Sprouted Barley and Finishing Cattle
The year 2020 was a year of changes, and that was no different for us with our finishing program. We were blessed with the opportunity to switch up our finishing program from a dry grain finish to a sprouted barley finish. Why you may ask? Well, we believe in feeding ourselves and our children the most nutritious foods possible and we decided it should be no different for our animals, especially since the animals we raise provide us with the food that we eat. So here's a little bit about sprouted barley and why it is so good for animals.
When you sprout the barley it makes it easier for the animal to digest, making the vitamins, minerals, and proteins more absorbable to the animals. It also provides digestive enzymes that are not present when the grains are dry. We still give our cattle a dry feed ration because after the barley is sprouted there isn't a lot of dry matter left and animals still need that roughage for a balanced diet.
Studies on sprouted barley in cattle have shown that feeding sprouted barley to pregnant mother cows can produce a healthier newborn calf and help her milk to be more nutritious. Some farmers and ranchers have even seen better weights in the calf when they wean them if sprouts were incorporated into their diets.
Did you know that cattle that are fed sprouted barley are still considered grass-fed beef? Yep, it's true! Sprouts are recognized by the American Grass Fed Association as a grass-fed source of feed. This will give you all the nutritional benefits of grass-fed without sacrificing the flavor and marbling we all love! Not only that, but sprouts make the meat you eat healthier for YOU too! When an animal eats sprouts the Omega-3 levels increase. So if you feed sprouts to animals whose products you are eating you get higher Omega-3 levels in those products. That's why we feed sprouts to all of our animals so that we get those good Omega-3's in our beef, lamb, chicken, eggs, and eventually milk once I achieve my dream and get me a milk cow!
We are so passionate about the ingredients we put into our own bodies, the bodies of our children, and the bodies of our customers so of course we want our animals to eat the absolute best diet we can give them and are happy to achieve that with sprouted barley! It comes with some extra work but the reward makes it so worthwhile!
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