Grass-fed Lamb    

Raised on our organically maintained Texas pastures.

Our lambs are born and raised on pasture - NEVER in feedlots !  If you are searching for the flavor and nutrition of  grass-fed red meat - you're at the right place.     

Grass- fed lamb  from our flock of grass-fed sheep. Until a sheep is about one year old, it is referred to as a lamb.  Our lambs are born here on our farm from our flock of sheep.  This gives you the assurance that we manage the entire life of our lambs and the parent stock as well. 

Grass- fed      No medications    No antibiotics     No pesticides   No cloned animals
No preservatives     No hormones    Pasture raised      No irradiation
      No pasteurization       Nothing added to meat during/after processing
 No meat, poultry or meat  by-products are fed       No nitrates/nitrites      No MSG
Fresh air, sunshine and exercise        Our lambs are born on our farm, from our own flock of sheep
Environmentally responsible growers and responsible predator control
Direct producer/consumer relationship        Carbon sequestration*

*Increasing pasture land would help reduce global warming

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses are increasing in the Earth's atmosphere, leading to changes in our global climate. The grasses and legumes found in pasture are highly effective at removing excess carbon dioxide from the air and storing it in the soil as carbon, a phenomenon known as "carbon sequestration." Soils in the grazing land in the Great Plains have over 40 tons of carbon per acre, while cultivated soils have only 26. In recent years, land that had been planted in row crops was allowed to revert back to pasture as part of the US government's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The pasture land gained an average of one-half ton of carbon per acre per year during the first 5 years after planting. This means that 18 million tons of carbon were removed from the atmosphere each year as a result of farmers putting over 36 million acres of land into the conservation program. 

Grass-fed lamb orders (whole/half lamb) can be secured year 'round with the actual processing taking place on several spring dates and several fall dates.

Specialty whole lambs

Passover  or   Easter  

Eid

Borrego fiesta

Cordero

Grass fed lamb is better for you and the Earth.

We produce wholesome, nutritious lamb from our own flock of sheep.  Since we raised and own the sheep that produce our lamb, we are in control of the entire life of not only the offspring, but also the parent stock.  Our flock grazes on pesticide-free and herbicide-free pastures.   Predator protection is performed by livestock guardian dogs.  They deter coyotes and bobcats from the sheep and lambs.  This allows our lambs to range freely  in search of the most favorable grass, legumes and forbs. 

Raised on our organic Texas pasture.

Grassfarming Benefits the Environment

When properly managed, raising animals on pasture instead of factory farms is a net benefit to the environment. To begin with, a diet of grazed grass requires much less fossil fuel than a feedlot diet of dried corn and soy. On pasture, grazing animals do their own fertilizing and harvesting. The ground is covered with greens all year round, so it does an excellent job of harvesting solar energy and holding on to top soil and moisture. As you will read in the bulletins below, grazed pasture removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere more effectively than any land use, including forestland and ungrazed prairie, helping to slow global warming.

It’s a different story in a confinement operation. Here, the animals are crowded into sheds or kept outdoors on barren land and all their feed is shipped to them from distant fields. On those fields, the crops are treated with fossil-fuel based fertilizers, sprayed with pesticides, and planted, tilled, and harvested with heavy equipment. Each of these operations requires non-renewable fuel. Then the feed is shipped to feed manufacturers where it is dried, flaked or pelleted, and mixed with other ingredients and then, finally, shipped to the waiting animals, using yet more fossil fuel.

There is also a day-for-night difference in “manure management” on the two systems. On well-managed pasture-based farms, the animals spread their manure evenly over the soil where it becomes a natural source of organic fertilizer. The manure improves the quality of the grass, which increases the rate of gain of the animals. It’s a closed, sustainable system.

On factory farms, the excrement builds up in the feedlots and sheds where it fouls the air and releases ammonia and other gasses to the eco-system. The fumes stress and sicken the animals and farm workers, and they lower the quality of life of people in nearby homes. To get rid of the waste, it is shipped to nearby fields where it overloads the land with nutrients. The excess nitrogen and phosphorous pollute the soil and ground water and drain off into streams, rivers, and estuaries where it can create “dead zones” that threaten the fish population.   ..............from www.eatwild.com

Eat less feedlot meat

A growing number of people believe that eating less meat is good for the environment. This is true when it comes to eating meat from animals raised in feedlots. But eating meat from well-managed grazing animals is a net benefit to the planet. 

A paper released by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture makes the following points:  

• Grazing animals eat plants that cannot be digested by humans.
• Meat from grass-fed animals requires only one calorie of fossil fuel to produce two calories of food. Many grain and vegetable crops require from 5 to 10 calories of fossil-fuel for every calorie of food or fiber produced. 
• Well-managed pasture absorbs far more rain water than most other land uses.
• Grazed lands help slow global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the air. Grazing land in the Great Plains contain over 40 tons of carbon per acre. Cultivated soils contain about 26 tons.
• Well-managed grazing lands provide much-needed habit for wildlife, reduce water runoff, and provide cleaner, more abundant water for wildlife and human use.
• Grazing lands are among our most picturesque landscapes.

