Beets are Treats for Livestock

I read that a few generations ago, small-scale dairy farmers fed root crops to their cows.  They are loaded with nutrition.  The cows can eat the root and the greens.  Cows love sweet potatoes, carrots, and beets.  We grow a special beet called the Red Mangel Beet for feeding the cows.  The Red Mangel Beet is a MONSTER!  It will grow and grow and grow.  They can grow to 20 pounds!  We picked this one, but it would have doubled in size if we had left it alone:

We use a big knife to cut it in half.  It is white in the interior with reddish lines throughout.  I licked it and it seemed sweet to me. 

We'll cut the been into bite-sized cubes so that the cows can snack on them after they eat their dairy ration and alfalfa.  We simply throw the red mangel beet cubes in the trough as a dessert.

The cows love 'em!

We love beets, too!  We've been harvesting some and roasting them in the oven.  Roasted and pickled are my two favorite ways to eat beets.  The cows?  They just gobble them down raw.