Tag Archives: grass-fed beef

It’s Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Week! 9/27-10/3 Time to take an ag-adventure!

Governor Tony Evers proclaims Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 2021 Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Week. Yahoo!

Looking for the Great Pumpkin

And what a perfect time of year to celebrate the hundreds of farmers and agribusinesses that invite visitors throughout the growing season, and beyond. Enjoy the fall colors as you to pick crisp apples, wander through a corn maze, pet baby farm animals, sip wine among grape vines, try some hard cider, or take a pasture walk.

Governor Evers’ proclamation

The Governor’s proclamation recognizes agriculture’s impact on the state economy: nearly 64,800 farmers on 14.3 million acres; 435.7K jobs; and a $104.8 billion impact on the state’s economy.

Many thanks to the Governor and to the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association for this formal recognition.

Our farm, Bull Brook Keep is a small, grass-fed-grass-finished cow/calf operation, and we market our beef directly to consumers in Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. Visitors are not only welcome to Bull Brook Keep, they’re fundamental to our mission. Dave and I intentionally established our farm as a platform for conversation, education and recreation. We welcome over 200 adults and children every year. We appreciate every opportunity to explain why we’re committed to regenerative practice, and to farming in harmony with the seasons.  We like walking the pastures, introducing visitors to the moos, and learning about your food journey. 

We hope you’ll come out to the farm some time this week. Just give a call. We’d like to hear from you.

You can learn about ag-adventures near Amery, WI:  amerywi.gov/703/Agritourism. For venues all across the state, visit wiagtourism.com.

 

Sylvia and Dave Toftness
We’d like to be your farmers
651-238-8525
sylvia@bullbrookkeep.com

It’s mid-September – harvest season at Bull Brook Keep

Wasn’t it just Memorial Day? Yup, another growing season is coming to an end. Fog hangs heavy over the pastures in the mornings. The days are getting shorter and the evenings much cooler. Trees are turning on nearby hills. The sumac at the northern fence post is blazing red, as are the hawthorn berries. Bees are a loud cloud above the chive blossoms, and bright yellow heads of goldenrod sway in every ditch and fence line.

The herd has been grazing happily all summer and fall. As usual, they take a mid-morning lie-down from about 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM. It’s a sign of a healthy, contented herd.

And that’s a major goal: healthy cattle raised on healthful grass. Another is to work in harmony with the season.

And so, it’s time: We begin the 2021 beef harvest in a few days. If you’d like to order, please do so early to secure your beef.

Please know that you don’t have to buy half a cow to enjoy the great taste and high nutrition of grass-fed-grass-finished beef. Our variety packages start at just 30 pounds. (A variety package includes ground, steak and roasts.)

Don’t hesitate to call, email or text with any questions. We’d like to be your farmers.

Sylvia & Dave Toftness

Grateful to farm for health of land, cattle, and customers. Reserve beef online now

I don’t know if there are any words to describe the 2020 virtually all of us are struggling through. Every day we’re assailed with news stories and personal accounts that feel more bizarre than the previous day’s reports.

Dave and I are really grateful for these months of relative peace on the farm —  working for the health of the land, our cattle, and ultimately, our family and friends.

Well, I’m not going to attempt deep philosophy, but I will offer one bright note — our online store is open again and you can now order grass-fed-grass-finished beef to suit your budget, freezer space and appetite.

A few of our grazing Buelingo beef cattle

Reserve 25 pounds of ground beef, or several packages of delicious summer sausage — made without artificial nitrates or nitrites.

Choose the size variety package that meets your needs. These packages range from 30 pounds to 200, and contain a selection of steaks, roasts and ground beef. All cuts are vacuum packaged, clearly labelled, and frozen to -20 degrees to preserve flavor and quality.

Boost your immune system by making bone broth with our grass-fed soup bones — lots of meaty bones as well as marrow. Our cattle never get hormones, subclinical antibiotics or grain, so you can be confident of the nutrition in your broth.

Quantity is limited and we’ve scheduled our last harvest. Reserve now.

Questions? Call 651-238-8525, or email, sylvia@bullbrookkeep.com.  Dave and I look forward to being your farmers.  Sylvia Burgos Toftness

New pencils, windswept, and drenched

As a kid in the South Bronx, I loved this time of year because it meant new: yellow #2 pencils, notebooks with crisp clean pages, maybe a fresh book bag (this was way before backpacks), and spanking new clothes to start the school year. There would be one or two bright white shirts, a couple of new skirts (no pants or shorts back then), and fancy dresses for special ocassions.

The first couple of weeks might be a bit warm, but then the winds would start as the East Coast shifted into hurrican season. There were days when I’d walk to school at a 45-degree angle into the wind just to stay on my feet. It was pretty common to see an umbrellas tumbling down the street, spokes twisted and fabric turned inside-out by the gale.

