Sutherland Ranch

23415 Sutherland Rd

Mason, WI 54856

Sutherland Ranch is a small, family owned farm that has been operating primarily as a Angus Cow/Calf operation for 28 years. Our focus for our beef operation is to produce all the beef that is used in our catering business, as well as meat for our own consumption.

As livestock producers and parents, this is what we have observed over the course of our 25 years of raising our family and farming our family farm:

· There is an ever-increasing awareness and desire of consumers to know where their food is coming from.

· Rising costs of food production continue to be absorbed by the consumer, who has little or no control over the cost of food in the grocery store.

· Health concerns, including“mad cow disease”, contaminants such as e.coli, irradiated meat and vegetables, as well as the exposure to antibiotics, herbicides and pesticides are growing.

· Children and adults alike are losing the connection to the land that is important for mental and physical well being.

· Costs of land, equipment, and fuel have made raising one’s own food cost prohibitive, especially for young families that are struggling to make ends meet.

These are our thoughts on Agriculture and the Beef Industry:

· Agriculture is diverse and it is up to farmers to seek out operational changes necessary to sustain their product. To this point, the beef farmer has been at the mercy of the buyer, whether they are buying feeder cattle or finished cattle. This has not been a system that pays the farmer who raises the cattle well at all. There is a great fluctuation in the market price, which can vary from week to week, and typically follows a ten year cycle.

· The demise of the family farm continues at a rapid rate, not only in Wisconsin, but throughout the country. While Americans claim to support the family farm, only the large, often corporate farms are the ones that receive subsidy payments from the government. Small farms such as ours, rely on two adults working outside the home in order to just “break even”.

· The Dairy Industry keeps the grocery stores supplied with beef, which is of much poorer quality than the beef that comes from animals bred for meat, such as Black Angus. The hamburger, ground round, roasts and steaks that are sold in the grocery store, that are thought by the consumer to be quality beef, are in reality dairy cattle that needed to be culled from the herd, often times for health reasons. Dairy cattle are subject to medications at a much more frequent rate than grass fed beef cattle, simply because of health conditions that develop because of the confinement they are subjected to.

These are our thoughts about Farming:

· Farming is more than a business – it is a way of life that incorporates many valuable qualities of life itself.

· Farmers are good stewards of the land and were the first environmentalists, before the term “environmentalist” became popular.

· Food safety and meeting consumer needs is a top priority for producers.

· Farms put money back into the community by purchasing supplies, food, clothing and other things just like everyone else.

· Farmers care for animals and pass on the love of nurturing to their future generations by way of teaching their children and grandchildren.

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