What does lifetime grass fed mean?
The cattle raised at Lake Pleasant Ranch are lifetime grass-fed. This means that they are never fed corn, grain, beet pulp or any feed other than grass, forbs or alfalfa hay. Lifetime grass fed refers to the fact that for the entire life cycle of the animal they graze on pasture grass from when it emerges in the spring to until the growth season is over in the fall. In the winter months the cattle eat stockpiled grass and alfalfa hay.
The grass-fed label is not tightly regulated. Cattle are natural foragers, so the term grass-fed does not necessarily mean the animal was exclusively raised on grass. Only if you know the source of your beef, will you be able to know for certain that you are getting what you expect. Lake Pleasant Ranch’s philosophy is to raise animals as lifetime grass-fed.
What type of veterinary care do your cattle receive?
What we do:
Responsible animal husbandry includes veterinary care. Raising cattle in a natural environment does not mean this important aspect is neglected. All our animals receive vaccinations based on veterinary advice, to prevent disease and death. Vaccinations are necessary to prevent common diseases or protect animals from things like anthrax, which naturally occurs in the environment. We do two forms of parasite control to prevent problems like liver flukes and lice. As ranchers we care about the animals and their wellness and that is what drives these decisions.
Occasionally an animal in our herd might need a dose of therapeutic antibiotics to save their life. This is not typical. The use of antibiotics is rare on our farm. If an animal in our herd receives antibiotics it is not sold to the public.
What we don’t do:
Because our philosophy is to raise cattle as close as natural and humanely as possible, at Lake Pleasant Ranch animals do not get growth hormones. Growth hormones do not benefit the animal.
We don’t give our animals a low-dose regimen of antibiotics, which is general practice in most feed lots.
Are you certified organic?
Lake Pleasant Ranch is not certified organic. The main reason is that there is a lot of cost in becoming certified organic and we would then have to pass on that cost to our customers.
We believe that the consumer can be discerning instead of blindly trusting a certified organic label. We ranch the way we believe is right and try to be as transparent as possible so consumers can make a well educated decision on where their beef is sourced from.
Wherever you buy your beef, do your research, and know where its coming from so you can trust it.
