Farm Talk Tuesday-Emotional Attachment?
Our Farm Talk Tuesday question this week is "How do you name them, raise them, and then eat them? No emotional attachment?"
This is a good question and, to be honest, sometimes it’s a little hard to reconcile. We work incredibly hard to make sure our animals are well cared for when they are with us. We make sure they are protected from the elements and do our best to keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter. We make sure they have plenty of space to move about and have a dry, comfy place to lay down. We make sure they receive optimal nutrition. We treat them when they are sick or have an injury and help them recover. We maintain our Beef Quality Assurance certifications so we’re always up to date on industry best management practices.
We often think about the ethical treatment of our animals when making decisions around the farm. I specifically ask myself things like, “If my kid had this illness, would I treat them?” or “If my kid had a wound that needed to be cleaned and bandaged, would I hold them down so the doctor can get the job done?” However, there IS a line. For example, if my cows decided they wanted their feed ingredients separated instead of being blended together, would I do that for them? No! (If you have a young child, you know this is a real-life scenario!) Would I get up in the middle of the night and rock a cow back to sleep? No! Cows are not humans, and although we treat them with respect and make sure they live the good life on our farm, their purpose is to provide humans with high quality protein. Side note: cows also produce SO MANY other byproducts that we use every single day like life-saving pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, surgical sutures, pet food, chewing gum, wallpaper, asphalt binder, paint brushes, luggage, steel ball bearings, and the list goes on and on and on!
Sometimes it is hard to say goodbye, especially when it’s time for one of your favorites to leave. Cows leave for a variety of reasons, and not all of them leave the farm and go straight to the locker. We trade herd bulls regularly to prevent problems with inbreeding. We sell “old lady” cows that are close to the end of their baby-making years to other farms and replace them with younger heifers.
We don’t tolerate mean or aggressive cows on our farm, so we usually sell those to someone who doesn't mind dealing with them. There are lots of new hellos, and lots of goodbyes!
If you pay attention to our photos, you may have noticed that many of our cows have a personalized name tag in their ear. We typically only name our heifer (girl) cows that will spend many years on our farm. We give these girls what they need to reproduce safely and efficiently once a year (which they would also do “out in the wild”!). Their job on our farm is to reproduce and care for their babies until they are weaned, not to produce the high-quality beef like our feed lot animals do. We sometimes do get more attached to these girls since they are with us for so long!
Our feed lot animals are identified with a number instead of a name. They are fed to make high-quality, great tasting beef. Sometimes it's hard to see one go, but we sure do love a top-of-the-line, corn-fed to tenderness, flavorful steak, don't you?