Bar N Ranch, Gonzales, TX - Products

 

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Genetics

All of the cattle in the Bar N Ranch Natural Beef program are Brangus breed. Brangus is a cross of 3/8 Brahman and 5/8 Angus. We feel this cross allows us to produce a high quality product in the central Texas environment where they are born and raised. The Brahman influence helps the cattle cope with the heat and insect stresses in which they exist. The Angus influence helps to produce a high quality, good tasting product.
 

Environment

We have found that stress on cattle has a very negative effect on their health. At our ranch many important steps are taken to keep stress to a minimum improving health and negating the need to use antibiotics to treat illness.
  1. Prior to weaning, the calves are given access to the all-natural feed ration they will be weaned on.
  2. When the calves are weaned at about 500 pounds or 7 months of age, they are moved to large paddocks adjacent to their mothers. We have found letting the calf and cow touch noses through the fence reduces stress on the cow and the calf at weaning time.
  3. After weaning the Calves are moved to high quality pastures with a free choice high quality feed.
  4. The steers selected for our natural beef program remain in these large pastures. They are never placed in crowded pens.
  5. We designed and built special round working pens to reduce stress when we work the cattle.
  6. We leverage the natural instinct of the cattle when working with them or moving them from one pasture to another.

Feed

We never use hormones, growth implants, steroids or animal by-products in the feed ration of the animals. The cattle in our natural beef program are kept in high quality pastures and given free choice feed. Our feed is mixed to our specifications by a small family owned feed mill near the ranch. By working with small family owned suppliers we are able to monitor our feed quality closely. This feed consists of grass hay, corn, cottonseed meal, salt, mineral supplement and molasses. The following is a general breakdown of the food ration. Quantities of each ingredient are adjusted as required and are dependent on the protein levels of the hay and the condition of the pastures the cattle are in.
Feed Breakdown
Hay
Corn
Cotton Seed Meal
Molasses
Salt
Mineral Supplement

 
 Recently Nathan was asked,
Why Natural Beef Instead of Organic?
 
We have not been able to move to an organic program as of yet. To be certified organic in Texas the pastures can not have commercial pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizer applied for 5 years. We are starting to move that direction. The pastures these animals are raised in after they have been weaned have not been broadcast sprayed with commercial chemical herbicides for 2 years. To control the brush I basil spray individual plants. As I gain control of the brush problem less spraying is done. To control the weeds I have been using a roto-cycle, it reduces the size but does not completely kill them.
 
As far as fertilizer I have some mixed emotions on what to use, that is chemical or natural. There is no source of organic fertilizer in the area. If you get cow manure from a regular feedlot it will contain all kinds of pesticides, herbicides and whatever is in the waste. In Gonzales County there is a high concentration of poultry farms, very high quality manure but in many cases they use animal by-products in the feed. From what I have read the prion that causes BSE (Mad Cow) can be carried in that feed. If it is on the ground there is a chance that a bovine can pick this up by grazing. This is just my opinion.
 
What I am working to is an integrated program using legumes to put nitrogen into the soil and use commercial fertilizer sparingly. It is my practice to take soil samples to identify what is needed and add only what is required to get the production needed. With the price of natural gas driving the cost of nitrogen fertilizer through the roof less is better.
 
I am not completely sure what the perfect answer is. I think that if you can reduce the chemical intake as much as possible you are better off.

Packaging

When the cattle reach a weight of 1200 to 1300 lbs they are taken to a State licensed government inspected processing plant in Gonzales Texas. This is usually at an age of about 16 months. This will give a total dressed weight of about 720 lbs with a cut and wrapped yield of about 600 lbs. The meat is dry aged 14 days prior to cutting and wrapping. After cutting and wrapping the meat is quick-frozen to retain the fresh flavors.
 
Bar N Natural beef is sold by the quarter side of beef, or a side (1/2 Calf) of beef. The meat is cut to the customer's specification. A quarter side of beef is a half side of beef split 2 ways. As a result the quarter will contain all the cuts of meat.