Bastrop Cattle Company

A couple of days ago, I posted that we are moving forward with building one of the few "on the ranch" meat processing plants in Texas.  It is going to sit in the far back corner of my front hay field.  Right now, we're rushing to get the "first" cutting of the year - in October!

You heard me right.  The drought has been so bad, that I had to resort to using the hay field for much needed grazing all summer to keep the cows going.  Then we got rain in September.  I pulled them off and prayed it would stay warm enough to grow grass for hay.  It did.  It's done way better than anyone else's fields mainly because I haven't used any herbicides, pesticides, petrolium based chemicals, etc on it in over seven years.  This past spring I did a heavy dose of organics with the help of Red Fox Organics our of Cedar Creek.  The long and short is the grass has been holding up because the soil is in good shape.

But we still need water.  Hence the reason for the processing plant situated next to the field.  We just finished drilling a water well for the water needed in the processing plant.  All the water used in the plant and in the wash down of the outside pens, and the water for the cattle (but not including the water used in the restrooms which go into a separate septic system) will be treated and recyled to be used in irrigation.

This may be the only way farming and ranching operations in Texas can survive - finding creative ways of using water over and over.