Beat the Process

[BIGNASTY]

Got to think right to be a 12 year old farm boy for ever!!! :-laf

BEAT THE PROCESS!!!!!

LIVE YOUNG be YOUNG



http://www.distinctlymontana.com/montana-health/aging-brilliantly

 

[jhenderson]

I'll try to remember all those. At 55 a lot of people think I'm too old to go to work in the woods each day. I tell them what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. The folks I admire most all stayed young until they quit working hard each day. It seems they thought they were to old.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Im sorry but I don't remember the person on this site that said, I stay as young as I do by working as hard as I do. That rang home on my little brain and have stayed hard at it sense he wrote that. Thank you who ever you were, 60 isn't that old im finding out building these 2 homes im outlasting some of the younger guys that are helping out.

 

[Tractorat]

Ill be 65 next year. I didnt even notice 60. When I turned 30 and the world didnt end, I realized that age is just a word. Maybe someday, when I grow up and become more mature, Ill have a different attitude. But until then,... ... ...

 

[BIGNASTY]

Recently had a lady at the market say something about how disgusting the meat looked, I agreed im sure glad that we can raise our own beef, pork, chicken and we hunt. Well its not often you find a person in MT that gets as ugly about hunting as she did, and why would you hunt if you have other animals to eat? Just because its the cleanest meat, most chemical free that is available. I asked for her web address and sent her this article its pretty well written and say's it like I SEE IT ANYWAY!!! We eat way to much chemically enhanced foods and process all the goodness out of the Styrofoam look-a-likes that we do eat. Staying fit is only one part of the equation, what you stuff down you neck is the other part. I think its NY that is having a fit over soft drinks? Gee I cant understand why when you see a young person maybe 10 years old that weighs as much as two 10 year olds should RE-FILLING his 44oz cup of syrup.



http://www.distinctlymontana.com/montana-hunting/why-i-eat-meat



She sent an E-Mail back and said she was going to try some wild game meat from a friend. A week later she sent me another that it was the best of the best, and Thanked me for telling her about it.

 

[moparguy]

She sent an E-Mail back and said she was going to try some wild game meat from a friend. A week later she sent me another that it was the best of the best, and Thanked me for telling her about it.

Well handled Sir.

 

[BIGNASTY]

She sent an E-Mail back and said she was going to try some wild game meat from a friend. A week later she sent me another that it was the best of the best, and Thanked me for telling her about it.



Well handled Sir.

mopar

I have had arguments with people about this so many times that its just not worth the time, this is how I elect to handle it, if they want (like this lady did) they can give it a try, and if not it didn't even cost the price of a stamp or cost of a phone call. I just found it odd that, she a person that lives on the fringe of wilderness like we do around here, found hunting such a terrible thing. Probably has no problem with suffocating a fish thou.



Wife said I have grown! you didn't get that one in a headlock and wrestle her to the floor to get your point across. :-laf

 

[HHhuntitall]

BIG, my favorite is when people are eating at my table and commenting on how lean the "beef" is. "It must be farm raised!!" Yep. Later, the conversation will turn to hunting and they'll usually say something about how they don't like wild meat and how "gamey" it tastes..... my wife's friends, usually. I love to smile and just comment, "You sure didn't have any problem eating enough of it for lunch?!?!" I always get a kick out of that.....

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

Ahhh... The memories of being raised as a poor child Raised on only meat (deer, elk, bum lamb, mutton, beef, pork, or turkey) and potatoes!! Poor me!!



I had no idea of where the McDonald's crap came from... :-laf:-laf Their 'taste' surely couldn't hold a candle to the critters that my family has raised, nurtured, named as pets, or hunted for food!



I have fond memories of playing around in the "gut pile" while still learning exactly what I was touching and how the particular organ kept it alive Blood pudding, 'Sweetbreads', liver & onions!! Ohhh, the punishment!! :-laf:-laf



I am still alive and kicking!! And I still prefer the taste of elk or deer over beef!!!



