Pettit Pastures December 2014
I have decided to start a monthly blog to keep people current on what is happening at the farm. In this first entry, I will give some background information about Pettit Pastures as well as a quick farm update.
Pettit Pastures is a small Grass fed beef farm located in Milaca, Minnesota. Pettit Pastures is owned and operated by myself (Jake Pettit), my wife (Lacey Pettit ), my mom (Alice Pettit ), and my dad (Tim Pettit).
We began raising Grass fed beef in 2012. From the start, we knew we wanted to raise Grass fed beef that was a healthy product for the consumer and at the same time was a benefit to the environment in which they are raised. To accomplish our goals, we decided to rotationally graze our cattle during the spring, summer, and fall. Rotational grazing means that we let our cows graze a small area, called a paddock, for one to four days and then move them on to another paddock. The cattle will not return to the grazed paddock until the plants have had a chance to fully recover. This system of grazing means that we always have grasses and plants in multiple stages of growth from a few inches to a few feet tall. This diversity helps the wildlife, prevents soil erosion, eliminates runoff, and stops over grazing. Our typical grazing season runs from the end of May until the middle of November.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.19.3″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.19.3″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_image src=”https://www.pettitpastures.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/dec-2014.jpg” _builder_version=”3.19.3″][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.19.3″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.3″]In the winter, we feed the cattle hay out in the pastures and fields. This serves two purposes. The first is that the cattle can move about as they naturally would instead of being locked in a barn or feed yard. The second is it lets the cattle more evenly spread their manure across the pastures where it provides valuable nutrients to the soil, instead of building up and becoming a pollution problem. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.19.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.19.3″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.3″]Today is Christmas Eve 2014. This is typically a cold and snowy day in Minnesota, but that is not the case this year. Although we had more than a foot of snow in November, it has all melted now. The last week has had above freezing temperatures and as the snow has melted away, the green grass underneath has started to show. In fact, the cattle have quit eating the hay bales and have gone back to grazing the grass. The farm has been running smoothly so far this winter. We haven’t had any problems with the water freezing up or the tractor not starting when we need to feed hay. All the cows are healthy and the calves are growing nicely. The calves are not weaned yet. We usually wean them at 10 months old, so that will be the beginning of March. Our beef has been selling better than expected. This is the first year we have been selling, so we were not sure how much demand there would be in the winter months. We harvested what we thought would be enough to last all winter, but we are already out of all steaks and roasts. We still have hamburger, hamburger patties, hot dogs, and beef jerky available. We do not harvest in the winter because we believe the cattle need to be consuming green and growing forage to get consistent quality Grass fed beef. Our next harvest date will be the end of June. We will start taking pre-orders for quarters, halves, and whole beeves in spring. From everyone at Pettit Pastures, we hope you have a safe and happy holiday season.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]