MM Livestock Co

I just got a well deseved spanking. Thank you Ann. In my rant on the media I wrongly made it sound like I am not in favor of small family farms. I am in favor of well run family farms. what I am against is people with no animal background raising animals strictly for profit. Ann was right to smack me for being overzelous in my wording. We partner with several small farmers who raise animals that we don't, in ways that meet our standards. The small well run farm is what keeps this country alive. Literally. The average cattle her in the US is 40 animals. We are lucky enough to have the ground to run a larger operation, and even luckier to have the people willing to stay on the land and run it. Again I apologise for offending and will be more careful about the way I put things in the future. Meg

I got the final word today from the local USDA plant. They will be closing as of Friday. We are 60-90 days from having our facility up and running so we processed everything that was ready over the last few weeks. We will have enough beef and lamb to carry us through, and the pork and chickens are not affected. We refuse to truck our animals long distances for processing as we feel it negates the Locally Grown and Humanely raised and processed standards we have set for ourselves. Our customers have come to expect a certain level of excellence from us and this is the only way we can be absolutely sure they get it. We look forward to having our own USDA facility and will be working closely with Animal Welfare Approved throughout the building process. We will be able to process for other local producers and elevate the standard of care livestock receives at processing at the same time. It's a big leap for us and we are grateful to those people that share our vision and are willing to help us keep ranching alive and well and stockmen on the land. Meg

I got an interesting call today. A reporter from one of the area newspapers is doing a series of articles on ranchers and the local food movement. This reporter had been told that we were a CAFO operation. I set him straight right quick! He came out to the home place and met the critters there including the HUGE Glouchester Old Spot Sows we just inherited. Then we went out to the cattle pastures and over to where the flocks are grazing. He got quite an education. There is a big difference between ranching and just raising animals. Ranching is a way of life, where the health and welfare of the land is as important as the animals that land sustains. The fella just raising animals to make a buck is more inclined to stick them in pens throw some feed at them and call it a day. He is only interested in how much money he can make and how quickly he can make it. Ranchers want their stock to thrive in the way Nature intended. Sure we doctor them if they need it, but our animals are far healthier than those raised in confinement. They are not crowded, nor are they fed things they weren't designed to eat. We don't have to rely on antibiotics to keep them healthy or hormones to make them grow. We do have to spend time in the saddle, or on an ATV. We do need our working dogs. We do need to have the knowledge to recognize a problem and fix it. There is an old Californio song that says "Mis Raisas estan aqui" My roots are buried here. It hurts the entire industry when Joe city moves out of town, buys a little (less than 100 acres) piece of dirt and calls it a ranch. It's a farm. If you raise anything other than ruminants, its a farm. If the animals are penned, its a farm. Horsemen will argue, but from where I sit, if you don't have the space for your stock to roam. You Are A Farmer. If they can't put their feet on the ground and have room to play, large or small, you are a CAFO. If you don't have a solid working knowledge of genetics, nutrition, husbandry and management you shouldn't be raising stock. You can't buy experience.

I just had to share this. I was making my rounds this evening and noticed one of the ewes off by herself so I went to investigate. It was Fuzzy Face, the last of our Ramboulette ewes, I'm thinking to myself "is she lambing? Has the heat gotten to her?" No. She had found one of the emitters for the misters and had parked herself in front of it! She also drinks from the hose and opens gates so I shouldn't be surprized. It was just so funny to see this sheep with water running down her face! It hit 109 here today so everyone got kept in under the trees with the misters going. They'll go out in a while for their daily cruise. We just fenced the adjoining 5 acres so there is a lot of forage available. I'm still chucklin' at that silly old ewe. Thankfully none of her progeny have her sense of adventure! Meg

I just got our packet from Animal Welfare Approved. We're almost done! There are a few things we need to improve like cleaning the debris from the new pasture land and getting a derogation to continue docking our lambs tails, re-seeding and irrigating the field we will use to finish our steers, castrate earlier and getting the stock dogs to move more slowly. All in all a darn good audit! Animal Welfare Approved and American Grass Fed are The Toughest Certifications to get. I am Thrilled that we have met these standards. The audit forms will be available for review here at the farm. We will be listed on the AWA website shortly. This is an example of what stewardship and attention to detail does for credibility. Its fun to be able to give proof of your practices to nay sayers too! You should check out AWA's site to see what they require. It is well worth the effort to be able to gain their stamp of approval. Meg

