We bought a bred cow back in January. Friskie is a red Belted Galloway cow. (Belted Galloway cattle come in three colors. Black is the most common, but they also can be red. Our herd bull is dun, a shade of brown. All Belted Galloway cattle should have a complete white belt around their body between their front and back legs.) But when we bought Friskie, we didn't know when she had been bred. As a result, we weren't sure when she would calve.

​Last week, she began to act as if she might be about to calve. So we started to watch her closely. On Sunday, during a rain storm, Friskie surprised us with a small red heifer calf, which weighed about 30 pounds. We are glad that her calf is healthy and doing well, but disappointed that this calf does not have a complete belt. Occasionally, the genetics which give the Belted Galloway their belt are not strong enough, and the belt is incomplete.

On Tuesday, while checking on Friskie and her calf, Jeff got an even bigger surprise. Lying on the ground, side by side, were two red calves! One calf had a complete belt and one did not. Apparently, Friskie had a second heifer calf, weighing about 35 pounds, either before or after, the calf we had observed on Sunday. Friskie is nursing both calves and they follow her around the pasture. What a pleasant surprise!

We have had 8 calves since September 11. They are so cute, but the cows keep them hidden in tall grass for a few days so it requires some close inspection to find them. We usually notice the large udders on the cow first and then know to look for a calf. Only 1 heifer and 7 bull calves.

We harvested a steer last Thursday! Part of our farm plan is to raise and sell grass-fed beef direct to consumers. Although all cattle eat grass during their lives, cattle raised for grocery store sales usually end up in a feed lot where they are fed large amounts of corn to fatten up quickly. The corn helps these animals increase the amount of marbling in the muscle tissue. The fat adds flavor, but many people are now concerned about how much fat they ingest, along with what types of fat they consume.

Belted Galloway cattle have lower amounts of fat naturally (see the links on our Cattle page). Grass-fed and grass-finished beef also put on less fat because grass is their natural diet. We don't feed corn to our cattle. The fat on our animals is deposited as part of their normal metabolism. Our cattle eat grass grown on our farm nine months of the year, and eat hay grown on our farm the other three months. Our cattle are provided clean water from a deep well, resulting in happy cows!

We sell our beef to consumers in two ways. First, we sell our beef by the split quarter, half, or whole animal. A split quarter shares a half between two customers, with each customer receiving equal parts of the front half and the back half. We take deposits, and when all four quarters are sold, we then schedule a harvest date. 

We also sell packages of beef cuts directly to consumers in Missouri. Our packages are state-inspected for re-sale direct to consumers. We have frozen ground beef, steaks, and roasts for sale. We can arrange delivery locally or to the Kansas City metro area.

For more information and current prices, see the tab on our "Cattle" page!

I discovered one of the three hives that survived the winter and the first one I put supers on had left. Completely cleaned out except for a few SHB and some wax moths. So I guessed it swarmed and I missed it and then pests invaded. Guess it must have happened a couple of weeks ago. After putting supers on I had not checked inside the hive. Always activity on landing board and there were a few hundred bees - but only open comb. Guess I will start a nuc.