the oodness Grass in the

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1 g the oodness in the Grass

2 Passion, Place, and Why Small Scale Family Farmers Do Grass-Fed and Finished Best Stand in the grass pastures of Blake and Stephanie Alexandre s family farm on a sunny day just a stone s throw from redwood forests and the otherworldly landscapes that set the scenes for film classics like E.T. and Star Wars and it won t take long to realize that this is not your average dairy farm. In the distance, a pasture over, the cows share their grazing grounds with a resident herd of Roosevelt elk that occasionally emerge from the redwoods along the western border of the farm. The hum of what sounds like a nearby highway is actually the sound of the Pacific Ocean, just a mile away. Below your feet, a lush carpet of cool season grasses are thriving. It s heaven for a cow. In the air, hundreds of species of birds are darting in and out of the fields, including the formerly endangered Alutian goose (the Alexandres conservation efforts played a large roll in liberating that species from the endangered list). Bird songs accompany the sounds of cows tearing the pasture grass as they eat, rip, rip, rip it s the heartbeat of the Alexandre family s most central The nutrition that comes out of our grass that goodness that comes out you can see it in the dark, deep, rich color of our butter and eggs, so it s literally nutrition that you can see and taste. ~B. Alexandre Farm photos and story by Amy Beth Beaver farming practice: year round grazing on green grass rooted in well cared for soil. I really love the soils and growing healthy, healthy crops, which is in our world, grass. It looks simple and easy, but it takes a lot to keep the pastures healthy and productive and growing, especially organically, Blake said, explaining that as the farming world tipped toward agribusiness over the last few decades, the culture in agriculture went missing. He continued, We re here to put the culture back in agriculture. And the culture for us, as organic farmers, is the soil, and paying attention to the soil. Though Blake s family has been grassbased in their farming practices for four generations, the emphasis on investing in the soil came as a result of the farm s transition to organic production in the LIFE AT ALEXANDRE EcODAIRY Blake and Stephanie Alexandre (pictured above) are both fourth generation dairy farmers. They produce organic grass-fed milk, organic grass-fed and finished beef, organic pastured eggs, and organic pastured pork at their Crecent City farm, the Alexandre EcoDairy. 41

3 GRASS Keeping the fields fixed up is the real work at the Alexandres farm. As an investment into soil health, each year they apply a self-made compost tea comprised of local fishery waste, their own nutrient rich cattle manure, and wood shavings from their animals bedding. The special thing about our farm is really the green grass. We have a growing season that lasts twelve months out of the year, which is really unique. We re right up here on the northern edge of California on the coast in this little microclimate that just is perfect for cows and grass. ~B. Alexandre nineties. Their research into organic farming s best practices also lead Blake and Stephanie to take hold of a deeper purpose in their farming. We would go to these farming conferences and they would have doctors who were making a difference in people s lives through nutrition as the keynote speakers. And that s when it really hit our hearts not only how much we love what we do but we really found the purpose in our farming, Stephanie said. We recognized that we have something special, that we can produce some of the greatest food in the world right here at home with our cool season grasses and the gifts that God gave us. Place, passion, and family are included in that list of gifts, and all served to propel the Alexandres to put more energy into making their organic grass beef and pastured pork available on a wider scale. While milk is the Alexandres main business and has been for four generations (they are members of the Organic Valley co-op), as Blake and Stephanie s oldest kids are beginning to graduate college and coming back to the farm, they re bringing with them the energy and momentum to expand the fledgling beef and pork businesses. And there s plenty of grass to go around. Our animals truly are eating more grass than anyone else s animals in the country and it s because of our setting here in this environment, Blake said, I do believe that we have better grazing than anybody in the country. In the wider world of agriculture, grass-based organic production remains the road less traveled. It s not easy. The efficiencies conventional agriculture hinges upon are lost to the careful management and interactive attention that being a successful grass farmer requires. Additionally, grass-fed and finished and pastured meats are more expensive to produce and the markets for sale aren t as consistent or accessible as they are for conventionally produced products. But, the relational demand of the pastures and animals on an organic grass-based farm is HERITAGE HOGS The Alexandres pastured heritage hog operation began 8 years ago as their daughter Vanessa s FFA project. They ve continued it on a small scale for their local Del Norte area customers ever since and can t keep up with the demand. The animals they raise are a cross between two heritage breeds, the Tamworth and Berkshire. The slow growth of these breeds, their milk rich diet, and the farmers humane treatment sets these pigs apart. The breeding males and females, mothers and babies, and adolescent hogs each live in a separate location on the farm. The mothers give birth in fields of tall grass and stay with their babies for several months. The hogs are finished on a diet of organic grains soaked in organic milk. Unlike cows, hogs are imperfect grazers. And while the Alexandre hogs are always free-range outside on pasture, it doesn t take long to wear those beautiful grasses down to dirt, where the pigs continue to dig for grubs or wallow in the mud.