We have a brand new colt. He was born Tuesday morning to my AQHA mare Marshall's Miss Aka Miss Kitty and is by our young AQHA stallion: Behave Yourself Sir by Sir Reminic. He is a cute lil guy, liver chestnut with 3 white socks and his star is a perfect checkmark. We're working on names already. So far "Check Your Attitude" is winning. His bloodlines should point him to the working cowhorse pen. Even though he is a late addition he's going to be a good one. Meg

We just got our approval to complete our conversion to solar power. In addition to saving us 10k a year in electric bills, the solar collectors will double as additional shade for the horses. We will be using solar cubes and will produce enough power to be completely off the grid! I'm excited! It will be nice to have the power company pay me for a change. We have been looking for ways to reduce our footprint and our expenses in these difficult times and solar power seemed a great way to do that. These experimental cubes are being tested as an emergency power supply for large cities in the event of disaster. 1 cube can power several homes or businesses. Cool huh? I'm glad that we get to be part of this 20 year experiment and can do our part to save our dwindling resources. Meg

Man oh man what a week! Friday was the culmination of one horror after another. I had been talking to a fellow about hogs for a week (Lobo you know who I mean) and we were both looking forward to seeing what amazing sausages he wuld make from one of our Berkies. I went to the butcher, who I have never had any problems with before. Grabbed what I was sure was my hog and went to meet the client. A few hours later he called to say we had a problem. Boy did we! I had been given the wrong pig and passed a state inspected who knows where it originated from pig on to a New Customer! After falling all over myself, returning his money and giving him a leg of lamb as an apology I hope he will try us again. What did we learn from this class? Never take anything for granted, no matter how harried or distracted you are, check, check, and recheck, If you make a mistake, make it right, no matter how humiliating it is. Lobo will get a superior animal at no charge delivered to his door. He will be able to tell others that even though I made a nearly unforgiveable mistake I went out of my way to make it right. As for me, I will never take anything for granted again. Meg

Ok I'm convinced! I know I said it would be a couple of months before we had informaton on our belties, but when we weighed and ultrasounded steers one was ready to go. 1,200 lb on the hoof and 791 hot hanging wt. so far so Great! The best thing is he graded Prime on GRASS! This is amazing! I knew these were good efficient cattle but Hot Dawg! We usually grade Choice + but to get one to make Prime is cause for celebration. We looked at several Heritage breeds to bring into our operation and knew that the belties fit well with our rotational grazing program. We were sceptical about the information we received about the efficiency of the breed on grass (You know Ranchers, No way can it be better than what we've been doing since before the Dead Sea Got Sick.) I'm sorry I doubted you Gene! Mea culpa, Mea Culpa. If this is any indication of what we are going to produce consistently I'm one happy camper! We have always had very strict standards for our production animals and this is a Prime(pun intended) example of what Superior Genetics coupled with Superior Stewardship can produce. Meg

I got a Very Cool Present Today! We've been setting up at the Temecula Farmers Market for about 6 months now. Useing the standard Ez-Up, table, and chill chests that everyone else has since our Kitchen/ store trailer is TOO BIG for the space we are alloted. We've decorated, made signs etc. but still get asked almost weekly if we have meat at the market or just take orders and sell jerky. Mr Wonderful fixed that today. He came rolling in with brochures and drawings for our new MARKET TRAILER. It's being built to our specs. with freezers built in and a generator and sinks and cooktops and OH my Gosh it's perfect! We will be able to roll in ready for action. It will make set up a breeze! Just put the tent in front and open the doors! He's even having a tank added so we can have misters in the summer! I told him just how amazing I think he is and his response was, "your welcome babe, now let's go check the cows". He really is Wonderful! Meg

I have always encouraged new producers. In fact I spent years teaching people how to raise livestock, I still do it today. I feel it is important for one to get educated before starting on any new venture. I see too many people trying to raise livestock without knowing the how's and why's. If the feed store says it's cow hay that means it's not fit for horses and is usually moldy, dirty, weedy, or otherwise inferior. The deal you get on broken bags of grain may be ok. but expired feed isn't. The feed that goes in directly affects the steaks or chops you are going to put on your table. Husbandry issues are vitally important, how to give injections, trim feet, castrate etc. directly impacts the quality of the end product. Genetics are important as well. I'm all for cross breeding to get a superior animal. The key is to cross the best with the best to get even better animals. If you choose to stay with purebreds, learn how to breed for genetic superiority within that breed. Choose carefully, manage well, and don't cut corners. We are getting ready to start this seasons series of seminars and we want the producer and consumer alike to come away with new information about how to raise, recognize, and purchase superior meats for their table. We are working with the California Pork Council to get the PQA and TQA courses held here so producers will have certification in hand when the requirements go into effect. Members of the Cattlmens Assn. and the American Lamb Board will address species specific issues. Packers, graders, and butchers will teach people what questions to ask, why grading is important, and how to tell the good stuff from the not so good. If there is an area you want to learn more about, tell us. We want the greenhorn to thrive and the consumer to be safely fed. Meg

