Young Farmer’s Passion for Common Sense and Good Health Leads to Raising Grass-fed Animals in Fields Far from Home

By Kit Johnston for the Virginia Wine and Food Society
Reprinted with permission of the Virginia Wine and Food Society

“Our bodies live by farming; we come from the earth and return to it, and so we live in agriculture as we live in flesh…it is hardly surprising…that there should be some profound resemblances between our treatment of our bodies and the treatment of the earth…” Wendell Berry

Martha Vineyards born and bred, grass-fed farmer Rebecca “Becky” Brown is far from home on Cliff Miller’s Mount Vernon Farm in the Blue Ridge foothills of deeply rural Rappahannock County, VA. At age 27, she doesn’t pine for the ocean nor for the family farm she grew up on, farmed, and studied as part of her an honor’s bachelor’s thesis. Because here in the rolling pasturelands of fescue, Brown is following her passion for bringing common sense to American agriculture and better health to the animals she raises and those of us who would eat them.

Raising 100% grass-fed, rotationally grazed beef cattle and sheep along with pastured pigs and chickens (eggs) for consumption at local restaurants and direct sale through buyer’s clubs, farmers’ markets, and the local community online bulletin board isn’t profitable for Brown or Miller quite yet—it takes about 5 years to see a profit in most start-up grass-based meat businesses like theirs, Brown noted in a recent interview. And she has been on the farm for only 2.

But Brown is working her “brain muscle” to take advantage of adages she has learned and the rising level of science-based knowledge about grass-fed farming success. At least two big lessons are clear in terms of agricultural economics, she recounted: “Keep farming practices close to the land so you don’t spend time and money fighting nature” and “Guard dogs are worth their weight in gold.”

That’s not to mention—quite yet--the enhanced nutritional value of the resulting meat products and eggs nor the humane values involved in the way the animals are handled from birth to death, much less the matter of taste. All the Mount Vernon meat and egg products are uncommonly lean, deeply rich in color due to high levels of vitamins, and quite simply, more delicious than the alternatives, according to their growing number of consumers in the Piedmont and, increasingly, across the state.

“We’ve experienced a spectacular rise in our sales in recent months, and we expect that to continue as people become increasingly concerned about traditional and healthy sources. But taste is critical for many customers, too. Our meats have their own taste, the taste of the farm. That’s due to rotational grazing which carefully monitors and manages the pasture quality; allowing the animals access to grass only in its highest quality state—neither immature nor overly mature. We don’t use any synthetic chemicals or fertilizers. The animals do all that work for us. Plus, we can finish our animals on alfalfa, which gives them a really sweet flavor.”

Good stewardship of the 800-acre farm held by Miller’s family since 1827 has provided Mount Vernon Farm with some clear advantages. For example, Cliff Miller’s belief in sustainability and desire to keep the Thornton River running clean through his property led to an early grant from the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), a state/federal partnership designed, in part, to encourage farmers to keep cattle out of streambeds to prevent erosion and siltation that harms rivers and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay. That grant paid much of the cost of 10.5 miles of fencing on the farm—a huge assist in subdividing fields for rotational pasture purposes.

Brown was pleased by that cost savings when she arrived on the farm after successfully interviewing with Miller to become, first, an employee, and possibly later, a partner in the farm. With consent from Miller, who is well known in Rappahannock for his support of young farmers, she has since gone on to make some changes of her own, including replacing most of the farm’s existing cattle with types that have the ability to flesh out well on grass alone. She has also designed a finishing program to maximize the rate of gain in the cattle, and added other animals to the mix—sheep, Tamworth hogs, Black Australorp chickens, and Italian Maremma guard dogs that she trains herself to keep natural predators at bay, such as foxes, as well as local packs of other dogs that attack cattle and sheep out in the open. (“Those guard dogs paid for themselves in 4 months,” Brown notes with pride.)