I remember giving a piece of antelope (AKA: 'stinky old goat') jerky to a guy that had never tasted it before. He told me that it was the best he ever had and asked for more. It wasn't the best I've made, but it sure does top the expensive crap you find in the store! :-laf

 

[jhenderson]

I don't understand people who think hunting is cruel, but will wolf down a beef steak. If slaughter houses had picture windows, there'd be a lot more vegetarians.

 

[HHhuntitall]

I don't understand people who think hunting is cruel, but will wolf down a beef steak. If slaughter houses had picture windows, there'd be a lot more vegetarians.

OHhhh, I don't know. Many people run their mouth about how it's cruel to eat animals, but have no problem stopping on their way home for a burger and fries..... (I'm not talking down to anyone, but it's funny, looking into the box from the outside... . ) It's easy for some to look down on something until it effects their stomach... . And mostly, none have ever been hungry enough to have to kill to eat. The way I grew up, we had to. We couldn't afford to buy meat in the store, not to mention it was never as good. We even ground our own wheat flour for a few years. The majority of people today have absolutely no idea how much work is involved just to make your own food. And I hope it never gets that bad, or many will starve to death!!! And I have no problems with vegetarians. That's their choice. And mostly, for our own health, we shouldn't eat as much red meat as we do, as a general society. I don't eat beef every day, myself. Mostly as it's that expensive.

And the majority don't appreciate what they have. They didn't have to do the work with their own hands, so they just take it for granted. I'm just ranting, but so many kids today are so incapable they'll starve to death if anything happens to their parents. Even people my own age, mid thirties, are mostly incapable of feeding themselves. Their parents didn't want them to have to work as hard as they did, but they failed to see that the labor built character and responsibility, as well as a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. How many people complain about how their jobs are monotonous and they just feel like they don't get anything done? Bah! Now I'll get off my box before someone knocks me off... .

Most of the people here feel similar, as what brings most of here is the pleasure of working on our own trucks, and doing something productive.

 

[BIGNASTY]

HH

I know what your saying when my Sister and her Hubby came out from VA to visit us she commented that you sure have a lot of animals, doesn't it get expensive to feed them? I took it as she knew that we raised them as food. Ya but the price difference isn't that much and the difference in quality is a great deal different. Penny asked what's for dinner in the AM as we sat eating Breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, milk that they were told its NOT store bought milk (some have a problem with that so we always tell them) My Sister said she would like some fried Chicken for dinner. At noon lunch was ham sandwiches on squaw bread with the works. When dinner time came around Penny told me to get her 3 chickens, I went to the barnyard Sister in tow, on the walk out she was commenting on how peaceful and serene our place was not any loud noises it was so relaxing. I thought to myself well its going to change pretty darn quick Grabbed up 3 chickens put them in the killing cones and lopped off their heads, OMG!!! how could you do that to your pets!!! Pretty easy the ones that look like these 3 are for eating the others are for eggs. She was horrified all the way into the house. What Penny did to them set her off even more!!! Sister didn't have any problems eating them thou. We were talking at dinner she said I guess I could live with the chickens but not the other animals. Well don't look now Sis you've been eating them all day long, not much on our table comes from the store from the bread to the butter the ham on your sandwich this afternoon and the bacon,sausage this AM was oinking a month ago out back.



After dinner she said that was the best fried chicken that she had ever eaten and thanked Penny. Gee sis think how fresh it was and what they were fed had ANYTHING to do with it?



I agree MR jhenderson

If people actually took a view of a slaughterhouse, most if not all would be eating bushes and berry's

 

[jhenderson]

A slaughter house is just the last link in the chain of factory farming. We buy from a few friends and now and again raise a beefer for ourselves. All of these animals have a quiet, stress free life right up till the end. I don't feel so good about myself when we buy store bought. Not good about what the animals ate or how they were treated. It's the same with wild game. If I do my job right, they never know what happened.

 

[BIGNASTY]

A slaughter house is just the last link in the chain of factory farming. We buy from a few friends and now and again raise a beefer for ourselves. All of these animals have a quiet, stress free life right up till the end. I don't feel so good about myself when we buy store bought. Not good about what the animals ate or how they were treated. It's the same with wild game. If I do my job right, they never know what happened.

