Do You Use Antibiotics On Your Cows?
Supply chain. Big meat. Natural food. Organic food. Raw food. Clean food.
And on and on…
These days, there are so many labels on foods that it can be difficult to figure out what it all means! Even if you’re looking at “regular” meat or milk, the label probably says “raised without antibiotics” or “no hormones”.
I can’t really tell you what all of those labels mean. But I can tell you what I know about OUR cows and the way that we produce our beef.
In this post, I’ll tackle the question of antibiotics on our farm.
One of the most common questions that I’m asked is this: “Do you use antibiotics on your cows?”
The short answer is this: NO, we don’t use antibiotics on our cows!
You can feel confident about the quality of our beef, as well as feel good about what you are feeding your family. Our cows are happy and healthy here on their “native” pasture, without the use of antibiotics.
Read on for the longer answer…
Traditional beef starts out as a calf on a farm. As the calf gets larger, it is typically sold at a livestock auction to another producer/farmer. That farmer will buy cattle of a certain size and raise them all together on his property to a larger size. Then, the cattle are sold again at auction to a feed-lot where they are combined with even more animals from all over the country. Often, the animals are confined to a smaller area (not necessarily without fresh air and pasture) and fed grains to “finish” them for processing. Usually, a vet is on-site to monitor herd health.
Let’s think about this situation and where antibiotics come in. First, the calf is removed from its native herd and mixed with animals from other herds. This is similar to sending our kids to school — when one kid comes to school already sick (maybe his parents didn’t know he had a cold coming on!), it quickly spreads to other kids! The same thing happens with the calves as they mix with others that aren’t from the same herd— pre-existing illnesses spread. Unfamiliar microorganisms that the calf’s immune system has not been exposed to are introduced which may cause illness that diminishes animal growth.
The farmer may call the vet or maybe he will just have all the animals supplement their diet with a feed containing low-level doses of antibiotics to help the animals stay healthy. When the cows get larger and go to the feed-lot, the same thing happens again: mixing with more unfamiliar animals, and in a confined space, leads to more minor illnesses that affect the health and quality of the beef. The on-site vet is there to make sure the herd stays as healthy as possible. This includes the use of approved antibiotics in the grain feed, as well as isolating and dosing any seriously ill animals as needed.
While many people feel that this can’t be healthy for a person to eat, it is actually the best way to keep a mixed-herd healthy… illnesses that affect meat production would be rampant without the use of antibiotics.
BUT, as I said, we do NOT use antibiotics on our cows!
Why? Because we don’t need to!
Remember the first stage of the traditional meat supply? When a calf gets sold to a mid-sized farm with animals from other herds? That’s when problematic illnesses appear— when animals meet other animals from other properties.
We don’t sell our calves to other farmers, nor do we buy calves from other farms. All of our cows were born here, and they spend their entire lives on our farm. They don’t mix with animals from other herds. And having our own generational herd means we don’t have diseases introduced from outside… which means we don’t need to use antibiotics to keep our herd healthy!
So, when you buy meat from us, you can be sure you’re getting beef that is raised as naturally as possible, and in a way that keeps our cows happy and healthy, without substances that make you wonder if it’s good for you!
Still have questions? Send me an email: summer@thefarmsathickoryflat.com