A Year on the Farm

Ephraim Benkendorf

My primary goal is to make sure the beef you eat has been fed and developed in the healthiest way possible. I firmly believe that our cattle eat & live healthier than 90% of the people in the U.S.

Let’s go through a year at BF Farms & talk about the groceries our beeves get. In February of each year, we plant oat grass, a very unique forage, in that our cows use it for grazing as well as hay, and get this, it can also be used as fertilizer! Yes, when a lush, grass crop is turned back into the soil, it becomes green manure. Then what is planted next, will be healthier.

Then in early spring, we start planning & planting our summer crops which include sorghum Sudan, teff grass, Red River crabgrass, and perennial Bermuda grass, bluestem, etc. We also plant native forbs such as alfalfa & peas. Bindweed grows naturally in our fields. Cattle & sheep love bindweed. Both it & alfalfa have very deep roots & bring up valuable minerals that supply great flavor to your meat. Keep in mind that we plant more than our animals can eat. We harvest these remaining, nutritious crops for hay to be used in winter and during drought.

While all this is happening, there’s another 700 acres that we’re getting ready for our fall & winter forage. When possible, we like to keep our cattle on green forage year around. Our winter crops consist primarily of rye grass and wheat grass. Sometimes we throw in turnips, Austrian winter peas & radishes. The cattle really like these things. It’s like dessert to them! You can see that our animals are exposed to a smorgasbord of grasses & forbs at all times.

Before you eat your next Thanksgiving dinner, we’re preparing the soil to plant oat grass in February.

Then it’s time to start all over for the following year!

Ephraim