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The growth-promoting hormones fed to livestock by the commercial lamb and beef industry work to increase the rate of lean muscle development and promote water retention. As a result, the animals reach a mature weight sooner and are slaughtered before natural maturity. It is illegal in the United States and unnecessary to give hogs hormones. Even if it were legal, Niman Ranch would not allow our hogs to be given hormones. Our livestock reach full maturity naturally, which we believe contributes to the flavor. Return to Top Slaughter Practices How does Niman Ranch slaughter its livestock? Our farmers and ranchers follow strict protocols with their livestock every step of the way. Subjecting the animals to stress at the point of slaughter can negate all prior work and care. If the livestock become anxious, they will begin to produce excess adrenaline which has a very negative impact on the flavor of the meat. We take the following steps to ensure our livestock experience the least amount of stress possible: In the case of our cattle, we carefully select our trucking companies and work closely with them to make certain the livestock are transported carefully. When the livestock arrive at the slaughterhouse they are held in a resting area overnight to recover from the excitement of the ride. The next morning the cattle walk individually up a ramp, calmed by our ranchers who have been handling them for at least 4 months. As each steer reaches the top of the ramp, a gate shuts behind it and when its head is raised, the steer is stunned. The stunning knocks the animal unconscious but does not penetrate the skull. The stunning thus means the animal does not feel the actual slaughter. However, they are stunned with an electric shock which is quick and humane. Once unconscious, they are bled and broken in a similar manner to the cattle. Niman Ranch is not large enough to own and operate our own slaughter facilities. All the facilities we work with are carefully evaluated and selected for their ability to comply with our strict requirements. These requirements include humane treatment of the animals prior to slaughter and care in handling the carcasses post-slaughter. We also require that our animals are processed first in the morning. This assures that the facility is the cleanest and that there will not be cross-contamination with other animals. Our cattle are slaughtered in Idaho, close to our ranch so that the animals do not have to travel far. Return to Top Animal Husbandry Are all Niman Ranch livestock free-range? These pens are deeply bedded with hay to allow pigs to carry out their natural behaviors such as rooting, tunneling and nesting. CATTLE We raise our cattle outdoors on grass pastures for the first twelve to sixteen months of their lives. During the last four to six months of the animals lives, they are kept in spacious feedlots and fed all-natural grains, which help produce well-marbled, flavorful, and tender meat. Later in the year the lambs graze on clover fields as the grains dry out. Niman Ranch cattle are never fed any meat or meat by-products, growth-promoting antibiotics or hormones. Young calves receive only mothers milk for their first two months. As they mature they begin to forage and are completely weaned at 7 months. For the next 14-18 months they graze on nutrient-rich grasses clover and hay. When the cattle reach 800-900 lbs they are moved to feedlots where they are finished on a ration of barley, corn, wheat, soy meal, sugar beet pulp, cane molasses and hay for an average of 140 days. Our protocol is vegetarian so we never use chicken feathers as a source of protein. In addition we do not feed our cattle plastic hay as synthetic roughage. Niman Ranch hogs are never fed any meat or meat by-products or antibiotics. It is illegal in the United States to feed hogs growth-promoting hormones. Our piglets are weaned at 6 weeks, 3-4 weeks longer than industry standard. The piglets are then given a protein-rich diet of soy meal and corn mixed with essential vitamins and minerals. Niman Ranch lambs are never fed any meat or meat by-products, growth-promoting antibiotics or hormones. The lambs suckle their mothers milk for about 5-7 months but begin to forage almost immediately after birth. Lambs raised in California graze on clover and alfalfa from late winter through spring, while those in Utah graze on high alpine grasses and flowers such as pea vine, wild bluebells and goldenrod. All the lambs finish on a blend of corn and alfalfa for at least 7 weeks. Our ranchers provide our lambs with plenty of land for natural foraging. HOGS Niman Ranch hog farmers are not required to raise specific breeds-our primary concern is great taste. However, we have found that some of the best-tasting pork comes from Duroc, Chester White, Berkshire and Farmers Hybrid. Each breed has its strengths and weaknesses so Niman Ranch hog farmers often try to find the best cross breeds. The result is pork that always tastes great despite some variation in specific flavor profile. CATTLE Niman Ranch raises pure and crossed Angus, Hereford and Short Horn cattle, which provide the best-tasting beef. LAMB Niman Ranch raises chiefly the Rambouillet, Suffolk and Dorset breeds of lamb-because, of course, they are the best. Return to Top Sustainable Farming Practices How do Niman Ranch farmers and ranchers manage animal waste? The size and style of our operations are capable of fully supporting the manure the livestock produce. Because Niman Ranch farmers and ranchers raise far fewer animals than the conventional industry, it is not necessary to liquefy waste and store it in cesspools as the conventional industry commonly does. By adhering to the tenets of sustainable agriculture, Niman Ranch farmers and ranchers preserve the integrity of the land and waters around them as well as that of the animals. Factory hog farms typically store liquefied waste in huge pits, termed waste lagoons, that can be one story deep and acres wide. Frequent leakage and spills contaminate surrounding waterways and groundwater with toxic waste including antibiotics, harmful bacteria and excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. In September 1999 when Hurricane Floyd hit eastern North Carolina, hog farm lagoons poured into central waterways, which feed into the Atlantic Ocean. An estimated one billion fish were killed and the polluted waters were deemed unsafe for local fishing and recreation. Return to Top How does Niman Ranchs work with family farms differ from the conventional industry farms? Our definition of family farm was developed by the Animal Welfare Institute AWI: farms on which an individual or family owns all the animals, depends on the farm for their livelihood and provides the major part of the daily labor necessary for the farms management and upkeep. The conventional hog industry has shifted from family farms to large factory-style contract farms. Since 1950 the number of hog farms has dropped from 3 million, to less than 98,500 in 1998. These individual factory farms generally produce more than 100,000 hogs a year, crowding thousands of animals into cramped indoor confinement. Factory farms separate the ownership of land and livestock from the hands-on management and labor, emphasizing high volume and profit. Niman Ranch is concerned with the quality of our product, as well as the health and safety of the animals, the consumers and the environment. Return to Top How does Niman Ranch support sustainable farming outside of its own practices? We have created the Niman Ranch Foundation, to which we give a portion of our profits. The funds are in turn donated to the efforts of organizations whose missions are in harmony with ours. Through the Niman Ranch Foundation we have dedicated funds to Waterkeeper Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to keeping international watersheds clean and safe, which has launched a campaign against corporate hog factories. We have donated proceeds to Farm Aid, an organization founded in 1985 by musicians Willie Nelson, John Mellancamp and Neil Young in order to raise awareness about the plight of the American family farmer. Niman Ranch al...
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