As it should be,
For some reason our local butcher cant take animals away from our premise alive. We lead the beef under an overhang on the barn it is use to us being around it so its calm, I cant do it!!!!!! so the wife gets a pretty good sized Ball Peen hammer from my tool box. Feels around on the animals forehead and there is a soft spot that she aims for, and smacks the beef with the hammer. She does it in a way that it never seen it coming ITS OUT BEFORE IT EVEN STARTS TO WOBBLE, strings its hind legs up and hoists it off the ground and slits its neck and it pumps the blood out into a stainless bucket. She and her family eat blood sausage I WONT EAT IT, ITS NASTY LOOKING STUFF TO ME.

Hunting that is why I wont use a bow and arrow, I have heard all the stories and I know that the equipment is far better today than when I made this decision to use only a gun of proper power. Even when they are arrowed they know that something is JUST NOT RIGHT?? so the adrenalin starts to flow and taints the meat IMO. When I hit them with a 338 rifle slug it breaks BOTH shoulders and the Neck, Spine connection INSTANTLY im quite sure that they don't feel a thing like you say.

 

[HHhuntitall]

Well, now hang on a minute... . Factory farming? There is something to that, but lets look at the situation a little bit first..... The cows live free range the majority of their lives, nursing their mothers until about 9 months of age, usually. Then they go either wheat grazing or a feed lot. Wheat grazing is like free range, only it's on cultivated land. The majority of beef in the SouthWest is grazed on wheat 3-6 months, and THEN sent to a feedlot. The feedlots are smaller pens, depending on the operation, and they are fed a high protein and fat diet that makes them grow quickly. That's the worst part of their life, the last 30-90 days. In the worst conditions, they're kept in small pens, full of manure and mud. Usually, and with the increasing value of the animal, the calves are taken better care of today, again, especially here in the Southwest. Larger pens are kept cleaner to keep the animals healthy and gaining weight. The worst thing here is the feed ration of genetically modified corn and other grains, as well as any antibiotics that are given to keep the animals healthy. I used to "ride" yearlings when I was in college, as I had done it for years for my father. The difference for this larger operation was that the first thing we did was unload the animals off a truck, ear tag them, and then shoot them full of a slow release antibiotic and hormones. Females are given a hormone to slough any calves they may be carrying, and then they are turned out on wheat and I had to ride through them and check on them almost every day. I had almost 5,000 head of steers one winter, and it was so wet they were sleeping on the terraces to stay out of the water. My saddle literally rotted from all the rain, and I lost several head from sickness, as it stayed wet for then ENTIRE 3 months I was there. My boss was PO'ed I lost that many, I can't remember, I think around 45 or so died. But of all his neighbors, I lost fewer than anyone. But I was sick for over a month, and couldn't take a day off. My horses were even sick!!! I lost my arse on that deal, as I had to buy a new saddle and had medical bills for myself. But for the slaughterhouses, they only knock 'em in the head and butcher the meat. There is very little time spent by the cattle on site. They're hauled in and killed that day. And when they're killed depends on how much they've gained and the size of the carcass as it hangs on the rails. Some genetics don't grow as well as others, and some grow too fast, as the feedlot doesn't like it when they have to ship the calf before the feeding regime is not finished, as they can't charge the paying customers for the entire period and allotment of feed. Simmental is one breed that grows too fast and converts the feed too efficiently. I repeatedly hear how slaughterhouses hate them, because the carcass is too big to hang off the floor... ... My thought is: Kill them quicker!! But that would short change the feedlot..... so, it gets back to the money... ... Which is why they do it to begin with.



The packing industry (slaughterhouses) controls over 90% of the market and do it with just three corporations, Tyson(formerly IBP Beef), Excel (owned by Carghill Ind. ), and Swift(formerly ConAgra). A recent large packer conglomerate that's appeared as well is Farmland National Beef, a cooperative that recently sold 79% of it's corporate shares to a New York company (Leucadia National Corp) for $868Million..... But realize that roughly 94% of all beef sold in the USA is processed through one of these companies... ...