Harking back to what she learned while concentrating on environmental studies and natural resource management at Union College in Schenectady, NY, Brown recalled the natural relationships that used to exist among wild populations of bison, deer, and birds on the Great Plains. Like the mix of animals she raises today, those animals complimented each other in terms of their rotational grazing habits and propensity for destroying each other’s harmful internal parasites. Today, that kind of historical knowledge helps Brown to raise healthy animals and keep them healthy, in part through homeopathic veterinary medicine—free of more modern and now traditional antibiotics, synthetic hormones, and vaccines.

“Homeopathic medicine and nutritional values of our meats are some of the coolest things I’ve learned more about since coming here,” Brown says. “Our veterinarian, Joyce Harman, has shown me how many of the conventional medicines simply aren’t needed. Her approach to problems like foot rot, pink eye, and pneumonia is to encourage the animal’s own immune system to kick in. When she cured a lame bull in just three days before breeding season, I was convinced this is the way to go.”

In addition, the animals are not taken to slaughter until they are ready. Getting and keeping appointments with the state- and USDA-certified butchers she works with is one of her hardest jobs, Brown opines. She has been known to make pre schedule five appointments six months in advance to transport animals as far as Hagerstown, MD, then to cancel because of that philosophy. “We also accompany the animals to ensure they are treated properly and respectfully--as they have been for their entire lives.”

Aware that a huge indicator of meat quality is what happens after slaughter and before butchering, Brown is also actively seeking butchers who do not place slaughtered meats in a cooler right away but, rather, use the much-respected, European hot box technology of letting the meats slowly cool for a few hours.

Nutritionally, Brown maintains—backed up by growing numbers of research studies that can be found through the www.eatwild.com and www.westonaprice.org web sites—that her grass-fed cattle and sheep offer many potent health benefits. For example, meats from 100 percent grass-fed animals contain five times more of the powerful antioxidant conjugated linoleic acid than those from grain-fed animals; three times more Omega 3 fatty acids; four times more Vitamin E and A; and two times more beta-carotene.

In short, 100 percent grass-fed meats can naturally fight cancer, lower cholesterol, reduce body fat, and support healthy heart and brain function with much fewer calories than grain-fed meat and with about the same amount of fat as skinless chicken.

And grass-fed meats are not difficult to cook properly. To help out, Mount Vernon provides cooking tips and also carries for sale The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, by Shannon Hayes. Also recommended are Pasture Perfect, by Jo Robinson and Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon.

“To me health is everything,” concludes Brown who, with her sparkling blue eyes and rosy cheeks, seems to epitomize health itself. “While it’s true that some consider grass-fed meat prices to be a little high (for example, Mount Vernon charges $18/lb. for beef filet, $15/lb. for lamb chops, and $4.25 for ground beef, Whole Foods charges more for less quality. Eating grass-fed meat is an investment in your health now and in the future. I say, give the money to the farmer now, not the doctor later. I’ll give a pound of meat away to get someone to try it, because I’m that sure that they will like it. I also tell people, even if you don’t buy from us, buy grass-fed meat instead of grain-fed, buy from a farmer you know, and spread the word about grass-fed meat.”

Mount Vernon Farm is located on Rt. 211East, just ½ mile north of Sperryville, VA. When the farm sign flies an “open” sign, simply—slowly--drive up the farm road to the office or call 540 987 9559.

Products usually available on site or through a new Buyer's Club (you place the order by e-mail at mtvfarm@verizon.net, then Mount Vernon Farm will deliver) include a wide variety of beef, lamb, and pork cuts as well as beef salami, polish sausage, bolognas, hot dogs, and beef sticks. Popular cuts are beef steaks, leg of lamb steaks, various flavors of lamb and pork sausage and ground beef and lamb and pork chops. All meats are shrink-wrapped and frozen. Meat is also available by the whole, half, and quarter, as well as sheepskins. Eggs are also available during the growing season.

Local restaurants featuring Mount Vernon products include the Thornton River Grille and the Mountain Café, both in Sperryville.