Read more: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/rca/ib6text.html

Grassfed lambs have more lutein

The more that nutritionists learn about naturally occurring antioxidants, the more they like lutein. Lutein is closely related to beta-carotene, but is absorbed more readily. Lutein reduces the risk of macular degeneration (a leading cause of blindness) and may also help prevent breast and colon cancer.

Meat from sheep raised on pasture has twice as much lutein as meat from grain-fed sheep—yet another nutritional advantage of raising animals naturally.

(Kruggel, W.G., "Influence of sex and diet on lutein in lamb fat." J of Animal Science 54: 970-975, 1982.)

Lambs raised on pasture are higher in protein, lower in fat

A team of scientists from the USDA compared grassfed lambs with lambs fed grain in a feedlot. They found that "lambs grazing pasture had 14% less fat and about 8% more protein compared to grain-fed lamb." The researchers acknowledged that "consumer desires for healthier meats have shifted the emphasis to leaner, trimmer carcasses.." and that raising more sheep on pasture will "benefit our economy by reducing reliance upon expensive grain supplements..." For more information, refer to Autumn-grazed Orchardgrass-white Clover Pasture: Nutritive Value Of Herbage And Lamb Performance.

Human Health L. D. Muller and J. E. Delahoy Department of Dairy and Animal Science The Pennsylvania State University 324 Henning Building University Park, PA 16802 (814) 865-5491 • FAX (814) 865-7442 www.das.psu.edu/teamdairy/

It is concluded that a higher concentration of CLA in the milkfat of ewes resulted in a higher concentration of CLA in the meat from their lambs and that the ranking of ewes for concentration of CLA in milkfat persisted for at least two lactations.

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research abstracts,Conjugated linoleic acid concentration (CLA) in the m. longissimus thoracis of the offspring of Romney ewes screened for high and low CLA in their milkfat , T. W. Knight* , M. H. Tavendale, A. F. Death,  AgResearch Grasslands
Private Bag 11 008
Palmerston North, New Zealand , M. Agnew, AgResearch Ruakura ,Private Bag 3123 , Hamilton, New Zealand

 Lamb protein is more easily digested and better utilized than beef protein.

Grass-fed lamb is one of the richest sources of CLA...........CLA is produced naturally by the microflora that live in the rumen of ruminant animals like cattle, sheep, and goats. It is formed by the digestion of dietary linoleic acid. The linoleic acid content of grasses varies by plant species and maturity, being highest in grasses that are in a growing, vegetative state. CLA is readily absorbed by the animal from the rumen and ends up in milk, meat, and fat. The concentration of CLA in animal products varies, partly due to diet and management practices. Even without diet manipulation, lamb is one of the richest natural source of CLA. Dairy products are usually the best sources of CLA. Ewe's milk contains more CLA than cow's milk. http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/grassfed.html

Are we slowing global warming ? *

*Grassland may absorb more CO2 than trees

It's a well known fact that trees draw carbon dioxide from the air and store it as carbon, thereby slowing the rate of global warming. But a new study from Duke University reveals that restoring native grasslands might be a better solution than planting trees in wetter areas of the country.

"Grasses are deceptively productive," says lead investigator Robert Jackson. "You don't see where all the carbon goes, so there is a misconception that woody species [such as trees and shrubs] store more carbon. That's just not the case." Grasses store vast amounts of carbon in their underground root mass.

Raising cattle on grass is one way to make it financially feasible to expand our native grasslands. Although cows generate their own greenhouse gasses, the net effect of raising ruminants on pasture is to slow global warming.

For a more detailed summary of this research, go to: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-08-07.asp

Jackson, R. B., J. L. Banner, E. G. Jobbagy, W. T. Pockman, and D. H. Wall. "Ecosystem Carbon Loss with Woody Plant

Sheep are the CLA winners

Dr. Gerhard Jahreis from the Institut Ernaehrung und Umwelt in Germany has studied the CLA content of human milk and milk from a variety of animals. He reports that horses have the lowest CLA content and sheep the highest. Human milk is in the middle. (Mare's milk < sow's milk < human milk < goat's milk < cow's milk < ewe's milk.)

There are fewer than 100 sheep dairy farms in the United States (we imported 66 million pounds of sheep's milk cheese in 1994, valued at $118 million.) With this new finding about CLA, perhaps more US farmers will consider milking sheep.

(Jahreis, G. et al, The potential anticarcinogenic conjugated linoleic acid in milk of different species: cow, goat, ewe, sow, mare, woman." Nutr Res 1999. 19:1541-9.)