4 well-suited for family farmers. We re passionate about what we do, and we recognize how important it is, producing nutrient dense food, and we re hoping that we can make a difference with the food that we produce, Stephanie said. It s nice that the family farm can still have this niche. The long term vision is to hold the door to a life in agriculture open for their kids. We hope our kids can have the joy that we had of raising a family on a farm, Stephanie said, I think all of our kids like that concept. The five Alexandre kids have been involved in the work of the farm since they were young. They started a pastured egg business when they were still in junior high and elementary school a decade ago. It has continued to grow and be successful; you may have even recently seen their eggs in Cosco or Whole Foods under the Alexandre Kids label. The kids have also been involved in the development of both the beef and pork operations. Joseph Alexandre, now 23, created a business plan for selling grass-fed steers as his senior thesis at Cal Poly, and Vanessa Alexandre, now 21, began the pastured heritage hog operation as her 8th grade FFA project. Though production of beef and pork at the Alexandre EcoDiary has been relatively small since those humble beginnings, the new partnership with Abundant Harvest Organics makes 2014 the first year that the Alexandres are making their meats available outside of a few North Coast co-ops and their own farm store. It s an offering from California s best grazing land to the nutritionally-minded among us. The nutrition that comes out of our grass that goodness that comes out you can see it in the dark, deep, rich color of our butter and eggs. So it s literally nutrition that you can see and taste, and you re going to find it in any of the grass-fed foods we produce here. Blake concluded. photo courtesy of the Alexandre Family THE ALEXANDRE FAMILY Blake, Stephanie, and their kids Dalton, Vanessa, Christian, Savanna, and Joseph Alexandre of the Alexandre EcoDairy. We hope our kids can have the joy that we had of raising a family on a farm. ~S. Alexandre 100 Percent Grass-Fed and Finished The steers the Alexandres sent to Abundant Harvest Organics earlier this year came from this field. The Alexandres raise dual purpose heritage breeds of cattle, good for both milking and beef. The beef cattle are on pasture one hundred percent of the time, and because of the year round grass crop, the beef brought to market in December is going to be consistent with the beef brought to market in June, which is different than most grass operations. 43

5 It s really unique and special meat. The fat, it s almost like butter. It s unique enough that the butchers over in Yreka said, I can see you finished these on milk. ~B. Alexandre photo Lessard 44 by Jessica Seasonal Update WINTER 2014

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8 photos pages 46 & 47 by Jessica Lessard Previous page and left: Alexandre Farms organic pastured pork chops. Above: Alexandre Farm s organic, grass-fed and finished rib roast. Right: Alexandre Farms organic grass-fed and finished ground beef. NOWADAYS DOCTORS ARE TELLING PEOPLE TO GO MORE TOWARD GRASS-FED AND FINISHED PRODUCTS OR TO EAT WILD CAUGHT. Well, our cows out here on the grass, this is wild. This is the way they ve been forever. Where the change happened was in the industrial practices, bringing cows to feed lots, bringing the feed to them. Well, we have always dairied like this and we have always raised our beef cattle like this on grass and so the fat is going to be a healthy fat. It agrees with your body, your body knows what to do with it. You don t get the inflammatory negative responses, you get nutrition your body recognizes, and, even with our pork too, that fat just tastes good, it melts in your mouth. It agrees with you and that resonates with me with excellent health. ~S. Alexandre 47