From field to fork, we proudly offer grass-fed meats and charcuterie. Enjoy FREE shipping on orders $165+!

Raising Meat Animals Ethically

written by

Anonymous

posted on

July 12, 2022

Better Food, Better Life.

It's our tagline for a few reasons and today, we're exploring how the way we raise our livestock for meat makes the case for both better food and a better life - for the animals and humans. Unlike the horrible images of animals in factory farms with no access to the outdoors and no space to roam, this is what we do to give our animals a better life:

Raised outside. Of course, all of our animals have access to the outdoors year-round. The cattle and pigs have access to barn shelter in the winter. In summer, all of the animals are out on pasture grazing with various shelters, as appropriate for the animals' needs.

Rotationally grazed. When on pasture, the animals are rotationally grazed, meaning they move across the pasture in small, controlled paddocks. As discussed in our blog about soil, this helps distribute manure, prevent overgrazing, encourage plant diversity, and build soil health. It also keeps the animals healthier, naturally, by constantly moving them away from their own manure, which could otherwise harbor disease or parasites.

The animals also help to put carbon back into the soil, as well. Instead of contributing to greenhouse gases, their grazing stimulates the plants to put down more roots and regrow. This growth requires carbon, which the plants take out of the air and in turn, put back into the soil as they regrow.

Moving the animals regularly also helps create habitat for wildlife, as the animals minimally disturb the ecosystem they're in, easily coexisting with nesting birds, busy pollinators, frogs, etc.

Wholesome diet. The diversity of the plant species in the pastures help give the animals a well rounded diet. Free choice mineral feeders allow the animals to choose what additional nutrient supplements they need. The cattle and sheep, of course, are ruminants and are 100% grass-fed, eating only pasture during grazing season and hay in winter.

The chickens, turkeys, and pigs, however, are NOT ruminants and do require grain for a wholesome complete diet. They all have free choice grain feeders with non-GMO mixes suited to their individual needs.

Plentiful space. Even in the smaller paddocks we use in rotational grazing, the animals always have more than enough space to roam, eat, and wander. This eliminates competition for food and allows them to maintain a more relaxed, natural, healthy herd structure.

Plenty of water. Water lines throughout the pastures and winterized tanks in the barn ensure the animals' most basic need for water is met, always. In the heat of summer and cold of winter, we do extra checks to make sure everyone still has access to the water they need.

No antibiotics, hormones, or steroids. Because the animals stay healthy naturally by having plentiful space, fresh food, and a well balanced diet, we have no reason to give broad spectrum antibiotics, hormones, or steroids to our livestock. Of course, if an animal does become ill, we give it the medicine it needs as prescribed by a veterinarian so that it can be healthy and well, again.

Minimal stress. Many of the things already listed above are huge alleviators of stress, but we do what we can to minimize stress when we work with the animals, too. We use loading/handling equipment and designs inspired by Dr Temple Grandin's animal welfare research to ease any confusion or stress the animals might have as we work with them.

Humanely processed. We have worked with the same trusted processors for years. They are all USDA inspected and run by people who truly care about the animals and the quality of the meat they provide.

Finding a butcher you can trust, not only with handling your animals, but with ensuring they are processed to the highest quality possible, is no easy thing and we are so grateful for ours.

How does that result in better food?

The #1 reason customers buy from us is taste. Our meat products simply taste better, and a lot of that is to do with how they were raised. Stress hormones literally change the quality and flavor of an animal's meat. Because we do everything we can to make sure our animals live a well, natural life, they don't have a lot of stress and that carries through in the exceptional quality of our products.

More nutritious. The improved soil health (as mentioned last week) and diversity of plants in the pasture help ensure the animals have a more nutritious diet. This produces more nutrient dense meat, including a higher ratio of omega 3 fatty acids, which are important for brain and heart health.

Trusted. You can also trust our meat to be free of any antibiotics, hormones, steroids, and GMOs for cleaner eating.

Regenerative

Farm Info

More from the blog

Where to Find Riemer Family Farm Eggs!

Just look for the PINK carton at a grocery store near you! The egg business has been crazy lately to say the least! It seems like every third news story is about the price of eggs and shortages and even thievery of eggs! Who knew there could be so much drama around the humble chicken egg? We partner with a young farm family to produce our seasonally pastured eggs. These hens have a pretty posh life, non-GMO feed, plenty of space, never any cages and are out and about during the growing season. The bird flu outbreak is just another bit of evidence that the industrial food system is very broken! One of the solutions is MORE farmers on the land raising livestock at a family scale and not more concentrated factory agriculture in the U.S. Barns of tens and even hundreds of thousands of chickens are the ones primarily affected by the bird flu for all the obvious reasons! When 150,000 or more birds are together in a barn when one or a few get infected it's a matter of hours before the whole flock is infected and all must be destroyed. Family farms came through for customers during Covid and are proving to be resilient during this current egg problem too! While we are still learning and don't claim to be perfect, we are more sustainable and adaptable than the factory model of farming. Thank you for standing by our farm and other regenerative farms in your area! If you would like to purchase (or dine on) our eggs you can find them at many stores and restaurants! Including: South Central WI: Brodhead Piggly Wiggly Gempeler's Market-Monticello Roy's Market-New Glarus Evansville Piggly Wiggly Oregon Hy-Vee Fitchburg Hy-Vee Cadre restaurant (and others through a distributor) Sunrise Cafe-Monroe N. Illinois: Bull Valley General Store Daily Project Cafe-Algonquin Duck A Diet, Ready to Eat Meals-Huntly Forest Green's Juice Bar-Lake Bluff Just look for the PINK carton. With all the egg shortages from the industrial farms and spiking prices from a fragile industry, our eggs are quite affordable. We will never price gouge. We seek to provide a fair price for both our customers and us. As always you can pick up your eggs on the farm. Please place an order on our website and we will have them ready for you within a day. Make sure that you have Riemer Family Farm as your pickup location.

11 Ideas for Cozy Winter Dinners

These winter days have me craving all sorts of comfort foods. If you're looking for a little inspiration of what to make for dinner these days, try some of these simple, but tasty classics.

Madison Locally Sourced Article

Madison Locally Sourced is a publication highlighting good food and sustainability in and around the Madison area. We are delighted that they choose our farm to highlight in their current issue. Please let us know what you think!