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Grass-fed cattle : how to produce and market natural beef / Julius Ruechel.

By: Ruechel, Julius.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: North Adams, Mass. : Storey Publishing, c2006Description: 372 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.ISBN: 1580176054 ; 9781580176057 .Subject(s): Cattle -- Feeding and feeds | Beef cattle | Dairy cattle | Ranching | Organic farmingDDC classification: 636.2
Contents:
Introduction -- Part One: The fundamentals of grass-based beef -- The great herds and their grasslands -- Genetics and breeding: Selecting the right animals for your herd -- The cattle year on grass -- Grass and grazing -- Part Two: Infrastructure and management -- Electric fences and rotational grazing -- Livestock water -- Planning for winter grazing -- Planning for drought -- Managing your herd -- Pests, parasites and diseases -- Soil fertility -- Weeds -- Soil moisture and irrigation -- Part Three: Business planning and marketing -- Land and equipment -- Market options -- Stocker cattle -- Grass-finished beef -- Organic certification -- Dynamic marketing -- Helpful business-management tools -- Part Four: Your business plan: Putting principles into practice -- Your goals and market opportunities -- Your financial plans -- Your cattle year on grass -- Your grazing infrastructure -- Your grazing plan -- Your herd nutrition plan -- Your grass-finishing plan -- Your marketing plan -- Planning for adversity -- Planning for change.
Summary: An authoritative reference on the environmentally responsible humane way to raise healthful beef, this manual addresses every aspect of raising grass-fed cattle, from pasture management to marketing.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Barcode
General lending MTU Bishopstown Library Lending 636.2 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00135034
General lending MTU Bishopstown Library Lending 636.2 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00135025
General lending MTU Bishopstown Library Lending 636.2 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00135026
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Successfully raise grass-fed cattle and enjoy the benefits of great-tasting beef and a financially stable enterprise. In this comprehensive guide, Julius Ruechel covers every aspect of raising healthy and thriving grass-fed cattle, offering advice on herd selection, pasture management, medical care, necessary equipment, winter grazing, slaughtering procedures, and more. With tips on creating a viable business plan and identifying niche markets for your beef, Ruechel provides everything you need to know to develop a profitable and environmentally sustainable grass-fed cattle operation.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 361-362) and index.

Introduction -- Part One: The fundamentals of grass-based beef -- The great herds and their grasslands -- Genetics and breeding: Selecting the right animals for your herd -- The cattle year on grass -- Grass and grazing -- Part Two: Infrastructure and management -- Electric fences and rotational grazing -- Livestock water -- Planning for winter grazing -- Planning for drought -- Managing your herd -- Pests, parasites and diseases -- Soil fertility -- Weeds -- Soil moisture and irrigation -- Part Three: Business planning and marketing -- Land and equipment -- Market options -- Stocker cattle -- Grass-finished beef -- Organic certification -- Dynamic marketing -- Helpful business-management tools -- Part Four: Your business plan: Putting principles into practice -- Your goals and market opportunities -- Your financial plans -- Your cattle year on grass -- Your grazing infrastructure -- Your grazing plan -- Your herd nutrition plan -- Your grass-finishing plan -- Your marketing plan -- Planning for adversity -- Planning for change.

An authoritative reference on the environmentally responsible humane way to raise healthful beef, this manual addresses every aspect of raising grass-fed cattle, from pasture management to marketing.

