| In This Issue |
| Antibotics use in Cattle Production |
| This week's Special Offer |
| New Items at the SonRise Web Store |
| Contact Us / Web / E-mail links |
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Ph 951.719.5649
Mail our Business office at
630 McCawley Street
Oceanside, CA. 92058
Visit our online store
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Welcome to the Ranch
Dear SonRise Ranch Supporters,
I am often asked why our Ranch is named SonRise - with and "O" in Son.Well, this would be the best week to address that question, since this weekend we celebrate Easter.We started SonRise with a basic premise - that God had put a great many things into motion though the natural ecosystems that provide an abundance of food for the human race.We were pretty convinced that the human race, and Americana as a whole had done quite a fine job of screwing- up that perfectly designed and balanced system.
Beyond all that, we felt there was a right way of doing things, one that the Creator himself had ordered, and a wrong way - one that money, convenience and greed had created. Our mission at SonRise was to take on the immense challenge of proving that things could be done right. Thanks to your support, we've proven that this can be done. To be a Rancher and fail to acknowledge that our actions do not affect the surrounding environment is, I believe, the height of arrogance.
So, we decided to acknowledge that fact by putting an "O" in our name.Yes, it is a play on words, and it does stand for the Son of God, but, because an "O" is a never-ending, and continuous circle, for us it has a dual meaning. It also reminds us daily, here at SonRise Ranch that our actions as stewards of the land, have a never-ending and cyclical impact, for better or for worse - and that is a responsibility we don't take lightly.
This week, we will have a feature article on the use of Antibiotics in Cattle and a great special on some "Ugly Hams" that would be great for Easter. - see the coupon below for more information.
As always, thank you for your support.
And, Happy Easter!
God Bless,
Douglas Lindamood
SonRise Ranch
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| One of the Milk Cows with her new Calf |
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Antibiotics use in Cattle Production
- By Douglas Lindamood |
The use of antibiotics within the modern cattle industry is extremely prevalent. I know of very few producers that do not use antibiotics, at some stage of production and am convinced that not a single steer coming from a feed lot could ever be 100% antibiotic free.
In the movie King Corn, the narrator states that of over 70% of all antibiotics produced in the United States today are used in the Cattle Industry. All those antibiotics are either absorbed into the muscle and then eaten by unknowing (willingly ignorant or not) consumers, or excreted out though the animals urine and absorbed into the ground water, creating a "lose-lose" situation for all players, animal included.
The vast majority of antibiotics are used in the feed lot, where a large number of steers are living in close confined quarters, on very poor feed (things they were never designed to eat).These cattle will be a total loss to the feed lot if they perish, so keeping them alive until they are slaughtered is imperative. If they die before their slaughter date, they are often made into Jerky or Pet Feed, at a substantial loss.By the way, don't ever read the back of a Jerky package, it will usually say something like "this animal was given a post-mortem inspection" - that's really not good.You see, one of the few things the USDA does do right is require that all food grade animals be given a pre-mortem inspection, which is an inspection while the animal is still alive by a federal inspector. It follows then that the inspection referred to on the back of that Jerky label is one that is conducted after the animal has expired.
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A typical Feedlot - Photo by Gary Kazanjian for The New York Times |
A recent study by the "Arizona-based Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGRI) examined 136 meat samples from 26 grocery stores in Illinois, Florida, California, Arizona and Washington D.C" and found that conventional meats not only contained a large amount of bacteria, but that bacteria were surprisingly resistant to antibiotics 1.
Why?
The reason is that Feed Lot Steers have been doused with so much routine antibiotics that the meat (muscle) was naturally resistant to any antibiotic that could kill bacteria and therefore had a far higher bacteria level than non-conventional beef.
So, why don't we use antibiotics? Well, two reasons; we don't need to, and we don't want to... let me explain why.
First, we don't need to.Cattle on fresh, new (rotational grazing) grass are naturally healthy.Their rumens, (stomachs) function normally on the fuel that God designed them to run on - grass.When a Bovine is fed grain, be it corn, beans, milled soy or anything processed, it increases the PH level inside it's rumen to the point where it can't function with 100% efficiency.This endangers the immune system of the animal.It would be one thing to feed grain or corn on the open range (we don't do that either), it's a whole different situation when you have thousands of cattle crammed in to tight quarters, all with weekend immune systems - the feed lot supervisors have little option but to pump their animals full of antibiotics. It's not in the natural diet for a bovine to eat any corn, so we don't feed it - as a result, our cattle are remarkably healthy and, yep, you guessed it - no need for medication.
Secondly, we don't want to - it would be a failure of our husbandry. No, were not talking cheating on my wife here, husbandry in the sense of good care of our animals. Our system is designed to keep our animals at top condition, gaining between 1 and 3 lbs of lean muscle mass (when they are less than a year old) and fat (when they are over a year old per day. We watch for this and use it as a management tool to control pasture grazing and cycle rotation rate (how much fresh grass they get each day). A sick Cow, Steer or Heifer is a sign of poor pasture management, not the animal crying for a shot of medicine. If we have a sick beef, it is more often than not something in the diet (my job as a Grass Farmer) a lack of clean water, adequate shade or even hardware disease (when a bovine eats a metallic object) - all indicative of improper grass management by the Rancher. To feed antibiotics would simply cover up a greater problem, likely a very important one too.
So, there you have it.Oh, and if I haven't made myself clear -we don't use any antibiotics, ever!
Thanks,
Douglas Lindamood
SonRise Ranch
1. Ali, Aman High bacteria levels in meat at U.S. stores: report, published online at Reuters.com, accessed on 4/19/2011 at http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/15/us-food-bacteria-study-idUSTRE73E7RD20110415.
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Special Offer
20% off a whole, cross-cut
bone-in Smoked Ham
This weekend (April 23rd or 24th) print the coupon below this e-mail and bring it by any one of our Farmers Markets for 20% off a bone-in Ham purchase
- Flower Hill, Del Mar Shopping plaza off I-5, (Saturday's 9-1)
- Vista (Saturday from 8 to 12)
- Carlsbad (Saturday from 1 to 5)
- Little Italy (Saturday 9-1:30)
- Encinitas (Sunday from 10 to 2)
- LaJolla, (Sunday 9 to 1)
- Hillcrest (Sunday 9 to 2)
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New This Week - Roasts on the Web
Our Web store has some new, hard to find items this week. Be sure to check out our Marrow Bones, Wholesale Quarter Beefs and Beef Heart.
Ordering on the Web is easy!
When you place your order on the Web, you will make a small deposit, and choose the Market of your choice for delivery. We then contact you to confirm the order and your delivery. When you arrive at the Market for pick-up we will have your order and balance due (minus your online deposit)
It is a convient and easy way to make your shopping simple at the Farmers Market each week.
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Grass fed Beef Heart |
Marrow Bones
$5.00/lb
Wholesale Quarters
$8.65/lb
Beef Heart
$4.75/lb
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About SonRise Ranch
We are an all natural family farm that produces home grown foods. Our products include USDA approved, by the pound grass-fed beef. We offer humanely treated, antibiotic free pork and truly free-range chicken. We have hogs on pasture and many of our animals (pork and chicken) are fed milk by-products, which result in a deep, rich flavor that generations before us enjoyed. We use IRG (intense rotational grazing) methods to feed our animals the freshest, rapidly growing green grass possible, with minimal impact to the land and surrounding environment. We are deeply committed to the principles of small farming and sustainable agriculture.
find out more at...
SonRise Ranch on the web |
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