Reuniting the Herd and Preparing for Winter in Ontario

Cloned Meat? Never on Our Farm

Over the past week, I've received quite a few messages about Health Canada's recent announcement. They have deemed cloned meat, specifically beef and pork, as safe. This means there will be no labels identifying it as cloned and no warnings to consumers. You can read more from Health Canada here and see what Sylvain Charlebois, a food professor, has to say in a story by the Epoch Times here. How Cloned Animals Will Be Used Cloned animals will likely serve as breeding stock, not directly for your dinner table. Animals with desirable traits-such as fast growth, disease resistance, or high milk production-can be cloned. Their offspring, with those traits, will go on to produce milk and meat efficiently. However, those cloned breeding animals will eventually enter the food chain. Selecting for desirable traits has been part of farming for generations. Farmers often keep heifer calves that grow well, are docile, and have good lineage, while letting go of those that don't meet these criteria. My Reaction and Reflections Like many of you, my initial reaction was one of disgust. After looking into it more, my feelings shifted to disappointment and reflection. This situation raises questions about what we want from our food and agricultural systems versus what is actually happening. I want to be clear - I don’t like it and want no part of it. But it is not surprising. It’s one more step toward a highly efficient, bland, and centralized food system. In such a system, the food people truly want becomes less affordable, while mass-produced options are deemed “safe” by authorities. The Push for Efficiency and Sustainability Cloned animals may also be marketed as "sustainable". Perhaps they can produce less methane, or cows can produce more milk, meaning fewer animals are needed. Pigs could be cloned to grow faster. While this sounds efficient, it risks consolidation, huge farms, and fewer people on the land. Transparency is limited. The government has not widely communicated these changes, which is concerning. As Sylvain Charlebois notes: Health Canada argues that cloned animals and their offspring are indistinguishable from conventional ones, so they should be treated the same. The problem isn’t the science-it’s the silence. Canadians are not being told that the rules for a controversial technology are about to change. No press release, no public statement, just a quiet update on a government website most citizens will never read. Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food We must consider more than efficiency. Food represents health, connection, and community. Major changes to production systems deserve careful thought. While efficiency can help feed people, food is about more than just sustenance. I encourage everyone to connect with the people who grow or produce your food. It might cost a little more, but the quality is often higher. You can ask questions, learn where your food comes from, and support systems outside mass production. Thanks for following along, and we hope you have a great day!

Our Commitment to Nose-to-Tail Eating at Wild Meadows Farm

At Wild Meadows Farm, we always look for ways to make the most of every animal we raise. Our newest product, beef stock, is a perfect example. We make it with meaty soup and shank bones from our cattle. Over the years, our bone broths have grown in popularity, and we hope this new product finds a place in your kitchen too. Products like this matter because they let us use parts of the animal that people often overlook. Since we started our farm and business, we have aimed to use as much of each animal as possible for both ethical and practical reasons. Respecting the Animals We Raise We believe it’s important to respect the animals we raise by using all the nourishment they offer. A cow is more than just tender high-end steaks. A chicken is more than a boneless, skinless breast. The less popular or tougher cuts, such as shank bones, braising ribs, or chicken carcasses, often provide more nutrition than the parts many of us usually eat. These cuts take more effort and know-how to cook, but they can be equally delicious and sometimes more nutritious. Making the Most of Every Cut From a business perspective, we must find ways to use these lesser-known cuts. Unlike many butcher shops or grocery stores that buy only the parts they want, we purchase whole animals from our farm and other farms. This approach requires us to sell or use every other part, including bones, fat, suet, tendons, organs, and more. In the early days, we received all the extras and didn’t know what to do with them. After trial and error, we discovered the concept of nose-to-tail eating. We realized that people value these cuts, and we used social media and newsletters to educate and connect with customers interested in them. Our Nose-to-Tail Success Listening to our customers led to exciting innovations: Nose-to-Tail Ground Beef – 80% beef mixed with 20% organs, including heart, liver, tongue, and kidney. This product is now our second most popular.Tallow and Suet – another way to use parts that might otherwise go to waste. Today, we fully utilize all of our beef, chicken, lamb, bison, elk, and turkey. Nothing goes to waste. We sell all fat, bones, organs, tendons, and other parts to retail customers, broth companies, pet food companies, or restaurants. Our next challenge is the pig. We aim to use trotters, tails, organs, and bones. Some customers buy these items regularly, but we continue to look for new ways to reach people who value these parts. Why Nose-to-Tail Matters for Us Using all parts of the animal keeps our business sustainable and profitable. It also helps us keep prices lower for the more tender, popular cuts because revenue from the less-used parts balances our costs. Every order excites us, but we get especially thrilled when someone orders the odd bits. Rib eyes sell themselves, but selling a chicken gizzard, pig tail, or beef spleen takes creativity, and that is exactly the challenge we love.

How We Wrap Up the Grazing Season Each Fall

As the days get shorter and colder, we are winding down our grazing season. Above is a picture of some of our herd enjoying the sun and grass this past week. The grass we have left is in areas where we've either had chickens on pasture over the past few years, or where we bale-grazed last winter. This is a good news story for our farm. The regenerative practices we've been using have helped turn one of the weaker parts of our farm into one of the best parts. Because of that, we now have more and better grass. It also means a longer grazing season for our cows, and we will have to buy less hay this winter. Preparing for This Year's Bale Grazing These are some of the bales we've laid out for this year's bale grazing. We will progressively give our cows new sections of hay week after week this winter. This will feed our cows through the colder months and will also feed our soil for many years. By placing the bales strategically and feeding the cows in stages, we make sure that all the waste hay they don't eat, along with their manure, is spread out evenly across this section of the field. As a result, the whole area benefits. Turning "Waste" Into Soil Health All of that "waste" will provide organic matter, nutrients, and food for the life in the soil for years to come. Because of this, when the cows come back to this section of the field next summer, and for several years after that, the soil will be healthier and the grasses they graze will be more plentiful. Thank you for following along on our journey. We are grateful for your support and continued interest in our work.

Reuniting the Herd and Preparing for Winter in Ontario

Bringing the Herd Back Together

Bulls Establishing Dominance

Preparing the Farm for Winter

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More from the blog

Cloned Meat? Never on Our Farm

Our Commitment to Nose-to-Tail Eating at Wild Meadows Farm

How We Wrap Up the Grazing Season Each Fall

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