She Runs Beef Operation Without Heavy Machinery Or Crops
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With the right livestock and a minimum amount of equipment, it’s possible to run a profitable, small farming operation, says Christina Traeger. She took over the Avon, Minn., farm as a single woman with three daughters in 2002 and currently has about 250 head (including calves) of British White beef cattle. She owns 75 acres, leases another 300 to 400 acres, and her only piece of equipment is a 1997 skidsteer. She notes that her biggest input cost is to purchase hay for winter feed.
Influenced by her parents’ sustainable dairy farm practices, Traeger admits she goes against the grain of most stock breeder practices.
“The cattle are 100 percent grass-fed, which most stock breeders won’t do. We don’t push them to mature early. We’ve learned that they can outperform other cattle over a lifetime. Our cattle live 20 years or longer,” she explains.
She chose the British White breed after extensive research, mostly because she wanted docile animals for her young daughters’ safety. They proved to have other good qualities including tender, fine textured meat with good marbling.
“Raising awareness of the breed is something I take very seriously,” Traeger says. There are Viking references to British White cattle (www.britishwhite.org), an ancient breed, which has a small build similar to the original Angus cattle.
Her cattle help raise awareness through some of the sustainable practices she uses. Traeger feeds her cattle with rotational grazing, moving them about every three days. One of her leases is a contract with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for conservation grazing. The DNR wants to improve the growth of warm season grasses, so Traeger’s cattle graze the cool season grasses early in the spring to eliminate competition and help warm season grasses get established.
“It costs me more money because of trucking, but it helps me because I can let my land rest,” Traeger explains.
She breeds and raises her cattle similar to how bison live. Heifers are older and more mature when they are bred, and they produce more in the long run. Breeding is also later, so calves are born in mid-May when it isn’t too cold or wet. She has also trained her cattle to eat thistles and other undesirable forage by baling them from one of her pastures and making it the herd’s only food option. They began eating it regularly when they figured out how to turn the thistle so it doesn’t prick their mouths. Calves learn to eat thistle flowers, which keeps the seed from spreading.
With the help of her three daughters (one is still at home) who have ownership in the herd, Traeger direct markets her breeding stock and meat through a website and at a couple of farmers markets. Doing everything on their own is a challenge, she says.
“Sustainable farming is not always less expensive, and it’s more labor intensive,” she says. “You have to do it for the right reasons.
“The more I get involved with the organization, Women in Agriculture (a Facebook group run by Successful Farming Magazine), I really am finding a lot of people out there who think like me. It’s important for people to come together and share knowledge,” she concludes.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Christina Traeger, Rolling Hills Traeger Ranch, 20134 St. Anna Dr., Avon, Minn. 56310 (ph 320 293-2995; www.lovebritishwhites.com; rhnt_ranch@yahoo.com).
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She Runs Beef Operation Without Heavy Machinery Or Crops LIVESTOCK Beef With the right livestock and a minimum amount of equipment it’s possible to run a profitable small farming operation says Christina Traeger She took over the Avon Minn farm as a single woman with three daughters in 2002 and currently has about 250 head including calves of British White beef cattle She owns 75 acres leases another 300 to 400 acres and her only piece of equipment is a 1997 skidsteer She notes that her biggest input cost is to purchase hay for winter feed Influenced by her parents’ sustainable dairy farm practices Traeger admits she goes against the grain of most stock breeder practices “The cattle are 100 percent grass-fed which most stock breeders won’t do We don’t push them to mature early We’ve learned that they can outperform other cattle over a lifetime Our cattle live 20 years or longer ” she explains She chose the British White breed after extensive research mostly because she wanted docile animals for her young daughters’ safety They proved to have other good qualities including tender fine textured meat with good marbling “Raising awareness of the breed is something I take very seriously ” Traeger says There are Viking references to British White cattle www britishwhite org an ancient breed which has a small build similar to the original Angus cattle Her cattle help raise awareness through some of the sustainable practices she uses Traeger feeds her cattle with rotational grazing moving them about every three days One of her leases is a contract with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources DNR for conservation grazing The DNR wants to improve the growth of warm season grasses so Traeger’s cattle graze the cool season grasses early in the spring to eliminate competition and help warm season grasses get established “It costs me more money because of trucking but it helps me because I can let my land rest ” Traeger explains She breeds and raises her cattle similar to how bison live Heifers are older and more mature when they are bred and they produce more in the long run Breeding is also later so calves are born in mid-May when it isn’t too cold or wet She has also trained her cattle to eat thistles and other undesirable forage by baling them from one of her pastures and making it the herd’s only food option They began eating it regularly when they figured out how to turn the thistle so it doesn’t prick their mouths Calves learn to eat thistle flowers which keeps the seed from spreading With the help of her three daughters one is still at home who have ownership in the herd Traeger direct markets her breeding stock and meat through a website and at a couple of farmers markets Doing everything on their own is a challenge she says “Sustainable farming is not always less expensive and it’s more labor intensive ” she says “You have to do it for the right reasons “The more I get involved with the organization Women in Agriculture a Facebook group run by Successful Farming Magazine I really am finding a lot of people out there who think like me It’s important for people to come together and share knowledge ” she concludes Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Christina Traeger Rolling Hills Traeger Ranch 20134 St Anna Dr Avon Minn 56310 ph 320 293-2995; www lovebritishwhites com; rhnt_ranch@yahoo com
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