Grass Fed Cattle: How to Produce and Market Natural Beef

Grass-Fed Cattle: How to produce and market natural beef

Explore the wide range of topics covered in my book, Grass Fed Cattle, by browsing through the Table of Contents below. Or follow the link to go back to the book overview to read the reviews.


    PART ONE: The Fundamentals of Grass-Based Beef


  1. The Great Herds and Their Grasslands

    2. The Ticking of Geologic Time • The Great Herds • Lessons from the Herd

  2. Genetics and Breeding: Selecting the Right Animals for Your Herd

    3. The Pitfalls of Single-Trait Selection • Environment and Climate • Characteristics of the Ideal Breeding Animal • Culling Animals: Training Your Predatory Eye • Breeding for Your Target Market

  3. The Cattle Year on Grass

    4. The Calving Season and Predator Exposure • The Calf: Birth to Sexual Development • The Heifer Calf: Sexual Development to Calving • Photoperiod: Sunlight and Fertility • The Bull Calf: Sexual Development to Breeding • Cattle Processing: The Human Role in the Cattle Year • Marketing Grass Fed Cattle • Moving the Calving Season

  4. Grass and Grazing

    5. The Rumen: The Forge that Turns Grass into Beef • Root Reserves and the Ideal Grazing Interval • A Recipe for Healthy Soil • Grass Varieties • Rejuvenating Old Pastures


    PART TWO: Infrastructure and Management


  5. Electric Fences and Rotational Grazing

    6. Factors to Consider • Energizers • Permanent Wires • Posts and Braces • Insulators • Permanent Gates • Portable Electric Fencing • Training Cattle to Respect Electric Fences • Understanding the Goals of Pasture Rotation • Pasture Rotation: Herd Migration in Your Own Backyard • Training the Herd for Pasture Moves • Managing the Calving Season on Pasture

  6. Livestock Water

    7. How Much Water Do Cattle Need to Drink? • Peak Water Supply • Water Quality • Direct Access to Open Water • Pumping Water • Water Storage • Piping Water • Cattle Behaviour at the Water Trough • Rotational Grazing Patterns and Water • Laying Pipe • Winter-Grazing Patterns and Water • Watershed Conservation: Managing Riparian Areas

  7. Planning for Winter Grazing

    8. Winter Grazing: The Twelve-Month Plan • Supplementation and Forage Analyses • Low-Cost Winter Feed for the Transition to Winter Grazing

  8. Planning for Drought

    9. A History Lesson • Preparing a Drought Plan

  9. Managing Your Herd

    10. Integrated Herd Management • Low-Stress Handling

  10. Pests, Parasites, and Diseases

    11. The Mechanisms of Disease • Preventing Disease • Specific Diseases, Pests, and Parasites • Making Healthy Soil for Healthy Animals • Complementary Grazing Species

  11. Soil Fertility

    12. The Importance of Soil Analyses • What Does the Cow Think of Soil Fertility? • How Healthy Soil and Grass Work • Calcium and Magnesium Revisited: Proper Ratios are Critical • Organic Matter, Humus, and Nitrogen • The Scoop on Macronutrients • And a Pinch of Micronutrients

  12. Weeds

    13. What Is a Weed? • Variety Is All • When and Why Certain Plants Emerge • Quick Fixes Versus Long-Term Solutions • Educate Yourself, Then Put Your Cattle to Work • Weeds to Remedy Nutrient Deficiencies

  13. Soil Moisture and Irrigation

    14. Decreasing Evaporation • Reducing Runoff • Increasing Water Infiltration • Take Responsibility for Water • The Disadvantages of Irrigation • Calculating Your Irrigation Needs


    PART THREE: Business Planning and Marketing


  14. Land and Equipment

    15. Acquiring Land for your Natural, Grass-Based Cattle Enterprise • Equipment

  15. Market Options

    16. Commodity-Market Opportunities • Niche-Market Opportunities • Determining Your Target Market • Three Case Studies

  16. Stocker Cattle

    17. The Cattle Cycle • Sell/Buy Economics • Stocker Logistics

  17. Grass-Finished Beef

    18. The Art of Grass-Finishing • The Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Beef • Lessons from the Slaughterhouse • Cutting and Wrapping • Inspections • Pricing Your Meat • Pickup and Delivery • Cooking Grass-Fed Beef

  18. Organic Certification

    19. Seeking Certification After the Transition • Headaches of the Certification Process • Choosing the Best • Solving the Most Common Challenges

  19. Dynamic Marketing

    20. Developing a Profile of Your Target Customers • Demystifying Product Labels • Your Advertising Strategy and Label • Market Exposure

  20. Helpful Business-Management Tools

    21. Importance and Urgency • Getting the Biggest Bang for your Buck • Weighing Decisions, Solving Problems, and Handling Crises • 10 Percent Chance, 90 Percent Work • Your Unfair Advantage


    PART FOUR: Your Business Plan: Putting Principles into Practice


  21. Your Goals and Market Opportunities

    22. Your Business Plan • Starting with Goals • Your Goals • Assessing Your Market Environment

  22. Your Financial Plans

    23. Determining the Focus of Your Business • Conscious Profit Planning • Determining the Price of Your Direct-Marketed Beef

  23. Your Cattle Year on Grass

    24. Planning the Ideal Cattle Year on Grass

  24. Your Grazing Infrastructure

    25. Planning for Your Herd's Water Requirements • Preparing Your Farm Map • Piping Water

  25. Your Grazing Plan

    26. Your Summer-Grazing Plan • Your Winter-Grazing Plan: Managing the Grass Reserve • The Winter Grazing Map

  26. Your Herd Nutrition Plan

    27. Developing Your Herd Nutrition Program • Procuring Samples for Forage Analyses • What the Livestock Nutritionist Needs to Know • Locating a Livestock Nutritionist • Formulating Supplements and Monitoring BCS

  27. Your Grass-Finishing Plan

    28. Grass-Finishing Essentials • Slaughterhouse Considerations

  28. Your Marketing Plan

    29. Developing Profiles of Your Target Customers • Designing Your Product Label • Formulating an Advertising Strategy

  29. Planning for Adversity

    30. Drought • Financial Preparedness • Crisis Management

  30. Planning for Change

    31. Committing to the Change • Plan Thoroughly • Moving the Calving Season • Turning on Your Herd's Migration • Switching to Winter Grazing • Making Additional Changes


Grass Fed Cattle

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