 *   *  *

It was pretty calm this morning at Bull Brook Keep. The hydrant that feeds the line to the cow’s water trough is just 50 yards from the back door, but by the time I reached it this morning, my boots were drenched and my jean cuffs were begining to soak through. Late August-early September in the Upper Midwest usually means heavy dews on the grass and fogs that hang above the pastures and hay fields. The mists take longer and longer to burn off as we move through fall, until one day we’re closer to winter and the air dries again.

Parker greets the sun

Russian kale

Every surface was dripping this morning and it took just five seconds for the dogs to look as if they’d jumped into a stream. Ah, nothing like a wet corgi jumping on your jeans for a pat on the head.

Sourdough loaves are baking and it’s time for morning tea. Lots of calls to make this morning, and notes to take as I schedule this year’s harvest and upcoming deliveries of our grass-fed-grass-finished beef. Fortunately, I’ve got a new pen and a spiral notebook at hand.

Enjoy the changing seasons!

Sylvia

You’re invited to a Cowgirl High Tea at Bull Brook Keep

China tea pots, linens, teas to match the food and the seasons. Flavors from around the world. Reserve now for July 28, Aug 25, Sept 22, and Oct. 20. Each tea goes from 11:30AM-3:00PM. Seating limited to 8.

I love tea, but enjoy it most when lifting a cup with good company. Come and enjoy a Cowgirl High Tea where the setting,and homemade sweets and savories are informed by travels near and very far, lucious local ingredients sustainably grown, and the love of good food.

Our BueLingo cows and I hope you’ll raise a cup with us soon!

High tea with our grass-fed herd of BueLingos at Bull Brook Keep.

Bull Brook Keep is just a stone’s throw from Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN.
Questions? Text, call or email – 651-238-8525, sylvia@bullbrookkeep.com

Sylvia

Farming ice and sugar snow at Bull Brook Keep

I have to admit – I really loved the thaw this past weekend – temperatures in the upper-30’s, sunshine and no wind. And that’s what did it. That combination of warmth and sun-filled breezes melted the snow, transforming snowy tractor tracks to rounded ice ridges, and making every level surface a skating rink. All across the farm, snow crusted over shoals of deep, loose snow and ice crystals. 16-second video: Farming ice and sugar snow

I had to move hay this afternoon, regardless of the treacherous conditions. It was snowing sideways, and every surface posed a challenge. My boots slipped and slid as I walked to open fence gates. Sleet encrusted the tractor’s windshield and doors. Fortunately, the engine block heater did it’s job, and the machine rumbled to life on the first try.

I could’ve never imagined weather like this when I was growing up in the South Bronx. And the thought of raising cattle and moving hay never entered my mind. But here I am, decades later, raising 100% grass-fed beef cattle in western Wisconsin with my husband David. And that means feeding them high-quality hay throughout the winter. (They graze grasses, legumes and herbs during the growing season.)

It was slow going today. A job that might take 15 minutes on a warm summer afternoon, took hours as I carefully negotiated ice-packed hills and crossed drift-filled pastures, often plowing my path as I went. When I wasn’t sliding on glare ice, the tractor’s nearly four-foot high wheels would spin in pockets of snow the consistency of fine sugar. Lovely to look at, but a real challenge to pull out of when I get stuck. And, yes, I got stuck more than once.

When that happens, I use the front bucket like a claw to drag the tractor onto solid ground. It’s an inch-by-inch process that can take forever. It’s one reason I make sure there’s enough diesel in the tank. Funny – the cows love to watch as I struggle.

It always feels good to get this chore done, to park the tractor and walk back to the house, my Corgi Siggy trotting along side. I thank God for my late-in-life journey from city-girl-to-cattle farmer. (And thank you, Dave) I’m grateful for this opportunity to gain a better appreciation for the work life-long farmers tackle every day.
Sylvia

New. Limited. Natural Veal – really

Veal wasn’t something my Mom put on the table when I was growing up in the Bronx. A dinner of pork or fish, rice and beans, and a salad was the usual fare at our house in the 1950s and 60s.

Veal also never made it to my shopping list in the 1970s and 80s, when I was old enough to stock my tiny kitchens in Manhattan and later in Duluth, Minnesota, because by that time, news stories told us that those pale cutlets were the result of calves kept isolated and in the dark. Ugg.

