragglers.  They followed me the mile to the corral nicely.

We held them in a portable corral while we sorted & hauled them the 7 miles home.

Once we had them in the corrals at home, we sorted the spring calves off and weaned them.

The late fall pairs will be sorted off tomorrow and turned out on grass with Lenny (the bull).  He'll be happy to have a couple more girlfriends for a while & it will keep him busy and out on pasture.

Next week we'll take all the spring calving cows to some rented corn stalks for a couple of months.

I hope y'all had a great weekend.  We did!  It might be work, but we enjoy working with our family!

Beef goes to town next tuesday, if you would like any fresh beef, drop me a line & I'll you know what we have available.

Merry Christmas!

Shanen, Momma to the Mama cows at the Ebersole Cattle Co

ebersolecattleco@yahoo.com

Life on the ranch is good if you're an Ebersole Bull.  Lenny is our top herdsire (Bull).  He is 6 years old this year.

Lenny was born here on the Ranch.  Lenny was actually a bottle calf.  He was the first calf for a very good looking heifer.  He was delivered without any problems, but sadly, the heifer hemmoraged & died.  So, we had a little bottle calf.  Lenny was a great little calf & drank from a bottle right away.  He thrived & would follow us anywhere.  When the time came to sell him, I couldn't.  I was too attached!  My husband tried and tried to convince me that keeping this calf for a bull would not be good, because he was a pet & could be too aggressive as a full grown bull.  But, he was my calf & he was a GOOD calf.  He grew amazingly well for being a bottle calf & he was bred great too!

Since we didn't sell him, and another sire died, he was turned out into the pasture with some girls (cows).  He was out back up bull until 2 years ago and our oldest sire died.  WOW!! We missed the boat with Lenny.  Our first calf crop out of just him were amazing!!  So far we have had 2 State Fair Champions AND  2 American Royal Champions!  In addition, the rest of his calves have grown great and increased our weaning and yearling weights.

Lenny is still a pet.  One of our favorite Lenny stories is the day we were 20 acres from the house & saw that Lenny had a sore eye.  We had taken a the truck out to fix fence and check cows that day.  Of course when we checked the truck we didn't have a halter OR a rope. UH OH!  Wait....we do have an electrical cord!  Think it will work??  Welllll, it IS Lenny.  Lets try it.  Walked back to the bull.  Beau rigged u the cord like a rope and took two swings & caught him with a hoolihan (backwards swing)!  WOW!  The cord held when he tried to walk away too!  So we walked up to him & looped it around to make a halter.  Then the fun part.  Did I mention that at this time he was 4 years old & hadn't had a halter since he was weaned at 6 months??  And that we were down in a big gully?  Well, Lenny did great!  We led him out of the ditch and up the big hill and over the next 20 acres I walked him while Beau went the 4 miles to the house and grabbed the trailer.

Needless to say, Lenny is MY favorite bull!

Right now, Lenny is 20 feet from my window in the pasture, and has been pretty close all day.  Poor guy is bored.  All the spring calving cows have been bred for a while.  He was turned out with a group of Fall calving cows 2 months ago.  Now, he's ready to go the barn.  His hanging around the house is telling me that all the cows are bred.  I bet he's right. 

So, tomorrow morning, I will open the gate & Lenny will follow me (and my bucket) to the barn.  There he'll stay this winter with a nice warm shelter & as much hay as he wants. 

Yes, it is nice to be Lenny the Bull at the Ebersole Ranch!

If you are interested in some great beef, we are now taking reservations for summer harvested beef.  Send me a note to ebersolecattleco@yahoo.com

THANKS!! And I hope you enjoyed my Lenny story!

Shanen, Momma to the Mama cows at the Ebersole Cattle Co

What breed is best for finishing on grass?  Well, there is tons of debate, and no "right" answer.

We raise Maine-Anjou and (Black) Angus cattle.  First a little about our Maine cows.  They are a dual purpose breed of cattle that was imported from France.  The Maine-Anjou breed was developed in the Maine and Anjou counties of France.  Most cattlemen in France do not feed grains to their animals, thus the Maine-Anjou cow is perfect for grass development.  These cows were originally Red and White. Maine -Anjou cows have a great disposition and are perfect for a small family farm.  The cows have a good amount of milk, and are very good mothers.  Another benefit to finishing Maine-Anjou calves is that they are quick growers.  A typical Maine will finish in 12-16 months in a grain-fed operation.  We harvest our grass-fed Maine  calves at about 14-19 months.  This is a great benefits to both the animals and our bottom line.  When you harvest an animal younger you will have meat that is much more tender and flavorful!

Angus cattle or "Black Angus" cattle have been the best marketed cattle in the united states.  They have tons of consumer recognition and can be good cows.    Angus do have more marbling traits.  Meaning that you should get more internal fat in a steak which will provide additional flavor.  We have selected our Angus cows for maternal ability and carcass traits.

