100% Grassfed and Grass Finished
How We Do…
Ask any child what a cow eats and they’ll tell you…they eat grass. Yet, the overwhelming majority of cattle raised for beef in the United States never see grass after weaning or the backgrounding phase. Instead, they’re fed GMO corn, soybeans, and highly farmed intensive ingredients in feedlots where no grass grows. We don’t think that’s best for the cows, for the environment and, most important, for our health. So we do things a bit differently here at Rolling Hills Cattle Company.
Our cattle are raised completely on grass for their entire lives. We move them to new pastures daily…sometimes twice a day. This way they have access to the freshest, most lush forage, and provide the rich fertilizer our pastures need to thrive. Of course they are never fed grain of any kind! Just ask American Grassfed, which audits our ranch every 15 months. In the winter when snow is too deep we feed stored hay off land that is not fertilized by manufactured substances.
There’s just something about watching chickens in the pasture. They’re natural hunters and foragers, eating grass, snagging insects and scratching for earthworms. But there’s another reason we insist our chickens have complete access to pasture; they are our sanitation crew.
You see, chickens love to follow behind cows, just as wild birds follow the buffalo across the Great Plains. They have a symbiotic relationship, cleaning up behind the cows by scratching through cow dung.
What the chickens are doing is hunting for fly larvae, which gives them the protein they crave. Ignore those “vegetarian diet” claims you see on egg boxes, because chickens are not vegetarians, as every cricket and earthworm knows.
As they hunt for larvae they are also spreading the manure, incorporating it into the soil. This not only hastens the breakdown of the fertilizer, but also allows the cows to more fully graze the pasture when they return. You see, cows won’t graze near one of their own fertilizer spots (this is to avoid parasites). The chickens work some magic so that by the time the cows return they are free to graze the entire paddock!
Everyone wins! The soil is enriched, the cows are happy, the chickens live a great life outdoors and you get the most nutritious eggs and chicken imaginable!
Pasture Raised
Enhancing Soil Biology
Our animals cannot do their job of creating nutrient-dense food without high quality soil. Animals feed the soil by cycling (eating-digesting-"releasing") the nutrients of the plants back to the pasture: it is a relationship between the microbes and the plants, the plants and the animals, the animals and Us - back to Us, the humans, the soil managers.
At Rolling Hills Cattle Company, there is a lot happening above and below ground to enhance the products from our herd or any of our animals - without using chemicals or GMO Solutions.
Dry-Aged
We dry age our beef for 10-18 days. Dry Aging for 2 weeks to 2 months allows enzymes naturally present in the meat to break down the muscle tissue cell walls, resulting in improved texture and flavor.
When we dry age our 100% grass-fed beef, the whole carcass is held fresh and is exposed to the air so that natural dehydration can further concentrate the meat’s flavor.
Of course, this process is costly because the meat loses weight from dehydration the longer it is aged, but ultimately results in a more tender, flavorful product.
And, let’s be honest…when you buy dry aged beef you’re not paying for excess water, which you would be if you bought beef that wasn’t dry aged.
No Artificial Hormones, No Steroids, No Drugs, No Antibiotics
No artificial means are EVER used to enhance the growth, volume, reproductive rate, flavor, or usable yield from any of our animals. That means No Artificial Hormones, No Steroids, No Drugs and No Antibiotics are used to enhance our herds, droves or flocks.
We Have ALL the “NOs”
No GMO, No Soy, No Corn
Yes, we know that in a way all cultivated and harvested plants are genetically modified organisms (GMO) to some extent - there are some that are very helpful, and some that are actually harmful. We also know that Soy is a miracle bean with (seemingly) 1,000s of uses, and Corn is grown in profound surplus in America and has as many amazing uses as Soy.
The animals innately know when their feed is "natural"; but being animals, if all they are fed is feed containing GMO Grains, Soy or Corn, then that is what they will eat.
Industrialized Farming standard practices will feed GMO Grains to their Chickens to force faster and bigger production; they will also feed their Layer Hens (eggs) and Broilers soy products to increase the rate of production.
We NEVER do that here at Rolling Hills Ranch - ALL our animals are pastured so they can graze all the natural grasses, greens and grubs they want.
NO Animal By-Products
We never feed any animal by-products to our animal… NEVER. We want what you want…honest, clean food. Enough said.