I went to the cattlemen's ball last winter, and currently, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico are producing 30% of the nation's total. One of our primary concerns is the government involvement regarding source tracking. They want to know where the cattle are coming from, so they can track diseases like Mad Cow (which, I'd like to add, hasn't been in an American born cow in over 10 years... . most of these diseases we hear about on the news originate from Mexico or Canada. ) Government involvement means we are going to have to invest a considerable amount of money to meet their mandates, and that translates to the end consumer... .

 

[BIGNASTY]

HH

This is the worst part of what you wrote,

The worst thing here is the feed ration of genetically modified corn and other grains, as well as any antibiotics that are given to keep the animals healthy. I used to "ride" yearlings when I was in college, as I had done it for years for my father. The difference for this larger operation was that the first thing we did was unload the animals off a truck, ear tag them, and then shoot them full of a slow release antibiotics and hormones. Females are given a hormone to slough any calves they may be carrying,



I don't know JACK about raising beef for Profit that is my Son and FIL's deal, they don't raise beef for MASS CONSUMPTION they raise grass fed beef, that are fed GRASS YEAR ROUND. I have participated in the building of 3 large grass storage barns this year, and at the rate that there selling the beef to specialty outlets and restaurants I THINK THAT MORE ARE IN THE WORKS FOR NEXT SPRING. The antibiotics and hormones you speak of are to prevent sickness in the animals and MAKE THEM GROW FASTER, it takes about 2 years for a beef from their herd to come to maturity, way to slow for commercial beef, there are a growing number of people and business's that will pay for the better quality beef IMO and I guess theirs. Our beef (FIL and Son) lead a pretty good life for the 2 years they are free to roam the land and do as they please, they are contained in VERY LARGE pen's they move them from pasture to pasture to prevent over grazing the pasture and let it regrow. I have also been privy to providing the best in water for the animals year round, they don't drink from some nasty watering pond. The water was mostly done to provide water without having to break ice in winter cattle eating snow for water in not a real good thing from what im told, again im no cattlemen im just a guy that builds and looks for ideas for the family members that do know what is going on.

http://www.frostfreenosepumps.com/index.html



This is why I kind of laugh at the comment that a 12 year old farm boy can do this!!!!!! Im sorry but I think that maybe it would take a 15 year old farm boy AT THE VERY LEAST.



The point that im trying to get around to is that commercial beef production is like living in a slum as compared to these and I CAN TASTE THE DIFFERENCE. Our beef are looked at just as any are for health concerns and some are shot with antibiotics to CURE a problem and kept away from the rest until the problem has been taken care of. They are NOT and CAN NOT legally have hormones used AT ANYTIME in their lives and be sold under the title of Organic Grass Fed Beef, even the grass they eat has to be ORGANICALLY grown and Proof provided.



The old saying YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!!! I think is true.



Proof is looking at us all the time, its been said on this site that young girls sure didn't look like they do now when I was young. Well they eat not only Beef but Most of our food chain that has been modified to produce a FASTER GROWING (Hormones) and if looked at LESS nourishing product. If you want I can provide info on that as a FACT. Everything good that WAS in our food has been PROCESSED out just in the name of production.



I have gone to some cattle operations around the state and most are not pen raised, some may use more antibiotics and hormones I don't know. But ive been also to places like Ogallala Nebraska Feed lots, I will eat our beef thank you!!!

 

[BIGNASTY]

Correction on the above talked to FIL the animals are never given antibiotics or hormones, they can be given Vaccines but must be recorded and not within a certain amount of time before slaughter.


SORRY

 

[jhenderson]

Feedlot to slaughterhouse is exactly what I was writing about. Awfull way to treat an animal.

 

[HHhuntitall]

Correction on the above talked to FIL the animals are never given antibiotics or hormones, they can be given Vaccines but must be recorded and not within a certain amount of time before slaughter.





