We find the same types of behaviors with our Hogs. They always group up and move together.  This is where being a Rancher has a tough learning curve.  For the longest time, if I had one animal out, I would run myself ragged chasing it around until I could get it back in the confinement area I wanted it in - sometimes to my detriment. 

One day, after a particularly hard two hours or so of chaos and animal-induced aerobic exercise, I had an ingenious idea. I went up to the hill and let all the other Hogs out from the escapee’s pen! Man, you’d have thought I'd lost my mind (our Ranch hands certainly did). What happened next was awesome.  The penned Hogs joined up immediately with the escapee Hog and all of them acted as a giant herd.  We worked for about 3 minutes to move the now co-joined group back to “safety” (as they saw it) within the confines of the electric fence.

Now, as a matter of procedure, when I have one Cow or Hog out, I let all of them out, and herd them back in as a group – it works miraculously.

In the video above you will notice some of our Free-Range Hogs in the foreground. The Cattle in the background were absent one hour before this video was taken and the Hogs were hiding out near some pine trees as they typically do; but, when the Cows came around, the Hogs came out in the open and began grazing.  It was as natural as you could imagine – they just wanted to act as a herd.

We have found, oddly enough, that this type of behavior and social interaction is enormously necessary for proper animal health and nutrition.  To stay at optimal health, the animals need to feel protected, calm and at peace with their environment.  This creates the best tasting, most flavorful and delicious meat for two reasons:

First, healthy animals have no need for conventional medicine – something that has a tremendous impact on meat flavor.

Second, healthy animals are not in a constant state of stress and therefore have very little adrenaline in their systems. Animals in confinement, particularly Hogs living on concrete, have continually tense muscles which results in a horribly tough meat texture.

   
Herd animal behavior is kind of a funny thing…they do stuff we don’t normally associate with domestic animals. 
  For example, I will often see our bulls hovering near a fence line, only to find the Cows and Heifers on the other side.  Now, you might think to yourself, “Hey, that used to happen in High school, quite often,” but we’re not talking romance here. 
 
No, for the most part Bovines of both the Male and Female type aren’t really interested in each other until about the time of the Female's estrus cycle – they are sort of no-nonsense kinds of lovers and just associate at exactly the right time in order to get the job done, then he is typically off to see the next lady…a real player. So, in a sense, it might have been like high school, but I digress….

Anyway, what my Cattle were doing that day was just herding up together. No females were in heat, so the Bulls typically wouldn’t be interested.  They simply wanted to be together as a herd, fence or not. You can see this in the photo above - our Bulls have 15 acres, the Cows have 40 and they are all grouped up next to eachother at the edge of each acrage.

SonRise Ranch Grass fed and finished beef shank is particularly good for the following reasons;

• Shanks contain bone marrow, something the ancients called “bone brains”. Archeologists have discovered that peoples of antiquity actually broke bones in order to acquire the marrow. With such primitive tools and limited time, they expelled the energy to gather this valuable nutrient – why? Could it be because it was a rich resource of nutritional density?
• Bone marrow from grass-fed and finished beef has higher density of CLAs, Omega-3 fats and Beta-carotene. Cattle given grain for as little as two days had up to 50% less of these beneficial compounds than truly grass-fed and finished beef.
• Bone marrow has exception flavor and adds to the delightful taste of the beef shanks.

             ​Prep time – 15 mins                                    Cook time – 4 to 6 hours

• We generally recommend at least one beef shank per person.
• Plenty of root vegetables such as carrots, parsnip, potatoes, tomatoes and beans that tend to soak in most of the broth and in exchange add flavor to the sauce.
• Beef bone broth made with SonRise Ranch Bones, you can add a splash wine as well. Whatever you choose you need enough to cover the beef shanks by at least two-thirds. 
• Garlic, Onion, Spices such as smoked Spanish paprika, mild Chile powder, curry powder. Be cautious of salt content as the sauce reduces the concentration of salt will become more intense.
• A good high quality, unfiltered, organic olive oil.

I can't tell you how many times I've been asked, "So, what do I get in my CSA?"

The has answer is always the same... I don't know - until now!

Let me explain,

When we butcher a beef, we receive a certain distribution of various cuts of meat. I won't go into detail, but you can be sure I get plenty of ground beef and very few filet mignon steaks. I have always joked that I would someday love to raise a steer that is nothing but steaks, but I assure you that animal would be a hideous looking, non-functioning creature.

​God designed them a certain way for a good reason. ​

Not having a ton of steaks is a blessing in disguise, as it forces me to explore cuts that our grandparents enjoyed. 

Some years ago, I had the privilege of personally meeting a great chef. He introduced me to the world of "other cuts" in a dish made with beef shank. I had no idea this cut of meat (which we used to just boil because it was so tough) could be so flavorful if cooked properly. This was a turning point in my life, when a Rancher began to really appreciate the ART of cooking and the talent of a good chef, dedicated to his trade.

Here at SonRise we evenly distribute the cuts in each CSA from an entire beef - thus the share sizes of 7 and 14 lbs respectively. Each pre-made CSA, the ones where we choose the items, is a fractional, even distribution of ground, sausage, roasts, steaks and other ancillary cuts from a whole beef.

So, the other day, I had a thought. Couldn’t some of our customers, who want to choose their CSA items do so, based upon our current inventory - thus creating their own, self designed CSA?

And so began our latest creation - the Custom CSA. 

After hours of programming and work, we are now able to offer a CSA monthly shipment to our subscribers that allows them to choose the items they want in their CSA. This is an amazing feat for a small ranch, but we did it! 

The custom CSA is available in Full or Half Share, and requires a 6 month commitment, but, the consumer saves a ton of money, and runs no risk of being disappointed - since each item in the box is chosen by them.

When the customer signs up, we send them an email notification each month that opens their CSA fulfillment period during which they have a one week window to customize their order. If they don't change your order we will send them the same selection as the previous month (or as near as possible). 
​
It’s a match made in Grass-fed heaven! Come check it out.