Now, here I am, selling veal! We’re offering our Nature’s Veal in limited quantity for the health of the pastures, the cattle, and for economic sustainability.
– Rotational grazing. Because we rotate the herd from paddock to paddock throughout the growing season, we have to manage the herd size to promote top-quality grass. We’ve reached our maximum herd size given the 72-acre size of the farm. Our pastures are lush and diverse, but can provide highly nutritious grasses, herbs and legumes for 35-40 animals during the growing season. It’s also about giving the pastures time to recover and regrow for 40-60 days between grazings.
– Cow, pasture and economic health. If we keep more and more cattle on the pastures, they’ll decline, and the cattle will require hay to keep growing and staying contented. Fresh grass is more desirable. An alternative would be to sell the extra calves to the conventional food system, where they would end up in feedlots. We don’t want that! So we offer naturally raised veal.
– Working in harmony with nature. All our cattle – bulls, cows and calves – are provided fresh water, open pastures and a natural diet every day of their lives. That means grasses, legumes and herbs on the fields throughout the growing months, and good quality hay in the winter. They never get grains, hormones or subclinical antibiotics. It also means the calves stay with their moms, nursing 9-10 months and grazing more and more as the season progresses.

A few of our grazing Buelingo beef cattle


Know that when you buy our veal, you’re part of a sustainable food system. You can purchase ground veal in bulk, or variety packages that include delicate, low-fat roasts, cutlets and ground veal. Order here.

Questions? call, 651-238-8525, or email,
Sylvia

Typing, invoicing, phone calls, map searches – getting our grass-fed beef to your table

I sat down to the keyboard a bit before 8:00 this morning, and now it’s after 1:30PM. How is that possible?!
Well, there were all those emails with a subject line I love to write: Your beef is ready!
Then there were the follow-up calls with customers to confirm delivery to drop sites in and around the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN metro area.
And there were Google Map searches to find out where I’d have to make home deliveries.

Beefy soup!

And, of course, while all of this was going on, I was keeping a mental inventory of beef just picked up from the USDA processor. Hmmm, T-bones, ribeye, sirloin, chuck and cross-rib roasts, briskets and flank steaks, and lots more.
This is the record-keeping-and-communications time of the year that adds the final links to the food chain. To be honest, it’s a time I value and respect – delivering beef directly to the customer.
It represents well over two years of work on Bull Brook Keep farm.

BueLingo calves

It starts in the early spring with the arrival of our BueLingo calves. The herd grows sleek and fat as we move them from pasture to grassy pasture throughout the growing season. Midsummer marks the breeding season. We separate the bulls from the larger herd in mid-fall (away from the heifers too young to breed). Grasses shrivel as frosts hit and snow blankets the farm. That’s when we provide the cows with hay grown in our own fields. As the days warm in April and May, the cycle begins again. Dave and I work to manage our pastures and herd in harmony with nature.
Cattle that spend the last several months of their lives eating grain in feedlots reach harvest weight by the time they’re 16-18 months old. It’s a confinement approach that is often accompanied by subclinical antibiotics in the feed, and the administration of hormones.
In contrast, our 100% grass-fed cattle, take nine to 10 months longer to reach harvest condition. It means an extra year of feeding and care for us, but we’re committed to breeding and raising our beef cattle on grass – and only grass. No grains, no hormones, no subclinical antibiotics. And by practicing rotational grazing, our cows are contented and healthy, and the pastures improve. We’re seeing more farmers in our area adopting this approach.

Fresh air and sunshine 24/7


Dave and I made a home delivery last night, and I’ll be making several stops at drop-sites this week and next. It’s hard work, but to me it feels like a reward. When I hand over the boxes, it’s almost like placing a big bowl of delicious beef stew and a thick slice of homemake sourdough bread in front of a dear friend or family member. (It’s so much more fun to cook, when you’re cooking for someone you value.)
I thank God for the farming stewardship He has given Dave and me, and for the wonderful customers and friends walking the path with us.
Sylvia

Alison Martin, Exec Dir, The Livestock Conservancy on why we need to save our heritage breeds for tomorrow’s food and farming

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Deep Roots Radio
Deep Roots Radio
Alison Martin, Exec Dir, The Livestock Conservancy on why we need to save our heritage breeds for tomorrow's food and farming
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I hope you’ll enjoy this Deep Roots Radio chat with Alison Martin, Ph.D., Executive Director of The Livestock Conservancy. Ms Martin describes why we need to conserve the genetics, and the behaviors, of our old heritage breeds of cattle, goats and sheep, donkeys and horses, poultry and waterfowl. They are living storehouses of biogenetic diversity – strengths and traits we need to meet the food needs of tomorrow.


Sylvia

New calf, sights and sounds from Bull Brook Keep

https://youtu.be/n99_AGseU1o?list=PLvGsp7AWEduBkWoUbLoFme7Fh_5mKxWpySpring has arrived on Bull Brook Keep. We greeted our first calf, a little bull, yesterday morning. He’s now tagged #82, and he the cow are doing fine.
I’ll be at the CSA Fair at the Farm Table Restaurant in Amery, WI tomorrow afternoon, March 25, 12noon-4:00.
I thought you might enjoy some pics and videos, old and new, from the farm. This brief slide show includes a short video clip of the new calf.
I hope to see you at the Fair.

Sylvia