“So we raise all of ours and it takes me most of the summer to do that. “We would rather not trust someone to buy hay from,” Meade said. It’s as close to the old-time, healthy, local food supply as one can find in today’s marketplace, Meade said. Mineral supplements are given to provide nutrients for promoting health and growth.
#DEXTURE COW FULL#
Their animals are all grass-fed and the farm has three barns stuffed full of hay right now. The Meades also raise all their own food for the cattle no artificial growth enhancers and no antibiotics. “That’s just a nice way to have animals,” he said. Having cows dispersed across several locations allows the Meades to rotate them around and give them different types of terrain to feed off of. They also keep a separate herd of bulls for future use and retail. Each pasture ranges from 4 to 30 acres and holds a herd of breeding cows, heifers for breeding, several steers and a herd sire. What’s unique about Beaver Hills Farm is the herds are not all together at one location, rather scattered across five separate farms around the Mossyrock area. “No stress involved whatsoever, or at least that’s our goal,” Meade said. Then the cow goes to a local butcher and the customer picks it up about two weeks later. One minute the animal is grazing, the next minute it’s down. There is no long-haul transport, no feedlot, no factory slaughterhouse. They are firmly committed to humane farming, including harvesting on-site. Buying a side of beef from the Meades is even easier. Most of their business comes from either live animal sales, which involves the Meades visiting a prospective buyer’s property to make sure they have a suitable place to keep it. Most people had not heard of them before.” But their numbers have increased globally over the past 20 years and they have grown to be popular as a small farm animal in North America. When the Meades first started with Dexters, the breed was on the brink of the endangered list. They’re easier to handle and friendlier than most breeds of cattle, and the meat is tender and lean, Meade said. They grow to be about 40 inches tall and weigh anywhere from 700 to 900 pounds.
The Meades use solely Dexter cattle, a heritage breed originally from Ireland that is one of the smallest cattle breeds in the world. Their primary product is beef, either live animals or sides of harvested beef. “We’ve always liked animals and it just seemed like the natural thing to do, particularly since we moved to a small town like Mossyrock,” Meade said. But they had never run a livestock farm, and they wanted to try something new. The Meades weren’t exactly strangers to farm life, having previously owned and operated a crop farm while being stationed in Nebraska. They currently have one alpaca who has befriended some of the cattle and lives with them. The farm has had llamas, chickens, goats, alpacas, fish, lots of dogs and cats, and pet birds over the years. The Meades started Beaver Hills Farms, located on West State Street near downtown Mossyrock, in 2001. That halfway point happened to be Mossyrock. MOSSYROCK - When Tom and Janet Meade were looking for a place to start an animal farm following Tom’s career in the Air Force, they decided to settle on a location halfway between Tom’s family in Tacoma and Janet’s family on Puget Island, Oregon.
#DEXTURE COW FREE#
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By Eric Trent / Note: The Chronicle is working to assist local businesses suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 virus spread and associated government orders to close or limit commerce.
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