Meet the Celebrated Mother Cow Behind Your Grass-Fed Beef
Where Grass-Fed Beef Truly Begins.
You want confidence in the food you serve at home, right?
The journey to healthy, flavorful, grass-fed beef begins out in the pasture with the Celebrated Mother Cow.
She is the foundation of everything.
Earning the title of Celebrated Mother Cow is not simple.
She must be the right size for long, productive years on grass, usually between 800 to 1,000 pounds.
Her frame must be strong and her feet and legs sound so she can traverse our pastures with its uneven ground and deep snow in the winter.
She must have the natural ability to calve on her own with no assistance, because cattle thrive best when nature leads the way.
A Celebrated Mother Cow balances protection and trust.
Predators and weather conditions demand vigilance, yet she must remain calm enough to let us handle her newborn without trying to crush us into the next county.
Her udder must be well-formed so her calf can nurse easily. Calves that get that first meal quickly after birth begin life with strength and vigor, and this matters greatly in a grass-based system where natural immunity shapes their entire future.
A Great Mother Cow is Consistent and Responsible
She breeds back each year without issue and raises a healthy calf while maintaining her own body condition on grass and hay alone.
She puts resources into the calf nursing at her side; while already growing the next calf she will deliver the following spring.
These animals demonstrate the natural efficiency that makes grass-fed beef sustainable.
Nutrition supports every one of Her responsibilities
Through winter, we provide clean hay and fresh water that keeps her healthy without adding excessive weight.
Free-choice mineral salt helps maintain mineral balance, immune strength and reproductive health.
During fly season, garlic salt and diatomaceous earth offer natural support against pests.
When our pastures flourish in the spring, summer and fall seasons, she harvests exactly what she needs straight from the land.
A remarkable process takes place about five weeks before calving.
The celebrated mother begins producing colostrum, the calf’s first and only source of immunity.
Calves are born with no antibodies at all.
Each hour after birth, the potency of colostrum declines.
A quick, strong first nursing helps prevent pneumonia and other early threats while supporting a strong digestive system needed for a lifetime of grazing.
The celebrated mother cow represents durability, intelligence and quiet capability.
She produces the grass-fed, pasture-raised beef we are proud to offer by simply being who she is.
At The North Coast Ranch, she remains the heart of our commitment to raising cattle the right way, from the very beginning.
Now ya know!
- Jim