CIT Module AGRI 8007 - Core reading.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Foreword (p. ix)
  • Preface (p. x)
  • Acknowledgments (p. xii)
  • Introduction (p. 1)
  • Part 1 The Fundamentals of Grass-Based Beef (p. 5)
  • 1 The Great Herds and Their Grasslands (p. 6)
  • The Ticking of Geologic Time
  • The Great Herds
  • Lessons from the Herd
  • 2 Genetics and Breeding: Selecting the Right Animals for Your Herd (p. 18)
  • 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 (p. 33)
  • 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 (p. 56)
  • 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 2 Infrastructure and Management (p. 65)
  • 5 Electric Fences and Rotational Grazing (p. 66)
  • 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 (p. 86)
  • 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 Behavior 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 (p. 106)
  • Winter Grazing: The Twelve-Month Plan
  • Supplementation and Forage Analyses
  • Low-Cost Winter Feed for the Transition to Winter Grazing
  • 8 Planning for Drought (p. 127)
  • A History Lesson
  • Preparing a Drought Plan
  • 9 Managing Your Herd (p. 132)
  • Integrated Herd Management
  • Low-Stress Handling
  • 10 Pests, Parasites, and Diseases (p. 153)
  • The Mechanisms of Disease
  • Preventing Disease
  • Specific Diseases, Pests, and Parasites
  • Making Healthy Soil for Healthy Animals
  • Complementary Grazing Species
  • 11 Soil Fertility (p. 165)
  • 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 (p. 182)
  • 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 (p. 192)
  • Decreasing Evaporation
  • Reducing Runoff
  • Increasing Water Infiltration
  • Take Responsibility for Water
  • The Disadvantages of Irrigation
  • Calculating Your Irrigation Needs
  • Part 3 Business Planning and Marketing (p. 205)
  • 14 Land and Equipment (p. 206)
  • Acquiring Land for your Natural, Grass-Based Cattle Enterprise
  • Equipment
  • 15 Market Options (p. 211)
  • Commodity-Market Opportunities
  • Niche-Market Opportunities
  • Determining Your Target Market
  • Three Case Studies
  • 16 Stocker Cattle (p. 223)
  • The Cattle Cycle
  • Sell/Buy Economics
  • Stocker Logistics
  • 17 Grass-Finished Beef (p. 231)
  • 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 (p. 246)
  • Seeking Certification After the Transition
  • Headaches of the CertificationProcess
  • Choosing the Best
  • Solving the Most Common Challenges
  • 19 Dynamic Marketing (p. 251)
  • Developing a Profile of Your Target Customers
  • Demystifying Product Labels
  • Your Advertising Strategy and Label
  • Market Exposure
  • 20 Helpful Business-Management Tools (p. 262)
  • 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 4 Your Business Plan: Putting Principles into Practice (p. 267)
  • 21 Your Goals and Market Opportunities (p. 268)
  • Your Business Plan
  • Starting with Goals
  • Your Goals
  • Assessing Your Market Environment
  • 22 Your Financial Plans (p. 274)
  • Determining the Focus of Your Business
  • Conscious Profit Planning
  • Determining the Price of Your Direct-Marketed Beef
  • 23 Your Cattle Year on Grass (p. 295)
  • Planning the Ideal Cattle Year on Grass
  • 24 Your Grazing Infrastructure (p. 300)
  • Planning for Your Herd's Water Requirements
  • Preparing Your Farm Map
  • Piping Water
  • 25 Your Grazing Plan (p. 311)
  • Your Summer-Grazing Plan
  • Your Winter-Grazing Plan: Managing the Grass Reserve
  • The Winter Grazing Map
  • 26 Your Herd Nutrition Plan (p. 324)
  • 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 (p. 327)
  • Grass-Finishing Essentials
  • Slaughterhouse Considerations
  • 28 Your Marketing Plan (p. 331)
  • Developing Profiles of Your Target Customers
  • Designing Your Product Label
  • Formulating an Advertising Strategy
  • 29 Planning for Adversity (p. 334)
  • Drought
  • Financial Preparedness
  • Crisis Management
  • 30 Planning for Change (p. 344)
  • Committing to the Change
  • Plan Thoroughly
  • Moving the Calving Season
  • Turning on Your Herd's Migration
  • Switching to Winter Grazing
  • Making Additional Changes
  • Epilogue (p. 348)
  • Metric Conversion Chart (p. 349)
  • Glossary (p. 350)
  • Resources (p. 359)
  • Bibliography and Additional Readings (p. 361)
  • Index (p. 363)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Julius Ruechel spent three years converting his family's beef cattle ranch in British Columbia into a certified organic farm with grass-fed cattle and organic field crops. He then established his own grass-fed beef farm in Canada's Yukon Territory. He is the author of Grass-Fed Cattle and currently lives in British Columbia.