Beef on the way….

….starts with pulling the steers out of the main herd.  They all come into the pen, and it’s up to me(far right) to let a bunch out at a time checking tags and undersides.  They’re held briefly in that alley until Wooz (far center in white shirt) okays the return to the pasture.

When we get a steer, it’s aimed to another pen where Kurt Volkert (left) is controlling the gate.  Afterwards the steers are moved across the road to a large pasture with other cows awaiting shipment to farms that have purchased our seed stock.  Tomorrow the steers will be brought in for loading.

We always try to keep the animals together and on grass until just before harvesting.  Our aim is to hold the waiting time from pasture to kill to less than an hour.  Some of the steers we picked out today will be going to Elim Springs Farm near Petersburg, Virginia and the rest will be for our meat customers.

One other note:  if you have been a longtime reader of this blog,  you know that Kurt is an old friend, born in Germany, went to high school in nearby Rappahannock county, joined the Army and eventually became a CBS cameraman, and later a producer and bureau chief in Europe.  We met in Viet Nam where I kept my head down while Kurt took the film.  CBS correspondents are no fools!

Kurt’s wife, Gisela, took this picture and others on this blog.  She has to put up with us because I gave her the tip that cured her morning sickness 46 years ago.