Beef Cattle at the Farm in Oberlin

When building the fence at our family farm in Oberlin the other day as discussed in this post:
Mending Fences and this one: The Old Oak Tree, I didn't get to discuss or illustrate the beef cattle that roam the land.  The Angus-cross cattle were put in the rye grass paddock while we repaired the fence.  Once we were done, we opened the gate.  This baby calf must have been hiding in the grass napping when the cattle were driven into the rye grass and had been separated from his momma.  He couldn't wait for us to open the gates so that he could be reunited with her (or her milk, to be more accurate).

Black calf in a field of yellow buttercups

The herd was happy to see us coming and they assembled at the gate, mooing, ready to cross through the pasture and go drink water from the water trough in the neighboring pasture.  In October of each year, we plant rye grass to help get them through the winter along with round bales of hay.  Once Springtime hits and the rye grass plays out, the cows graze on 144 acres of bahia grass.

Lining up

Once we opened the gate, an orderly stampede took place as the cattle ran through, kicking up dust as they made their way across the gully following a trail made by a hundred or so cows walking single file over time.

Move 'em out!

We're planning a round-up in the upcoming months in which we'll corral them and cut off the steers, older mommas or cull cows and bring them to the sale barn in Kinder.  Prices for cattle are pretty good right now and will likely stay that way for a while due to the drought in the west, among other factors.  Additionally, we're planning to bring one to the slaughterhouse and split the meat with Dad & Mom.  If I'm not mistaken, this is the steer right here:

Beef... It's what's for dinner.

This will be our first time to slaughter one of our own and we'll have to purchase another freezer to hold our half since our current one is full of chickens from our recent chicken slaughter, but it will be well worth it to finally have some grass fed beef from our own herd.  In the photo above you can also see the donkey that stays with the herd, serving as the watchdog against coyotes and dogs.  There are a number of new calves dropping right now and thinning out the herd will ensure that the ones remaining have plenty of lush grass to eat to keep the cycle going of beef cattle on the Family Farm that started many years ago.