Beef
Here at Three Forks Cattle Company, we make every effort to provide the public with the same great beef that we ourselves enjoy at our own dinner table or backyard grill. This process starts with careful genetic breeding selections to ensure the correct amount of marbling and tenderness from the start. Ample and proper nutrition is key to maintaining the health of the cattle so as to ensure our stance on No Added Antibiotics, Hormones, or Steroids as well as providing the conduit needed to retain the correct amount of marbling and tenderness. The process comes full circle with the ethical treatment of the cattle from start to finish coinciding with environmental stewardship.
The land provides the grass the cattle use as a staple in their diet, so we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the land to make certain that the land is able to provide for many generations to come. In addition to grass, the cattle receive a grain feed which is purchased from the local farmers cooperative store. This grain feed contains a mix of whole corn, cracked corn, corn gluten, cotton seed hulls, and some dried molasses. It is more commonly referred to as a "cow mix" since it is mainly used as a treat to entice the cows to come to the handling facility for vaccinations and weight recordings. When the cattle are given a treat and are not stressed by being driven to the handling facility by a number of people, they remain calmer and are easier to move around with just one person. Since the calves enter the handling facility alongside the cows they also obtain a taste for the cow mix and this makes for an easier adjustment when the time comes to wean the calves.
When the calves are weaned they are separated male from female and they begin eating more grass and no milk. The cow mix portion of the diet is slowly decreased and substituted with a different grain base feed for each sex that is formulated for the requirements of the calves to grow and remain healthy. The calves are not over fed, we have found that for our program that type of feeding causes more problems versus the benefits. The feeds are safely blended at a state-of-the-art feed mill in Tennessee that is a "Safe Feed Safe Food" certified facility. During the winter months when the grass is in hibernation or under snow the calves are given a grass hay silage that has been cut on our farms earlier during the year.
A humane and stress free environment is upheld for the cattle at all times. The use of electric prods is strictly forbidden and shouting "at" or "around" the cattle is prohibited. We believe the ethical treatment of the cattle is evident in the beef they produce. In keeping the mindset of a humane environment, cattle that do require the use of an antibiotic or a steroid are given what is required to restore the health of the cattle. The antibiotic or steroid is administered by a veterinarian or on the order of a veterinarian. When an animal receives an antibiotic or a steroid, the name of the antibiotic or steroid is recorded along with the date of administration, lot number, and animal identification number. This is done so we have a record of what has happened and so we can exclude that particular animal from making it to the beef program. The assurance of our stance on No Added Antibiotics, Hormones, or Steroids in the beef we eat does not mean we will prevent aid to a sick animal and risk the senseless death of the animal in order for it to potentially remain in the beef program, this is not in our nature.