We have crossed our foundation Maine-Anjou Cows with Registered Angus cows.  This cross has tons of benefits.  With a cross of two purebred animals you will get the best of both worlds with milk, muscle and flavor.  I hesitate to use the word "hybrid" but with crossbreeding you will get NATURAL Hybrid vigor without any chemicals, antibiotics or hormones.

I hope I haven't bored you with a discussion of our beef genetics.  I just thought you might like to know a little more about our cows and why our beef is EXTREMELY tender and flavorful!!

We do have a quarter of 100% grass-fed beef available.  And we have more 100% ground beef bundles available.  Check out our store.

Have a great day!!

Shanen -Momma to the Mama Cows at the Ebersole Cattle Co

I have suffered with low Iron for 9 (diagnosed) years, and probably many before then.

This is what a small scrape will look like only hours afterwards if my Iron is low.  This scrape was barely noticable when it happened.

When I had our son, I had an emergency C-Section and bled aLOT on the table.  I lost over 2.5 pints of blood.  They wanted to give me blood and a transfusion, but I politely declined.  I was also told that my Iron was 6 points too low, and if it did not improve within the next 48 hours I would NEED the transfusion. 

Well, we set out to fix that in the next 24 hours I had eaten over 20 ounces of beef  (EBERSOLE BEEF).   I kept eating beef and everything green under the sun.  Plenty of yogurt too, so that the Calcium would help me replentish my blood supply.  My iron improved several points and I was allowed to go home (while nursing my son) and have my levels checked in 3 days.  As long as I was able to keep increasing my levels, I would not need the transfusion.

Once we were home, My wonderful Husband cleaned out our deep freeze and found every last package of liver possible.  (EWWW)  I don't like liver, but I wanted to keep my body mine and not have a transfusion.

My doctors were impressed.  That is an understatement.  He asked me EXACTLY what was I doing and eating.  I simply said beef, lots and lots of HOME RAISED beef!  Wow, was he amazed.  I don't have high cholesterol, and he now understood how.....  HOME RAISED.  He even went so far as to ask how we raised our cattle.   He was happy to hear that we pastured our beef.  huh?? 

What I didn't know then, was that he had been researching nutrition and the relationship to what each animal was fed.  This led me to start doing some of my own research and observations.

When I am consistent with a low carb, high protein (MEAT) diet, I have NO iron issues.  When I am off track, and we eat alot, and eat a ton of pasta.....IRON problems (like the one you see above).

So, if you have low iron, EAT MEAT, specifically home raised pastured beef!

EBERSOLE BEEF

Eat happy beef!

Shanen - Mama to the MamaCows at the Ebersole Ranch

Well, we live in the middle of nowhere.  When I drive out to go check cows, this is my view for about 2 miles.

I enjoy living out in the country, but it is hard to find good help.  But, having a family farm, means that I DO have some help.

My help is little right now, but they're learning!  My Cowgirl is great.  She can open gates, and with the help of a good dog, she can move cows pretty good!

These are the happy beef out in our pasture!  These cows and calves live the good life!! They get to graze and walk and move to new pasture each week.

Now is the time of year when we are harvesting GROUND BEEF!  So, I have put some of our Ground Beef Bundles on SPECIAL!!  I have added some new bundles of 50#.  If you live in Iowa or within 50 miles of any Iowa Border, I will ship your beef for free (you have to call me).

If you do call my cell, I might even throw in a discount for a reservation of a Refrigerator Sized Bundle of ALL Steaks this week.  Call me and reserve your Winter BEEF Quarter this week.  I'll make it worth your time!

Enjoy the view!  I get to see it first hand, as I go check cows.

Shanen-Mama to the Momma-Cows at the Ebersole Ranch

Wow! It seems like just yesterday that these little guys were trying to walk into my house.

Now, those little guys, are this big out in the pasture. Next weekend, we will have our first round-up of the fall season.

We will be grouping about 50 cows together and driving them about a mile on horseback and up into the corrals set up in the pasture. Its scheduled to be a fun and sunny day!

If you would like to come and visit and reserve your beef for next year, just call me and I can probably get you directions. (btw, we'll be at a pasture that has all dirt roads leading to it)

Take a look at our LocalHarvest Store, I'm trying to put up some new smaller bundles that will fit in a typical, refrigerator/freezer and are very economical! Keep checking, as it might take a couple of days to get to view the new bundles that are available for purchase NOW.

http://www.localharvest.org/store/M24259

Shanen

A happy Mama to the MamaCows at Ebersole Cattle Co

It's summer Show Time! We always have a couple of really great heifers to show at some shows through the summer.

Here is my oldest little Cowgirl with her heifer "Freedom".  This picture was taken at her very first show a couple of weeks ago.  They were named Grand Champion New Calf Crop.

This year we will also have a Fall born bull at the Iowa State Fair.

We'll have tons of fun showing our animals and helping our kids learn.  Right now, my Cowgirl gets up at 5am and goes outside with her Dad to wash her heifer and feed her every day.

