American prairie. What's the issue?

[antlerradar]

If I didn't hunt, we would get our meat from a family friend, who runs a completely free-range outfit on mostly private. That's where my parents and sister get there's.

How much of that gap in price for the producer could be made up by either streamlining the middleman, or eliminating him entirely?

I am all for people getting there meat from someone like your friend.

You can make up quite a bit of the price gap, maybe even come out ahead by getting rid of the middlemen, Problem is you are also adding in extra costs and time. Middlemen are pretty efficient and for many of us there is simply not enough days in the year to take on the extra work.

 

[antlerradar]

And if you try to put it in native pasture, that damn for sure, will not work. Native grasses suck for cattle.That is why they planted it all in brome.

I disagree with this. Big Blue stem, Little Blue stem, Idaho Fescue. Western Weatgrass, Green Needle Grass, Side Oats Grama and just about all of the other native spices make excellent cow food. People planted Smooth Brome and other non natives because they are cheap, easy to establish and readily available. It is also likely that non natives out compete the natives because many of the things that eat them besides cows are left across the Atlantic.
In the Sixty's the forest service plowed up 1000s of acres of native range land and planted it in a pasture mix in an effort to improve forage production. The pasture mix contained Smooth Brome and the Brome out competed all of the other spices. Now it is almost a mono culture of brome. It might have seamed like a good idea at the time, but it proved to be a disaster. If I could get rid of all of the Brome in my pasture and replace it with natives, I would in an instant

 

[R.K.]

And if you try to put it in native pasture, that damn for sure, will not work. Native grasses suck for cattle.That is why they planted it all in brome.

Native grasses are damn good forage, and can provide more biomass and nutrition per acre than most other plants you can run cattle on. The problem is they cannot handle the sustained pressure of continuous grazing by cattle, which is also a selective grazing model- that’s why brome and fescue became mainstays. It was replaced because farmers could fence off a parcel and turn the cows out for several months without it turning into pure mud, where the native grass would die if grazed down to the ground. Eastern gamagrass is damn near extinct in places because the cattle eat it first, and down to the roots. This was a solution to the situation they found themselves in.

The issue lies in managing grazing pressure on natives: reducing selective grazing, leaving adequate stubble for the plants to recover, and giving it enough time to rest and recover.

The native grasses evolved with bison and their grazing habits. If you utilize mob grazing/AMP grazing to mimic those habits, with only a day or two of high-density grazing, while leaving adequate stubble (8-10” for tall grass species) and adequate days to recover, you can get double the animal use days from a pasture annually, with healthier grass at the end, sustained for years. There is a growing body of evidence for this method, both academic and practical, to produce high-quality cattle on just native grass.

 

[Slam]

Native grasses are damn good forage, and can provide more biomass and nutrition per acre than most other plants you can run cattle on. The problem is they cannot handle the sustained pressure of continuous grazing by cattle, which is also a selective grazing model- that’s why brome and fescue became mainstays. It was replaced because farmers could fence off a parcel and turn the cows out for several months without it turning into pure mud, where the native grass would die if grazed down to the ground. Eastern gamagrass is damn near extinct in places because the cattle eat it first, and down to the roots. This was a solution to the situation they found themselves in.

The issue lies in managing grazing pressure on natives: reducing selective grazing, leaving adequate stubble for the plants to recover, and giving it enough time to rest and recover.

The native grasses evolved with bison and their grazing habits. If you utilize mob grazing/AMP grazing to mimic those habits, with only a day or two of high-density grazing, while leaving adequate stubble (8-10” for tall grass species) and adequate days to recover, you can get double the animal use days from a pasture annually, with healthier grass at the end, sustained for years. There is a growing body of evidence for this method, both academic and practical, to produce high-quality cattle on just native grass.

AMEN

Checkout (Greg Judy Regenerative Rancher) on Youtube. At the macro level this is his approach. His Mission is "I grow grass, everything else follows" or something similar. He claims his operation pencils much better than the conventional approach. And requires less capital.

I buy locally produced grass fed beef (for the last 22 yrs), generally a half with hanging weights averaging ~ 500 lbs (@ $4.00 lb this yr.) That price includes processing. Assume 300 lbs processed my cost basis ~$6.67 lb. 21 days aging. Not wagu good but my family has been quite happy with the product.

 

[Straight Arrow]

The OP-ED linked below describes the opposition to AP as perceived by UPOM's Chuck Denowh. IMO, it is replete with myths such as marauding bison, economic downturn of region due to AP, and others you will recognize. Moreover, as stated previously the SAVE THE COWBOY campaign completely ignores AP's support of the cattle industry as reflected by thousands of cattle grazing on AP lands.

Chuck Denowh: BLM moves to save the cowboys by rejecting AP’s radical project

Unlike domestic cattle, bison are powerful, unpredictable animals that can breach fences and wander onto adjacent properties, damaging crops, infrastructure, and even posing safety hazards to humans, guest columnist Chuck

www.bozemandailychronicle.com