Beef Month is coming up in May - Come with us to Rocking K Ranch in Nimrod, Minnesota. Miles & Sarah Kuschel host us on their generational ranch where rotational grazing is utilized to ensure forage for the herd throughout the grazing season. It's calving time on the ranch so we will get to see some cows and their new baby calves. The Kuschels utilize the technology of today while holding true to the traditions of yesterday.
About the Rocking K Ranch
On the Rocking K Ranch, springtime is calving season. This is not always for case for ranches as some farms find it works better for them in the summer, fall and even winter.
Third generation ranch raising the fourth generation. Miles grandfather started in back in World War II.
Calving Barn
The calving barn is a place for cows to have their calves in her own pen. This is similar to in the hospital when human mothers' give birth in their own room. The separate pens also gives cows a nice dry place to have their babies.
Calving Terminology
- Bull is the dad.
- Cow is the mom.
- Heifer is going to be a cow and will become a first time mom.
Rocking K Ranch has black angus and black baldy cows. Black baldy cows are a mix between a Hereford (red and white breed) with a black angus. Cross breeding also known as heterozygous genetics helps with things like better adapting to the weather and grazing behavior.
On the Rocking K Ranch, there are about 500 cow and calves. Calf tagging on Rocking K Ranch are the same color and number as the mom to help know which calf belongs to who so that when moving cattle to different pastures all the cow-calf pairs are together. There is also 8 horses along with a lot of wildlife including foxes, beers, rabbits, owls, eagles and even a few wolves that coexist with cattle in pasture.
Cattle Byproducts
Hamburger comes from beef. Originally the name hamburger came from Hamburg, Germany where they would ground beef up to make cheeseburgers, hot dishes and more. Beef cattle provide us with beef. Everything from steak, roasts, hamburger. The byproducts include medical supplies, marshmallows, even components from electric vehicles come from beef.
Cattle Feed
About 3,000-4,000 round bales are needed on the Rocking K Ranch to keep the cows fed throughout the winter. They start baling in June and will end around September. To learn more about the feeding process at Rocking K Ranch and learn more about their cattle ranch, watch the virtual field trip.