SORRY

Yep, we don't give ours anything but vaccines, unless they actually get sick, and then it's on a minimalistic approach. We only give vaccines that are relevant to this geographic area, and that's a 7way "blackleg". The mother cows are given wormer on an annual basis, and that's the only chemicals these cows see, unless they're by the highway or happen to crawl through the fence and get in my yard..... I had one die recently, and I couldn't figure out what happened to her. She looked like she had chronic wasting disease or hardware, which is when they eat rusty metal and it perforated one of their stomachs... . I tried various treatments, but there was no improvement over a period of 3-4 months. After she died, I moved the carcass and after it's decomposed some, as the buzzards wouldn't even eat it, it has a faint diesel smell coming from the carcass..... I had a catch pan with diesel in it in my yard where I had been working on a truck. It was covered, but the next morning it's turned over and dumped. Sometime one evening, one of them crawled through the fence or jumped the cattleguard, and I had thought they had just turned it over... . apparently she drank it. Cows are not smart animals, I've found. She was a nuisance about crawling through fences, but she raised a calf every year for the last 6 years, was gentle to handle in the pens, and generally stayed pretty well fleshed, indicating a good forage conversion genetic..... but she took care of herself... .



Anyway, getting back to hormones, those are poor substitutes for genetics, in my humble opinion. Typically, a good genetic bloodline will do just as good on feed as a calf getting hormones that has poor genetics... . The louding for Angus beef is ironic, given their poor forage conversions and weight gain... . They make a good cross breed for durability and maternal instincts, but overall, I feel it's a poor bloodline. Brangus is only slightly better, and the French breeds, while good feed convertors, are horrible in temperament and intelligence... . The best bloodlines I've seen in the hot Southwest is Simmental, Charolaise, and Limousine, not counting various crossbred herds. Another irony on certified Angus beef is that the cattle only have to be a percentage of black to be considered "Angus. " I've had countless calves sold at auction that are again sold as "Angus" beef, but there isn't a drop of Angus blood in any of them.....

Feedlot to slaughterhouse is exactly what I was writing about. Awfull way to treat an animal.

In most instances, yes. But that is corporate controlled, beyond the average producer's control. I have no say in how they are treated, unless I feed them out myself and haul them directly to the slaughterhouse. They pay poorly in that market. Very poorly. I'd lose money to sell them that way, and I can't do that, so they go to auction, where they go to wheat or feedlot... ... Gotta feed the beast. People want to eat, same as animals. I will say, here in the USA, the USDA has the HIGHEST guidelines of ANY NATION ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!!! Even people that sneak in under the radar when the inspector isn't there have a cleaner standard than any where else in the world. IT'S THE SAFEST FOOD SUPPLY THAT HAS EVER BEEN ON THE PLANET IN MODERN HISTORY!! People find that hard to believe, but then, they haven't been around the world to see what other standards are, if any.



BIG's FIL is going the route many are, trying to find a healthier market. It's not easy, as USDA guidelines are not easy to follow and are costly. I can't sell you beef. I have to be a lisenced butcher/meat processor to sell you meat. I can sell you a living cow, but not processed beef. I've been selling a few, hauling them to the butcher for them. But they have to meet me there and tell the butcher how to cut it. I can't just drop it off. I'm not supposed to, anyway. I've got lots of interest in the idea, but not the facilities to implement it, at the moment. Straight grass fed beef is often not as good as grain fed beef, so I try to implement a mixed regimen, so the beef tastes better... I can only feed a few at a time, and the market is unpredictable, so I may have 10 I keep to feed out, and I may sell all ten in a day, and I may not sell all ten in a month... . And then I usually have to deliver to the processor, and that's a PITA. There is not a convenient butcher anywhere near that can kill and process. And I can't haul a carcass in to be processed and then sell it. It has to be alive. Until interest picks up, and I can find a better way to handle the animals, I'm not going to do much of it.

 

[BIGNASTY]

HH
Like I said I don't know JACK about cattle for profit, when we need beef at our house we talk to the wife's father and he points at the one we get. I don't know why he picks the particular animal, maybe its not built right or some other reason. But it was treated and fed just as the others were. Bottom line they look the same on my plate and I cant beat the cost :-laf:-laf

Now Pigs!!!!!! those are what I raise (for the family and friends) I like pork!!!! Just like beef they are all different in their breed characteristics, Sweet Pea is a sow that I can pick up her babies, but if someone else try's??? She's a 500lbs Duroc that can move like Carl Lewis. and she LOVES CHICKEN NUGGETS when the chicken forgets where its at. :-laf