You may remember I shared with you that we are trying to get started selling Jersey beef. First, thanks to all of you who have reached out and shared your own experience, and who have offered help and tips to get us going! I’m happy to report that our first load of beef is ready to be picked up and we should be hitting our first Farmer’s Market in about a week.
To fill in the blanks, after my post, I contacted another butcher, The Royal Butcher, this time USDA-inspected, at the suggestion of several folks. He happened to have a spot open at the beginning of July, which at the time was almost two months out. I jumped at the chance and said yes! He is located about 90 miles from us, but you know what? That didn’t bother us too much. It’s kind of nice to take a drive and get away from the farm for a few hours.
We moved the steer, (I called him Tank), to be close by so we could give him and extra scoop of grain as well as the grass silage we feed in the barn. In the last month, he really filled out nicely. We also put a group of heifers that came from my older brother in the pen with him and it in a way became his own private harem. He seemed to become protective of his “ladies” and let you know it too! He really lived out the rest of his days in leisure and style.
The day before he was set to head down to the butcher, I thanked him and I snapped this picture of him. He’ll always be special in our memories as we head down this road.
We usually dehorn our calves, but somehow he ducked behind a hay bale or something and we missed him. We ended up letting the horns grow out so he was looking pretty formidable (and tall!) toward the end. Don’t let that fool you though. He was a big sweetie.
Farm Life Love 
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