Why are we crossing Dorpers on our Suffolk Ewes? To get better lambs of course. The Dorper is a Hair sheep bred for meat production, unlike many hair breeds the Dorper is a larger breed with moderate bone. We started using Dorpers on our first time mothers several years ago and liked what we saw. The lambs are smaller at birth but catch up with the wool sheep fairly quickly. At 135-150lb market weight the cross breds actually have a higher percentage of meat to bone than the purebreds. The meat is sweeter due to the lack of lanolin production, and we are getting incredible depth at the loin with 5 inch loin eyes being common. The F4 cross ewes are producing Tremendous animals that are beating the purebreds in the market and carcass classes. We keep some Registered Suffolks for the show pen and have a small flock of Khatadin sheep because we like the Heritage Breeds and the rumor is that the finest lamb in the world comes from these hardy hair sheep. We'll let you know in a few weeks. Meg

Granny, one of our oldest Ewes passed today. She was tag number 18 and lived to the ripe old age of 16. She gave us 46 lambs and raised countless bummers, even after she was no longer having lambs she took care of the ones that their mothers couldn't. She taught 5 border collies manners and Brought the flock home safely at nite. I found her under her favorite tree where she had napped today and just went on to greener pastures. I'll miss the old girl but her daughters, grand daughters, and Great Granddaughters will keep her superior genetics alive in our flocks for many years to come. Rest Well. meg

Several of you have asked me what integrated pest management is. Basically it is the use of natural predators to manage pests. Our biggest problems are flies and Mosquitos. We use Fly Predators, Praying Mantis, Dung Beetles, and ladybugs to keep the flies down, mosqito fish and Koi in the large water tanks, and we compost our manures.(you can come get some if you want it!) This spring the Desert Willow next to the nursery pens was ALIVE with Ladybugs. We also use chipped Eucalyptus on our paths and drive areas. We get the chips from the tree trimmers that clear the power lines. Double benefit there, they don't have to pay to dump the chips and we get a nice layer of chips that smell good plus it keeps the dust down! In the summer we set out pots of Marigolds around the common areas being VERY CAREFUL that the livestock do not have access to them. We also keep our pens super clean. We have farm cats to keep the mice at bay and they do a great job! It takes some extra work and thought to manage pests without chemicals but it can be done. Meg

First let me say that I was very disappointed by the low turnout at Todays Session. This was a perfect opportunity to have a say in the way this process is going to be implemented. If we want to have a voice in shapeing Government Policies that directly affect us we need to show up and voice our concerns. Once we got folks understanding that Animal Welfare was not the issue and traceability and disease prevention is, the discussions took off. In the Break Out session I was in there were large producers, family farmers, and home consumption advocates. The consensus was that traceability needs to follow the animal. Those of us that graze our stock move them regularly and having each field and pasture Id.ed is not practical. We also felt that small holders that deal in LIVE ANIMALS should be exempt. We must protect our food supply and ANYONE selling meat to consumers needs to be accountable for the product they sell. Accountability does not begin nor does it end at the packing house. In the event of a disease outbreak the actual source of that outbreak must be identified quickly and accurately. Most producers already have extensive records covering the health of their animals and they are not the problem. The problem lies with the people that don't care if what they are doing is wrong as long as they get top dollar. There was also discussion about the implementation of an incentive program for producers that would help offset the cost of compliance. Yet another suggestion was that the program remain voluntary but in order to benefit from programs offered by the USDA one must register. I think that if we producers, large and small work together an equitable solution can be reached. If you don't go to the sessions, send in written comments, and do your homework, don't cry about how unfair the rules are. You can get copies of the actual transcripts of these sessions from the USDA website. Get busy, get informed, and if you are unwilling to do that GET OVER IT! Meg