I think that this kind of dedication to our animals and hard work will serve her well in her future.

If any of you are coming to the Iowa State Fair, drop us a note so that you can come pet a calf or meet us and reserve your Winter Beef now.

We have 3 beefs that have not been spoken for yet, and we will reserve now for Winter Delivery (you can pick a date from November thru February).

I hope y'all are enjoying your summer and having fun in the sun!!

Well, it is that time of year.  HARVEST TIME.  We have been busy AI'ing cows, and making sure that all of the calves are healthy on pasture.

And feeding the beef.  The beef have been growing great and we have 2 calves that are finishing size.  All of the beef that has been sold is currently "aging" at the locker.  These steers will be aged for 21 days to get the best flavor and tenderness.

I do have 1 more steer that is finished and just needs to find a home in a couple of people's freezers.

So, if you want great beef, with GREAT flavor and tenderness, drop me an e-mail and I will get you a very great price!

Hope the spring rains have treated you well!!

Shanen : )

Well, calving season is REALLY here!  We are almost half way through the season.  We now have our first group sorted so we can start breeding them.

Last week we were able to turn the GRASS FED BEEF calves out to pasture.  They are still supplemented with hay, but the grass is starting to grow.  Such a beautiful sight!  Calves grazing and foraging is a wonderful sight after such a long winter.

Here's a cute picture of a little one who was born on a cold rainy night, and was escorted into the house to warm up.  In the morning, I awoke to him trying to open the door to come IN my kitchen.  He didn't want to stay in the laundry room.  We took him back out to mama, and he drank like a pro!  It's always my worry that I have touched them too much, and then its a ton of work to get the cow to readily accept them again.  Not this mama, she wanted him the second we pulled him (on the sled) into the barn.  YEAH!!

You can see, by the calf in my house (one of many) that we REALLY care for our cattle.  We give them the BEST care possible!

All of our Spring BEEF has been sold, but we do have some fall beef still available!  Stop here and take a look.  We would love to customize your order of a full share of beef.  We can make sure you get the specific cuts and sized packages that YOUR family will enjoy!  We deliver to Omaha, Kansas City and the Quad Cities.  So, odds are, if you are within 300 miles of us, we can make a stop in YOUR area to deliver some fantastic beef.

As always, if you are in the area, just drop me a note and you can stop by the Ranch and see the calves and cows.  We even have a bottle calf you might get to feed, and the chickens ar making plenty of extra eggs if you need any. 

Happy Easter!

Well, spring has sprung on the ranch.  That means cows mooing in the pasture to new calves, babies everywhere, and new grass. 

We have had some grass start to grow, and are looking forward to new entirely green pastures in about 2 weeks.  The AI season has begun and we are planning to breed several hundred head of cows for other cattlemen in the next couple of weeks.

I am enjoying my time away from 20 buckets of feed for the calves.  All of the Corn-fed calves are now on self feeders, and thus we only have to fill them about once a week.  The replacement heifers will be on grass soon and we won't have to feed them as much either.

We have sold all of the calves except those we will make into beef, so speak up soon if you would like to try some of our great beef!

If you would like to stop by the Ranch and see the baby calves, call and I will set up a time.

Well, we are in the thick of it!  Calving Time.   So far, we have about 20 calves alive and healthy. 

As you can see, we have been doing everything we can to get them warm and dry.  Including letting them inside our house, well the laundry room.

This little gal was born last night in single digit weather and was very cold.  You can see how new he is by his still red umbilical cord.

We have had 6 "houseguests" in the past 3 days of rainy cold weather.  All of our previous houseguests are doing great and are back outside with their mothers.

I have been exited by all of our calves, because they are soo food.  We think that this year's crop will be some of our best beef yet!

We have sold out of beef to be harvested in June.  We are starting to reserve calves for September Harvest.  Take a look at our store, or drop us an e-mail.

Our life on the Ranch has reached the busiest time of year! Calving time!  We also have been able to (so far) keep all of our '08 spring and fall calves.  We have sold several steers in our CSA pay as you go program, and have selected 13 heifers to stay in our herd.

We have 10 (hopefully 11 when I check heifers after posting this) calves on the ground right now.  Most of these early calves are purebred Maine Anjou calves.  We will keep some of these heifers in the herd, and offer the rest of the great ones to other MaineAnjou breeders.

Unfortunately, we must sell some of our calves.  Fortunately, we have Local Harvest, to help us sell some of these calves to locals (we will drive a long way to deliver great beef).  So, we are again having a BEEF SALE!  If you sign up for any size CSA share this month (February) we will also add an additional 25 pounds of Ground Beef.  The ground beef will be delivered immediately upon receipt of your down payment.  This will allow you to taste some of the great flavor that will be harvested in June.

Call us to help you determine what size share will best fit your family.

We LOVE to have visitors, and now is a great time with all of the cute calves on the ground!

Shanen